Shape Me Into Ice and Fire

Warnings: violence, violence against and from a parent, child abuse, death, blood

Her hand brushed against Skadi’s as they approached the iron gates. A thick fog hung in the air as though they were in one of her favorite mystery novels.

“Do you think this is the right place?”

“If it’s not, then we’ve wasted a lot of gas,” she responded, as though her heartbeat wasn’t ringing in her ears.

Skadi shot her a side-long look. “Leo,”

Leo looked at her shoes, already covered with a thin layer of frost. “Unless you’re the one turning my shoes ice-y, then I’m willing to bet this is it.”

Instead of rushing forward like she’d expected her to, Skadi grabbed her hand. “I know you’re scared. I am too, but I promise we’ll get Fira back, we’ll go back to The Academy, and everything will be normal again.”

She said the same thing three months ago.

A quest was normal in your third year, it would’ve been odd if they hadn’t taken one. But this one? This one was personal. The Academy hadn’t wanted her to take it, she had to cut through so much red tape just for them to acknowledge that Fira was missing. A small part of him wondered if they were right to try and stop Skadi. She was relentless, Leo doubted she’d been sleeping, and while Leo knew she was the only thing keeping Skadi sane right now, her distance from her was infuriating. Leo was getting tired of waking up in a crappy motel room, with Skadi sitting at the end of one of the twin beds, pouring over a map of the fey realm given to her by The Academy. Leo supposed that she was lucky they even got the chance to rest, if it was up to Skadi, they wouldn’t even be bringing a backpack, let alone the luggage they carried in the back of the old silver car The Academy had lent them. He dearly hoped this was the right place just so she would stop this ravenous hunt.

Skadi placed her palms on the iron gate, she knew immediately who had created such cold. It was springtime everywhere else, but here? Here it was winter. Not the winter gazed at by young children with dreams of sledding and making snow angels. No. This winter was dark and ancient. This winter blew out the fires that kept it at bay. This winter seeped into the bones and turned your breath to ice. This was Her winter.

Skadi’s form shrank into a fox, ice swirling around her as her jeans and tank top were replaced by soft white fur. She yipped at Leo irritably and bounded through the frozen fence. Being an earth shifter, Leo could handle most weather, each season had its drawbacks, but each served a purpose. Leo was versatile and her abilities allowed her to thrive in most climates and take on most shifters’ elements of power with ease. She knew that’s why Skadi had brought her. She tried to convince herself it was because she wanted Leo with her. After all, Skadi needed her, right? But she knew she was just there to keep Skadi grounded. Leo’s own form slid from her shoulders as she shrank herself into an Arctic hare and thumped through the gate after Skadi.

            The air was cold in the mansion and its walls were coated with frost that crept across the ground like mold. On the high ceiling hung icicles sharp and quivering. Skadi knew they were only alive because She allowed it. Skadi looked behind her, she could just see the tips of Leo’s ears in her rabbit form. Skadi was grateful she was there. She knew she’d been distant lately, pushing Leo away. Skadi didn’t know why she’d put a wall between them; she told herself it was because she needed to concentrate on finding Fira. But in her heart, Skadi knew it was because she was scared. Scared at how deeply she felt for Leo, scared that her feelings for Leo would distract her, and terrified she’d been her own undoing by pushing Leo away. Skadi knew what Fira would say, she’d tell her to go with her heart, even if it would break:

“It’s better to feel than let it linger.”

Fira was so good with words, with people. Skadi was action-based—formal greetings, speaking with purpose. Fira showed her how to let down her guard. Skadi used to be able to do that around Leo. Fira had introduced her to Leo, having caught Leo sneaking glances at Skadi in the dining hall. Fira had no shame, she’d come up to Leo and asked her to sit with them, constantly saying she needed to go to the restroom so Leo and Skadi could “get to know each other”, as Fira put it. Fira was always full of optimism. Her belief in things like “love at first sight” and happy endings would have seemed silly and child-like but her dedication to making them true was fiercer than the fire that coursed through her veins—an icicle splintered the wood in front of her, sending razor-sharp shards of ice and floorboard shooting towards Skadi. Skadi skidded back and her heart sped up—a few shards of ice kicked her fur, but other than that, she was unharmed. She ran faster, keeping close to the walls, even though the frost coating them felt like sharp needles against her fur. Skadi needed to focus; she could deal with her complicated feelings for Leo after she’d rescued Fira.

