Wind whistled through the trees, dropping snow and pine needles down on Vero’s head. She pulled her furs tighter around herself and pressed forwards through the deep snow.

  The others came out with her the first twelve miles, then they took their own path to ascend the mountain towards the castle directly. Vero walked the final three – really, three and a half – miles on her own. She found the peaceful quiet of the wilderness relaxing.

  She was only perhaps a mile from her destination when the night air was split by the cry of a wolf. Then, not long after, there was another. Followed by a third.

  The howls were far off, but not nearly far enough for Vero to feel safe. She kept marching. As far as she was from the others, the animals were certainly much closer than any help. Wildlife was not the threat she prepared herself to face. If she were attacked while alone on the mountain, it was likely she would die there.

  The idea did not bother her exactly. She preferred to live, of course, but everyone’s time had to come eventually. If she did end her life feeding the local wolves, she pondered idly if Jean would ever discover what had happened, and if he would grieve for her.

  The wolves howled once more. This time the pack was closer.

  It occurred to her that the wolves might be the servants of the thing she sought. If so, she was not sure exactly what she would do about it. She cast workings on herself to sharpen her senses before setting out, but she still did not care to match them against a wolf’s- especially at night.

  She was confident she could kill one on its own, but a pack would surround her and wait for her to tire. Once she was exhausted, they could pull her down by weight of numbers and that would be it.

  The howls came yet again, and even closer.

  Vero stopped. It would be no good trying to outrun the beasts. Even in snowshoes, she would not make it. Rather than try, she pulled out her map and oriented herself by the Dragon’s Eye, the star was just visible above the mountains. Once she had established due south, she started moving directly towards the lake.

  She had intended to circumnavigate to the nearest point to the postern before submerging, but the water itself was not far away. There was no telling how long her spells would last, or how well she could seal her equipment against the water, but this was the only chance she saw.

  As Vero marched along the crest of the mountain, the wolves continued to announce their gradual approach. She was nearly to her destination, so to save time, she began to strip off her clothing as she ran. It felt like razor blades when the wind blew directly against her bare skin, but Vero put it out of her mind. Her cloak, gloves, coats, and tunic were off when she saw the frozen lake in front of her.

  Momentarily distracted, she lost a snowshoe and tumbled forwards. It was agony when the cold snow pressed against her skin, and she had to suppress a scream. There was no time to go back for the shoe, and her fall had already brought her directly to the edge of the lake.

  Vero drew her sword and plunged it into the ice. Fortunately, it was not thick, and an opening appeared quickly. She ripped off the last of her clothes and pulled her reagents out of her pack. First, she lathered herself liberally in whale oil, and then cut open her hand. Her fingers were numb from the cold, she could barely work them to draw the sigils and form the signs.

  She was hoping that she would know the spell was taking effect by sensing a reduction in the cold, but she still felt frozen. She wanted to repeat the signs to be sure, but checking behind her, she could see silhouettes of the pack against the moonlight on top of the hill she had fallen down. With no time remaining, she emptied a vial of fish scales into her mouth and forced herself to swallow.

  Vero grabbed her sword and submerged herself in the water, with the wolves nipping at her heels. The beasts kept guard on the shore, but could not follow her into the freezing water. She was not keen on leaving her clothes behind, but it was not as though the wolves would steal them.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The water was so cold it felt like she was swimming through blades. Although every instinct was telling her not to, she pulled her eyes open and waited for them to adjust to the darkness.

  In less than a minute she no longer felt cold. Vero hoped it was an indication that her working had taken effect, and not that she was freezing to death. Underwater, she finished making her signs and then took a tentative breath.

  There was a terrifying sensation of her lungs filling with fluid, but once her lungs were full, she could breathe easily. She was not choking to death, so she was satisfied that it was a success.

  Looking back the way she came, Vero found the wolves lingering around the hole where she broke through the ice. She would need to retrieve the rest of her things somehow. Unless there was a guard at the postern for her to surrender herself to.

  Even in lakes encrusted in ice, there was still some life. Yet unnervingly, as Vero looked around, she could see nothing moving besides herself. As she neared the other end of the lake, she began to move towards the surface. She drove her weapon upwards into it, but was repulsed.

  She tried again and chiseled off a bit of ice, but found the covering over her significantly thicker than on the other side. It was also much more difficult to build up momentum for her thrust within the resistance of the water.

