“Well, what are we supposed to do about it?” Odette asks, her eyebrows scrunching together. She gestures around us wildly. “We’re moving sporadically through the clouds.”
“It is hard to control my shadows here,” I comment, flexing my hand. “I haven’t struggled this hard with hopping since I gained the shadow magic.”
“Well, that thing looked dangerous,” Odette says with a shudder. I never saw the face in the past, just legs taller than the trees stalking past us. I didn’t understand how it disappeared years before, but maybe it has something to do with this place.
Now that I’ve seen the giant’s face, I won’t forget it. It had only one working eye, the other scarred over a little, likeOdette’s used to be before she got it back. The skin was a sickly gray color, almost blue, and the clothing he wore looked like furs. But the one eye…
It was pale blue, like he was blind. Perhaps the giant is. It would explain why it disappeared decades ago and never came back. How it’s surviving in a place like this I have no idea, but now that we’ve discovered him, we’ll have to decide what to do.
“Should we try to talk to him?” Odette goes on. “He wouldn’t remember you, and I’ve never seen a giant so large before. Perhaps we don’t need to fear him. Without the beanstalk, we would have no idea this place is even here.”
That’s true. Looking around, I try to understand the clouds again. Are these part of the magic from the beans? When we were back on the ground, they looked the same as any other clouds in the sky.
Then again, after the tavern burned, and Ysanna was sucked inside the beanstalk, it started to rain shortly after. Maybe the clouds are magic after all.
“We should talk to someone, right?” she continues, our gazes locking on each other. “Like Ray?”
If we contact Ray, he will lose his mind thinking there’s even a chance he could find out what happened to his father.
And there’s another problem we have to consider. If this giant did kill Jacob years before, how did he get up here, and is there a chance we’ll find the body?
“We should investigate tomorrow,” I hedge, and after a beat Odette nods. The sky is darkening, and if things are already hard to maneuver around, light will be to our benefit. There’s no reason the day should already be over when it feels like our journey has just started, but time is a joke in this place. “We can see if there’s anything to worry Ray about. And in the meantime, I’m going to see if Ban can shed light on a few things for me.”
Chapter 15 Ban
I avoid Neve after my run-in with the Snow Queen. She’s in meetings again today, prepping with so many different people in the palace, like there is a war coming instead of a ball. If we were in Sherwood, perhaps I would agree, but there’s no way anyone would be able to cross Icicle Pass with enough force to cause a stir. Someone arriving by sea is unheard of, so after pushing myself to sweep through the small towns near the capital, I take refuge on the icy cliffs above the docks.
The wind is frigid this morning, cooler than it was last night. Another storm’s moving in, so whoever the guest of honor is, they might be stuck in port for longer than anticipated. Leaning against the rocks, I watch as sails appear on the horizon. My sea skills are shoddy, and to be frank, nothing about the sails tells me anything about who’s arriving. I’m not even sure there’s an identifying flag on this ship.
My energy is low this morning, and the plan was to let my ice and shadows rest after last night. Once this guest arrives, no matterwhoit is, I need to leave the palace and travel through the land. The outlying villages are where there’s the most dead to collect. Usually, I routinely take care of those areas, visiting the capital rarely since, for the most part, living conditions are better.
Speaking with Zarev briefly gave me something else to focus on, but with a ball supposed to be happening tonight, I’m on edge to find out who this oh-so-special guest is going to be.
Tensing, I feel the spirit before I see her.
After snapping my staff from the shadows, I turn and eye a young girl. She’s transparent, her hands gripped together in front of her chest, big eyes full of fear staring back at me. This isn’t a place I expected to see a spirit; the docks are on the far side of the castle, backing the sea, so there are few homes in this area. The nobility don’t live outside the city proper, and half the structures on this side are abandoned since the docks haven’t seen use in years. There’s no one working in the area, aside from a few people wearing the palace uniform.
She’s wearing the same uniform, so I suppose her spirit was drawn over here. But why is a child who worked in the palace dying so young? “I’m afraid.”
I offer her a soft smile, holding out my free hand. The snowflakes that dance off my palm make her young eyes widen with delight, and she gives me a curious look. “You have magic like the Queen’s.”
Ugh.I try not to let the fact that people are grouping Neve and Ronnie together bother me. “I do. I have other magic too. That’s how you found me. I’m here to help you move on.”
I let the snow flutter off my hand and join the rest on the ground. I spin my staff, and slam it into the earth. It creates a small tear in the ground, and as I drag the staff upward, the tear widens to reveal the void beyond.
Eyeing her, I see that the fear has returned. But her eyes dance between the tear and myself. “What’s happening to me?”
Kneeling, I leave the tear as it is. This time, instead of the snowflakes, I let the shadows drip off my palm. “I’m a Reaper. My name’s Ban. I will help you find your way to the next life.”
“Next life?”
I nod to the rip. “Your soul is finished with this side of the divide. You want to leave before anything happens. If you linger, it gives your soul time to splinter and become something else.Wraiths are a little more common in other places, but have you heard of Icebound?”
Her eyes widen, and she bobs her head vigorously. “Momma said that the Queen’s attendants are Icebound. She said there ain’t nothing right about them.”
Now that’s interesting.
“Who’s your mom?” I ask, tilting my head. Her eyes follow my hair as it falls over my shoulder, and I create another swirl of snowflakes around her until she giggles. Kids tend to find comfort in the snow when we meet. I don’t know how my other three Hell Brothers soothe the souls when they can’t sprinkle any sort of joy into people’s passing.
