Cold wind wailed through the icy mountains, cutting right through Delta's three layers of clothing and chilling her to the bone. She shivered and pulled her hat lower over her ears, but it was a futile attempt. Just the short exposure to the wind made her gloved fingers sting; she shoved them back in her pockets for a brief reprieve.

Her foot caught on something buried underneath the snow, and Delta plunged face first into the snow, spluttering as it filled her eyes, nose, and mouth. The cold sunk deep into her skin, sending an intense chill down her spine.

Kaia Tor's voice, muffled by the screeching wind, reached Delta's snow-filled ears. "Keep up, Delta."

"Coming," muttered Delta, lifting her face from the snow. She pushed herself up and struggled to catch up to the small group lead by Kaia, stumbling through the knee deep snow. They abruptly stopped, giving Delta enough time to reach them.

"There's the village," said Kaia, point to the dark valley below them.

Delta squinted at the hazy mess of black and gray and silver that was the valley. Thick and heavy snow was being flung about by the vicious wind, creating an almost impenetrable wall of snowflakes between them and the village. Perhaps she could spot an indistinct speck of orange wavering in the storm, but it was so faint it could have been her imagination.

Kaia stepped forward, beginning their descent down the steep slope. Sighing, Delta started after her, only to trip over another buried object, this time finding herself tumbling down the slope. The world turned to a dizzy blur of white and gray and she rolled down the hill, frigid cold seeping through her entire body.

Just as she thought her tumble would never end, the blur abruptly jerked to a stop as Delta slammed into a shelf of rock. Disoriented, she sat up, seeing that the rock she had landed on jutted out from the land, square and unnatural, without a trace of snow on its surface. She looked up the slope, where Kaia was standing arm outstretched, palm facing Delta.

"Are you okay?" Kaia's voice was barely audible over the wind.

"Yeah," muttered Delta, scrambling to her feet. Her face burned with heat as she watched the group approach her; they'd all witnessed her fall, and she had to be saved.

Kaia's face, locked in a perpetual deadpan, emerged from the snowy haze, followed by the other guards. She was the only one unaffected by the cold; the others shivered violently as they stumbled after her.

"I thought you'd do better in this environment," she stated as she approached. "Can't you control the snow?"

"Actually, I can't," snapped Delta. "I'm not used to working with water in a different form."

Kaia frowned, clearly disappointed, but said nothing. With a flick of her hand, the shelf of rock slid back into the hill, and she marched forward, leading the guards past Delta. Scowling, Delta found her footing and followed them.

After a hike that seemed to last five years, they reached the bottom of the valley, where indeed a village was nestled. Even in village standards it was small, a scattering of houses with glowing windows and a handful of empty public buildings, presumably connected by paths buried deep under the snow.

Kaia lead them to the nearest cabin, warm light spilling out from the windows, even with the curtains drawn. She rapped loudly on the door. A sliver of a face appeared between the curtains for a moment, but the doors didn't open. Kaia, unfazed, went to the next house and knocked again--there was no answer.

They repeated the process a few more times before, finally, someone opened their door. A wave of light and heat poured out from the house, so intense that Delta half expected it to melt the snow around them. Squinting at the bright orange light that assaulted her eyes, she could discern a silhouette standing in the doorway. He demanded something in an unfamiliar language.

Kaia stepped forward and answered smoothly, speaking in the same language. They spoke for a while, an touch of suspicion always edging the man's words. Eventually she bowed slightly, perhaps thanking him, and the man shut the door, cutting of the wonderful heat. The world suddenly feeling a thousand times colder and darker, Delta turned to Kaia.

"What did he say?"

Kaia set off at a brisk pace, paying no mind as the rest of the group struggled to follow along. "He said a blond couple did live in this village. That is, until two days ago, when a group of strangers dressed in black and silver came, asking for them, just as we were. Somebody went to tell them to expect company, but the couple panicked and left town. They haven't been back since, but some of the strangers have been hanging around town. They townspeople have been on edge ever since."

"Princess Alina and Lucian," breathed one of the guards.

"Obviously." Kaia turned to face the group. "We're going to investigate the cabin where they used to live. These strangers that are about could very likely be the enemy, so keep your guard up."

They crept through the empty village at a significantly slower pace. Dark buildings loomed in the gloom around them, and Delta kept glimpsing movements of shadowy figures in the corner of her eyes, but whenever she turned, all she saw were whirling snowflakes.

