Fallen One (Book three of Alfireán age)

- The Mysterious Crater -

"Interesting," the prince muttered, gazing at the picture. His face was stiff, and his voice sounded strained and forced as if he were attempting to push through the cold freezing his bones.

Rinnia's violet eyes widened. "The snow ends?" she asked, her tone sounding hopeful as she floated just above the white powder, once more following via traverse wake.

"Alright!" Rex exclaimed. "Let's check it out," he said bouncing on his toes in excitement. Without awaiting further directions, the vice-champion took off in a sudden spurt of snow and whisked them all along with him.

Following his green figure, Alf and Zaphaniea eagerly peered over Olivia's shoulder at her scrying. The surrounding wind moaned and pelted against their shield while they shot over the frozen landscape and approached the dark rim in the distance.

"I hope it's warmer than here," the grand champion muttered, her foot beating a steady rhythm on the empty air as she jostled back and forth.

"Me too," Alf chorused glancing at Olivia in concern. In spite of the phoenix, it was still freezing cold, and it was a miracle no one had collapsed yet.

Keeping her eyes on the moving image before her, Olivia counted the seconds as they slowly ticked on by until the head-high snow tapered off and scorched rock replaced it.

At last, the ice beneath her feet disappeared and Olivia lifted her head. Gazing through the bluish cast of the shield, and over the burnt land, her eyes trailed to the distant edge of the crater. What awaited them in its murky, skeletal depths, Olivia didn't know. And she didn't want to find out, she thought to herself as they left the freezing depths of powdery snow behind and entered the rocky expanse.

"Wahoo!" Rex yelled. Skidding to a stop, he cartwheeled across the hard surface and threw up his arms. "Ah, solid ground at last," he exclaimed in relief. Collapsing, the vice-champion squished his frozen cheeks to the barren land as if he were greeting a long lost loved one and muttered, "Never again will I leave your warm embrace."

"It is warm to the touch," the prince said in observation as he knelt down and touched the grayish-brown substance.

"You bet it is," Rex murmured from his prostrate position.

Curious, Olivia leaned down and placed her palm on the ground as well. Heat suffused her finger-tips and she gasped in surprise. The prince was right; the rock was radiating heat.

"Ah, warmth at last!" Zaphaniea exclaimed, mimicking Rex as she sprawled out on the hard earth several feet away.

Alf plopped down and rested his palms against the porous stone. "You know, I never thought I'd say this," he said glancing back the way they'd come, "but I hate snow."

"Agreed," Rex laughed, turning on his back and gazing up at the dimly lit heavens. "Give me solid rock any day."

Olivia glanced over at Rinnia, surprised the princess hadn't said anything yet, only to see her gazing at Rex with an odd expression.

"We should press on," Drake said, interrupting their joyous exclamations.

The grand champion rolled to her knees and glared back at him. "Party pooper," she grumbled.

Olivia's eyes trailed towards the edge of the crater where the world seemed to abruptly end... and to where The Fallen One awaited. "Wouldn't it be better just to stay here?" she asked, losing her internal battle with fear in spite of her best efforts.

The prince shook his head, dislodging errant snowflakes and staring at a small readout floating above his Ka'akah. "No," he said. "It might feel warmer, but even with Alf's shield and fire we're still in danger of freezing to death," Drakovian explained. Holding up his arm, he showed his elbow which had turned white and started blistering from the cold. "We need to find real shelter and soon as possible. And those creatures are still closing in on us," Drake finished, dispersing his screen and nodding at her reformed scrying.