Troth - Hand of the Kona - Chyril 25th - Late TT

[Vanadius]

As they passed through the massive outer barbican and outer curtain wall, chill breezes sighed and whispered through the vast courtyards and ice gardens that sprawled out before the mammoth fortress. Ephemeral voices could be heard in the misty arcades and porticoes, no more then disjointed, fleeting words on the wind.

On either side of the manicured ice gardens were two huge statues of ice or crystal that loomed in the forefront of their vision, shaped like Gryphons rising from the flames of some huge and undying fires. Wide areas of the crushed gravel paths led in patterns and concentric circles, both aesthetic and functional. Above their heads were the soaring walls, balconies, and a myriad of colored crystal windows and ornamentations. Intricately shaped verandas with delicately crafted railings stood out from the sheer blue walls and interconnected with covered walkways and verandas high above.

Their steps punched through the thin sheets of ice that covered much of the ground all around them. In the fading light, the bright cobalt walls began to dim to a dull indigo hue. Of guards or defenders, or even inhabitants there was no sign, just their four warm bodies in a sea of blue stone and ice.

On the other side of the gryphon sculptures a cavernous doorway loomed open against the sheer stone walls. The doors were constructed from iron bars, thick as a man's leg and ten times his height. Standing open and inviting, they resembled wings spreading open to soar.

The only thing that be made out from this distance was the head of a great white bear, sprawled on the floor with his massive paws stretched wide. It was a skin rug, laying huge and far reaching near the threshold of the chamber beyond.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex's eyes narrowed at the site of the bear rug. She slowed her pace and stopped her little party. Lori and Reiker had become quiet during the long climb to the palace. Hex had set a wicked pace and she had been relentless. The Kona was dead. Her world stood on the edge of a cold blade and she had absolutely no intention of getting cut. She was to be the one to do the cutting.

“Hold Langredoc...”

Hex held back the group with her left hand. Her right massaged the grip of her pole arm, she could feel the weight of the mace upon her back. She crouched and for her, the world seem to stop for a moment and she was able to take in every sight and sound. She licked her lips like a wolf to taste the air. She smelled and was filthy.

She was warrior and she would not meet her Queen any other way. Would she meet her Queen?

Hex stood and looked around. She did not expect to see any of her fellow warrior women lounging about, but she had expected to see some of the Guardian's people. Then again what did she know? After all it was the palace of a god, she needed nothing and no one. Who would be worthy of guarding a deity?

Hex stood and sighed. Had the worm come? Was this to be the place of her final battle or the beginning of the true Rudd?.

Hex shook her head, she knew it was not her time and that she was not done here yet. She still had to walk the wall of death. The worm was but a distraction, a test of her worth and prowess.

“Come Langredoc, take a deep breath and walk like a warrior. You enter here into the home of the Ice Queen, my Queen, the God of Trothgard.”

Hex walked boldly into the chamber before her. She was on guard and she faintly reached out with her power. She wanted to be ready for anything that was before her.

Most of all she wanted to have a cup of tea, just like she said she would.

Hex smiled her wicked little smile and chuckled to herself. She took a deep breath of the cold air...

[Langredoc]

Langredoc disliked the environment, and the words of Hex about her God or Goddess Queen was doing nothing to elevate his comfort level.

So the warrior stayed close to the woman, with his weapons ready....

To the man everything was to big, too cold and way too silent. The glances in Hex eyes also made Langredoc more and more jumpy, his instincts all shouting to be careful.

“Come Langredoc, take a deep breath and walk like a warrior. You enter here into the home of the Ice Queen, my Queen, the God of Trothgard.” these words of Hex resounded like a challenge to the warrior and he grinned.

"I don't know how it works with you Hex, but a follower of the Red Warrior is a warrior even when he crawls naked through the snow. Is it different for the Ice Queens followers ?" he drylee remarked.

Langredoc was not a fanatical religious nut cake as some many where nowadays. Tthe Red Warrior as being righteous and strong spirit had always appealed to him. So he would not wander away from him even if this was the doorstep of a other deity.. even when the deity would welcome him in. His loyalty was as simple as that.

[Vanadius]

Lori could feel the sharp bite of fear stinging through her, turning her bowels to water. In her last meeting with who she thought of as the Ice Queen, things had been a little different. The crystal spider had been intriguing and puzzling, and that cold dark chamber had less grandeur, and more importantly, less of a feeling of sickening dread.

