#1 Shifters: The Iced City Of Canidae

Chapter Four: The Quest Begins

The sisters leve Burg Canidae behind them, Maine felt a rush of adventure course threw her, freedom. Maine had noticed the holes in Canidae fill up over time, even the one she used to get in was filled up with shiney new ice. "So, where was it we are going?" Maine piped up.

"Following the owls wing to the dragon's tail i guess. Leto knows where exactly." Nora looked up and down the steep canyons of ice, there's no escape if a avalanche came. The only thing about the canyon that was odd was the space apart from the walls, it was so open.

"Whos Leto?" Maine asked, 'is it a friend?'

"My goddess, like you with Bastet, your goddess." Nora replied in a 'duh' tone. Her bare feet trod across the ice as if they were numb, her face always facing forward, never catching the eye of Maine.

"Ooooh." Main nodded. She always wondered what it was like to hang out with her sister, what were they to do together, what do sisters do? "Tell me about the time you faced the ten Serpantae warriors. I read about it but you know about all the false news, did you really get bitten?" Maine asked, really, she just wanted to have a conversation, it was too quiet out in the open, and it was uncomfortable being so exposed with all the creatures.

"Ten? no, more like eight or nine and i wasn't alone, i had Mandy she's a shifter too, she is a white fox." Maine saw Nora's faint smile of fondness for her friend. "No one ever mentions her in any news, but i have no idea why, set up for some big hot shot hero i am and i have no play in it whatsoever. I don't do things alone, there's Mandy, Leah and John. And it was hard, Leah and John where nowhere to be found. As to if i got bit or not, i did, i only just made it out alive, Mandy sucked out the poison before it spread, she lost her tongue due to that, she is mute but uses Canidian Sign. I owe her my life, and all my words." Nora said in a breathtaken voice, soft and quiet.

"Mandy must have been so brave." Maine smiled

"Bravest of us all. I Wish she where on this journey, but i get the hint there's no plus ones." Nora smiled with a new hint of playfulness. "Any way, we have to pass by Burg Owlinae and..... Serpantae." Nora spat the word Serpantae like poison.

"If you don't mind me asking, what started this war?" Maine asked 'and how long do they plan to be at war.'

"We don't know anything, we just fight for the Burg. But i guess with the new tech and-" Nora was cut off, her pointed ears twitched and the quickly whipped around. "Run!"

An avalanche was approaching rapidly, snow tumbling and flying and dashing closer and closer. "What caused this?!" Maine yelled mid shift, turning into a mangled yowl.

Nora looked around shifting in mid air through a leap, not far away, two long thin body's of snakes slithering away at the top of the canyon walls. "Stupid frinking Mole hided Serpantae Frackted snakes!!" Nora growled with vivid anger. Words like Frinking and Mole Hide and Fract where cuss words in all burgs, Nora never swore unless she was really mad. Maine was almost taken aback by her sisters use of words. 'If our lives weren't in danger, i would be laughing my fur off by now!' Maine secretly thought to herself. But it wasn't the time for laughter, Maine was slowly loosing pace with Nora who was now more than four fox tail lengths away. Nora skidded to a halt and ripped Maine off the ground gently holding her by the scruff.

"Hey! I can run on my own." Maine yowled but Nora didn't respond, only kept running. Nora looked off to her left, a cave in the canyon wall! Nora veered towards the cave and got in just in time, watching as the angry avalanche close them in. "You can let me down now." Maine wriggled around. Nora dipped her head and gently let her sister go. "What do you plan to do now?" Maine sat down and faced her sister, shifting back to her human.

Nora gazed absentmindedly into the snow that blocked the exit, there was only one way out, maybe. "What?" Nora finally responded.

Maines shoulders drooped as she gave her sister their mothers famous deadpan look "How are we getting out of here?!" Maine specified, rubbing her left foot.

Nora sighed and looked down the cave, "Stay here, ill be back." Nora padded off down the cave, leaving Maine to her own devises.

....

Nora made her way threw the long narrow cave, crouching down occasionally, a rattling noise up ahead made Nora stop in her tracks. "Ice Splades." Nora spat, she lowered her big fluffy head and peeked around the corner, she was right, around twenty small ice blue crystal like creatures the size of a human foot dragged themselves around carrying their deadly daggers. One scratch can slowly freeze your arm into solid ice, slowly creeping up until it reaches your heart and the rest of your body is encased in crystal like ice. On the edges of the round almost dome looking room where indeed ice bodies, Nora and Maine weren't the first ones here, and they are not going to be the last either. Nora looked behind her where Maine was sitting, "Maybe if i can..." Nora shook her head and huffed "Its better than my other idea."

Nora continued into the dome like circular room of the cave, all of the Ice Splades stopped and looked directly at Nora, hesitated, their red beady eyes unblinking, like little ruby's studded in their face shaped like a football. Then all hell broke loose, all at the same time dashed forward gliding across the ice floor with effortless accuracy. Each had their deadly ice daggers pointed like little needles ready to stab, Nora dodged and grabbed one by the head and threw it against a wall and whacked another with her tail, both shattering againt the wall beside two frozen bodies.

Nora turned and landed on ones body smashing it beneath her rough paws, but its blade penetrated the electrical paw stilling it in a instant "Good thing....." Nora growled as she thumped two of the Splades together with her working paw "Its metal you little pieces of shards!" she growled while she skidded sideways knocking four of them into two others shattering them easily. Nora nipped one on the hand and threw it into five others, they all tumbled back dramatically before shattering. There was one left, it almost looked afraid, glancing back and forth.

Then it did something Nora didnt expect, it spoke, and gave her information "Arm, Arm will freeze, need fire wielder." Its voice was high pitched but raspy. "End of cave, no way go. Only.." It pointed the way Nora had come. "Leave before... they..... come back." it rasped. Already, Nora saw little shards of ice rumbling. "Only fire wielder fix." It pointed to Noras metal hand. She saw a fraction of ice grow.

"But its metal, it cant do this!" Nora knew there was no use arguing the fact, but she had to reassure herself in a way.

"How you think, we be." It said in a sympathetic voice, Nora didn't understand, she always was told the creatures had virtually no feelings at all, only endless lives and are not to be touched. This one seemed to know sympathy and fear and it could talk which was a main factor. "Quick now, go." it shooed Nora away with its hand from a distance.

Nora dipped her head as a thanks and limp-ran back to Main. "Its a dead end up there, we cant go back either Splades are nesting there." Nora sighed and shifted to her human.

Maine instantly sat up "Where you cut?" she asked.

Nora looked at the silver and blue metal with the ice growing on it and into the wires. "Yeah, i thought it would be fine but one of the Splades, it told me ice could still freeze it. Look, Maine, i didn't want to have to tell you, but..." Nora sighed and looked away. "I'm part fire wielder, its a gene in our family, but i'm the one who got it." Nora lay out her living hand and a small ball of fire burned just above her skin.

Maine stared at the small fire with bewilderment in her eyes. She looked up at her sister "And why didn't you want to tell me this?" Maine asked with pure curiosity

"Being half breed isn't exactly a accomplishment, people are killed for this remember?!" Nora held the flame under the ice of the metal. "And besides, i didn't want it to be true." Noras mind flashed back to her home where the fire tore apart the homes, but then her mind drifted to the peaceful city, Nora had to admit, she was home sick, but what of Maine, was she, too, homesick? "At least we can get out of here now." Nora walked up the the wall of snow and put her hand to it, slowly the ice melted, slowly inching forwards, a tunnel up and out was created, when they reached the top, a familiar face appeared.