As they walked, the frigid air seemed to press in on them, heavier and heavier, because almost suffocating as it chilled them to the bone. Delta's numb fingers drifted toward the dagger enchanted with fire magic that she had received before leaving, but--no, she couldn't. Fire would practically be sending up a beacon for their attackers.

"I see it, Lady Tor," said a guard.

"You do?" Even Kaia sounded somewhat relieved.

"Right up ahead. The house with two trees on the left side, right?"

Kaia slid forward, squinting into the gloom. "That's the house." She glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the group. "Stay low and stay quiet. We're nearing the house."

The rest of the group nodded and dropped into a crouch. Cold snow brushed Delta's chin, but she steeled herself and crept forward with the others. They neared the house impossibly slowly, hardly daring to breath as the house emerged from the snowy haze.

Eventually Delta fell into rhythm, mimicking the pace of the guards in front of her. Crouched low to the ground, she couldn't see the house, so she had no bearing on how close they were. She almost ran into the guard in front of her before she realized they had stopped. As stealthily as she could, she crept to the side of the group, where no heads blocked her view.

The house had grown significantly larger; they couldn't have been more than fifty feet away. They were crouched behind a cluster of bushes; the rest of the slope leading up to the house was uninterrupted snow.

Delta's breath caught in her throat as she spotted their reason for stopping. About ten unfamiliar figures dressed in silver and black milled about the house, and there could have been more inside. They just stood there, waiting; waiting for the residents to return?

Delta's blood turned to ice, even colder than the deep freeze around them, as one of the figures came into clearer view and she glimpsed the clothes he wore. She shivered even more violently; this trembling was from a source deeper than the cold could reach.

"Th-those uniforms," Delta choked out. "The people who attacked Brook and me wore those."

"Definitely the enemy, then," commented Kaia. "We'd best retreat."

She turned and crept away from the house, closely followed by the rest of the group. Delta followed, struggling to steady her breathing. Brook is safe. Brook is safe. They didn't see us. I can fight them.

By the time they'd reached the town square, where they crouched behind a building to discuss their plans, Delta had mostly regained control, but a deep pit had formed in her stomach, and she still shuddered occasionally.

"In this sort of weather, the princess and her guardian couldn't have gotten far," said Kaia in a low, urgent voice. "If their pursuers are waiting for the storm to end, then Princess Alina and Lucian could be waiting it out nearby, too. We're going to split up and search the forest around the town. Presumably most of the enemy will be taking shelter, but be on guard nevertheless. Don't shout around like a fool. Meet back here in an hour. Go."

The guards dispersed at the order, each heading out in a different direction. Delta went in the direction opposite the house; as much as the fact stung her pride, she was in no way emotionally prepared to face the enemy again.

The village was swallowed by snow in no time, and Delta was soon wandering in an indistinguishable haze of white and gray. Snow whirled around her, spinning the world in circles, and the occasional spindly tree emerged from the gloom, looming over Delta. The trees grew more and more frequent until she was in a thick forest.

Delta pressed herself so deep into the snow that she was practically buried, a deep chill sinking into her and numbing her skin. If an hour had passed, she wouldn't have known, because every minute spent in the frigid cold felt like three hours. She wondered if she should return to the town.

No, no no. It couldn't have been an hour. She couldn't use her absent-mindedness as an excuse to give up. Keep looking, keep looking.

Wavering silhouettes constantly danced in the corners of Delta's vision; she was tempted to ignore them, but there was no telling when one wouldn't be a mirage. She pushed on, squinting as flakes of snow assaulted her face.

When the wind had switched in the other direction and she could see again, Delta turned her gaze upward, scanning the pine trees that surrounded her on all sides. All of them were bent ever so slightly as the relentless wind pushed them down.

Something moved.

It was ever so slight, but something definitely moved. Not a branch or stray stick waving in the wind, but a larger figure, shifting in the direction opposite the wind. I've already been seeing things. It's probably just my imagination.

Even so, her doubts didn't stop Delta from dropping to the ground, heart in her throat as she eyed the spot in question. It was about eight feet up the tree, just above a large, sturdy branch. A lone enemy? Alina and Lucian? Nothing? In the dark, it was impossible to identify any clear figures in the shadows.

Thankful that her white coat blended with the snow, Delta crept forward, never taking her eyes off the tree. Once she was about five feet away, she slid behind the thick trunk of another tree and closed her eyes to concentrate.

A floating orb of water, about as large as her head, appeared in front of Delta. She instantly felt the drain to her energy, swaying as the world spun for a moment. She leaned against the tree while she regained her balance. Summoning her own water, draining as it was, would still be less tiring than trying to melt the snow around her.