"Perhaps..."

She started, her uncertainty showing. She swallowed roughly and began again. Feeling the confidence and faith from those who had sent her on her mission. Perhaps it was their ghosts, perhaps just the feeling of pride when they had sanctioned her, but the confidence returned.

"Perhaps I'll lag a bit behind for a moment or two. To care for the dogs and get them settled."

She cringed internally because of how much of a coward that would make her seem. But rather than face the looks, she busied herself with unpacking a few things from the sled so the dogs could be fed and watered.

Am I afraid? Perhaps. But it will just take a few moments to settle the dogs and follow.

She looked around at her surroundings, trying to stave off the twisting knife she felt in her gut.

~~~

Eyes opened.

For the first time in recent memory, blood and the beating of hearts could be heard. Not since the old days... Not since the great battles once raged...

There was something else too... The familiar tang of steel...

The eyes closed. They would soon be here, and the torments of man would soon begin again...

Come closer children... Come closer...

~~~

Hex's power revealed more of the same. Emptiness.

They crossed the huge skin run into the vast, round chamber beyond. The ceiling was lost in the gloom of the fading light. There was no furnishings, no furniture of any kind. Empty, bare walls echoed the sounds of their steps back to them.

Two halves of a grand stair led around the walls and upwards into darkness from either side. The same blue, roughly hewn stone and little else greeted them. Openings without ornamentation or doors led off into various parts of the stronghold.

Something licked at the edge of Hex's aetheric awareness. A bare hint of life. It started off so slowly and so quietly that their footsteps masked it. But it grew stronger, steadier and louder.

A heart beat. Not from above, but from deep below.

[Langredoc]

Langredoc watched the surroundings, they made him feel being watched and he had no idea why. It could not be that something lived here in this desolate environment. For a moment he wished that he was on a ship back to wherever.
With a murderer tailing you you at least knew what it was. This was feeling like a cold breath of death.... he shrugged.

"Perhaps I'll lag a bit behind for a moment or two. To care for the dogs and get them settled." Lori's voice said.

It was not a good thing to let her wander of alone... so with a swift turn and a few steps he made his way to the lady. His short sword found his place in his scabbard before he stretched his arm to lay a hand on Lori's shoulder.

Fear surrounded the woman, as would it surround any sane person... A soft smile appeared on his face while he said... "The dogs know better how the world is then we do Lori. They can take care of themselves... they run when danger approaches, what is the smartest thing to do, it keeps them alive as they are ruled by fear. Determination is the only thing that makes us different, don't let fear cloud your judgement. Shall we let Hex go on alone, she is strong and can handle a lot. Maybe... though.. with three we are even stronger, and able to face the possible danger better. We could share the fear, so its less, and we give each out courage so it shall be more.. "

Langredoc's eyes focused on Lori's while he waited for a answer, whatever it would be, it would be a good answer. He had promised to protect her.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex stood motionless in the chamber. Yes it is there... The heartbeat.

Moving with caution Hex moved into the room and stood before the bear skin rug for a few flickers before moving into the vast chamber beyond.

The faint beat of the heart...

Hex sensed that it was below and scanned the room for the stairs down but found none. She stood still and focused on the heart as she walked around the room trying to feel the way to it. Which door, which passageway? Do I need to go up before down?

Riddles were never her strong point. Lori seemed lost and Reiker had all but become mute. Langredoc held his course, as she knew he would. She could see the doubt in his eyes though. She cared less. She, Hex da`Bergliin had finally made it to the palace of the Queen and the worm himself would not stop her now.

Hex focused on the feeling while she passed doors, feeling for the way in the darkness that was this path.

[Vanadius]

OOC: Don't worry yourselves about the synch event. With travel and distance, you were already on the 25th. We'll proceed normally with this thread.


Lori appreciated his kindness and concern. She took a moment to steel her fraying nerves and collect herself.

