“You are very brave, Gwen.” She digs in her pocket. “One final thing. I assume you know how to use this?”
She places a pouch in my palm. I loosen the strings to find flint, steel, and a coil of tinder.
“Fire can melt an enemy. Bring a torch. Donottake a branch from any of the Silverbirches.” She shudders. “They share a consciousness. To harm one is to harm them all, and the trees will attack if you break a single twig.”
My throat closes around words of gratitude. I lurch forward and drag Christabel into an embrace. Startled, she brings her hand to my back, then wraps her arms around me in a tight hug.
“Win, Gwen. I would like to meet you again in this lifetime.” She releases me and straps a saddle to Bae’s back. “When you’re ready, release him. He will find his way back to me.”
I ride for days, stopping only for necessity. Bae’s antlers sparkle with the same fairy lights that lit Christabel’s sleigh deer. Day shrinks until the sun barely appears over the horizon for a couple of hours, before dipping into night again. The endless midnight sky dances with colors.
By the time we reach the Silverbirch Forest, no daylight touches the sky even for an hour. I’m only able to see in the endless night thanks to Bae’s glowing antlers.
The closer we get, the more I wonder about my opponent. What drives the fae witch to steal men?
The wind dies as we approach the trees. A shimmery chiming sound carries across the snow.
“I suppose those are the trees talking?” Anxiously, I pat Bae’s neck, more to soothe myself than him. The Silverbirches are eerily stunning. It feels as though they are whispering to one another about us.
“If you can speak to one another, maybe you can also communicate with me.” Gently, I tap a leaf. It sways, touching its neighbor. The entire tree’s shimmering leaves twitch, almost like I made it…laugh?
“Can you lead me to The Snow Queen?” I tap it again, with the same result. “We’re looking for the entrance to the Ice Palace. I’m looking for my friend, Kai.”
This time the tree’s laughter takes on a mocking tone, but the leaves in all directions go still. Only a trail of shimmering sound leads me deeper into the forest.
“I guess we go that way, Bae.”
Cautiously, we pick our way forward, following the trees.
After a while, we come to the bottom of a mountain covered in snow. The tinkling chime stops abruptly. The world goes strangely still.
No wind.
No singing trees.
I’ve never heard a silence so heavy and complete.
“Something isn’t right, Bae.” The deer shakes his head and tries to turn, taking quick, prancing steps. I shift in the saddle.
Behind us, ice cracks.
Hairs lift on the back of my neck. Bae bleats fearfully. Part of the mountain shears away from the rest. A huge, snow-covered ogre rises.
“Shit,” I breathe. Icicles hang down from its body like hair. One as long as my forearm crashes to the ground near Bae’s feet. He dances backward, head shaking, desperate to run.
Behind the ogre is a cave.
That has to be the entrance to the Ice Palace.
I slip from the reindeer’s back and loop the reins on his antlers like Christabel showed me. He bounds away, halting like he’s fearful for my safety when the ogre takes a step toward me. Its teeth are jagged frozen shards.
“Go, Bae,” I shout. The monster scoops up snow with its massive paw and flings it hard. Snow sprays down on me, forcing me to protect my face. The reindeer takes a direct hit and thrashes free from the avalanche. I flail through the snow toward the cave, passing too close to the ogre’s tree-trunk-thick legs.
And trip right over a sapling. Wood snaps. A deep groan goes up from the Silverbirches.
“Shiiiiiit.” I haul myself upright and trudge as fast as my legs will carry me toward the cave. The trees’ leaves quake in what I can only describe as a shrill scream. The ogre claps his massive hands over his ears. Icicles rain down. It roars in pain.
My own ears are ringing from all this noise, but the distraction gives me just enough time to get inside the cave and find my torch. The flint and steel strike and strike. Sparks land on the tinder but fail to catch. The ground rumbles with each step as the ogre turns toward me.
