Rainbow's Arc

Chapter 4 of 4

IceeRainbowPrincess led them down a stair inside the castle. The steps ended at a low mouth of ice. Cold air pushed out of it. Rainbow looked in and saw the old channel. Its floor sloped down toward a black gap. Floodwater roared somewhere below the gap. The trail she needed ran straight across that floor. But the ice was wet and smooth as glass. "Step in there and you slide," Rainbow said. "Right into the water." "Then find a way to walk," said a new voice. A man stepped from a side arch. He wore a dark robe and a crystal crown. His eyes were bright blue and hard. IceeRainbowPrincess dropped her head at once. "Father," she said. This was the ruler of the castle, and he did not smile at the strangers dripping on his floor. "You brought the storm's mess into my halls," he told her. Then his eyes found the wand in Rainbow's hand. "That is no plain stick," the king said. He came closer. "It carries paint from the storm brush." Rainbow gripped the wand. Its surface swirled with color. "It's mine. My grandmother gave it to me." She looked back at the slick floor. An idea pulled at her. The bristle had made ice grow on the bridge wall. Maybe the wand could do more. "I need to cross," Rainbow said. "The floor's too slick. Will you help, or watch me fall?" The king studied her. "Show me it still holds power." Rainbow knelt at the channel's mouth. She pressed the bristle against the wand's tip. Color leaked into the crystal. She touched the wand to the ice floor and dragged it forward. A rough ridge rose under the point. The smooth surface cracked into gripping steps. Her dragon set one claw on the first ridge. It held. Rainbow pushed the wand further, and the ridged path grew toward the far side. "Go," she told IceeRainbowPrince. He crossed on the new footing, arms out for balance. Rainbow followed, dragging the wand as she went. Below her, the black gap breathed cold water. She did not look at it. She watched the ridges form under the tip and stepped on each one. Her dragon reached the far ledge and turned to wait. Rainbow took the last step across. Then the wand went dull in her hand. The color drained out. The final stretch of ice never roughened. IceeRainbowPrincess still stood on the castle side, cut off. "The crystal's spent," Rainbow called. The king watched his daughter across the gap. His face changed. "You took my child's road and left her behind," he said. He raised his own crown crystal. "Now you will bring her through, or I will freeze your trail shut for good." Rainbow stood on the far side, dragon beside her, the trail open ahead. But an angry king held the only path back.