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I closed my eyes. I recognized the voice. It was the seer, a mystical ancient being that was connected to all realms, including mine. She was all-knowing, but I’d turned my back on her and prophecy long ago.
The wolf leapt clean over me and bounded out of the great hall. I made no move to follow, turning back to Ella with a more discerning eye.
The seer had indicated that she had more time.
She wasn’t dead!
I pressed my palm over the wound in her chest, pulling from deep within and calling upon my own magic. In times of extremely great need, I could use my reserves to heal my people. I closed my eyes, focusing on knitting her flesh together, but my magic did not respond. I roared with fury, sensing the same magical wall that had prevented me from healing her before.
I dove deeper, attempting to call upon every last dressage of power inside me. I journeyed deep into the cells of her body, trying to bring my healing magic and encountering one hindrance after another. It was like I was being blocked by death at every turn.
This wasn’t magic born from my realm.
She had been taken by the dark magic of Helheim, touched by the hand of the Dark King himself.
I understood why the seer had spoken to me. I dropped my head, knowing what I had to do. I was going to have to face things that I’d turned my back on long ago if I wanted to save Ella. I didn’t even question it. Not even for a moment.
I was going to take Ella to see the seer.
I gathered Ella’s icy cold body in my arms and lifted her off the floor. I carried her out of the great hall, away from the pile of bloody corpses. Several different members of the king’s guard ran up to me, looking for direction on the battlefield.
“I want the Lady Commander of the Magic ready to perform her duty immediately. Have her gather the crown’s mages in the sacred cavern,” I barked.
I carried Ella through the fortress with me, descending down one spiraling staircase after another until I reached the depths of the dungeons. My footsteps echoed through the stone hallways as I entered the ancient portions of the fortress hewn deep into the rock long ago.
The position of the castle hadn’t been chosen by accident. Down below the bedrock of this city, the vein of magic from this world was at its strongest.
As I ventured further, the hallway turned into a more primitive tunnel until at long last it opened up into a massive cavern. In the center was a steaming pool swarming with light blue, glowing lights that swam by in flashes. When I was a young boy, I’d wrongly assumed that they were eels. Instead they were the visual personification of the strength of Icegard’s magic in this central place of power. There were several points of the cavern still touched by the glacier that had formed this realm thousands of years ago.
The power here was not as strong as in the north, but it would have to do.
I walked up the curving rock slope until I was perched above the central point of the pool. The power was so strong here that I could feel the ground vibrating with it beneath my feet. Behind me, I heard footsteps hurrying through the halls, and then the friendly face of my Lady Commander Elyndra burst into the sacred cavern. Her expression was drawn tight with fear.
“You called for me, sire?” she asked breathlessly.
“I did, Elyndra. You and I are going to open a portal to the seer,” I commanded.
Her eyes opened wide, and I saw her swallow with trepidation. Opening the portal to the seer’s realm was unprecedented and quite dangerous for those performing the casting. To my knowledge, the last time such a powerful spell had occurred was during my father’s reign, more than a century ago.
“Are you sure, sire?”
“I am,” I said boldly.
“Then so it shall be.” She bowed her head. She looked no less afraid, but she would carry out her duty to her kingdom. Her lavender irises sparkled like a muted amethyst as she called on her power. The veins in her arms started to glow a light blue as dozens of mages poured into the cavern, circling around the pool in silence. Once they were all in place, they pushed back their hoods, revealing eyes identical to Elyndra’s.
Elyndra started to chant, and the mystical energy crackling all around her exploded outward. The circle of mages started to chant along with her. She reached for me, and I took her hand, Ella still safely in my arms.
The magic of the realm surged through me like a bolt of lightning.
“Please let this be enough,” I whispered, squeezing Ella close to me.
Elyndra reached for me with her other hand, pressing it against my shoulder. A second jolt of magic surged through me at the circle’s completion. The mages continued to chant, their voices reaching a fever pitch. The power billowed through me in waves, rattling the powerhouse of each and every cell in my body until I felt like I was going to explode from within. I gritted my teeth as I withstood the onslaught, shielding Ella from it as much as I could. All at once, the cavern went dark, and then a soft light radiated from above me. The chanting was much softer now, but it continued on as I raised my head to look up at the shimmering staircase of light that had appeared at the edge of the rocky slope. It led right up to a portal that was centered in the middle of the cavern.
“We will await you here, sire,” Elyndra murmured, dipping her head respectfully.
“Thank you, Elyndra. Take your mages and bring them up to the wall. The realm needs you now,” I dictated softly.
“Yes, sire,” she answered. She bowed once more before taking her leave. I lifted Ella a bit higher in my arms, situating her safely against my chest as I turned towards the mystical staircase. I climbed to the top and took a deep breath before stepping through the portal.
