Snow fairy's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Lira Voss had walked the frozen range for six days, and she still had no idea where the winterflower grew. The snow fairy pressed her small hands against a wall of ice and rested her white head. Tiny flowers bloomed in her hair, then wilted in the cold. She had come to bloom the legendary winterflower, the bloom that only opens for a fairy who has mastered every season's magic. But a flower she could not find would never test her at all. Her bright blue eyes stung. Every ridge looked the same. Every valley led nowhere. A frozen waterfall rose ahead of her, sheets of ice stacked high and glassy. Lira flew toward it, hoping to spot a path from the top. That was when she saw the witch. A woman in a white dress and a wide white hat stood at the base of the ice, dusting frost from a crystal-tipped staff. Small flowers ringed her hat brim. She hummed while she worked, as if the empty range were her own front garden. "You've been circling," the witch said, without turning. "I watched you pass this spot twice." Lira landed hard on the snow. "I'm looking for the winterflower. Do you know it?" The witch turned. Her face was kind, and her eyes crinkled. "I'm Stella Snowflake. And yes, I know the old story." She tapped her staff on the ice. "The winterflower hides in a valley no map holds. But once a year, a serpent crosses it. A pale thing, scales like snowflakes. If you follow the serpent, you find the valley." Lira's wings buzzed. "Then I'll find the serpent." "Not so simple." Stella held up a finger. "The serpent only crosses at the turn of the season. That's tomorrow. And it moves fast. You'll never keep pace on those little wings." Lira's hope sank as quickly as it had risen. "Then how?" Stella smiled and pointed past the waterfall. In the shadow of the ice stood a great mammoth, its coat white with frost, crystals hanging from its tusks. It swung its head slowly toward them. "He knows these ranges," Stella said. "He can carry you fast enough to follow the serpent. But he won't move for a stranger. You'll have to earn his trust before the season turns. And you have until dawn." Lira looked at the huge creature. It watched her with one dark, patient eye. She no longer wandered blind. She had a lead, a guide, and a deadline. She flew toward the mammoth, flowers waking again in her hair. Behind her, Stella called out. "He tests those who ask. Be honest with him, or he'll walk away." Lira stopped an arm's length from the great frosted head. The mammoth lowered its tusks and waited. Dawn was coming. She had one night to win a creature who did not know her name.