by Wight, Will
Oh my, the wind is so violent up here! Gloria exclaimed. Simon pulled the doll out of his coat pocket, partially to look at her, partially to see if she would react to the cold. He wasn’t sure if the dolls could or could not sense temperature, but he always savored the opportunity to learn new things about them.
Gloria in particular had a wide smile on her painted wooden face, and her white hair was done up into an ornate bun, tied with fine golden chains. More gold ornaments adorned her fluffy pink dress.
Aren’t you cold, sweet one? It has to be freezing in this snow, but you’re not saying a word! Like all of Simon’s dolls, Gloria’s mental voice sounded like it was coming through a long tunnel filled with whispering wind.
I feel like if I open my mouth, my tongue will freeze off, Simon sent.
Don’t complain, now. It’s unbecoming of a sweet young man like you. No one likes a boy who complains too much.
You asked me! Simon had only taken Gloria because she had irritated him for months about favoring Caela and Otoku over the others. He had only been out here waiting for an hour or two, but he was already regretting his choice. Please tell me there’s a Valinhall power that keeps you warm. I’ll go challenge that room right now.
Hmmmmm, let me think, Gloria sent, in tones of exaggerated thoughtfulness. The winter garden has an ice dagger that will help you ignore pain and discomfort. I don’t think it does quite as much for temperature, though. As a matter of fact, I bet it makes you even colder!
Simon let Gloria chatter on, because she seemed to be most happy that way. He wished he had taken Caela or Otoku, even if that did mean he played favorites. Not only would they be better company, they both understood Leah better than he did. Maybe they could help him feel better about his role in her plan.
“Stay where I tell you and wait,” Leah had told him. She was wearing a fancy red-and-gold dress and her crown, so it was more of an order. “When I need you, I’ll give you a signal.”
“What signal?” he had asked, in the foolish and naïve hope that someone would, for once, explain a plan before requiring him to follow it.
“I assure you, you won’t miss it,” she’d said, and then practically shoved him through a Gate. And now he had been standing around in the cold for the better part of two hours. He had come here to fight an Incarnation, not freeze his toes off when his boots soaked through.
Gloria was still babbling, and Simon began to wonder if the dolls could run out of breath when they didn’t have any lungs. …and you know about the white flame, though that’s more the illusion of warmth than real heat. It burns poisons out, but you know that, it’s not intended for comfort, and look out!
Simon almost didn’t hear the warning buried in Gloria’s chatter, but a shadow loomed over him and he hurled himself to the right. As he collapsed into a snowdrift, he called steel.
His muscles chilled and tightened, as though they had been banded with ice-cold metal. Chains crawled up his arms, beginning with one black link on the backs of his hands and snaking slowly up his wrists. They looked like ink, but they felt like rough iron on his skin.
All in all, the sensations did nothing to make him more comfortable.
The shadow swelled for a moment before something huge and white slammed into the spot where he had been standing, sending puffs of snow blasting into the air. The sound echoed off the nearby rocks in an endless crash.
Before Simon could get a good look at the thing that had just landed—it looked like a ball of dirty white fur embedded in the snow—a shining crystal came rocketing through the sky, flashing like a shooting star. It was a chunk of grey-white stone about the size of his fist, and it flew at him as though it were going to slam into his teeth.
It finally settled into an orbit around his head, shouting at him in Leah’s voice.
“Simon!” Leah called, through the Lirial crystal. “There’s something headed your way.”
“You’re a little late,” Simon responded. He held his hand out to the side and summoned Azura. The sword shimmered as it vanished from its rack in Valinhall and appeared in his hand, seven feet of mirror-bright and slightly curving metal.
Without the power of steel running through him, he would have a hard time lifting the sword, much less using it in combat. With the strength of Valinhall, though, he flicked the blade through the air like a switch.
The white-furred creature rose from the crater it had driven into the snow, unfolding into its full ten feet of height. It looked almost like one of the mirka, humanoid monsters from Helgard that Leah had told him to expect, with its thick, shaggy pelt and curling goat horns on the top of its head. But as it shook snow from its fur and turned to snarl at Simon, he got a better look.
