Ice Guardian (A Sacred Journey Short Story) Read online

she thought she was out of any immediate danger, the ground cracked beneath her and before she had a chance to move, a column of ice shot from beneath the snow and lifted her into the air. Without thinking, she split her sword into twin daggers and stabbed the blades into the thick ice to prevent her from sliding to her death upon spears of ice that littering the ground, pointing skyward. When the ice stopped growing, and everything lay still, Amaya could see past the large pile of rubble that was the ice golems home, and the large, black as night gates that lay in the distance, five times as tall as the golem.

  The ice vibrated, and her stomach dropped when she saw the golem charge, shoulder first, into the tower of ice like a boulder. Everything shook and the ice groaned under the pressure, cracked veins tearing through the surface. When the ice tower crumbled into pieces, Amaya plummeted towards the monster who stood in the hailstorm, swatting the glass-like pieces away like flies. Luckily, she slipped through his arms, narrowly avoiding the sharpness of his arm, and landed in the deep snow. Cold darkness surrounded her when the ground cracked and shook violently and the snow slid through it like an hourglass. With nothing to grab hold of, she slid and plunged into the hole. Snow fell thickly around her and when she landed, blanketed her fall.

  Shaking the snow from her hair, the entire cavern shook violently as the golem pounded his giant fists against the ground. The small hole cracked around the edges, causing Amaya to jump to her feet. She had to move before the giant managed to create a hole big enough to fit.

  Left and right, all she saw was rough rock covered in a layer of shimmering ice. When another violent shake vibrated around her, causing her ears to ring, she ran to her left, weapon held tight and fast in her hand, ready for any danger that might jump out at her. Soon, the sounds became nothing more than a distant sound and the cavern had brightened somewhat.

  She saw nothing but ice surrounding her, hanging from the top of the cave, and rising up from the ground like sculptures. Light from tiny cracks above shone onto them, making them sparkle with a rainbow of colours and in the midst, faces stared, frozen in time. Beautiful creatures dressed elegantly and the long table they were seated at, filled with an assortment of foods and drinks, only partially eaten with forks stranded eternally at their parted lips. Stood at the head of the table, dressed in a long sleeved, floor length gown covered with crystals, stood the most beautiful creature Amaya had ever laid eyes on. Atop her crystallised curled hair, a jewelled crown.

  The Ice Queen.

  Amaya took a step towards the Queen, entranced. She'd stumbled across a myth by complete accident. From how the stories went, the Queen had disappeared thousands of years ago without a word, and was never found. Yet no one had ever lain eyes on her beautiful face before. Apparently her heart was so cold, she could turn you to ice within seconds, all the while eating her breakfast.

  Amaya hadn't believed the stories she heard growing up, but staring at the woman now, staring into her eyes , she should have known better. What happened? Did she lose control of her power, and turn everything to ice?

  The Queen’s right arm was outstretched, a look of mild surprise etched forever on her beautiful face. Her fingers pointing out, as if to ward off the danger that had crept into her home, but had been too late to stop it.

  Following the direction the Queen had gestured in, she saw distant shadows flicker and raised her weapon, ready for a fight. Nothing jumped out at her. Curious, she cautiously headed towards the movement, the Queen forgotten.

  Silence hung thick in the air, broken occasionally by echoes of howls in the distance. Despite the part of the cavern she stood in seeming to be abandoned, she knew how fast creatures that dwelled in the snowy plains could move, and kept her weapon out.

  After walking around a large ice shard protruding from the ground, she was astonished to see a large black crystal before her, oval in shape and only as tall as she stood, seeming to rest on the ground with fire flickering inside it. Raising a hand, she touched it, surprised at the smooth coolness of the crystal and ran her fingers along it as she moved around it. Mystified.

  Silver flashed. Encased in the black crystal and surrounded by the strange fire was a sword with a silver blade that had strange markings on it, and a black hilt. A dragon stood on the top with its wings wrapped around the hilt, an orb of light in the middle.

  “Bhusar’s geho,” Amaya breathed. Dragon’s fire.

  Dragons had been killed long before she was even born after King Nyx had killed all of his children and subjects in a fit of rage. He burned down his home and perished himself.

