Page 6 of The Shadow of Polaris

Again, the wisteria wailed in protest. Any second I’d be torn from my perch. Breathe Elpis. One foot after the other, I repeated to myself, lowering my other leg a little further. Repeating the motion again and again.

I was still about ten feet above the snow-covered ground when the vines ended. My ungloved fingers now clenched around the icy dead growth. My knuckles shrieked with a numbness that spread up my hands. I’d have to jump to the ground from here, or I’d surely freeze to death.

Imagining what Hela would say when she found me frozen in the wisteria above the courtyard, I pictured her throwing me a dazzling smile, hoping the warmth of her expression would melt away the icicles drooping from my frozen lashes. She’d give everything in her power to unthaw and revive my lifeless body, only to whip me back into obedience herself.

I willed my fingers to uncurl themselves around the vines one by one, steadying my breathing as best I could between my chattering teeth. Counting to three, I jumped backward. My stomach rushed into my chest, slamming into my lungs and forcing the air out in a shallow gasp. One second I was in free fall; the next, my boots slammed into the snow bank below, sinking deep into the powder. Digging myself out of the mound, I rolled on my side and vomited. Somehow, I was alive.

For a moment, I laid on that cold dry ground. I’d survived. The starry night sky was a wonder above me. I inhaled the fresh winter scent. No longer confined to the stuffy, mildewed air within the tower chamber. With powdered snow in each fist, I let it slip through my fingers. This cold was familiar, like a distant childhood memory. Silence, insulated by compact snow, brought a peace I hadn’t experienced before in my life. With overwhelming relief, I gripped the soles of my boots with my toes to ensure I wouldn’t take flight.

An owl hooted somewhere in the distance. I hadn’t heard such a somber tune in years. Tears welled in my eyes as I realized I’d forgotten the sounds I longed to hear when I felt trapped in my family’s cruelty. Escaping to the forest to hunt or hike was my only remedy for the all too familiar loneliness of my life.

For the first time in a very long time, a weight lifted from my lungs and breathing felt natural. Felt effortless. I allowed myself a few more moments of bliss until the icy ground numbed my cheeks. Only then did reality snap back into place. I sat up, quickly scanning my surroundings for any guards. There were none.

Flipping up the large wool hood of my cloak to shield my face from the harsh night air, I started towards my freedom. Clear, crystalline ice dripped from the heavy iron gate at the courtyard’s entrance. Using my entire body weight, I spun the wheel of the gate mechanism and watched the metal lattice rise. When it had risen just enough, I ducked my head under and slipped into the bleak night that led outside of the tower walls. As I strutted down the pathway lined with evergreen firs, not once did I glance back at that Gods-forsaken tower.

Chapter 5

It wasn’t long before the panic set in. I snuck out of the tower with only a wool cloak and old leather boots to shield myself from the elements. I had no money and only a rusty dinner knife for protection. With each crunch of snow beneath me, regrets built thicker and thicker. It was far too late to go back. Once Hela had returned upstairs, she would’ve checked my bedchamber. Guards must already be searching the tower grounds for me.

The temperature continued to drop as I carried on, pausing every so often to listen behind me. Nothing but silence scattered through the flat barren land. Nothing but snow extended as far as my eye could see. Packed ice melted into the night horizon in streaks of purplish hues. I peered into the deep blackness of the sky above and located the four twinkling points of the Crux. If I continued to keep it straight ahead, I could reach Ursae by dawn.

The tower was due North of the city, constructed at the dead center of a vast flatland extending for miles. I wasn’t sure how much distance I’d need to travel before reaching the forest out-skirting the city walls, but based on the journey when I first arrived, I’d guess it would take me most of the remaining night. If my pace slowed even the slightest, I’d risk having to travel in daylight. Aside from a few withered shrubs, there was nothing but a vast openness surrounding me. I would be exposed with the next morning’s dawn. Pulling my cloak tighter around my torso, I trudged on, my boots sinking deeper into the packed snowy ground.

The wind howled in my ears as flurries fell heavier and heavier into the frozen darkness. Sharp numbness crawled up my toes and into my legs. With a clenched jaw, I swallowed down the alarm rapidly bubbling up the back of my throat and broadened my stride. I needed to get across this unending stretch and find somewhere to weather the encroaching blizzard.

I walked for what felt like hours, keeping my eyes on the blurry horizon. Coaxing my frozen limbs to propel me forward with the thought of shelter. A sudden crack in the ice behind me halted me in my tracks. Another. And another. With each crack of the ground, the air electrified with a tense current.

