“Take a five-minute break.” He spoke at normal volume, and the message was passed down the line, proving the humans were heeding my warnings about avalanches. “Vale will continue forward to scout.”
I left and remained focused on the bend ahead. Focused on pushing through the snow, carving a path up the slight incline to see our destination.
What would have taken ten minutes on roads beaten down by sleighs, hooves, and feet took three times as long, but at last I reached my destination and rounded the corner.
My breath left me in a plume of white, filling the air.We did it.
Below, still a ways away but visible, a set of wood double-doors were nestled into a mountain. The Doors of Eitriod, an intricate set of light wooded pine doors meant to honor one of the dwarves’ favored gods, had once been the visitor’s entrance to Dergia. My heart rate doubled at the sight of the great hammer and axe carved into the doors, illuminated by the late morning sun. The most loved tools of the dwarven artists and soldiers. Soon enough, we’d be there, we’d break the door down and venture inside for a first glimpse at the humans’ new home.
“Stand back,” I instructed.
It had taken far longer than I’d expected, but we’d finally reached the Doors of Eitriod only to find the great wooden double doors locked from within.
“You’re going to blast it?” Neve asked.
Since I’d announced I could see the doors, her spirits had improved drastically. I only hoped that once inside, hermood would continue to rise. But who knew what we’d find inside?
Nomadic dwarves who knew another way in? Monsters that pushed their way into the mountain and made it their own home?
Hopefully nothing.
“I can freeze the door to help,” Neve added thoughtfully.
“If you have the energy.”
During our journey, we’d learned to let her save her magic for the dark hours when we required shelters.
“There might be wards on the door,” I added. “Force may not work.”
She countered. “Why would anyone ward a deserted kingdom?”
“They would be old and stout wards, Neve. Dwarven magic, especially within the mountains, is loyal and stubborn. Like dwarves themselves are known to be.”
“Stubborn, are they? Perhaps I’m part dwarf.” Neve stared at the Doors of Eitriod with a gleam in her eyes.
“Just be careful. Release your magic if you feel anything off.” I stood back for Neve to do as she would.
She faced the doors, and I felt when she called her power to the surface. Over the weeks, Neve had delved ever deeper into the depths of her power. Bit by bit, she harnessed the magic she’d been born to wield, and though she still had a long way to go before she claimed true mastery, I remained in a constant state of marvel.
Many times when her power filled the air, I’d wonderedwhat would have happened if the White Bear’s Rebellion had failed. Or better yet, never happened.
If Neve had been free to grow up with her parents, her four older brothers, and her twin sister, where would her power have fallen on the spectrum of their bloodline? Would she have been the most powerful, and therefore, the heir? In our world, that was how things worked, with rare exceptions—my brother being one of them.
Or had House Falk produced fae with greater winter magic? I shuddered at the thought, though I suspected it to be true. King Harald Falk had been cruel and mad during the last turns of his life. Those stories were told most often, though tales of his magical prowess were told from time to time too because whomever the wielder, fae loved and revered power.
The temperature dropped, and Caelo urged the humans to back away. Wishing to add extra protection for all of those around her, I created an air shield and expanded it to cover the humans and Caelo. The shield was barely in place when Neve unleashed herself on the door.
The pine slabs shuddered, and frost crept from the edges as gales as strong as those from the harshest of winter storms slammed into the doors. She pushed again, and the doors shook harder, the great metal locks whining under the strain. More frost covered the wood to the point where both doors were no longer a light pine color, but pure white.
When I thought she was done, and my precautions had been a touch much, the blow back came with vengeance. Hail exploded from Neve, soaring in all directions. Ice balls struck my air shield, and screams arose from the humans.
Neve spun, exhaled as she saw that I’d protected those with us. “Good thinking on the shield.”
“It’s always best to take precautions.”
“You’re used to considering the lives of others.”
I’d led scores of fae to battle. Yes, I considered their lives, and I’d been considering the lives of the humans since we’d liberated them. So had she, but I suspected the challenge the Doors of Eitriod presented made her forget the potency of her power.