Its back was swollen into a hump, as though it were concealing a turtle shell beneath its hide. It lurched forward on all its limbs...of which it had six, not the mirka's four. Its extra set of arms nested underneath the top set, and it seemed to use them for balance, pushing against the walls of the small canyon. Instead of summoning a jagged spear of ice into its hand, as Leah had told him to anticipate from a mirka, this thing lunged toward him on all six limbs, jaws snapping like a wolf's.
Simon inhaled, calling upon the Nye essence as he did. He felt the familiar chill in his lungs—which was not much of a comfort when he was actually breathing freezing air—and the world slowed to cool honey. Clouds of snow hung above the ground, still settling from where the whatever-it-was made impact. Wind slowly ruffled the creature's fur.
Gloria made a disgusted noise. That thing is absolutely hideous! Why can't you Travelers call something lovely from your Territories, for once?
I called you, didn't I? Predictably, that sent Gloria into a few seconds of flattered murmurs and false humility.
Simon tried to adjust his stance, twisting to the side and bringing Azura forward in the hopes that the monster would impale itself on its own momentum, but his feet wouldn't budge. It took him a few seconds of struggling before he figured out why: his feet were encased in ice.
Didn't I tell you? That monster froze your feet to the ground. I imagine it likes to lock its prey down. How horrible!
Simon drew a bit more steel and kicked his way free of the ice, but even the agility of the Nye couldn't redeem his graceless stumble as he finally came free. He had to stagger forward, almost planting his nose into the snow, to avoid the creature’s final rush.
“What is this thing?” Simon called, as the beast caught itself with its upper four arms against the canyon's far wall.
“I'm not a Helgard Traveler, Simon,” Leah said, her voice stressed. “Take care of it. Quickly. You might have much worse incoming. Give me a—”
Leah cut off when something streaked through the air, shattering the crystal into a puff of shining dust.
“Lirial,” a woman's voice said in disgust. “They always think of themselves as preserving knowledge, but where are the libraries in Lirial? The Daniri didn't leave any of those behind, did they? Nothing but dusty crystals. Helgard, by contrast, has a library on every other floor. If you lived to be as old as I am, you still wouldn’t have the time to read all the books in the Tower.”
While keeping his sword pointed at the snarling monster against the canyon wall, Simon spared a quick glance for the speaking woman. She stood above him, looking down on the shallow valley in which he stood.
She had a pair of tightly curling ram's horns on the sides of her head, just above her ears. She looked only a few years older than Simon, but the curly hair that ran down her back was pure white. She wore a suit of long white fur, and where her skin showed through, it was a pale blue, like early morning sky. Strangest were her eyes, which ran through all the glacial colors, from ice-white at the center, to a shifting gradient of green, purple, and blue at the edges.
Simon had met too many Incarnations by now not to recognize this one. He tightened his grip on the Nye essence, ready to call more at once.
“I am Helgard,” the woman said simply.
Around her, the snow on the ground rose and drifted in a soft, powdery veil. “What is your name?”
Under ordinary circumstances, Simon would have attacked by now. People let their guards down while they were speaking, even Incarnations. But he had allies to consider, so his mission was to buy time.
He would have rather attacked.
“Simon, son of Kalman,” he answered. “I don’t mean to offend, but you seem different than the other Incarnations I’ve met.”
She sniffed dismissively. “I should hope so.”
“You're a lot more...chatty than Endross was.”
He had wondered if she would take that as an insult, but she didn’t seem bothered. “Endross is an unsophisticated beast. Like sha'da'narile, there. Good for nothing but pointing at a target and setting loose.”
Simon hoped he wasn't supposed to remember the creature's name.
“And you're not?” Simon asked. He had been instructed quite clearly to keep the Incarnation engaged for as long as he could, if he was unlucky enough to stumble across its path. The longer he could do that without fighting, the better, and he hadn't met an Incarnation this willing to talk since Valin.
