Page 10 of The Lone Wolf Café
Why?
In all my years as a werewolf, I’d never seen or heard of this happening. Werewolves were taught to have total control of their shifting from a young age. A fully grown adult suddenly losing control of their abilities like this was unheard of.
But I had no one to ask for help. Hollenboro was dozens of miles away, and I was surrounded by witches who would persecute me if they found out what I really was.
So get ahold of yourself,I scolded.And think.
My eyes flicked back to the locked door.Witches have portals, don’t they? What better place to keep ingredients cold than in snow?
Which meant I needed to open that door to get the butter.
This time, I opened the door a fraction of an inch, peering through the narrow gap to see what was on the other side. Thankfully, the snowfall had ceased, and all I could see across the horizon was a vast, pristine canvas of white. It was uneven; dipping and peaking into tiny mountains, and I assumed there were large rocks buried beneath the snow. It was difficult to tell with the fog how high up I was, but I knew in October there was only one place that would have this much snow so early in the season.
The portal led to a mountaintop.
I chuckled.Cold all year round. It’s genius.
I mustered up the courage to open the door fully, and the blistering cold cut through my thin clothing and sent unpleasant shockwaves down to my fingertips. I took a deep breath and wrapped my cloak tighter around myself, ensuring it covered my ears and tail. As I went to take a step into the frigid nothingness, a sudden shift in the snow sent me jolting backward.
I blinked. It looked like an animal of some sort, lifting its head from where it had been buried in the snow. Except… it wasn’t an animal.
The creature was made entirely of ice, cut and smoothed into prisms that gleamed like crystal. It had a slightly amorphous figure, somewhere between a wolf and a fox, with pointy ears and a long, bushy tail. It didn’t have distinguishable eyes, but I could tell it sensed my presence. It cooed, cocked its head, and bounded over to me like a puppy.
Okay… at least it’s friendly.
My father hadn’t taught me much about witch culture, and Hollenboro’s tiny communal library had few books on the subject. But I had seen elementals before – they were spirits made from various essences of nature that took on vague animal forms. They were known to be helpful and docile, with various folk tales describing heroic acts of saving magical beings in danger.
This ice elemental was clearly accustomed to someone opening this door, and it looked like it was awaiting orders.
Orders… for ingredients?
“Uh… hello, little, um… ice elemental,” I greeted awkwardly. The creature wagged its fluffy tail in response. “Can you show me where I can find butter?”
I feared if the elemental’s purpose wasn’t to assist me, my request for such a menial task would upset it. I knew such creatures could be dangerous when angered. The last thing I needed was a flurry of icicle spears launched at my chest.
Thankfully, I was wrong. It let out a noise somewhere between a bark and a squeak and took off through the snow, bounding and hopping like a rabbit. I followed at a slow, clumsy pace, as my fall boots weren’t ideal for trudging through calf-height snow.
The elemental stopped a few dozen feet away, which was a relief since the mountain was incredibly rocky and my boots weren’t waterproof. I could already feel melted snow seeping through them, and it made my toes feel like ice cubes. I couldn’t stay here long without risking frostbite.
The elemental brought me to a tiny den on the side of a large rock. From this angle, I could tell we reallywereon top of a mountain. A very tall mountain. I swallowed, forcing my gaze away from the edge to keep my height-induced vertigo in check.
The elemental dug through a pile of ingredients – everything from dairy products to homemade popsicles and even a few frozen pizzas. Just as I began to lose sensation in my toes, the elemental finally emerged with a full stick of butter in its jaws.
“Thank you!” I exclaimed, smiling at the little icy creature. It peered up at me like a dog, its tail still wagging, and I realized it wanted to be petted.
Its crystalline head was surprisingly warm, as if there were some sort of energy deep inside the little elemental that gave it life. I wondered if they truly were physical manifestations of nature, or the result of some magical experiment from long ago.
A tiny ray of sunlight poked through the fog, illuminating one of the diamond-like facets of its icy head. The ice elemental sparkled in a rainbow of colors, and I let out a laugh. Despite standing on a frigid, icy mountain, with shaking extremities and chattering teeth, it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.
I waved goodbye, and the elemental leaped up and down, barking and chittering as I walked through the heavy portal door.
I practically melted into the wood once I closed the door, relieved to be back in the cozy warmth of the kitchen. I peered down at the stick of butter in my hands. It was as cold as the mountain had been, but that only excited me more. Ice-cold butter was the secret to rich, fluffy scones.
I had done it. And the best part was, my ears and tail were gone. I’d been so distracted by the little ice elemental I hadn’t noticed them disappear.
But as I looked up from the ingredients in my hands, I realized I had a new problem.
Rowena was standing in front of me.
