The polar bear saw me as well. I was closer to her than I had expected, and besides, she was a lot larger than anything that should have been out here. She growled and lifted paws with claws as long as my arm.
I swerved as she started to yell in anger -- then rage changed to despair, and she cried. Every breath created more wind and snow. She looked at me again, her eyes narrowed, the ice of tears on her colossal face. I held off a little out of reach and wondered how I could deal with her.
"Where is she?" the bear asked. Not a demand. I heard fear in her growling voice and more ice in the air. "What have you done with her?"
"I've taken no one," I said and tumbled a bit because I lot a little hold on my magic. I pulled myself back with some effort and held there in the sky. I didn't want to drop into the ocean. "You are Winter of the Northland, are you not? What are you doing in the human lands?"
"They took her and brought her here. My sweet daughter." Her face changed, the eyes narrowing --
"It was not me. Others have lost things, though you are the first I heard who has lost a child. Please stop the storm. You will kill others' children, and that won't help us find your daughter."
I said those words while facing a growing glare of anger. I dared not lift my hand because Lady Snow (a good enough name) could easily misinterpret that move as the start of an attack when all I really wanted to do was put a slight shield between us so that I didn't entirely freeze.
"You are here, fae, to help?" she asked, her face softening this time.
"I will do all that I can to help you get your daughter back," I promised. A fae's promise has power, and I saw a slight whisper of hope in her face. "You need not do this alone. I am also working with a Sylph who is in human form. Can you --"
"I will go with you," she said, and at the same time, her shape changed and contracted so that I looked down at a tall, but not outlandishly so, woman with long white hair and wearing a plain white pantsuit.
"Yes," I said and settled beside her. The storm had died down, and even the iceberg had started to disappear. "This is helpful. Remember that humans are not part of the trouble we face. Something far more powerful has moved in here. Why did you choose Boston? Why this location?"
"This is where I last felt her, following by sweet child to here before she disappeared. She blinked and looked around, her focus on the things human around us. "These humans are blind to such power. It cannot be them."
I only dared not agree since I knew no more than that and didn't want her to realize it. The storm, at least, had already died down to a slight dusting of snow on a breeze. No one really moved yet since it would take a bit for the ice to melt, but that was good. I wanted Lady Snow away from the bay and the area where the storm had obviously centered.
Not that the humans would figure out that it was her, but I didn't want anyone to set her off again. I could feel the tension in her body. It echoed in mine.
She, of course, had no trouble with the snow, while I had to skip along to keep up and also to curse aloud. I still wasn't entirely sure what I dealt with here except that she was an aspect of nature and clearly related to the winter world. Not winter as a season so much, but instead winter in places where it should never leave. She did not belong here in this place of tall buildings and yelling -- often frightened -- humans. Truth be told, I didn't enjoy being here with them, either, when they were in this state. Because humans do not have magic to fall back on, they're unpredictable and sometimes violent.
I knew where Sylph had gone, at least. I thought she might have a better chance of dealing with Lady Snow than a lost fae male right now. This was not the assignment I had taken on --
Or maybe it was. Perhaps I had not noticed how this trouble fit into the few small things I'd heard before my 'exile' to the human lands. The fae hadn't known much back then. Now I wondered ... I wondered if the Queen of the fae still held her crown.
I hadn't heard from home for a long time. I had thought they had begun to trust me out on my own. Now ...
I turned my attention back to Lady Snow, who looked around with growing wonder and distrust missed in equal measure. I led her straight toward the subway without any undo sight-seeing. We were starting to get in among other people, and they spared quick looks at her. I realized some of those stares were because she and I had no coats, and the weather had been chill enough that most people had been wearing them. We didn't look bothered by the storm, either, while everyone else seemed half panicked still.
I could feel Sylph off in the direction where we had met with the pixies and gremlins. We had to be careful now, especially since Lady Snow was drawing so much attention and suddenly disappearing -- really, disappearing -- would not be a good idea.
I wasn't entirely sure what to do now. Sylph would have sensed us, and I hoped that she would join us and help -- though adding another strange-looking person to the mix --
Lady Snow suddenly let out a wail, and the subway filled with the roar of wind and the feel of ice.
No comments:
Post a Comment