Fallen One (Book three of Alfireán age)

- The Forgotten Lands -

Drake landed face first in white-hot fire.

His cheeks burned in the flames; his skin shriveled under the blistering heat, and pain shot up his arms like a million fire ants biting at once.

A half uttered scream escaped his lips as Drakovian tried to push himself away from the intense heat. But his hands pushed through the airy substance and he sank to his shoulders in the white haze.

At last, Drake's mind caught up with the sudden flash of pain. Channeling a shield around himself, he brought his legs to bear, and his knees drove deep into the strange fire. Finally gaining his balance, Drakovian pulled his head up as a blue barrier formed around his skin.

The prince blinked several times, taking in the dimly lit landscape. As an endless field of white shadows stretched out before him, he finally realized he hadn't fallen in fire at all but rather... snow.

Snow? Drake thought to himself as a shiver ran down his spine, and his teeth started to chatter.

But that only exists on mountain tops, he thought, clamping his mouth shut. As the rest of Drake's body shuddered from the freezing temperatures, his waning energy pool reached its limit. With a shuddering waver, his shield started to fade, and his muscles screamed in protest until at last he released the spell and exhaled.

A trail of white fog formed in the freezing air from his breath and Drake shivered yet again as a cold wind howled in the dimly lit gloom.

Wrapping his arms around himself, he gazed out over the frozen plane which stretched as far as the eye could see, like rolling waves of the sea. An odd ambient light, barely bright enough to see by, lit up the peculiar world. Rolling across the barren expanse, it appeared to come from the western horizon.

Drakovian wrinkled his brow in confusion. It was as if the sun had set hours ago, but was still casting its dying glow across the land.

Where in the world am I? Drake thought to himself, peering out at the strange landscape. Suddenly, movement caught his eye as a large object fell out of the sky and crashed into the snow some distance away.

Alf! he realized as the young High Lord sank into the white powder.

Drake struggled to his feet and started to trudge over towards him while several other falling objects crashed down farther afield of Alf.

Wading through the chest-high snowdrifts, Drakovian gritted his teeth as his bare legs pushed against the ice: ice so cold it felt like it was setting his limbs on fire. "Alf," he called out, holding his arms above his shoulders and standing on his tippy toes.

The Young High Lord sat up and glanced around in confusion until his eyes finally latched onto the prince. "Where are we?" he hollered back, trying to stand to his feet only to sink deeper into the snow.

"I don't know," Drakovian shouted back, his voice echoing across the snowy plains while he continued to struggle towards his half-buried friend.

Red flames flashed above the snowdrifts as Alf found his footing and wreathed his arms in fire. Carefully pushing his way through the snow in Drake's direction, Alf started sinking deeper and deeper into the powdery drifts. "Where are the others?" he hollered, cutting his fire spell short. Then the High Lord momentarily disappeared as large clouds of white fog plumed upwards from the semi-melted snow.

"Over there," Drakovian yelled, pointing past him to where the others were popping up in the snow like rodents on a prairie.

Craning his head, the young High Lord batted away the steam, glanced back over his shoulder, and breathed a sigh of relief. Then turning back, he lifted his hands and formed a shield. Like a blue, sparkling pathway, the magical construct reached across the top of the snow and expanded all the way out towards Drake.