The Snow Queen's Shadow

“That’s a nice knife you’ve got there . . .”
    Soon Talia, Danielle, and Gerta were bundling their newfound supplies together. The bandits hadn’t been carrying much, but they had extra cloaks and blankets, not to mention better weapons.
    “You enjoyed that.” Danielle sounded like she hadn’t decided whether she should be annoyed or amused. She strapped the short sword to her belt. “And where did you get that purse?”
    “You don’t want to know.” Talia tucked the bandit woman’s knife through her belt and hid a second, smaller dagger in her boot. “Besides, better I deal with them than our darkling friend.” She rubbed her arm.
    “Let me see that,” said Gerta.
    “I’m fine.”
    “Flesh and bone against spear?” Gerta scooped a handful of snow. “Sure you are. Hold this against the arm for the swelling.”
    Talia hissed as Gerta pressed the snow to her arm, but she didn’t pull away. “It’s just a bruise.”
    “You’re lucky.”
    “Luck had nothing to do with it.” Though her timing was off. She had grown too used to the added strength and speed of the cape.
    “Come on,” said Danielle. “If you’re through playing, we have fairies to find.”
     
    The next day and a half passed without incident, as the darkling carried them higher into the mountains. The air was colder here, freezing the inside of Talia’s nostrils each time she inhaled. With fewer trees to block the wind, she had taken to riding with her head down, the hood of her stolen cloak pulled low.
    The darkling stopped without warning, twin reindeer shaking their heads in unison. When he refused to move, Talia slid to the ground and stretched. The snow was ankle-deep, swirling in the wind like the desert sands of home. “What is this place?”
    “We’re on an old mining road,” said Gerta. “The mountains are riddled with them.”
    The reindeer stepped together, melting into the darkling’s humanoid form.
    “This is where we’ll find help?” Talia searched the landscape, finding nothing but snow-covered outcroppings, gnarled trees, and the overgrown hint of the old road.
    “They’re watching us.” Gerta turned in a slow circle. “I can’t tell you where it’s coming from. There could be a glamour of some sort. If I had my mirrors—” She flinched. “Snow’s mirrors, I mean.”
    Danielle blew on her hands for warmth before tucking them back beneath her arms. She straightened and called out, “I am Danielle of Lorindar. The Duchess of Fairytown said you would help us.”
    “The Duchess is far too free with other people’s secrets.” The voice came from an orange-hued rise of rock to their left, which appeared to have been carved away to clear a path for the road. Knife in hand, Talia moved cautiously toward the rock.
    Green-tarnished metal poked through the drifted snow at its base. Talia knelt, brushing away the snow to reveal a copper cone that appeared to have been hammered point-first into a crack in the rock. The rim was pitted, and flakes of metal fell away at her touch. Warm air wafted from a small hole in the back of the cone.
    Danielle crouched beside Talia. “We wish to speak to Bellum and Veleris.”
    “And so you have.” This was a new voice, deeper than the first. “We’ve granted your wish. Now go away.”
    “Please,” said Danielle. “We need your help.”
    “Ask for her still-beating heart,” said the second voice, chuckling. “See if she’s serious.”
    “Hush.” That was the original speaker again. “All are welcome here, Princess. To the right, you should see a small doorway.”
    Talia and Gerta dug away more snow until they found a square doorway built into the earth, edged by stacked stones. A rusted ring hung from the center. “That door wasn’t there a moment ago,” said Talia.
    “It was.” Gerta was frowning at the door. “We just couldn’t see it.”
    Danielle reached for the ring, but Talia moved to stop her. “Let me. We don’t know what’s on the other side.”
    Talia yanked, and the door scraped open, revealing a tunnel that sloped down into the darkness. Fog puffed out like the breath of the mountain. Wooden beams were pressed into the earth, forming crude stairs.
    “Don’t stand there all day,” said the second voice. “You’re letting the heat out.”
    “And what’s waiting for us at the end of this tunnel?” Talia asked. There was room to enter, but she would have to crawl. Meaning anyone on the far side would have an easy time