"I'm ready. Let us go forward."

~~~

The heartbeat grew louder, so loud in fact that it might have been surprising that the others didn't seem to hear it. Lori and Langredoc entered a bit behind her, but the vast emptiness of the chamber wouldn't allow for anyone or anything to hide, so they caught up with her easily.

There were many doors and arched passageways that led in nearly every direction, but a single cobalt colored point of light sparkled in one of the doorways. When they approached it, the door opened before them silently. No one stood in the chamber beyond, and there was no indication of who or what opened the door. It was as if the little blue sparkle had done it.

The light danced around them and then shot down the corridor at a rapid pace before stopping at yet another door. The door to this portal opened as well, and before them loomed a long stair descending down into darkness.

[Langredoc]

A soft squeeze in Lori''s shoulder was all the answer Langredoc gave her. He was proud of the woman, it was not easy to overcome ones fear.

The had learned that the hard way, fear would always be a part of his life, but he made sure that he was not ruled by it. After releasing the woman he turned and followed Hex, his weapons ready for action once again.

While moving the tips of his swords moved like the heads of snakes, ready to strike at anything that came near. Meanwhile his eyes searched for danger in every corner that his mind could think of, still his eyes would move back to Lori to check on her as well.

The gut feeling of the warrior screamed out that something was amiss here, even though so far nothing threatening appeared. To many doors and hallways, all with their own shadows. His eyes widened when the cobalt coloured light opened the door, the fact that it made no sound added to its eeriness.

"Hex, this is too easy... and its magic... something bad is going to happen. I can feel it in my bones !" the man hissed towards the woman.

He considered once again to pick up Lori and to leave the building, then he sighed, if Hex would go on, religious nut cake that she could be, he would follow. He would not leave before he knew what the danger was.....

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Many bad things were going to happen..

Hex turned to Langredoc with mirth in her eyes. In the place of her usual wicked grin was replaced by the womans full laughter. As the sounds of Hex's laughter died in the listless air of the chamber, Hex walked up to Lori's protector.

"Yes, bad things are going to happen. Odds are that we are going to do some of them and try to make sure that they are not done to us."

Hex shrugged, seemingly bemused by the angst of her travelling companion.

The light danced in her field of vision, as if calling her, leading her. Hex did not care if it was her doom or her glory.

Langredoc looked to her as if she was a fanatic, heading recklessly toward the uncertain, unknown and foreboding doom.

Yes friend, there is magic here...

Hex turned and hummed a warriors song that her mother taught her as she quickened her pace after the floating light into the descending darkness before her.

[Vanadius]

Pitch black stairs made for a slow decent. Careful and cautious they made their way down, Hex's humming seemingly echoing loudly in the narrow stair. The heartbeat grew even louder to Hex, if that were possible, and it drummed in her head resoundingly.

The first landing brought a turn and more stairs after a bit of fumbling about. There was no second landing, the stairs terminated at a wide dais, and an open archway stood before them. Dim bluish light could be seen, and even after their eyes had adjusted to the dark, the light was barely discernible and hazy.

A cold mist covered the floor to the extent that it obscured their feet.

Come children.... You have arrived...

The voice was heard yet again only inside their minds, but something else could be heard by all.

A scraping of wood or bone, or perhaps even claw on rough stone.

Up ahead, set at an angle, was another opening, and emanating from it was the source of the bluish light. It bathed the misty floor before it with an eerie glow and the dance of a shadow moved within.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex stopped humming. Her face shifted to one of serious intent, now was the time for business.

This was not exactly what Hex was expecting, then again, she really did not know what to expect.

She had done her part, she had followed the land to this point and her, she had followed the magic down into the heart of the palace. The heart, where it beats.

Dim pale light illuminated the cold chamber showing Hex the flicker of a shadow within the room.

Hex kept moving, silently now but just as quick. There would be no room for surprise.

Hex arrived at the edge of the door. In that flicker she could feel the tension in her party and the adrenalin kick into her veins.

One quick fluid motion and she was standing in the doorway looking in...

[Langredoc]