Leo heard the crack of an icicle splitting the floor a little down the hall. She sped up, hoping Skadi hadn’t been hurt. Skadi had assured her that She would never harm her, that She would only play games with them, push them close enough to incite fear and panic, but She would never pull the trigger. Leo and Skadi’s mission proved this. Each time they thought they’d caught up to her, She left them with nothing but a maze of icicles. Leo was sure Skadi was right about Her never hurting Skadi, but Leo couldn’t be too sure that She wouldn’t hurt Leo. Leo skidded around the icicle embedded in the floor, and kept close to the wall, seeing Skadi appear up ahead, her body a barely distinguishable white blur against the frozen wood of the mansion. Why was it that she was always chasing after Skadi?

Fira had gone missing at the beginning of Skadi’s third year, Fira’s second. Skadi and Fira normally stayed at The Academy, due to the complicated relationship they had with their mother and that The Academy was the one place Fira could call home. However, Skadi was 17 and royalty, which forced her to return to the Frozen Tundra, where the ice and snow shifters made their home and cultivated their kingdom. Skadi and Fira’s mother was the reigning “Snow Queen”, a title that, in a few years, Skadi could inherit, should she choose to complete her royal training. Following the tradition of the current ruler stepping down once their heir was prepared to inherit the throne. Skadi didn’t want to be queen, but she didn’t want her mother to continue her reign. When Skadi had returned from her visit, Fira had disappeared. She’d searched for her relentlessly until Leo offered to help. Together, they’d asked permission for their third-year mission to be a quest to find Fira. The Academy was made for elemental shifters and other fey folk to explore their powers, cultivate their abilities, and find their path in life. The third-year mission was a quest (sometimes real, usually fabricated) to demonstrate to their instructors how much they’d grown and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. The Academy did not deem Skadi looking for Fira as a quest that would help to evaluate how she’d grown; the professors and council members agreed that the stakes were too high for a 17-year-old to handle. But Skadi didn’t give up, she kept researching and searching on her own until she reached a conclusion that she’d known to be true but refused to believe until it was staring her in the face.

Skadi knew her mother resented that she’d birthed a fire elemental. Though the birth of an elemental different from one’s own was commonplace, she didn’t realize the lengths her mother would go to eradicate Fira from the bloodline. Skadi had presented her findings to the council arguing that whether they condoned her mission or not, she would be going anyway because it was now a family matter. Leo had willingly joined her mission, a loyal friend since the start. At the beginning of their quest, it had been exciting, every bit of progress they’d made was another step toward retrieving Fira and ending the Snow Queen’s tyranny. But after a while, Skadi noticed a pattern, they’d always seem to “just miss her”, suddenly, every bit of “progress” turned into dead ends and frustration. This time though, it was different. She was here; but Skadi felt odd about the whole thing, as though She had wanted them to find her, as though this was a test of some kind. Skadi knew that Fira would fight tooth and nail against her mother. When they were little Skadi tried to protect Fira from her ice-cold rage, but she couldn’t protect her from all of it. Before they’d fled the Frozen Tundra, Fira knew the only way to escape her mother’s wrath was to fight her with everything she had. The way the Snow Queen kept dodging them so effortlessly worried Skadi. It meant that Fira was out of commission. The Snow Queen had found a way to curb Fira’s power so she could bate Skadi.

