A decided throne

Jenna pulled the hood of her parka down tight over her head. The snow had picked up and the woods seemed ominous on this night. The elders had told of it, but she had been too foolish to listen. Now she had gone too far to turn back, and she would not believe in a creature that inhabited these woods only during the fourth season.

Edina expected her, and she knew the young girl could not spend the season alone in that drafty cabin with no one to protect her. Cast out during the gloom, Edina had lived alone too long for a child her age already. Jenna hoped she would still find her alive. She doubted the girl would be doing well, but she held hope.

“The changeling,” Jenna scoffed, picking up her pace through the deepening snow. She had never believed the tales, even as a child. An animal that shifted shapes? She scoffed at the thought. But someone was watching. She felt it. A low moan off in the distance spurred her to hurry even more.

As the wind picked up, Jenna caught an unfamiliar scent. She could detect a mule deer up to a mile away. It was how she had learned to keep her family fed. A special gift, her father had called it. But this was not the scent of a deer. It had a dark feeling if she was honest with herself. She had to get to Edina.

She picked up speed, her hefty snowshoes crunching through the icy top layer of snow, deeper into the forest. The scent became stronger as if the being was moving closer to her at an alarming rate. She could not only smell the creature, but its breath.

“Jenna! Run!” A small voice was yelling. She could see Edina’s small figure running through the woods toward her. She noticed a strange glow. The snowflakes had gotten bigger, but now they were glowing. She felt a warmth around her. She moved her legs as quickly as she could, but the smell of the being, whatever it was, kept up with her.

“Get out of here!” she motioned to Edina to get back to her hut. But the girl stood still. “Go!” Jenna yelled.
Edina raised her hands over her head. Her body started to shake.

Jenna felt something grab the back of her parka, sharp claws scraped across her skin. She felt blood running down her back.
Balls of white hot light shot out of Edina’s hands. Jenna was blinded. A blood-curdling howl came from directly behind her.

“Run!” Edina’s voice was weaker, but Jenna did not hesitate. She ran toward the smaller girl, who she remembered as being much frailer than she looked now. A loud crash came from behind Jenna as trees toppled. There was another drawn-out howl that made Jenna’s hair stand up on the back of her neck.

Jenna reached Edina and darkness fell all around them once again. She struggled to catch her breath. Suddenly a strange wind whipped through the forest, carrying a smell of fire and decay. It was something Jenna had never experienced. Soot burned her eyes. She felt Edina’s hand in hers, tugging her away from the mele.

“Come on,” Edina said. “We have to get out of here before they find us.”

“They?” Jenna struggled to keep up. “Who is - they?”

“Conserve your strength,” Edina replied. “You are going to need it.”

Jenna followed Edina to the base of the mountains. They had gone far past the den where Jenna had been told Edina had gone to live. Questions swirled in Jenna’s mind. This was not the small, frail girl who had been banished from Elvive three short months ago. When Edina spoke about against the ramblings of some of the Elders of Elvive, she was made to immediately leave, never to return.
“Back here,” Edina motioned to a cave about halfway up the mountain. Jenna’s legs and lungs were burning. Jenna ducked inside the small opening, letting her eyes adjust to the flickering light from four torches at the corners of the room.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“This is my lair now,” Edina explained, bowing her head.
“Lair?”
“Much has happened, friend.” Edina motioned Jenna to a chair and clasped her hands. “I know you have questions.”
“Many,” Jenna said. The confusion on her face must have been evident. Jenna was never one who could hide her feelings. “What was that thing, first of all?”

“The Changeling,” Edina nodded. “My only nemesis here.”

“Where is – here?” Jenna had never been to the mountains.

“Levernade,” Edina replied. “And I sit on the throne in this lair.”

Jenna was confused. Edina was still small in stature, but not the young girl she was months ago when she was banished from Elvive. Jenna looked around Edina’s dwelling. It was modest, but the most prominent things in the room were two elaborate totems, flanking the fireplace.
“Light and Dark,” Edina said. Jenna did not know those depicted on the totem, but telling light from dark was apparent.

“But what does it all mean?” Jenna realized she had come to save a small girl who was definitely not what she seemed to be back in Elvive.
“I learned, shortly after leaving Elvive, that one of the reasons the elders sent me away was that I have powers which they feared.”
“Powers?” Jenna thought back to the snowflakes that light up with a brilliant light.

Edina moved to the fire. She ladled some liquid out of the cauldron into two chalices. She handed one to Jenna. The aroma was something she had never experienced before. She grabbed the chalice, warming her hands immediately. She waited until Edina took a drink before trying whatever this potion might be. It was sweet but with a woodsy aftertaste.

“Do you remember my Long Night?” Edina asked. Of course, Jenna remembered. A Girl’s Long Night was the night she learned of her calling, and where she fit in the universe. She remembered a warm glow in the sky that night – it was much like the glow of the snowflakes she had just experienced in the woods.

“You were cast to be a Griffin. I remember being so proud of you and wanting to watch you grow into the role of one who would guide others.”
“But then something happened, late in the night,” Edina looked side to side, as if the walls had ears and could hear her words. “An image came to me. It was Light. Light told me I would be banished, but to move to my calling. And that is here. Now you are here, too, as it was designed.”

“Designed? I am not understanding.”

“With your ice conjuring…”

“My what?”

“I know, Jenna,” Edina smiled, looking much older than her years. “I know of your ice powers, and I have the power of light, which brings with it heat.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I knew you would follow me,” Edina smiled. “I knew you would, and I needed you to do just that. You see, this is our home now. We will rule these mountains.”

“But who is here – other than the, whatever that being was down there.”

“A completely different race, Friend. You will soon see that we both belong here… much more than either of us belonged in Elvive. Levernade is our land now.”

Jenna had heard of Levernade, of course. It was a mythical land told of in fairy tales and children’s stories. It was filled with magic, but also with creatures who were evil and could easily kill a human, mage, or familiar. Jenna’s eyes popped open wide. Levernade. She could not imagine that it was true. Yet here she was.

“You are home,” Edina put her hand on Jenna’s. “Sit with me.” She motioned to the throne that had suddenly appeared next to what was clearly Edina’s place. Jenna felt it. She was home. Her throne twinkled with frost, like a twinkling eye she remembered from her youth.
“Jennacious,” a whisper came on the wind. Snow danced in the air, soon lit with a magic Jenna had only just learned of. She smiled, taking the younger woman’s hand, taking her place on her own throne.

Word count" 1377