I have magic, and I love reindeer. I can do this.
Frigid took a few steps forward, and Rakel almost fell on his neck.
Maybe I should walk.
Rakel took several deep calming breaths.I can’t walk because I won’t be able to get there fast enough. I have to ride.
Frigid grunted.
Rakel’s heart twisted with fear as she studied the mountain range. Her snow was secured in several pockets that would pool into the valley, pressed against three different mountains. It would take a mere tug to bring the snow out of the valley and into the plains.
She looked back at the palace and Ostfold.This is the first time I’m returning in over twelve years, she thought.
Frigid stamped a hoof.
“You’re right. Let us begin.” Rakel reached for her magic, and, like a thousand birds flying at once, it answered her call, flooding her mind and body. The frosty texture of her magic was reassuring, but even with the avalanche of her magic flooding her, she still felt afraid.
Fear is acceptable, as long as I don’t allow it to cripple me. The occupation of Ostfold ends. Now.
Rakel wriggled two of her fingers at the pooled snow in a “come here,” gesture. The ice dam she built to hold back the snow shattered, and with a roar, the snow surged forth.
Frigid snorted and tossed his head as the snow cascaded towards them in a white flood, but miraculously, he held his ground. The controlled avalanche carved a path across the land, snapping trees like twigs and digging into the ground. Snow floated in the air, so it looked like puffy white clouds from the sky had settled on the mountain, creating a screen as the snow tumbled on.
Rakel guided the snow and started packing it together and compressing it even before it reached the gulley bordering the palace. She gritted her teeth and pushed, crystallizing the snow. When it began to fill the gorge, she further compressed the bottom layer, flushing out air pockets. The snow continued to flow, and Rakel pushed so the crystallized snow expanded in the gaps and became ice.
When the gorge was filled, Rakel cut off the snow—although she had estimated almost perfectly and only a little remained. Now, instead of dropping off into a steep incline, the palace grounds to the east were flat, filled with a small glacier. A process that normally took decades was done in minutes.
It hadn’t used much power—directing the snow didn’t take much, and compacting it was easier than creating it from scratch. However, compressing it and pushing out the air—something she worked with only distantly—in such a great scale made her head and ears ache. She used a wind to scatter the snow that clouded the air, clearing the land quickly.
Rakel clung to Frigid’s back, waiting with caution to see if unconsciousness would snap her up. The reindeer ignored her inaction and began picking his way across the glacier, his tail wiggling. She took a few deep breaths and smiled, pleased when nothing happened. As Frigid trotted towards the palace, she tapped her ice magic, sighing with relief when it plunged through her and banished the remaining ache.
Two crows flew overhead. Both of them cawed with surprise when the guards stationed on the second floor of the palace tried to shoot Rakel down. The shots fell short—making Frigid scoff—but Rakel was pleased. “That means we need to start right around here.” She tugged on the reins, getting Frigid to stop, and turned him in a circle.
Two days earlier, Snorri had gone through great pains to sketch out an exact diagram of the palace’s entrances and doors, so Rakel would know where to funnel the Verglas troops. She found the first door and placed in front of it a large block of ice—her version of a battering ram—that was almost as tall as a human and about half the width of the gate. She then built a tunnel on top of her glacier, spanning from the door to well past her position. She repeated the process with the other two doors—taking care to reinforce them when necessary—then struggled to unhook a goat horn from Frigid’s saddle.
The horn was cut into a musical instrument—which Knut had playedbeautifullywhen he showed her how to use it. Unfortunately, Rakel did not possess even a snowflake of musical talent, so when she blew it, it sounded less like an instrument, and more like the squalling of a baby goat, separated from its mother.
The sound—though terrible—still had the desired effect. It brought the Verglas troops—split up and hidden in thatches of forest—pouring onto the newly created glacier.
The soldiers moved in unison—reminding Rakel of a snowstorm—and marched down the tunnels. She waited until they were in place, and then slammed her battering-ram ice blocks into the doors, breaking them off their hinges and sending them careening into the palace. She waited, listening for the first sounds of combat. Three different notes were blown on the musical goat horns, and the troops cheered.
Rakel smiled broadly.
General Halvor had predicted that Farrin would organize his troops in anticipation of another forced entrance provided by Rakel. If he had the space, he would in all likelihood position soldiers armed with bows in the hallways she had just broken into. Instead of risking swordsmen—whom she could flatten when she used her ice blocks to ram the doors down—his archers would stand far from the door, out of her eyesight and out of reach of the first wave of Verglas soldiers. As the Verglas troops would lack cover of any kind, the Chosen archers would cleave through the front lines.
Tollak—the magic user who could enchant crafted objects—had become the hero of the hour and run himself ragged enchanting shields for the Verglas troops that led the charge into the palace. The shields were lightweight—lighter than the average shield—and could repel just about any kind of weapon—including arrows and crossbow bolts.
In every group, the first few soldiers and the line behind them possessed the shields. They held them aloft and interlocked, and moved in synchronized steps so they could block the arrows for everyone behind them without getting hit, giving them the opportunity to reach the archers and engage them in combat.
“It seems like people fuss most over the amount of magical power you have, but I think too many underestimate the seemingly innocuous magics as well. Tollak could make a fortune if he so desired,” Rakel said to herself. She nudged Frigid, and the reindeer trotted on, carrying her to the north side of the palace.
“Princess,” Snorri said, emerging from the shadows of the forest that pressed near the back of the palace.
“Which spot is it?” she asked.
When scouting, Snorri had found several appropriate locations for Liv and Rakel to attack Farrin. They waited to choose until the day of the battle, so they would be able to see which area had the fewest guards.
Snorri replied with his usual mumble.
