Page 66 of Prince of the Northwest Forest
I want reassurance. I want someone to tell me that this quest is going to succeed. That we’re going to be heroes. But there’s no guarantee.
A weird growling howl sounds in the woods. “What’s that?” I say, suspecting that I know.
“A firecat. Stay close tonight. They might be out on the prowl.”
Like the previous mornings on this quest, I wake up curled up next to Kalle in the tent, and like the previous mornings, I want to get him naked and do naughty things to him. Or at least have been witness to some self-love in the middle of the night.
I don’t get to do any of that. Instead, we begin hiking up the mountain.
Kalle sweeps along the trail, his hood over his head, looking like a marauding warrior.
It snowed last night, so we’re tromping through fresh white powder, the clouds low and the wind whipping around us. But the cloak that Yinok gave me is keeping me remarkably warm and dry.
I feel very far away from my cell phone and pixel art. I’ve been around Hazel and Martin long enough that it feels like even I can talk with the animals and hang with the wood nymphs.
That last one, at least, is true.
For dinner, I sit in a cushy armchair of the tree of a very beautiful nymph named Pona, drinking ale with Kalle. There’s a little bookshelf beside me filled with tomes of poetry. A squirrel is curled up by the crackling fire, its tail tucked under its chin. And no, I still don’t know how there can be a fireplace inside a tree, nor am I used to the pocket dimensions of this realm.
Pona is baking something that smells incredible. Yeasty bread with cinnamon, maybe? I am not sure how this became my life, but here we are. I would make coffee for all of us, but Pona tells me they don’t have any. I settle for some damn good tea.
Outside the windows, snow is falling again. In here, it’s a respite from the search for Kalle’s fiancée. My quest to recover my lost memory. Kalle’s quest to break the sorcerer’s curse. The Fire Realm’s threat against Kalle’s lands. The question of Kalle’s missing brother. I could pretty much stay here forever.
When our bellies are full and we’re ready to go, Pona magicks us back to the real world. I shiver, tugging on my hooded cloak as snow falls on my head. “Are we in Icedonia yet?”
“We’re getting near, yes,” Kalle says, taking matches from his pocket to light his lantern.
Hazel and Martin both go on alert, their bodies erect and their ears flicking around.
“What is it?” Kalle asks, even though we all know they can’t tell him.
And that’s when six white-clad guards surround us, holding the tips of their swords to our chests.
Dammit. I knew the calm couldn’t last.
Chapter Nineteen
KALLE
Ah. We found Icedonia.
The Ice Palace guards have the characteristic frost-white hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes of the residents of Icedonia. Icedonian skin tones and racial makeup are quite diverse; however, I’m told that once you live here, all your hair turns white. It makes the denizens of this realm very, very striking, especially those with a great contrast between their dark skin and snowy hair.
“We’re not here to threaten you,” I say, but they step closer.
I reach for my sword, but three of the guards jab the tips of their swords at me, and one grabs my lantern.
Hazel nips at the ankles of one of the guards, but he kicks at her, and she howls in pain.
“Hazel!” I yell.
Martin readies himself to try to gore one of the guards with his antlers, but I shake my head. He seems to get the idea and takes a step back, nudging Hazel, who appears mostly unharmed.
I clench my jaw. Three guards are pointing their weapons at Justice. “Let him go,” I bark, baring my teeth.
“Give us your sword,” the closest one says, advancing even closer to Justice.
I want to fight, but we’re surrounded. One of the guards nabs my sword out of its scabbard.