            Leo wondered what awaited them at the end of the corridor. Leo had caught up to Skadi in her fox form, but she’d been lost in her own world, turning on autopilot as she ran down the seemingly endless hall. They had to make several turns here and there and had to avoid tripping and falling on frozen staircases, but their animal forms helped, more agile than a clumsy human frame. Everything seemed so easy, which, if Leo had learned anything, meant that everything was about to get ten times harder. She desperately hoped that Fira was not grievously injured. Though only 16, Fira was one of the strongest and bravest people she’d ever known. That was part of the reason she’d stayed by Skadi’s side; despite the immense pain she felt every time she shut him out. She knew that Fira would fight with everything she had for Skadi and him. She was a true friend and a loyal sister, on top of everything, she made Skadi better—softer, less guarded. Suddenly, Skadi skidded to a halt, her fox claws leaving tiny holes in the ancient frost-covered carpet. Her fox form evaporated from her body in a blast of cool frost and snow, her usual bone-white skin and hair appearing below. She looked down at Leo, her ice-blue eyes flashing with uncertainty and fear. Leo quickly let her rabbit form fall away from her body, as though slipping out of a silk dress, disappearing from the flesh as it dissolved in a pop of fur.

“Hey,” Leo whispered. “Whatever happens in there,” he gestured to the large oak door just a few feet away. “I’ve got your back.”

“What if it’s just a trick?” She croaked, as though something was stuck in her throat. “What if I’m wrong, and she’s not in there and this is just another dead end? What if she’s already- “

“She hasn’t,” Leo put her hands on Skadi’s shoulders and made her hold her gaze. “Because you would know.” Skadi pressed her lips together and nodded.

“Are you ready?” Skadi looked down to see that her thin hands were surrounded with a cold-blue aura.

Leo tapped into the earth deep below the house, sensing the ancient roots of an oak tree below them, intertwined with skeletons of rats and rabbits. “Yes.”

Skadi harnessed a winter wind to burst open the large door. Leo supposed that subtlety was out of the question.

            The room was spacious, and empty, except for two figures. One was a tall woman with a willowy frame. Long, silver hair cascaded down her shoulders and around a regal face with sharp, pale features. Her snow-white dress melted down to the floor like a frozen waterfall. She was as beautiful as an icicle before it fell from a rooftop.

There was no trace of ice within the room, apart from the manacles that bound a pale and almost life-less Fira who was huddled in the corner with her eyes covered by a dirty cloth, her breath coming out in white puffs.

“Mother,” Skadi breathed stepping into the room. Her mother must be expecting, no, wanting, a fight, if she had been waiting here this whole time. Perhaps she wanted Skadi to prove herself. If that was the case, Skadi was more than ready.

“Skadi,” Her mother smiled slowly, showing her teeth. “I am impressed. You were so close I worried you might catch me before I finished laying my traps.”

“Let her go,” Skadi commanded, gesturing to Fira. “I have no time for your games.”

“Her?” The Snow Queen flicked her hand in disgust at the shivering Fira. Skadi noticed there were streaks of pure white in her bright red hair. What had she done to her? “She is simply motivation.”

“Motivation for what?” Leo asked, sensing that all was not how it appeared.

“Quiet, Earth elemental, this is none of your concern,” the Snow Queen shot a non-committal ice ball at her face, which Leo blocked easily with a flick of a tree root she’d summoned.

“This is her concern!” Skadi shouted. Her volume wasn’t necessary, but her mother’s dismissive tone made her blood boil. The queen considered no one her equal, she wasn’t a queen, she was a tyrant. “Leo has stayed with me despite the little mind games you’ve been playing, and the dead ends you’ve left me. We’ve been chasing you for three months and never once has she wavered, never once has she questioned or thought my mission futile. She is a skilled warrior and a true friend.” Skadi’s eyes never left her mother’s, but she could feel Leo’s gaze boring into her. After all the coldness she’d sent her way, Leo must be surprised to hear such words and probably hurt too—she’d had all the time in the world to share this on their three-month journey, but she’d chosen to say them to the person least likely to care.

Leo faltered at Skadi’s words and a blush appeared on her cheeks that she couldn’t force down. She had been paying attention. She tried to stay alert and concentrate using the ground to push Fira towards her without the Snow Queen noticing. However, the Snow Queen seemed unconcerned with her second daughter. Her crystal blue eyes were focused on Skadi and her lips were curved into a smirk. Leo glanced at Skadi, her skin was so pale it was almost blue, but that was the only sign of fear Leo detected. She was in full battle mode, both beautiful and dangerous. Leo wished she could tell her how much she admired and feared for her. She had no doubt she could take on the Snow Queen, but Leo sorely wished she didn’t have to.

