Of Ice, Death & Monsters

Jane carried Charlie through the woods as she, the Descendants, and all the other survivors she managed to gather and save before nightfall, followed Koschei into one of the caves up north. Its entrance was blocked off by a large boulder.

He placed his index finger onto the surface of the giant rock, tracing a symbol on it that Jane noticed resembled a tree that Epithet sometimes would use in their rituals. One with four horizontal divisions on it that had spheres at the ends of its branches.

In a moment’s notice, the symbol glowed a fiery orange before it caused the boulder to shake, shudder, and roll away, revealing the passage within lit by several glowing moss torches.

Koschei walked inside, gently leading the rest. Once they were all in, the boulder rolled to block the entrance, sealing it off.

The group continued to venture further into the cave, deeper and deeper, until they made it into a spacious cavern that resembled a lobby with its benches and small tables of stone around the area.

At the very center of the room, lay a basin of water surrounded by a ritual circle in the same pattern and shape as the symbol of the tree needed to open the door.

“For those that require rest, come follow us, we have prepared chambers for all of you.” The Descendants beckoned the rest of the group while Jane, who was still carrying Charlie, was led to the very center of the room where the basin of water stood.

She gently laid the unconscious Watchtower agent on the stone bench and turned to Koschei. “So… Mind explaining the feather thing? You kind of left me off on a cliffhanger, and when I asked earlier, you said to wait until there were no more prying eyes.”

“Correct! Now it is time to truly unveil what lies beyond the curtain.” He removed his mask and took off his hood, revealing a handsome young face with flowing black hair that draped around his neck.

“Woah, are you all like, secretly models or something? You do not look like how I expected you to under that mask.” Jane leaned closer, blinking ever so often in surprise.

“Haha, I have my mother to thank for my looks. She has taught me how to maintain my body to perfection. Now to more important matters.”

He dramatically shoved his hand into his chest, grabbing out the flaming golden feather once more. Koschei then dropped it into the basin of water.

Immediately, the water submerged the feather, dyeing itself in its colors as if golden ink had been spilled into its contents. The runes and sigils on the ground bloom brightly, exploding in light and flames all around the two of them as they danced into an inferno.

“Jane Marcellus. You have been chosen by the Harbinger of Freedom to become the Unifire. A great task fit for a hero like yourself. Your first task amongst many is to gain the favor of another creature of flames. That which is known as…”

Pausing for dramatic effect, Koschei raised up his arms as the beater of the basin in front of him rose up in the form of a majestic peacock-like bird of gold.

“The Firebird!”

Jane’s face grew with intrigue, curiosity, and giddy excitement. Usually, she would say some snarky little comment, but this time, she was simply enamored by all the theatrics and passion shown to her. “What must I do to win its favor then? Do battle with it? Kill its enemies?”

Koschei shook his head. “No, nothing ever so brutish. The Firebird is a being of majesty and grace. It does not desire war of any kind, only to see the worth of those that seek to find it.”

He gestured to the feather. “I had the fortune to find this quite some time ago, along the eastern edges of the Hanging Mountains of Stavrobash that curled up into the sky. It was in the middle of a clearing revealed to me by the parting of the Mist.”

Jane’s mind flashed back as she knew of regular mist, she remembered overhearing about a special one that was native to Galfania. She racked her head a little until she recalled a memory where Peter talked about it once. “That’s the one that erases people from the world, correct?”

Koschei shook his head and waved his hand, instantly images in the flame changed to showcase a tundra covered by endless mist. “The Mist does not erase. The Mist simply obscures, it hides. Anyone who enters it is lost to its whims, then it takes them. I do not know where they take them, only that it does, hiding them within its veil until it chooses to let them go. Some things have been lost for centuries, or even millennia.”

His gaze fell upon the flames as images of monsters fleeing the Mist were produced. “Not even the monsters born here dare tread upon the areas that are enveloped in the Mist, for even they are lost to it.”

“You make it sound like it’s alive.” Koschei grinned as he heard Jane’s remark. “Well, of course, that’s because it is. Everything within Galfania is alive. From the ground you walk on to the air you breathe. Everything has a mind of its own.”

“Huh?” Jane raised her eyebrows. That was hard to believe, or even conceive. What does that even mean?

“How… Is that even possible? They don’t think, they don’t feel. They don’t even have any way to…” She struggled to find the words for it. How does one convey sentience? How does one convey sapience?

“They don’t move on their own. They don’t live in any way-“

Koschei raised his hand at that moment. “What does it mean to live? To be alive and experience reality?”

“Well, you’ll need to have some way to experience and interact with reality. Something to stimulate your brain so that you could see, hear, and taste. To live, you would need to simulate those senses. A rock can’t do that, nor can flames or mist either. You’d need something like a nervous system. Even then, I wouldn’t call that truly alive, golems could have pain receptors, they could perceive the world. They don’t have consciousness, just an algorithm, a code, a program.”

