Flash Fiction #409 -- Lost in Elsewhere/19

I felt better after we ate, and slept for a couple hours, though not well.  I had nightmares -- what a shock.  I couldn't help but feel like everything kept getting worse.

I had no idea what to do.  I didn't say so aloud.

We soon walked back through the Iceling city and back out into a winter storm.  I wore the sword at my side, wrapped in several layers of cloth with only the hilt showing.  I still felt a persistent cold spot on that side of my leg, but I was starting to get the feeling back in my fingers again.

So, I had a mythical sword now.  Akanthursta.   I glanced down at it and wondered what the weapon meant for my future.  The sword didn't talk.  It didn't try to take over my mind, either, so I counted that for good.

I'd wrapped in two cloaks against the cold.  I feared they'd be too heavy, and I'd end up leaving one behind on the snowy plain we would soon cross.  However, at least for the moment, I felt warm.  I even had Edmond in a sling with one cloak wrapped over him and secured with the belt to the makeshift sheath.  The other cloak hung loosely over both of us so that I could reach the sword if I needed to.

I had never heard Edmond purr so loudly.  He was a lovely warm counterpoint to the cold spot of the sword against my leg.

"A moment," Lord Snow said before we stepped out into that freezing snow.  "I have a thought."

He stood still for a moment and then gave a violent twitch.  Strands of fur flew everywhere, but a sweep of his paw, and a bit of magic, drew it all into a pile before him.

"Hold out your hands," Lord Snow said.

I did so.  Lord Snow breathed on the fur and then reached up with one huge paw and touched first my right hand and then the left. 

The fur came up, swirled around my hands, and became two incredibly soft and warm gloves.

"Wow!  This is great!"

"Touch the sword and see if it helps," Lord Snow suggested.

I did.  "I can barely feel the cold.  Thank you."

"Good."  The snow leopard sounded happy.  "They are keyed to you and will work like regular gloves, but no one else can wear them.  I should make a pair for Maggie as well.  And maybe a coat for Edmond."

Edmond purred louder.  Lord Snow laughed.

So it wasn't such a bad way to start yet another part of this journey.  The Icelings were able to point us in the right direction, too.  From what Lord Snow had gathered, we only had about ten miles to go to the edge of civilization.

I didn't ask where Maggie and her companion had gone, or where the dragon had gone either.  I thought it might be wise if I didn't know too much.  I'd made a bad mistake with the snowmen, even though I had instinctively not trusted them.  Now, with the worry about all of Elsewhere being in danger, I didn't trust my own decisions.  For now, I let Lord Snow lead the way.

I tried to figure out what I should be doing.  I suspected my father was in danger, along with the rest of the Council.  Maggie and Lady Lorla might have walked off into a new threat of their own, and with Five along with them.  That worried me, and not just because Five was so small.  She had no way to recognize danger, and she was far too brave.  She might get herself and the others in trouble.

And what about me?  Concentrate on our trouble.  Right now, it only consisted of walking behind Lord Snow, who at least had an idea of where to go.  Every few minutes, I tried to scan the horizon and get an idea of where we might be, but I saw nothing but white, flat land, and more falling snow.

Edmond had gone to sleep, of course.  For a moment, I thought to be annoyed -- but that passed.  It wasn't as though he didn't do his part.

So, walk and walk and walk ...

The ground trembled.

"What now?" I asked.  I couldn't even get enough enthusiasm to be annoyed, let alone worried.

"I don't know," Lord Snow said.  "My nose is too cold to smell anything."

The ground moved again. I looked at my feet and saw eddies of snow moving aside like water in a disturbed lake.

"Well, this doesn't look good.  Edmond, you might want to --"

The snow opened up, and we dropped.  Of course, we did.  I could see Lord Snow flailing as he tried to grab the edge, but in a moment he was tumbling straight down into the white abyss with the Edmond and me.

And we kept falling.  I did notice that we were not falling very fast, though.  Worry about splattering on some surface below -- which I could not see -- stopped worrying me so much as the thought of never finding the bottom of this hole.

"Why can't I get just a couple hours of sleep?" Edmond mumbled.  He was working his head up out of the cloak, his ears brushing against my chin.  "Oh, this is wonderful."

"Do -- do you want to fly?" I asked and looked upward.

I couldn't see the top of the hole now, either.  No top, no bottom.  Great.

"I'll just stay here for the moment," Edmond said.  He ducked his head back in and probably meant to go back to sleep.

"Lord Snow?" I called out to where he was falling, just a bit higher than me. 

"Still no idea," he said and sounded just as annoyed as I felt.

"Ha.  Maybe we've found Alice's hole into Wonderland."

And maybe I shouldn't have said that because things began to change...