“She sounds like a good soldier, you’ll want to keep those around when you become queen.”

“W-what?” Sputtered Skadi. Her interest in being queen was merely so her mother wasn’t, and she knew full well she wouldn’t get the chance until years later. She didn’t want to be queen right now, she needed time, she needed—

“I was impressed with your strength and wit, when you visited me over the summer, my dear, but I needed to know if you really had what it takes to rule our people.”

“What, I-?” Skadi gestured wildly in anger and disbelief, the air growing colder around her as she let her emotions get the better of her. “All those little tests. You, you have caused so much pain.”

Leo could hear Skadi losing her composure, her anger and confusion were almost palatable. She wished she could do something to help, but she had to focus on Fira. The ground was difficult to work with, the cold making it hard and sluggish.

 “For months I have fought to find you, and it was all for a silly game? I-I saw you in the Frozen Tundra, why didn’t you just—” Skadi threw an angry snowball at her mother, who ducked effortlessly to avoid it. “Kidnapping my sister, your daughter! Just to see if I was ready to become queen? You. Don’t. Control. Me.” Each word was punctuated with a snowball thrown at the Snow Queen. Skadi took a breath, attempting to find what little composure she had left. “Did you ever think that maybe I needed more time?” She said in a hoarse whisper. “You love control,” she continued, her voice shaky with rage and uncertainty. “Everything has to be on your time. You shouldn’t have so much power. Because this,” Skadi’s hands reached towards the floor forming icicles with her mind. “Is what happens when people like you become too powerful.” The icicles burst forth into reality, jutting up from the ground and reaching out from the walls to form a latticework of ice that prevented the Snow Queen from moving toward Skadi or Fira. The Snow Queen laughed, despite her path being blocked by needle-sharp shards of ice.

“Becoming queen is not something you choose; it’s something that chooses you.”

            Leo hoped that Skadi could detain her mother just a little bit longer, she had managed to slide Fira across the room without the Snow Queen noticing, and now that she was temporarily incapacitated, Leo could try to free her.

            “What do you mean? Speak plainly!” Skadi commanded, noticing that Leo had managed to get ahold of Fira. Her heart ached, she longed to cradle her sister in her arms and undo all the evil her mother had done to her, but they weren’t in the clear just yet. She needed to buy them time, if there was any.

“I mean, child, that I am dying.” Her mother smiled at these words, as though it was a sick joke.

Skadi blinked. “What?” Skadi’s mind was racing. Was she lying? And if so, to what end? The Snow Queen continued to smile, as though this was all just a game to her.

 “Let me tell you a story, Skadi. Once upon a time, during the reign of the Fire King, a mirror was created for his majesty. This mirror was well-crafted and elegant, it was the finest mirror in all the land, but it came with a curse. As you know, the Fire King was a tyrant who sought to rule every element and subjugate the ice kingdom which he ruled. The creator of the mirror hated the king and cursed the mirror to distort and twist any image that was reflected upon its surface. On the day the mirror was to be delivered to the king it was shattered on the steps of the palace by a guard who lost his footing. The glass was picked up by the wind and flung across the kingdom of ice. My heart was pierced by one of these glass shards. At first, my family considered it a curse, I could feel no emotions but anger and hatred, and no physical pain. They worried I would die, but as the years went by I grew stronger and more powerful than any ice shifter. Soon, I was strong enough to overthrow the Fire King. I still remember the look on his face as I stabbed an icicle into his heart,” A wicked grin spread across the queen’s face; made even more sinister by the sharp icicles obscuring her image. “The way the light left his eyes as his life force was stripped away gave me hope; for he had been defeated by someone he had spit at and starved from his tower of ice and fire.” Her grin was quickly replaced by the cool smirk she always wore. Skadi had known her mother was centuries old, but she had never heard of this mirror that had turned her mother into the monster trapped before her. It was all starting to make sense. In her mind, Skadi was fitting the pieces together, creating a backstory for her mother where there was none before, but in her heart, Skadi seethed. This happened hundreds of years ago, long before Fira had been born, but the Snow Queen still punished her. The Snow Queen had let her own bitterness and vengeance fuel her rage against her children, and Skadi wanted justice. Skadi couldn’t understand how someone could hate their own child, so fiercely that fleeing from them was the only way to preserve that child’s life. Even though the Queen had reminded Skadi again and again that this was the case—even after receiving a letter from her allies in the Frozen Tundra, informing her that the queen had also disappeared on the same day Fira had—Skadi had to see it with her own eyes to believe it. Skadi felt a resentfulness for the mirror that changed what could have been a loving mother into a monster, but it also gave her a flicker of hope. All her life Skadi was scared the throne’s power would corrupt her, that if she ascended to queenhood she would end up like her mother, even if her intentions were pure. The mirror changed things. “Ironically, the king’s own vanity was his downfall. The shard of glass in my heart gave me power and strength, and now I must pay penance. You see, ice and snow elementals can carry the shard for longer, in fact, the shard even extends our life, however, eventually, the mirror takes back what it has given,” the queen pulled up the hem of her gown revealing, between the icicles, a leg made completely of glass.