The Helgard Incarnation held a clawed hand to her chest as though he had wounded her. “I? I am the most refined, erudite, and articulate being that you are ever likely to meet. Incarnation did not change that much about me.”
It's a good thing she didn't say ‘humble,’ Gloria sent.
The Incarnation's eyes shifted, becoming even colder. “You, however, have much in common with Endross.”
“Do I?” Simon tried to keep one eye on the hunchback creature, but it didn't seem to be doing anything other than making threatening noises, and the Incarnation was by far the greater threat. Even though she was chatting pleasantly enough.
She chuckled. “You're a Valinhall, aren’t you? I've learned much about your kind since I was released. A Territory that exists only to kill other Travelers.”
“I haven't seen Helgard Travelers do much else but fight.”
“Ah, but where have you met them, except on the battlefield?” She waved a hand through the air. “Nonetheless, I digress. I'm going to have to insist that you come with me.”
That wasn't in the plan. “Where would we go?” Simon asked warily. He still had to buy time.
The Incarnation smiled, revealing pointed teeth. “You have my word, I would not harm you. I was instructed to retrieve a Valinhall Traveler, and at last I have found you. Will you come with me peacefully, or must I resort to the barbaric approach?”
The six-armed monster snarled next to him, and Simon recognized that his diplomatic strategy had failed.
Come to think of it, when have I ever managed to talk an enemy down?
Rebekkah tells me that your foray into Endross was quite successful, Gloria sent. You didn't even have to kill anyone, did you?
I doubt it's going to work out that well this time, Simon said. He turned on the balls of his feet, sweeping Azura up and around, slicing a line through the snow. He happened to pass through the hunchback creature's neck on the way.
Sky-blue blood splattered the snow like paint as the summoned beast fell into two pieces.
The Incarnation’s eyes closed, and a look of grief crossed her face. She whispered a word, too quietly for Simon to hear over the wind. Then a snout, like that of a blue-skinned, hairless bear, peaked over the canyon wall beside her. It growled softly down at Simon. Beside the bear stood a four-eyed goat, and then something like a long, white-furred snake with a head like a dog’s. A whole menagerie of creatures crawled, slithered, and ran to join their Incarnation, looking down at Simon as though at the last scrap of food in the bottom of the bucket.
The Helgard Incarnation walked from one animal to another, placing her hand on their pelts and speaking a single word to each of them. It took Simon a moment to realize that she was naming each individual, one by one. When she finished, she turned from the crowd of impatient beasts to regard Simon once again with her glacial eyes.
“I would like a chance to know you better, Simon, son of Kalman.” She waved a hand forward, looking to her summoned army. “Retrieve him.”
A blue hand burst from the snow at Simon’s feet, big enough to grab a horse around the middle. Gloria shouted a warning, and only the Nye essence kept Simon from being seized. He leapt to one side, catching himself against the canyon wall.
A giant hauled itself from the snow, its skin as blue as a drowned body. It was at least ten feet tall, and Simon didn’t see how it could have concealed itself in such a thin layer of snow. It must have come through a Helgard Gate somehow, though he wasn’t sure if it was possible to open a Gate that way. Incarnations seemed to be the exceptions to all sorts of rules.
Simon was lifting his blade to confront the giant when the furred snake crept up to his side. It didn't slither, but instead ran on fifty pairs of dog's legs. It sank its teeth into his leg, sending pain shooting up past his hip. He smacked Azura's hilt into the monster's skull, making it release its jaws, but the pain had made his leg all but useless.
Above you! Gloria called, and Simon swung Azura up in an arc, meeting the giant's blue hand in midair.
He expected the blade to slice straight through the summoned creature's flesh, as it normally did, his imagination providing the image of thick fingers scattered across the snow. But Azura hit the first finger, drew dark blue blood, and stopped as soon as it hit bone.