The footsteps paused only a few feet behind me. My pulse raced beneath my wrists. Reaching for the dinner knife sheathed beneath the folds of my cloak, I whirled around to find a nightmarish face piercing through the snowy darkness.

Grey, frozen flesh drooped from a pale, cracked skull. Lines of dagger-like teeth filled a swollen purple mouth. The smell of the creature percolated into the air. As it hit my nostrils, I had to pinch myself to keep from gagging. With a shaking palm, I outstretched the knife in the creature’s direction just as its deep, crimson eyes locked on to me.

A quiet groan skimmed over its extended lips as it crawled on four gangly limbs towards me. The hands and feet resembled human extremities far too closely. A cold sweat dripped from my brow as it lurched towards me, its limbs cracking unnaturally. I swiped at the creature as it grasped a sharp clawed hand towards me, the red glow emulating from those sunken eyes flickering like a flame.

It pounced for me with a deep, animalistic howl and I flung myself backwards, slipping on the ice. The back of my skull slammed against the packed frozen ground, knocking the air from my lungs. With blurred vision, I scrambled away as fast as I could.

I wasn’t fast enough. It started towards me again, wrapping its long, skeletal fingers around my ankles. Its smile revealed rows of fang-like, yellowed teeth, and I could smell its putrid breath. A paralysis grew within me, extending to each of my limbs as it climbed over my feet, up my legs, across my torso, and on to my chest. Pain bubbled beneath my skin with each piercing grip of a claw.

Sobbing silently, I willed my hand, still clenching the knife, to move. Overcome with fear, I remained frozen. A rotten, grey tongue slid around its lips as it stroked my cheek with its claw. I begged my muscles to move. Still, I remained limp beneath the creature’s weight. It leaned down and slid its frozen tongue across my cheek, licking up the salty tears that now streamed down my face. I needed to move. Gripping my fingers around the dinner knife, the sharp pinch of broken skin beneath its blade pulled me from my paralysis.

With all of my might, I jerked away from the creature’s touch and plunged the dagger into its temple. A thick, black ooze dripped from the wound and splattered across my cheeks. The creature went limp instantly and fell to the side, its shriveled mouth only inches from my face. I suppressed the scream now roaring through my body and pushed its dead limbs away from me.

Its carcass rolled off with a squelch, and that same black substance pooled beneath it. I jerked upright, pulled the knife from its skull, and sprinted away as fast as I could. What the hell was that?

The soulless red eyes smoldered beneath my eyelids with each blink. I ran until my lungs pleaded for air, and my calves cramped with exhaustion. Finally, my muscles gave out, and I stumbled to my knees, sobbing and vomiting with sheer primal terror. Stories of dark, undead creatures lurking through the flatlands were told in the shadows of the city as ghost stories not for the faint of heart. However, I had thought them just that. Stories. Until tonight. I spat out the remnants of bile and forced myself up. I couldn’t risk staying in one place any longer. Locating the Crux once more, I continued running.

The sky had transitioned to a deep shade of periwinkle when I finally stopped to catch breath. Placing my hands on my knees in support, I wheezed. The frigid air burned in my lungs as I struggled to take in enough oxygen. Between the loud heaves of my chest, a faint yelp echoed through the air. Grasping for the dinner knife again, I scanned the surrounding snowpack.

A slight flurry of black caught my eye as I squinted through the blizzard, praying to the Gods it wasn’t another of those creatures for me to fight off. The yelping continued as I took a few steps towards the wriggling mass in the distance, stretching the knife out as far as I could in front of me.

As I got closer, the mass appeared soft with spikes of dark fur. A short tail slapped at the frozen ground from one end. It cried in fear as I approached. Dropping the knife, I fell to my knees, stroking my fingers delicately down its little furry spine.

A sharpness erupted at the tip of my index finger as two little fangs pierced my skin, drawing a bead of blood. Yellow eyes and a snout, no longer than my thumb, snarled up at me. I jerked my fingers away as the tiny creature nipped at me again. The little mass of fur and fluff was a wolf pup. Judging by her size, only a few months in age.

“What are you doing out here, little one?” I said, again reaching towards the jet black pup. She rolled on to her stomach and pawed at my hands. A soft warning to keep my distance. She growled weakly, deep in her belly.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. Let me help you, little one. Where’s your mother?” I said, keeping my voice calm. After another attempt warily reaching my index finger towards her fur, the pup nudged at my palm with a cold, wet nose. A matted, bloody mound of fur lay limp in the near distance. The pup smelled of the black ooze that seeped from my previous attacker. The poor creature was alone in this world, orphaned and lost. That made two of us.

“It’s okay. You’re safe.”

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