Leo broke through Fira’s ice manacles, using a diamond that she pulled from the ground a moment ago—the manacles made a tinkling sound as they shattered, but the Snow Queen and Skadi didn’t seem to notice. Leo normally didn’t dig that deep into the earth, and her head swam with the effort. Leo hoped Skadi could keep the Queen distracted for a while longer.

“So, I’m afraid, my dear,” purred the Snow Queen. “That you have no choice but to take my throne. You say you need time, training, well what do you think this was? I have been watching your progress, you have demonstrated excellent perseverance, strength, and cleverness. You will make a fine queen.”

“A queen requires more than just that, she needs a heart too,” Skadi spat.

The queen smirked and gestured towards Leo, who was examining the frostbitten skin on Fira’s wrists. “Well, isn’t that what you have her for? Or have you pushed her away as you did me? Like you do with anyone who you think will hurt you?” The Snow Queen leaned against the wall, as though she had all the time in the world. “It’s smart, you don’t let anyone near enough to be a liability.” Leo faltered, as she unwound the dirty cloth from around Fira’s eyes.

“Skadi,” Leo breathed, unable to look away from the sight that met her gaze.

“That’s not true!” Skadi practically screamed, not hearing Leo—for Skadi feared she’d done just that to Leo, and the thought hurt too much to even consider.

“You’re right,” the Snow Queen snarled, dissolving the latticework of sharp icicles that had kept her separated from Skadi as though it were nothing but a flurry of snow. The Snow Queen grabbed Leo by the back of her neck, Leo struggled, grunting and kicking her legs, unable to break the Snow Queen’s iron grip. Fira fell to the ground, letting out a weak cry of protest as the filthy cloth fell away completely from her face. Skadi gasped. Instead of the crystal blue eyes that Skadi and Fira shared, a dull silver glass covered her eyes from her eyebrows to just above her nose. Skadi could see the raindrop shape of a tear just escaping Fira’s eyes, preserved forever.

The Snow Queen forced Leo to her knees in front of Skadi. “This is what happens when you get too close. You endanger yourself and your kingdom. Fortunately, this is only a test, so you will have the opportunity to prove to me that you deserve the crown.”

“Let. Her. Go.” Skadi’s hands were shaking at her sides. Snowflakes fell around her. Leo caught Skadi’s eyes, and Skadi shuttered, she’d never seen Leo look so scared.  

“You must kill Fira, then you may have your filthy earthworm back,” The Snow Queen grinned cruelly. “When you kill Fira you will be doing her a favor. I have put a shard of glass into her heart,” the Snow Queen twisted her wrist to produce a swirl of magic that looked different from her normal ice magic, it was silver and sharper. “Fire elementals cannot hold the glass shards for long,” the swirling silver fragments in the queen’s hand morphed into one reflective glass blade, which she held to Leo’s throat. “Send an arrow of ice through her heart, or I will kill her.”