Feeling more stable, Delta peered around the tree, carefully watching the spot that had moved.

Again!

A slight shift, definitely not the same as how the branches moved. Something--or someone--was there. She watched for a bit longer to see if there was more movement, but it seemed only one something was crouched on the branch.

Delta shot the orb of water at the something, tightening her grip as it collided with her target. Making sure her hold was true, she slammed the orb, and, with it, the something, into the snow.

Drawing her enchanted dagger, she slid out from behind the tree and warily approached the figure. It laid facedown in the snow, reeling from the impact, but it lasted only a second--the person scrambled to their feet and spun to face Delta, knife held shakily in front of them.

It only took a moment for Delta to recognize the harrowed face glaring at her. She stopped her advance. "Alina!"

Alina took longer to react, but eventually she lowered the knife and eyed Delta warily. "D-delta?"

"Yes, it's me." Delta sheathed the dagger, but kept her hand near it, just in case. "I'm here to help."

Alina's arms dropped to her sides as she gaped at Delta, face first full of shock, then caution, then relief. "I--you...no, no, we need to hide!" She stumbled backward. "Up the tree!" She scrambled up the trunk impressively quickly, returning to her spot on the large branch.

Delta followed, though a bit slower, and sat down next to Alina. Delta frowned as she watched Alina's tired eyes flick around nervously, shivering violently. "Are you okay?"

Alina let out a harsh laugh. "Never been better!" She shuddered, punctuating her sarcasm.

"I've got knife that can create fire, but..."

"Don't," Alina said. "We can't risk being spotted." She pulled her cloak, which she wore over a heavy coat, over her shoulders.

"We won't be out here much longer," assured Delta. "I'm part of a mission to take you back to the palace. The rest of the group is waiting. Once we get to them, we can go home."

"You don't seem like you're trying to help," chuckled Alina, calming down a bit. "Slamming me to the ground like that."

Delta frowned. "Sorry. I thought you might have been an enemy."

Alina shook her head. "It's fine, it's fine. I don't mind." She smiled warmly. "Anyway, can you remove the seal on my magic powers?" She held up her ragged cloak. "This is the vessel."

"I can," Delta said slowly, "but it takes a while. It'd be better to just go back and remove it at the palace. But where's Lucian? He could've removed the seal."

Alina stiffened. "He's dead."

Delta blinked. "He...what?"

"Dead," repeated Alina, more forcefully. "They killed him."

I should say something. Comfort her. But all that came out of Delta's clumsy mouth was, "What happened?"

Alina clutched her arms and stared down. "Two days ago...a friend of ours came to tell us that a group of strangers were looking for us. Our memories were suppressed then, so we didn't think anything of it, but when Luci saw the strangers, he remembered. So we ran. We snuck into the forest without ever talking to the strangers. At the time, I had no idea what was going on, but I trusted Luci." A weak smile played on Alina's lips. "I would have followed him anywhere.

"We were going to camp out in this forest for a day or two; after that, Luci would go to town to make sure it was safe. We'd stay out here until the danger had passed. It was going to be okay. We'd return home soon." She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, but she still trembled slightly.

It pained Delta to see Alina in such a state. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Alina shook her head fervently. "I'm fine," she insisted. "So we were in the forest. We thought it'd be fine. We thought the strangers would give up and leave. But that night, when we settled down to sleep, we were attacked. My leg was cut, and Luci's magic was unleashed. I remembered. He told me to run, even though he was outnumbered." For a moment, her stoic expression looked like it was about to break, but Alina held it together. "Of course I couldn't leave him. We said...we said we'd always be together."

Alina's pale gray eyes shimmered with moisture, but she grimaced and hastily regained her composure. "We fought and fought, but, of course, light magic isn't suited for combat in the first place, and I was practically useless. There were too many. Luci was too distracted protecting me. He got injured, again and again. And then, when he was lying on the ground, he told me to run. He ordered me to run, no matter what...no matter what happened to him. And right before they struck the killing blow, he threw up an illusion to hide me while I escaped. And I ran, and ran and ran. But I couldn't run forever, so I hid in this tree. I've been here for hours, and now you've found me." She leaned against the trunk and closed her eyes, smiling bitterly. "In the end, I'm just a coward."

"You're..." Delta searched for the words to comfort Alina, but they eluded her. "Let's go. We need to get back to the others." In the end, action was what comforted her most. Perhaps it was the same for Alina.

Alina took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Let's go."