The giant had a face like a nightmare, with a huge nose, black eyes, and a disproportionately wide mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth. Its forehead wrinkled and it howled in pain, thrashing out at Simon. Shards of ice whirled in the air, seemingly called by the creature's pain. They flew around the giant, drifting on the wind, drawing a dozen tiny cuts on Simon's skin. The cloak stopped many of the shards from penetrating, but it was still like being pelted with handfuls of broken glass.
Worse, the pain in his leg had not yet subsided. It seemed to be getting worse, burning more than it should, and Simon was starting to feel light-headed. Surely he hadn't lost that much blood.
Oh, dear, Gloria sent. It seems that long dog was venomous. What do you know? I wouldn't have expected it, that's for sure.
It's poisonous?
Venomous, dear, let's try to be correct. You didn't eat it, after all.
Simon cast his mind out to the Valinhall forge, which he had first conquered long ago. He had returned to challenge the room's new guardian only a few weeks before, since his first visit hadn't left him with a new power.
His second visit had gone much better.
A single white candle-flame filled Simon's mind, flooding his body with a clean, pleasant heat. The warmth focused on his wound, growing uncomfortably hot, burning the bitten area almost like a brand pressed against his leg. Then, all at once, the heat vanished. Simon tested his leg and found that, while it was still painful, he could at least stand. More importantly, the lightness in his head had subsided.
The Helgard Incarnation noticed that something had happened. She smiled slightly. “Give in, son of Kalman. Let yourself slide into sleep. No harm will come to you now.”
She expected the poison to be enough for him. Maker knows, if you hadn't noticed it, she probably would have gotten me.
No need to thank me, Gloria responded, her mental voice bursting with pride. That's what I'm here for.
Simon pulled as much steel and essence as he could and kicked off with his good leg. He hurtled toward the giant's head, leading with Azura's point, and buried his sword into the enormous eye socket. The Dragon's Fang scraped on the back of the creature's skull without penetrating, but the giant's body spasmed and started to fall. Within the world of the Nye essence, it seemed as though the monster was drifting underwater.
When they hit the ground, the Incarnation was waiting for him.
She was surrounded by her snarling, white-furred guardians, so Simon first swept Azura in a single swipe from left to right. He left a few heads
and limbs tumbling to the ground, along with a bucketful of blue blood. Most of the monsters were still standing, but Simon hadn't intended to kill them all. He only meant to distract them.
He dashed through while the animals still reacted to the pain, bringing Azura down in a two-handed strike aimed at the top of the Incarnation's head, in between her curling horns.
The edge of the Dragon's Fang met a surface of solid ice.
A bar of black ice, thick as a tree trunk, hovered over the Incarnation's head. She didn't seem surprised, or startled, or afraid. She simply watched him from the other end of his sword, her icy eyes calculating.
Simon pulled Azura back, elbowing the barking blue-skinned bear when it tried to rush him from behind. His steel-fueled strike sent the beast stumbling awkwardly backwards on all fours.
The first time Simon had met an Incarnation—Valin, the creator of Valinhall—he had only held two useful powers: Nye essence and Benson's steel. While those were still the most useful weapons in his arsenal, he had wished for more at the time. Once the Hanging Trees had failed and the other Incarnations were released one by one, he had been faced by a simple truth: he was not prepared.
He had spent most of the next two seasons in Valinhall, emerging only when Leah called him to help with one mission or another. As a result, the past six months had given him, from his perspective, more than a year's worth of experience.
He had used that year well.
Simon reached out to the armory, where every weapon except the thirteen Dragon's Fangs were kept. In his mind, he focused on the ornate bronze key, which had been his reward from the room after he had finally solved its puzzles.
As he called the power of the key, the Valinhall armory opened its doors.
Simon swung Azura one-handed at the Incarnation's side. As expected, the length of dark ice whirled in the air, spinning itself around to intercept the Dragon's Fang. His blade's edge bit into the frozen surface.
In the same instant, Simon brought his left hand forward, a spear in his fist. He had initially tried to use a second sword in his left hand, but the Dragon's Fang was so long that it made wielding any other weapon difficult. A spear was one of the few weapons that Simon could use at the same distance as Azura.