  Bizarrely, the ice seemed thicker towards the center of lake. She could still see the wolves patrolling above her.

  Vero began to believe that she had made a serious miscalculation when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned and found a human figure motioning her forward. Vero thought that she must be dying, because in front of her was a beautiful woman. The woman was even younger than herself, and no more dressed, swimming effortlessly in front of her.

  Vero was unsure of what she ought to do, but if it was a rusalka, she had already done a well enough job of drowning herself. It could also be a vampyre, but her instincts told her no. With nothing else to lose, she swam towards the woman and allowed herself to be led.

  The strange beauty led her to a rock wall where the water met a sheer mountain cliff. The woman took them to an opening into an underwater cave. They passed through a tunnel, and Vero could see light radiating down from somewhere ahead of her. The passage turned vertically, so that it led them upwards into the light. The shimmering above her was so bright that she was forced to close her eyes to avoid being blinded.

  By this time her lungs were starting to burn, and just as she felt that she could take no more, she emerged up out of the water. She coughed the fluid out of her lungs and gasped for air.

  When she opened her eyes, Vero found herself in a cave with astonishing blueish crystals growing along the walls. There was some unseen bright white light hidden in the ceiling and illuminating the whole chamber. Although the circumstances of her coming there were already strange enough, the light sparkling and reflecting off the crystals and the water gave the place an even more fairytale quality.

  The woman pulled Vero up and out of the water. Aside from them, the chamber was empty. There were two exits besides the underwater passage they entered through. One led off, to where, Vero could not see. The other was frozen closed by a thin, but transparent, barrier of ice.

  “Are you well?” the woman asked, in a cheerful melodic voice. Although Vero was far from home, the woman spoke Velian fluently.

  “I’m fine- my thanks…” Vero managed, between gasps for breath. “Who are you?”

  “It’s rather impertinent, don’t you think? To demand my name, without offering you own? You are a guest in my home, after all.”

  Vero recovered herself. “I apologize. I was simply surprised to find such a beautiful young woman taking a moonlight swim beneath a frozen lake.”

  The woman tittered a pretty sounding little laugh. “No more surprised than I. It may become very cold for you, once your spell fails. Would you like me to find you some clothes?”

  Vero suddenly felt self-conscious and obscured her most intimate charms as well as possible. The strange woman was also undressed, but seemed to take no notice. In fact, from her posture, it seemed so natural to her that Vero imagined she probably never wore clothes.

  “That would be very kind of you.”

  The woman laughed again and smiled very sweetly at Vero. “No need for embarrassment. My name is Adeana.”

  With the threat of death no longer hanging over her, Vero could more fully appreciate her rescuer’s exquisite beauty.

  Adeana was tall, with very pleasing curves. She was fit and trim, but not muscular as Vero was. Her breasts were neither enormous like a peasant matron, nor underdeveloped like a frail girl. Her hair was blond and fell in curls all the way to her waist. She held herself gayly, without the slightest sense of modesty, but also without any sign of wantonness. Finally, and most striking of all, her eyes were a perfect aquatic blue. They reminded Vero exactly of the icy lake’s surface.

  “Adeana? You were named for the lake?”

  “The lake was named for me.”

  Adeana showed all the signs of being a nymph. Vero was surprised to have encountered such a creature. Nymphs and dryads were driven nearly to the point of extinction during the later days of Imperial Era.

  “My name is Veronique, Lady Adeana. Vero, if it pleases you.”

  Adeana extended a hand and assisted Vero to her feet. “It pleases me very much, little Vero. Please allow me the honor of offering you my hospitality, if only you will agree to leave behind a small portion of the happiness that you bring.”

  If you're in a position to support my work financially, I have a Uncut versions of all publicly released chapters are available there at the free membership tier, as well as pieces of flash fiction not available here on Royal Road. The early chapter reward tier list is hidden in spoiler text:

  $3 - 5 early chapters, this tier is available as a one week free trial

  $5 - 10 early chapters

  $7 - 15 early chapters

  $10 - 20 early chapters

  $15 - 30 early chapters + the exclusive short stories

  If you've enjoyed this book you can also leave a rating, review, follow, and/or favorite. According to my analytics, most of you aren't members of Royal Road, but even without an account, you can still support my work just by sharing, boosting, and recommending this story to anyone you think may enjoy it. I have listings on and

  Also find me on and .

  Thanks for reading!