Langredoc kept pace with Hex, he got less sure about the women by the flicker. So he made sure that Lori was in a arms reach.

The words spoken and humming of the warrior woman made him more jumpy then ever... His weapons always searching for invisible targets. He almost wanted to shout at the woman to stay quiet, then got back in control. This place was clearly working on his nerves. The near full darkness felt like a blanket trying to strangle him. And he wished once again to be outside this hole, he would rather die in the open then inside a cold tome.

Come children.... You have arrived...


The voice inside his head made him literary jump up. His blades searching for the source of the voice. "Warrior stands" he rumbled more like a curse then a battle cry. Hex swiftly made her way, although Langredoc made no further move, he had heard a different sound as well... a scraping. Besides that... his gut feeling was wailing like doomed spirits in nether...

So he placed his feet in battle position. "Stay behind me...." he said to Lori.. the tone could have been like "Nice weather today.." as casual it was.

[Vanadius]

Beyond the arch was a vast chamber, its cavernous ceiling nearly lost in the dim light. The entire northernmost wall was the source of the pale, ghostly glow. Across that entire span from floor to ceiling, was the same ice wall that they had seen when they had first arrived. It shone with that same indigo hue, and frosty tendrils of mist and fog played about it's surface.

Immured in the wall, seven figures could be barely discerned. They were roughly the size of humans, and frozen in different positions and postures. One looked like he had the head of a white bear. Another wore a white shroud or veil. Perhaps more details could be determined, but something else in the room demanded attention.

On the western wall was a large stone dais, upon which rested a Gryphon. The magnificent beast tossed its head and gazed at them serenely. It's talons, long and as sharp as daggers, scraped on the stone as the creature gripped the stone, as if ready to take flight. It's splendid and glorious wings were folded along its back, the plumage still striking despite the subdued and monochromatic light.

The Children have arrived... The Warrior and the First of the Last are here... But the Shaper and Chronicler... They are nowhere to be seen...

The cobalt sparkle danced in one of the creature's eyes.

Be welcomed and be warned, for you now tread on the holiest and most sacred of ground, and they are watching...

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex took in the room.

That was unexpected...

Perhaps the words she was looking for was that the entire idea of what was going on here was taking her breath away...or perhaps she was just holding it too long.

Hex looked from the Gryphon to the seven figures and back again. Images of the battle that saw so many if its kind, and her friend killed flooded her thoughts for a flicker.

Hex strode into the chamber walking towards stone that the Gryphon clutched within its grasp.

"I, Hex da`Bergliin have come, as has Lori Margeir. The Chronicler seems to be wishing to write his own stories and the Shaper with him."

What else was she going to say?

Hex stood before the beast, waiting, ready and with her eyes and mind open to what was going to happen next. What that was of course, she had no idea.

[Langredoc]

Langredoc became aware of the creature while following Hex.

The Children have arrived... The Warrior and the First of the Last are here... But the Shaper and Chronicler... They are nowhere to be seen...

Be welcomed and be warned, for you now tread on the holiest and most sacred of ground, and they are watching...

New thoughts came up, about that this was not his show. Nether !! it was not even his religion. Maybe he should wait outside.

In the end it was fear for Lori's well-being and in a minor extend Hex's that made him go on.

He decided even to shut his mouth and just keep his eyes open. His preference for the red Warrior could or would not be really appreciated here, and the creatures beak and claws, well they where impressive.

Langredoc was glad that he would not something like "The warrior" clearly Hex, or "the First of the Last" probably Lori. He had nothing to do with cold and icy Goddess of the North.

The warrior just waited for the drama to enfold, after Hex spoke her words. Quickly he recalled the route out of the place. He could need it to drag Lori back to safety....

[Vanadius]

The Gryphon tossed its head proudly again.

They watch, dear children. They watch for the signs. They are wondering if you could be the ones. When your kind was last faced, there was cruelty and malice. There was evil and dominance and enslavement, and the power was split among the mighty warrior maidens...

An impossible blue sparkle flashed and streaked towards Reiker, striking him down and blasting him halfway across the chamber where he slid and lay still. It happened so quickly, it was hard to even tell where the light had originated from.

He is alive and well... But his voice was so loud and brash. Speak softly now...

