Another glance at Ostfold—still no starfires—and Angelique gave herself permission to pace alittle.
At this height, when she turned in a circle, Angelique could also see the mountains that stretched north and south, creating a natural barrier between Verglas and its western neighbor, Kozlovka. (Verglas was hedged in by mountains, with an impassable range to the north and two smaller ranges—one stretching down its eastern border, the other the westernborder.)
The mountain ranges made for breathtaking views. But Angelique’s gaze went from admiring to puzzled when she saw a cloud of glowing light peeking out around the ridge of a more southern mountain that appeared to be close to Kozlovkan territory. “What is that?” Curious, she unearthed her spyglass and peered through it, refocusing it on thelight.
As she watched, ice—thick and tall—shot out of the ground, forming a craggy wall. The wall glowed—the silvery blue light Angelique hadnoticed.
Even this far away, Angelique could tell it was obviously the Snow Queen’s magic. She lowered the spy glass and tapped it against herthigh.
“It seems someone—or something—evil is trying to get into Verglas.” Angelique rubbed her red nose and offered Pegasus a worried smile when he, too, peered in the direction of the Snow Queen’s glowingmagic.
“Could it be the nightmare again? But Stil was certain they destroyed the rider.” Angelique mashed her lips together until Pegasus nudged her. “You know…I’ve always wondered about the Snow Queen.” Angelique leaned into Pegasus, taking refuge in his hulk and warmth. “Like Stil said, she kicked out the evil mages who were invading her country. But why did she push her magic into the very ground when—based on her powers that we canstillsee today—she could have easily torn the army to shreds by herself? Did she expect them to come back and tryagain?”
The idea was boggling to Angelique—she couldn’t imagine anyone willingly facing the Snow Queen if even half of the myths about her weretrue.
Pegasus curled his upper lip back and sneered at the glowing smudge that was the magic-made icewall.
Angelique pressed her fur mittens to her frozen nose. “I bet the attempted intruder is a mountain hag. They’re mostly found in Kozlovka, and I don’t think any dark mage would be stupid enough to try and get into Verglas, much less attempt mountain travel in earlywinter.”
Pegasus arched his neck and pawed the ground, sending smoldering flecks of fire into theair.
Angelique fitted the spyglass to her eye again, her brow furrowing as she watched another flash of snow-blue light followed by the formation of another giant chunk of ice. But even with the spyglass, she couldn’t make out the source of the magic’santagonism.
“Hmm.” She turned herself back to Ostfold and had to refocus the spyglass so she could see the glittering Lake Sno and the walls of the lovelycity.
Angelique thought she saw a faint shimmer at the far side of the snowy capital. She leaned forward, straining to study the city, when abruptly it blazed with light—thanks to the piles of starfires Stil and his soldier helpers had fixed to a tower in the palace and the walkway above the citygates.
Angelique collapsed her spyglass and blinked, trying to clear the stars from her eyes caused by the bright blaze. “Right, that’s ourcue.”
She ripped her mittens off—making it easier to manipulate her magic—and started channeling her silverypowers.
Magic twined through her fingers as she twisted, transforming it from her war magic into weather magic. She started with the wind—she needed to blow the blizzard down the mountainside, for that’s where Stil was expecting the storm to be. Once the howling gusts barreled down—making the pine trees groan and sway with the force of the wind—she added a shot of water and tried to adjust the temperature, warming it just a little bit. (If the air was too cold, it wouldn’t snow, no matter how much power sheused.)
Angelique nodded in satisfaction as she watched the storm clouds form near the bottom of the mountain, then started pushing raw magic into thespell.
The clouds swelled, growing larger and dumping big snowflakes as the wind carved out expansivedrifts.
She glanced at Ostfold, where clouds were starting to form aswell.
“I think I’m done.” She added another shot of power to her blizzard, but it already was a smothering mass of white. “A few more minutes and I think wecan—”
All of Fresler’s Helm started to rumble, and rock shook beneath Angelique’sfeet.
She fell to her knees and felt a cool and heavy magic blaze pressing down on the mountaintop with such force it was difficult tobreathe.
Raw magic briefly swirled around her—like a wolf stalking its prey. Abruptly as it powered up, it left, rushing down themountainside.
Angelique shivered and climbed to her feet, her knees still shaking even though the pressure had disappeared with the magic. “Well.” She slightly shook her head and leaned into Pegasus when he bumped her with his shoulder. “I think we can go down themountain.”
Pegasus tossed his head and neighed—or rather snorted his version of a neigh, which seemed akin to how Angelique imagined colliding comets wouldsound.
She peered in the direction of Ostfold, which was entirely veiled by snow-swollen clouds. “And I guess Stil’s theory wascorrect.”
* * *
Angelique watched Pegasus’constellation bob around in the sky, circling other stars and settling into the entirelywrongspot of thesky.
At least someone is having fun.She glanced at Stil’s tent—which was illuminated by the fire Angelique had built in front of it while wastingtime.
