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In an instant, my whole world turned upside down. Wild voracious wind battered all around me, dragging me up into the air like a tornado and throwing me around like I was no more than a grain of sand. I had to fight my desire to call on my dragon, instead choosing to wrap my body around Ella so that she would remain protected.
When my feet finally landed on the ground, I lifted my head to find myself deep in an ancient forest. Trees towered over me, their trunks as thick as boulders, the boughs of their branches heavy and densely covered with dark green leaves that plunged the ground in shadow. Carpets of moss covered the dirt beneath our feet.
I’d heard stories of the seer’s realm when I was a child. The lore had dictated that this place was fluid in landscape, that the magic was so ancient that it took on its own form depending on who was walking on its hallowed ground.
I held Ella with one arm as I looked around. The brush was thick, leaving little room to maneuver around outside what appeared to be a lone, solitary path through the dense jungle. As I strode across the plush mats of moss, there were speckles of sunlight that beat down through the leaf cover.
A single bright light appeared in the darkness down the path. I followed it, edging closer and closer until the forest opened up into a clearing. In the center was a small cottage crafted out of branches and leaves. It was set off of the ground on stilts.
The seer lived here.
I climbed up the rope ladder and pushed the beaded fabric door aside.
The stories told of the seer’s power, that the one who called on the seer was in danger. Occasionally, she would deem a visitor unworthy and end them herself. Truthfully, no one knew what really happened to any of them. Most sources assumed the worst.
I wasn’t here for myself. I was here for Ella. The seer could do whatever she wanted to me in exchange for her life.
“You wanted me to come, so here I am.”
“You have brought her to me, then?”
I recognized the seer’s harsh feminine tone. It was coming from everywhere all around me at once, and I swallowed past my frustration at her question. The cottage was empty of a physical form, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t here with me.
“Can you save her?”
“I may be able to.”
A white spherical light circled around my head. I took a deep, steadying breath and held Ella a bit more closely against me. I lowered my eyes instinctually as a blinding light flashed. When I hazarded a glance upward, my eyes adjusted to take in the form of an elderly woman standing before me. Long white hair drifted back and forth past her shoulders, glowing with a muted, mystical energy. She smiled, and I settled on the disconcerting black, inky voids of her eyes.
“My assistance comes with a price, Ice King.”
“I am no king.”
She chuckled softly.“You do not get to deny your crown before me, Dragonborne.”
“You must save her,” I said through gritted teeth, ignoring her focus on me.
“I grant no favors out of the goodness of my heart, Ice King. I have seen countless souls live and die. To me, she is just another pretty face, but to you, she’s something more than that, isn’t she?”
“I will pay whatever price you require, seer.” I gritted my teeth, looking down at the frozen bundle in my arms. Her lips were dark blue. Somehow, the deathly paleness had gotten worse, and I knew her time was growing short. “I care for her.”
She swept her arm outwards, and a small cot appeared before us. With great care, I placed Ella down. When the seer moved closer to her, I had to forcibly restrain myself from defending the tiny human.
“You’ve denied your destiny for a long time.”
Slowly, she passed a hand over Ella’s still form. The old woman flicked her wrist, circling it around as Ella’s body began to glow. The seer called on her own ancient magic, swaying back and forth with her hands over Ella. She paused over her heart, and the glow darkened several shades until the dark violet emulative of Helheim flowed out from the bloodied wound. Slowly, signs of life started coming back to her, and I gasped, my hope brewing back to life.
Her pale cheeks pinkened and the blue of her lips faded into a healthy dusky rose color once more. The frost on her eyelashes melted.
The magic pouring out of her slowly shifted from purple back to white again. The seer’s hands swept away in a flourish as Ella’s fingertips twitched. My audible sigh of relief echoed through the cottage as I fell to my knees at her side.
“She is not yet entirely well, Ice King. Her full recovery depends on you.”
A single vein of magic glowed through Ella’s chest. It was threaded into the muscle fibers that powered her heart.
“Should you ignore fate and turn your back on your birthright, this single vein of magic will claim her.”
“She will die if I don’t obey you,” I stated. I didn’t want that, but she was human. She would die eventually, just as Yasmina had.
