HOT COALS AND A CHANDELIER

The Riders clattered through the corridor, destroying whirlwind creatures as they went, careful not to knock over their friends who had been turned to ice. When they reached the main castle hall, they halted in shock. People frozen in their tracks stood throughout, some trapped in time as they wielded weapons at unseen foes. Women lifted skirts, caught as they fled, their faces contorted in fear and pain. The floor, the walls, even the empty suits of armor that stood at attention along the walls, were frosted over and sparkled in the light. Flame gave life to shadows. It was silent.

“Remember,” Mara said, even her quiet voice carrying, “try not to knock anyone over.”

They trotted through the main hall, carefully weaving among courtiers, soldiers, and servants who’d been turned into statues of ice. Karigan recognized several though she tried not to look too closely. A few had already toppled and shattered across the floor, and she swallowed hard. She adjusted her grip on the hilt of her sword, her fingers stiff with the cold, and maintained her position as rear guard.

As for the king and queen, she told herself over and over that they would be stoutly protected by Weapons and the regular castle guard. They had a much better chance of remaining safe than these other folk. The king, a trained swordmaster, was very capable of defending himself and Estora, as well. These thoughts, however, failed to reassure her very much.

The sound of Rider boots echoed in the strangely quiet hall as they continued on. Movement down a side corridor caught Karigan’s eye. She slowed at the odd sight of flame jabbing out of a wall at a whirlwind creature. Someone was clearly in distress. Her desire to reach the royal apartments, her desperate need to see her king safe, battled with her wish to help someone who had no Weapons, no guards, to protect him or her.

“Brandall,” she called, “I’m going to check something out, and will catch up as soon as I can. You take sweep.”

He nodded, and she darted down the side corridor. As she approached, she realized the flame was not coming out of the wall but from a large hearth in a seating alcove. Someone was attempting to fend off a creature with a bundle of burning kindling.

The whirlwind was considerably larger than the ones she had already fought. It was almost as tall as she, and as she neared it, she was whipped by wind that grabbed her breath. The whirlwind spewed needles of ice, and she raised her arm to protect her face. She thought maybe this side trip had not been such a good idea, after all, but a glance into the hearth revealed the ash girl who took care of the Rider wing. She must have been on her rounds when the magical attack struck. Her buckets of ash were strewn across the floor, and the fire in the hearth threatened to ignite her skirt, but it was helping to hold the whirlwind creature at bay. She looked frightened to bits as she thrust the burning kindling at it, but determined, as well.

The king would have Weapons, Karigan tried to remind herself. This girl had no one. No one, but her.

The whirlwind appeared to take notice of her, and she lunged. Alas, this one was not as easy to dispatch. It skated around her in erratic patterns, and the ice needles and wind made it difficult to see. She shielded her face with her hand—she did not want to lose her one good eye. The more the creature spun, the more ice that layered the floor and walls.

I have fought on ice before came the unbidden memory, but she hadn’t the time to consider its source as she slipped and tried to maintain her footing with the whirlwind bearing down on her.

She hacked into it. The swirling funnel was wide enough now that she buried the sword up to the guard, and ice particles shredded her knuckles. The blade struck the creature’s skeleton, but it did not shatter like the smaller ones.

She withdrew the sword and hacked again with nearly the same result, but as she backed away, her feet slipped out from beneath her. One moment she was standing, and the next she was flat on her back. The creature roared toward her. She tried to rise to her feet, but could gain no traction. In a moment, it would have her. Would the frozen survive, or were they already dead?

The ash girl sprang into action and threw a shovelful of hot coals at the creature. It skittered aside, but as the coals hit the icy floor, steam rose and caused the creature to pause long enough for Karigan to climb to her feet. The coals melted through the ice layered on the floor and smoldered on the carpet beneath.

Karigan slid around the creature and stabbed into it. The hilt of her sword was slick with her own blood. Was it only wishful thinking, or was the whirl of ice thinning? Might it finally be weakening?