Skadi didn’t even need to look at her mother to know it was true. There was no warmth in that voice, only ice, just like her magic. Skadi knew she had to act, had to move, had to do something to save Leo, but her mind was blank. Her hands, normally ready with a spell were motionless. Skadi had come to rescue her sister; it had been all she could think about for three months, and she was going to fail. Suddenly, there was a crack and an ear-shattering scream. The Snow Queen was on the ground, one of her legs shattered into silver shards of glass, glittering against the frost-bitten floor like blades. Leo’s tree roots slowly sank back into the earth.

Skadi quickly shook herself of her momentary stillness. “Leo,” she snapped. “Get Fira to the car, now.”

“But—"

Skadi turned to look at Leo, her bright green eyes practically glowing with power flickered to reveal something else, a mix between frustration and longing. Skadi wanted to avert her eyes, the emotions within Leo’s gaze were too much to bear, but she forced herself meet her eyes. “I have to do this,” she whispered, almost inaudibly. “Please, take her.”

Leo didn’t ask why, she just nodded and picked up Fira, supporting her head and legs with her strong arms. Leo ran as fast as she could out of the room. Skadi heard the sharp crack of icicles breaking as they fell from the ceiling, and she prayed Leo would be okay. She knelt down beside her mother, who was struggling to prop herself up with one leg and picked up the fallen mirror shard. Skadi expected to feel hatred for the woman who had caused her so much pain and fear her entire life, but all she could feel was pity.

“Get it over with,” Her mother practically spat.

Skadi was more than happy to fulfill her request; she gripped the shard of mirror the Snow Queen had been about to kill Fira with. Skadi took a breath, trying to steady her hand, before pressing the blade against her mother’s neck. The Snow Queen hissed as the glass settled against her skin. Skadi knew the motions, she knew what to do, how much pressure to use, but something stopped her. She knew she couldn’t let her tyrant of a mother live, she was too powerful, too much of a liability. Skadi gritted her teeth, just one movement, quick and painless. Skadi gripped her mother’s shoulder, her thumb pressing against the ice-cold flesh above her collar. Skadi startled, almost pulling away, but she could feel something inside her mother wanting to be released, a dark, pulsing sensation forcing her to tighten her grip on the Snow Queen’s shoulder. Skadi never had much physical contact with her mother, but even when she did, she hadn’t felt anything like this, only a general foreboding, but this was something malignant, like a parasite whose host had weakened while it grew strong and was now in search of another. Skadi dropped the knife with a clang and situated the Snow Queen so she was propped up against the wall. Skadi took both her hands in hers and concentrated.

“What are you doing?” The Snow Queen sneered. “You’re no coward Skadi, do what you came here to do.”

Skadi ignored her and reached for the pulsating force within the Snow Queen. It called to Skadi from the Snow Queen’s heart and Skadi reached for it with all her might, a silver glow began to form around her and her mother’s clasped hands, Skadi and the Snow Queen stared, enthralled. The glow began to fade and solidify into a thick liquid, running between the Snow Queen and Skadi. Skadi could feel her mother’s hands getting warmer as hers became cold and numb.

“Skadi no,” the Snow Queen tried to pull her hands away, but the liquid was like a magnet now, forcing their hands in place. Skadi looked into her mother’s eyes and was startled to see warmth and kindness, her blue eyes no longer cold and calculating. Skadi felt something warm touch her knee and was surprised to see red blood soaking into her jeans, her mother’s leg, the wound only intended on slowing her down would now kill her without the glass in her heart. “I guess it’s what I deserve,” her mother examined the blood leaving her body.

“That wasn’t you,” Skadi choked out, the glass was making its way into her heart, and she could feel an intense pressure beginning to form there. “It was the mirror shard.”

Her mother looked at her sadly. “I still caused you and your sister so much pain,” a tear slipped down her cheek, falling lightly to the floor, making a tiny splash in the puddle of blood. Skadi’s own eyes began to fill with tears. The Snow Queen was becoming the person she could have been, had not vanity and vengeance melded together to create the monster she had become. Skadi was finally seeing the mother that was always there behind the glacial façade of glass, just as she was about to lose her. Skadi let out a heart-wrenching sob, if only Fira was here, then maybe she would know what to say, instead of just crying like an idiot during her mother’s last moments.