  Of course, there were rumours of dragons still existing. A deep cave within a large mountain on the other side of Khrella woods had been given the name Drago Cave. Rumour had been going around that the Kings daughter lived there, killing unsuspecting creatures that came across her.

  Dragon fire was known for its eternal burn but hadn’t been seen since the dragons were alive. To see it encasing a sword legends only spoke about made Amaya forget all about her task in hand. The sword was said to be made from the scales of dragons infused with poison from a creature cursed, and the dragon on top was said to be guarding the heart of a creature able to destroy dark magic born from lies, deceit, murder and betrayal.

  Amaya thought of the Queen, frozen for all eternity. Is it her heart the dragon protects? And who is it protecting it from? She knew of only one creature who could give her the answers she needed. Muzureo, a rare phoenix demon. The fire that burned through her veins was the only thing that could melt away obsidian, and Muzureo was the only one of her kind. I need to speak to her, find out how to get the weapon. Find out what's going on.

  A crunching sound disrupted the silence and Amaya spin in time to see a ball covered in scales, roll to a stop in front of her.

  Everything else remained still and silent.

  With alert eyes, she crept forward. The pale blue-scaled ball remained still. Another step and still, the ball didn’t move. Curiosity getting the better of her, despite the danger it might pose, she took another step towards it, fully alert while the scar on her back tingled from when she had been too careless in the company of a small creature that turned out to be vicious.

  Using the tip of her sword, she touched it. It sprang apart, making Amaya jump back with her sword in front of her. Big blue eyes stared curiously. Reaching just below her knees, covered in white fur with a long tail that ended with a tuft, and ears larger than its entire body, Amaya couldn’t help her heart melting at the sight.

  The little creature tilted its head to the side and lifted its large ears up before covering its eyes with them.

  Amaya’s eyebrows rose in wonder, when one of its ears lifted up and it peaked at her, before covering its eyes again. She smiled and crouched down, moving her sword away and reached out. The creature uncovered both eyes and stared at her hand curiously. It looked down at its own tiny, clawed hand, at Amaya's and then back on its own again.

  Amaya smiled, encouraging it, and held her breath when it slowly reached out.

  The entire cave shook violently and the creature wrapped its ears around itself and rolled around her, grabbing the backs of her leg with a frightened squeak. Amaya raised her sword when large pieces of the cave fell from above. She spun, scooped up the little creature in her arms and ran as fast as she could without glancing back. zho’unoream were chasing her.

  Resembling jagged pieces of ice with wide mouths, long limbs and sharp teeth and claws, the zho’unoream were vicious in every sense of the word. Able to camouflage themselves, they preyed on anything and everything, preferring their meals alive rather than dead. When nothing was available, they cannibalise their young and devoured the weakest amongst themselves.

  The hairs on the back of Amaya’s neck tingled and she shivered before throwing herself sideways, landing on her injured thigh and stumbling to the ground. Two of the zho’unoream crashed into each other, sending fractures of ice flying in all directions. The little creature jumped in front of h
er and spread its ears out wide. The sharp projectiles bounced off the small creatures scales, the force propelling them back towards the zho’unoream. When the little creature wrapped its ears around itself and rolled away, Amaya didn’t wait to see what happened. She jumped up and ran in the direction of the ball. She could kill them, but with the numbers they had against her, she wasn’t stupid enough to stop and fight them.

  One of the zho’unoream jumped in front her as she weaved through the crystallised ice. She spun with her sword outstretched and winced at the vibration that ran through her hand and up her arm on impact.

  The creature emitted a high-pitched scream that shook the ground beneath her feet and cracked the ice surrounding her. Without warning, she was thrown back into one of the protruding rocks and her weapon slipped from her fingers as she crashed to the ground. Pain flared through her back while stars danced in front of her unfocused eyes, but when she sensed the zho'unoream advanced.

  With her weapon a few feet away, she knew without a doubt she couldn’t reach it in time.

  Each creature opened its mouth wide to taste the air with its lolling tongue, trying to locate her. She knew without a doubt if she didn’t move, they would find her and without a weapon, it would be fatal,