Volume IV The White King
ARC II THE CASTLE OF ICE
Chapter 7 Everfrost Citadel
Three days later the mountains finally parted. Toivo had never seen anything like it. Not in his wildest dreams and stories, Not even in the oldest legends told around Northmen fires. The Ice Road emerged from a narrow pass between towering glaciers. Then suddenly the world opened. Toivo pulled his marble horse to a halt. Gret stopped beside him. Even Kev forgot to complain. For several moments nobody spoke. Before them stretched an enormous valley. A kingdom buried beneath eternal winter. The Valley of Everfrost. Snow drifted endlessly from silver skies. Ancient evergreen forests covered vast hillsides. Frozen rivers wound through the landscape like veins of crystal. Glaciers larger than entire mountain ranges glittered beneath pale sunlight. Everything sparkled.Everything shimmered. Everything looked frozen in time. The citadel in the center. Toivo forgot how to breathe. The Castle of Everfrost. The White King's domain. The castle rose from a colossal hill of ice and stone in the center of the valley. No castle was too small a word. This was a city. A kingdom. A monument built to challenge the heavens themselves. Tower after tower rose into the sky. Hundreds of them. Perhaps thousands. Spiraling spires of white stone and enchanted ice pierced the clouds above. Massive walls surrounded the citadel. Walls so immense they resembled mountain cliffs more than fortifications. Frozen waterfalls cascaded down their sides. Crystal bridges connected distant towers. Silver banners drifted in the wind. The banners bore a single symbol. A crescent moon embraced by snowflakes. Moon stared silently. The sight reflected in his black eyes. Something ancient stirred behind his expression. Something painful. Something beautiful. Toivo noticed immediately. But said nothing. The Frost Death Reapers lowered their heads. Even they seemed humbled by the view. As though witnessing something sacred. The Ice Road continued downward. Toward the valley. Toward the castle. Toward the White King. The journey resumed. The closer they traveled the stranger the valley became. The forests surrounding the citadel were unlike any woodland Toivo had ever seen. Trees hundreds of feet tall stretched toward the heavens. Their trunks glittered like silver. Their branches carried ice instead of leaves. Entire groves appeared sculpted from crystal. Moonlight seemed trapped inside them despite the daylight. Snow spirits drifted through the woods. Thousands of them. Children. Women. Old men. Entire families made of frost. They watched the travelers pass. Especially Moon. Many bowed respectfully. Others simply stared. As though looking upon a forgotten king. The small winged fairies surrounding Moon grew brighter. They danced among the snow spirits. Moonlight and snowfall mingling together. For a brief moment the valley itself seemed alive. Then came the first citizens. Toivo spotted them from a distance. Figures moving among the forests. Tall. Beautiful. Pale. Immortal. The Court of Everfrost. Nordic Vampires. Not monsters. Not beasts. Something older. Something stranger. Men and women walked through the snow-covered forests dressed in silver cloaks and white furs. Their skin gleamed like marble. Their eyes shone blue and silver. Elegant swords rested at their hips. Some rode enormous white elk. Others traveled beside giant wolves. All paused to watch Moon pass. Every single one. Without exception. Then one by one they bowed. Toivo stared. Moon ignored it. Or perhaps pretended to. The deeper they entered the valley the colder it became. Not uncomfortable. Not hostile. Simply different. This cold carried memory. The snow itself seemed to whisper. Ancient voices hidden within the wind. Forgotten songs drifting through frozen forests. The White King's magic touched everything. Every stone. Every tree. Every snowflake. By evening they reached the outer walls. Toivo tilted his head upward. And upward. And upward. The walls disappeared into the sky. Entire fortresses stood atop them. Gigantic towers connected by bridges of ice. Massive statues overlooked the valley. Warriors. Kings. Dragons. Celestial beings. Each carved with impossible detail. One statue stood apart from the others. A young figure with long flowing hair. Beautiful. Androgynous. Draped in robes. Surrounded by fairies. Moon. Or at least a younger version of him. The statue stood high. Facing the citadel. Not the valley. Not the world.The castle. Toivo slowly looked toward Moon. The celestial god stood motionless. His expression unreadable. Yet the fairies surrounding him had become very quiet. The gates opened before they arrived. No guards touched them. No mechanisms moved. The enormous doors simply opened. As though the castle itself had been waiting. Inside lay a second city. Frozen canals. Crystal gardens. Bridges of silver ice. Markets built beneath enchanted glass domes. Snow-covered plazas illuminated by floating lanterns. Thousands of immortal citizens moved through the streets. Everything appeared peaceful. Everything appeared beautiful. Everything appeared untouched by time. Yet beneath that beauty lingered something else. Loneliness. Toivo felt it immediately. His blue eyes now crystalline under the winter skies scanned the surroundings. The city looked alive. But somehow empty. As though everyone waited for something. Or someone. The Frost Reapers guided them deeper. Past palaces. Past frozen cathedrals. Past towers taller than mountains. Eventually they reached the center of the citadel. The highest hill. The oldest structure. The palace. The White King's Palace. Unlike the rest of the city, this place wasn't built from white stone. It was entirely ice. A colossal palace carved from a single mountain-sized crystal glacier. Every wall shimmered blue. Every tower sparkled like diamonds. Frozen waterfalls descended from impossible heights. Auroras drifted through the ice itself. The palace looked less like architecture and more like a dream given form. Toivo could not stop staring. Neither could Gret. Even Kev seemed impressed. Though he'd never admit it. Then Toivo noticed something. The highest balcony. Far above. Near the tallest tower. A lone figure stood there. Watching. Too distant to identify clearly. Tall. Motionless. Wrapped in white. Snow swirled around him. The figure never moved. Never waved. Never spoke. Yet Toivo somehow knew. The White King. Watching. Waiting. Moon stopped walking. For a moment the entire city seemed to hold its breath. The fairies around him dimmed. The snow spirits beyond the walls grew silent. Even the wind ceased. Two ancient beings separated by centuries. Looking toward one another once more. Neither moved. Neither spoke. Neither looked away. Then the figure vanished into the palace. Gone. Moon lowered his eyes. The moment passed. The Frost Reapers resumed walking. And the gates of the palace slowly opened. Waiting for them. Waiting for Moon. Waiting for a reunion centuries in the making. And somewhere deep within the frozen palace a heart that had not known peace for hundreds of years began to beat faster.
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