“I do not know what those last words mean. But I understand your sentiments immensely. They need a way to feel and experience the world, but here, in Galfania, they do. From the ground you walk on to the air you breathe, everything here has a mind of its own. However, they lay dormant until, of course, you awaken their souls.”

He gestured to the flames dramatically, flailing his robe as he did so. “Take a look upon the flames, and remember every time Magick has been evoked, has been used.”

Jane narrowed her eyes into the flames, as she saw something that reminded her of the incident at the expedition: there were faces, silhouettes of people dancing within its shadows. “Huh, are those…” She muttered to herself as she thought back to when Charlie activated her Magick, and she saw those pixie things by her ear, or when Rook managed to handle her fireball. There were those little faerie-like sprites that appeared.

“So if you awaken their souls, they become alive? Or like, more alive?”

“In a way, you can say that, yes, but what matters is that everything here has a force of will, personality, desire. Even that, Mist, but ah, we’ve gotten so off track from our original topic.”

“Oh yeah- sorry about that, it was just me being curious.”

“Never worry, you are a Chosen after all. I was going to explain it to you one way or another, and better sooner rather than later, as they say, do they still say that where you’re from?”

“They do actually.”

Koschei grinned and shook his head in joy. “How wonderful, so some things are not lost in the world after all. Now then, to continue what I said. The Firebird’s feather is one of the few things revealed from the Mist in recent history. Actually, the Mist itself has begun to part more and more ever since the expedition took place, so we took that as a sign of that fortune to come.”

He waved his hand, and the images returned to the Firebird as it soared into the air of the cave hall. “The feather of a Firebird denotes the beginning of a long quest. However, it was not my quest to undertake, as when I picked it up, the feather gave me a vision of handing it to another. For that purpose, I kept it safe inside of me until, of course, I found you.”

The images changed once more, now taking on the form of what appeared to be a breathtakingly beautiful garden that stood in the middle of a crater that looked like it was the aftermath of a large meteor.

It had long rows of herbs, vines, and even what appeared to be rivers that flowed down into waterfalls. All of it shimmered as if they were precious gems, standing out amongst the dull winter lands.

But the most beautiful sight of it all had to be the tree in the center of the garden, one that produced apples made of gold. At that very sight, Jane’s eyes widened. “By the Warden’s Blade. Are those golden apples?”

“Indeed, eat them and your life is lengthened, and it is said there’s a special ritual using them that could give anything in the world a proper soul for their mind to use. However, as all wondrous and mythical things are in this world, it is guarded by a power that I’m sad to say, we cannot defeat, even if every single one of us were to muster our forces and strike them down.”

Koschei waved his hand once more, and the images began to move as if they were a movie. A mountainous beast flew across the garden, casting a shadow so large it was like it blotted out the sun. It landed on the side of the crater, raising its crimson bat-like wings into the sky before tucking them behind its back, revealing its three yellowish-red reptilian heads that carefully surveyed the garden, watching anything that could be classified as a disturbance.

Once it had made sure there was nothing around, the three heads greedily bit down on the apples, devouring them by the pile with a single bite, leaving no trace behind.

“You face Azhdaya. The Guardian of the Lost Garden of Nikitovich. Brother of Zmey Gorynych, The Keeper of Gold, and Three-Headed Steed of The Great Queen Irina.”

Jane pointed to herself and then to Azhdaya. “I’m going to have to fight… that thing?” Koschei laughed and shook his head. “Of course not, you must merely have to find a way to take the apples from him!”

“H-how? That’s a dragon- I can’t exactly… steal it from under its nose now, can I? Certainly doesn’t look like a talker, and with how much it looks like he loves eating those apples, don’t think I can convince him otherwise- and how exactly will this gain favor from the Firebird?”

“We shall take the apples to the Firebird and feed it. As for how we shall obtain them? That shall be up to us, do not worry, I shall ensure you have my support no matter what. As the Flame Bearer, my Undying duty is to ensure that you fulfill your destiny as the Chosen of the Harbinger. Now then, do you think you’re ready?”

If he had asked years ago, months ago, even if he had asked just a day ago, Jane would have scoffed and rolled her eyes at that. But she stared at the fires, and it stared back at her. She was given the power and the choice to do more… it was then, she thought back to her conversation with Peter.

‘It’s best to be content and happy on your own terms rather than thinking you need to aim any higher.’

She was sailing to her doom, but at least now… she was given a choice. Maybe, just this time, Peter was right. It’s better to aim up, to give it your all with a foolish choice.

And so, with a cheeky grin, she proclaimed.

“I’m ready.”