~~~

Lori's fear in seeing the entombed people in the wall and the Gryphon began to rise in her like a tide. Her teeth were chattering as much from the fear as much as from the cold.

The blue sparkle flashed past her and struck Reiker and the world was spinning. She could feel herself falling and everything went black...

~~~

For Langredoc, standing near to Lori, he could sense movement from her and her knees buckled as she fainted. She fell forward to the ice and stone beneath their feet, leaving he and Hex to face this alone. He could protect her in many ways, but perhaps not from herself.

The Bergliin are all but dead and destroyed. The daughter of the Yrsa, whom you know as the Kona, had wisdom, but squandered the Lore of the ancients, and was content to bicker in petty squabbles and empty conflicts...

The Embol has returned, bringing death, bringing life, bringing change, bringing balance. Can you see the signs as well? Can you hear the horns braying their call to arms. They call for Sjovolkor...

Will you strike off the chains and rise to fight? Have you the wisdom to see who stands as friends and who stands as foes? Armies march. The White Men are coming? Do you have the courage and the will to face them? Do you have enough blood and hubris to fight in the dying struggle of Sjovolkor...

Sjovolkor...

Sjovolkor...

Sjovolkor...

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Flicker...flicker...flicker...

We are still cruel and full of malice.

The blue light shot out and struck Reiker sending him to the floor. Lori soon followed as she fainted. Hex was aware but impassive to the plight of her small band. This was a place that one had to face on a personal level. She was glad that Langredoc was still standing. It spoke to his character and to that of another.

The Bergliin are all but dead, squandered the Lore of the ancients, bringing balance,Can you see the signs as well? Can you hear the horns braying their call to arms. They call for Sjovolkor...

Hex took in a breath. Her head spun as there was so much to take in and so much to consider. The voice did not stop...

Have you the wisdom, armies march, the White Men are coming, Sjovolkor

Hex let out her breath. It was all starting to make sense to her now. She did not respond right away, she let a few flickers pass, turning into a few burns. Her family and friends were dead and the world as she knew it had forever changed. She had known it all along, it was just the first time someone other than her had voiced it.

"It was I who has always challenged the Kona for I found her distracted in things that were not of Trothgard. I had seen our ways being melted into the sea and it made me sick. I left to be called back to that which I do now. To find out that the one person whom truly agreed with me was Skaali. The irony of such a thing is not lost upon me. Yes, I see the cutting of the weak and the ill and I see the eventual return to balance. it will not be easy and wounds will fester for some time."

Hex glanced back to Langredoc and gave him a wink to let him know that he was not out of her mind.

"Yes, I have felt the building of the armies. I have see the battle but once in a dream, a dark dream of many deaths. I know not the white men from personal battle but I know of them, and upon our meeting they will die. I am no fool though and I know that I alone am not strong enough to do this task before me. A good warrior knows when to fight alone and when to gather brethren or those that will stand in their place."

Flicker...flicker...

"I have the courage, the will, the blood and the hubris. It seems the time has come to put aside the petty political struggle that wages upon us. I will know if I have the wisdom after..."

Sjovolkor...

"I have been called to the 'Dying Struggle'. I shall prevail in the 'Last Battle' or Trothgard and all of the world shall know of my failure."

Hex looked back to Langredoc...

"Ready to save the world as we know it?"

She winked and smirked but there was no mirth in her face.

[Langredoc]

A curse almost left the lips of the warrior when Lori suddenly fainted and went for the floor... The man realised that if the woman would stay that way she would die of cold. Besides that he could not run away this way.

Always practical he decided to do the only thing that he could do, so his short sword returned to its scabbard and he stepped aside towards the young woman. He dared not to place his other weapon away as well, so he kept that one while he wrapped Lori into her cloak and with a quick move of his body placed her over his shoulder.

He was happy that the woman was not as tall and heavy as Hex, who seemed to communicate with the dragon something like creature.

Her words had no meaning to Langredoc although they sounded interesting, it was clearly that Hex had not forgotten him or Lori, because she still checked on them.

Then the woman said "Ready to save the world as we know it?"

It got Langredoc as a surprise, as he could not image anything threatening a whole world. Not that it really mattered because the whole world had some people and places in it that he liked, and that was something worth fighting for... Still he answered as usual how he thought.

"No, and I don't think anybody would be... I just wonder what price the world demands to be saved...." He said drylee.

Maybe Lori had taken the best way out.... from the warriors point of view at least.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

"They demand ignorance."

Hex smirked and snickered. The tales of Sjovolkor were told to children as bed time tales. All in Trothgard knew that one day they would be called to the wall of death to fight in the glory of the last battle. A battle to aid their Queen to keep evil from flooding over the world.

It amused Hex that such things were not known and never talked about off the isle.

Her focus was not on bed time stories now but rather on the Gryphon and his words.

[Vanadius]

A heartbeat of silence...

Then another...

The great Gryphon took a step off the stone platform. Then another. Then another. It was easy to guess this was no attack. If it were, the magificent beast would not choose to move so slowly. The thing quickened its steps and began to walk from the room, leaving the newly arrived quartet to face whatever came next alone.

You say you hear the call, but are you truly prepared...? Do you truly have the will to prevail? There is no answer but yes or no. When the last battle comes, the Gods will know the truth of your words.

Strike off the chains dear children... Here are the ones destined to fight in Sjovolkor... Free them so that they might fulfill their ancient destiny...

Free them so that they might live again...

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex watched as the mighty Gryphon started to move and then left the room.

Putting her hand out for Langredoc to keep himself under control Hex took a few steps into the room to get a better look at the images frozen in the wall. One thing she had understood after a while is that it never hurts to know too much and it does hurt to know too little. Her mind raced to try and link the figures to ancient lore her mother had taught her and the images that had adorned the temples.

Hex also wanted to know who the beast had spoken to as Hex was feeling pretty free...

[Langredoc]

No nether chains on me ... Langredoc concluded while wondering what the creature was meaning by freeing and ancient destinies. So while me made sure that there was enough distance between him and the beaked thing. He would take no risk with a uncontentious female hanging over his shoulder.... He wished that he was far away, drinking a beer... It would not be the last time to wish that he guessed. So he just nodded to Hex.

"Who are the chained Hex ? Those ice people ? Then can you free them so they save the world and we can have a beer ? After all this is your Goddess I assume.."

The idea of being responsible to save the world was not really appealing to the warrior, Protecting his own life was difficult enough.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex shook her head as she walked further into the room.

"I do not know Langredoc, I thought he talk of Skaali and I but now I am unsure. The gods forget that we do not hold all the knowledge of the ancients in our heads like they do. Whomever needs to be freed, we must do this thing. Either they are going to free us or we are going to free them or maybe something else is going to happen."

Hex paused in her thought for a flicker.

"Either way I think tea might be out."

Hex snickered and approached the wall.

[Vanadius]

Sjovolkor was a dreaded word that had been whispered and revered among the clans and throughout the vast tapestry the oral traditions and history of Trothgard. The names associated with the dying struggle were lost and forgotten, faded into the mists of time to all but the most ancient places, and the tiny handful of those that tended to the old world.

Hex's distant memory betrayed her when it came to remembering any details, like peering through a fog to read a book that lay a stones throw away. Sketchy details about great heroes names Wulfhere the White Raven, and Siegbert the Spear drifted in an out of the shadowy corners of her mind. They were nine she thought, although seven sounded correct too. There was something about a skull-splitter, and about Haakon the Nimble that danced quicksilver and elusive in the deep recesses of memory.