She thrust once more, and the wind, with all its spinning ice particles, dropped, unveiling the creature within. It clacked its jaw of jagged teeth at her. It carried no icicle dagger, but an ice sword, and when she crossed blades with it, its sword rang as though made of steel.

As the creature had been fast in its whirlwind form, so it was also fast with its sword work, and she had to use all the advanced moves Arms Master Drent had taught her. She slid and scrambled to keep up. As she tried to drive past its guard, it suddenly lurched and hopped, looking down at its boney feet, which were melting on the burning carpet. It roared like a windstorm, and then toppled over.

She hacked at its spine. When it still clacked its jaw at her, she stomped on the skull repeatedly until it cracked and shattered. She stood for a time, panting hard.

“Sir Karigan?” came a little voice.

She had almost forgotten the ash girl, who was just now stepping tentatively away from the hearth. “Anna, isn’t it?”

The girl looked astonished Karigan knew her name. “I—I have an extra handkerchief.” She held the white cloth out like a flag of surrender. When Karigan just stared stupidly at it, she said, “For your hand.”

Karigan looked down at her scored, bleeding hand. She’d barely noticed it before, but now it stung like the five hells.

“Here.” The girl came forward hesitantly, as if warring with her own timidity, but when Karigan held her hand out for her, she bound it with assurance.

When she was done, Karigan flexed her fingers. “Thank you.” The melting creature beside her appeared to be dousing the burning carpet. She stamped on singed fibers just to make sure.

“Anna, I need to reach the king. Do you—”

She was cut off by a new burst of wind as another creature appeared at the far end of the corridor. Anna looked like she might faint, and Karigan grabbed her arm and dragged her as fast as she could into the main hall. She paused to ensure they would not rush headlong into another whirlwind.

When she saw the way was clear, she said, “Ready to run, Anna?”

Anna nodded, her face pale.

“Good. Follow me and keep up best as you can.”

The unnatural wind picked up as the creature skimmed its way toward them from the side corridor. It then paused, possibly to investigate the slushy remains of its comrade.

Karigan and Anna sprinted down the main hall past dozens of ice statues. Karigan glanced over her shoulder, and noting that Anna struggled to keep up, she moderated her pace. When she saw a whirlwind ahead coming down the main hall, she seized Anna’s arm again and hauled her down another side corridor. They pressed their backs against the wall, their breaths ragged. Across from them was a frozen soldier, his arms thrown up defensively, his expression one of agony. Anna whimpered.

“It’ll be all right,” Karigan whispered. It had better be. Always in the back of her mind was her concern for her family and King Zachary.

“Anna,” she whispered, “I have a certain ability—I can make us fade out so maybe that creature can’t see us.” Anna looked at her in bewilderment, but let Karigan take her hand. Karigan called on her fading ability, and her vision went gray as was usual. Anna gasped beside her.

The whirlwind passed by their corridor. She counted to ten and then dragged Anna out into the main hall once again. “Don’t look back,” Karigan admonished her. The first whirlwind still followed them, and the second was beginning to reverse its direction to also follow. It was clear they could sense her and Anna even when faded out, so she dropped the fading as they ran. Keeping it up was pointless and would only exhaust her.

They ran, passing beneath a chandelier, and once more she hauled Anna aside, this time stopping at the winch that hoisted and lowered the chandelier.

“They’re getting close!” Anna cried. “And there are more coming!” She turned and hid her face as if this would make them vanish.

Anna was right—there were more, about a dozen appearing out of nothing, joining the others, and all rapidly advancing. Karigan removed the pin that secured the chandelier at its present position at the ceiling. The winch’s hand crank started spinning, spinning out of control, letting out chain and lowering the chandelier. She made no attempt to control it even as it gained momentum. The flames of burning whale oil in their glass chimneys flared as the whole apparatus descended at an alarming rate. She did not wait to witness it crashing to the floor, to see if it crushed the whirlwinds, or if the splash of flaming oil melted them. She took Anna’s hand and led her away at a run, just hoping she didn’t burn down the castle.