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It’s strange how people require water to live yet if you slightly lower the temperature, it has the chance to kill. Although this is an interesting theory, the knight that suddenly found herself in a blizzard-strewn wasteland was more focused on survival. Her orders were quite simple: go to the queen’s domain and inform her that if she does not surrender, she will be invaded. What she wasn’t informed of was that, at this time of year, that queen’s domain was as frozen as her heart. Her brown hair drooped against her face as her breathing fell straight to her feet. Silver-gold armor felt like a torture device, freezing her even more. A small light glowed to her right and whether she liked it, the screams of wind and frost encouraged her to seek it out.
The light was, thankfully, as warm as it seemed. A smile came across her face as the howling behind her seemingly deafened. A portly woman, wearing simple robes and nothing suited to the weather, warmed her hands on a small fire. The knight sighed in relief and took a step forward, gartering the gaze of the portly woman. A strange click echoed in the cave, the source unknown.
“Well, don’t you look terrible! What happened to you? Why are ya wearing armor in this storm? Looks like you got a death wish!” She gave several head shakes of concern and slowly pushed the knight to the fire. She sat across from her, giving her a quick look over with a look of concerning disgust on her face. “Whoever sent you here must be the cruelest person in the world. What’s your name, darling?”
“E-edith. I have business with the queen but based on the weather, I’m sure it can wait a bit longer.” Her chuckle caused a bit of snow, piling on her shoulders, to fall beside her. The fire brought a new heat to her, something she couldn’t explain but no matter what, it was enjoyable. Where a sigh of relief came from her lips, the woman across from her had a sigh of disappointment.
“Lisbeth is mine, dear. The queen isn’t a fan of guests. You should stay here though, much warmer and more welcoming.” The phrase ‘complete your job as quickly as possible’ was still in her mind. Her mind raced with the positives and negatives of each choice. After an hour of warming up, she pulled herself away from the fire with a smile half as warm as the heat.
“I’d love to stay for as long as I can but I’m afraid I need to meet her as soon as possible. Thank you for the fire and chatter however! I’ll be sure to pay you back as soon as I can!” With that, she bounded out of the cave, back into the frozen wastes. She took less than a dozen steps before her own voice fought with the screeching winds for dominance. A small dagger-like shard of ice punctured her foot and a familiar voice spoke from behind her.
“Normally, when someone says that a queen isn’t a fan of guests, they take the hint, but I suppose that knights are really taught that during training.” The same rotund woman from before, Lisbeth, was seemingly avoided by the horrendous blizzard that ravaged the area around them. A curse came from Edith’s mouth as an irritated click came from Lisbeth’s mouth.
“Call me whatever you like, dear, but that won’t fix this situation. Which are you from anyway? North? East? Can’t be from the south, they fear me.” Edith’s teeth grinded against each other as her hand gripped her blade. She was only a single bound away from her, if she is to die, it’s better to not go alone. With the remaining force she could muster in her body, she ripped her foot away from the shard and lunged at Lisbeth…
She fell halfway where she thought she would. More irritated tongue clicks came from the woman… the witch before her. Lisbeth crouched down in front of Edith and gave a predator’s smile.
“Ah, really common thing that. Always cute though. Like a mouse struggling in the claws of a cat. Feel anything different right about now? Nothing blizzard related at least.” Her words could contend with the coldness of the storm. Edith thought for a long moment before looking down at her leg. Limp, in pain and bleeding. Lisbeth skipped to where the shard was and returned with something impossible.
“Ice is fun, you know. Anything that is liquid can be used to make some, given enough effort. That little shard was filled with enough painkillers to prevent someone from realizing they’re dead.”
With a renewed fire in her eyes, she threw her blade at the witch. It clattered in the snow hardly inches away from her own face. Lisbeth pulled out a toxic green needlelike shard from the same item she stole from Edith.
“Poison that makes hallucinations. Cute idea with throwing the sword. Now I have other things to do so please.” Lisbeth raised her hand and thousands of spikes ruptured from the ground, puncturing every fragment of Edith’s body. The snow beneath her ran red. The spikes fell along with the body. The only thing she will be remembered for is going missing during a trip to a different land. Lisbeth gave a chilling laugh that echoed throughout the storm. The snowfall doubled as the witch walked away from the corpse and its stark white casket.