Leo made sure Fira was comfortable in the backseat of the car before locking it and sliding into the form of a badger. She began to dig as fast as she could, locating the tree roots from before. A moment later she immerged through a layer of frost in his human form. The sight that met his eyes made no sense. The Snow Queen was propped against the wall, bleeding actual blood, where there were only ice shards before. She looked different, more human. Her sharp face had softened, and her silver hair had turned a platinum blonde. Her red blood had soaked into Skadi’s jeans, though she didn’t seem to notice, for her hands were holding the Snow Queen’s, bound together with a silver substance. Skadi was sobbing, tears running down her face, but they seemed to be drying almost as fast as she could shed them. Her hair was turning a silver color, and her bone structure seemed more pronounced. Leo’s heart dropped. The silver substance was the mirror shard the queen had blinded Fira with. And Skadi, Skadi was taking it into her own heart, willingly.

“No!” Leo shouted, sliding between the pair without thinking. She felt something cold and sharp hit her back and Skadi gasped.

“Leo, what are you doing?”

“You don’t have to do this, please don’t do this.”

“Leo, move,” Skadi tried to push her out of the way, her short nails scrapping at her arm feverishly. “Please, you’ll get yourself killed, I know what I’m doing.”

Anger rose up in Leo’s chest and she felt its bitterness caress his tongue. “No, you don’t,” Leo pushed Skadi out of the way, facing the Snow Queen. She could feel a pressure in her heart growing and she gritted her teeth against the prickling coldness of the mirror, concentrating on raising and fusing together tree roots to create a shield between herself and the magic mirror escaping the dying Queen. The remaining mirror shards entered the wood, and Leo suddenly lost control of the roots as their bark was changed from a splintered brown into a glossy silver.

“Don’t look into it!” Skadi instructed, encasing the newly formed mirror in ice. Skadi pushed past Leo and fell to her knees before her mother. Her mother was deathly pale, but her eyes shone brightly in her head. She reached up shakily to brush a tear away from Skadi’s face.

“You will be an amazing Queen, Skadi. I love you and your sister so much. You bring so much light to this world,” Skadi held her mother’s hand as it dropped from her face and watched as she took her final breaths. Skadi knew she was feeling more than sad, but her emotions were fading like distant drumbeats, even the tears that readily pooled in her eyes were dissipating. She turned to Leo and almost had to look away, the emotions she’d been suppressing around her almost broke through the glass within her heart.

“Leo,” she said quietly, standing up and walking towards her. Leo’s emotions were written across her face as plain as day. Fear, bewilderment, concern, and something deeper.

“Skadi,” she said softly. “Why did you do it? How could you be so foolish?” A tear slipped down her face. And Leo stepped forward to cup Skadi’s face in her hands. “You could have died.”

“I needed to get it out of her. She’s not,” Leo cupped Skadi’s cheeks in her hands, forcing her to look away from her mother’s corpse. “She’s not the monster she became.” Skadi pressed a hand to Leo’s chest, and she could feel Leo holding her breath. Her emotions for Leo were so strong, but the glass in her heart only grew stronger, even though she’d held it for mere minutes she could already feel it eating away at her humanity.

“We need to get the shard out of you before the same thing happens to you.” Leo moved Skadi’s hand away from her chest and held her at arm’s length. “Skadi, I know what you’re thinking, but I won’t let you have it. You don’t need to carry this alone.”

“Please,” Skadi could feel the pull of the mirror within her, it hadn’t settled yet, and delighted in spreading. “I can’t let you turn into a monster.”

“And I can’t lose you,” Leo whispered. As if unable to bear her not being closer, Leo pulled Skadi into her, when they touched, Skadi felt a heat within her heart, so powerful she swore it was melting the glass there. Leo held Skadi to her, a hand on her waist and back. She bent to whisper in Skadi’s ear and Skadi felt goosebumps rise on her skin as her hot breath caressed her neck.

“I love you Skadi.”

Skadi felt a tangle of emotions building up and overflowing within her heart. Her fear and anger were slowly melting away as she pulled Leo’s face closer to hers. She hesitated, looking into Leo’s eyes and she closed the gap between them. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she felt the silver glass within her melt away. She deepened the kiss, and she could feel Leo smiling.

The End…For Now.