~~~

The dim, ghostly light made details about the figures difficult to discern. There were definitely seven of them, and now with a closer look, at least one was shaped and looked like a woman. The bear headed man was tall and lean, and powerfully built, and the white shrouded one was impossible to see. Looking even closer was difficult at best. The mist the played about the wall of ice obscured many of the details, but fleeting glimpses of white or metal were certainly evident about the figures legs and feet.

The strange voice had fallen silent, which was perhaps more disconcerting than hearing it for so long. The Gryphon's talons clicked and scraped on the stones behind them, but grew distant until they could no longer be heard, leaving an overpowering silence to linger in the vast chamber with them.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

I should have paid closer attention to those tapestries in the temple...

Hex let distant disappointments flitter away from her mind and brought her focus back to the task at hand.

Blue ice...

Hex reached her hand out to touch the wall and then drew short, turning to Langredoc.

"You are a mercenary bodyguard. For this I cannot fault you for I once was the very same. I ask you now to strike off a 'chain' as it were and forget that you have asked for payment. I ask that you do a thing, a task, not because I will pay you but because you believe in it. You believe in the Red Warrior. You believe that this god guides you with his hand. His hand is the hand of righteous war upon the side of the Father. My queen is all that is of storms and ice and that which is the essence of this land. You must believe that in this bitter frigid land, divided by hate that you were sent for a reason other than money, wealth or chance. Find that reason and you will find true freedom."

Hex paused a flicker.

"I will bring this Isle back from the brink of death. I am the Witch of the North..."

Hex turned and reached out grasping for the power as she touched the wall. She wanted to feel the ice and push it back until she had freed the first in line from their icy prison.