For two more nights they continued to follow Lightning, advancing from one mountain to the next, into what seemed like an endless and at times pointless journey. All they ever saw around them was snow and dark clouds; life had completely abandoned these parts and now it looked like even the warmth of the sun could not reach it. It snowed constantly and the bitter cold became the norm, as if winter was born in this place. By the third night Lightning led them through a wide field, high as they had ever been until now. The air was cold and thin, causing them to breathe with difficulty. As they reached the end of the field, the black stallion headed down a barely visible valley through a very narrow and slippery path.
Thinking they were about to climb up to the next hill that joined this one only feet higher, Daniel got a bit frustrated that Lightning chose to take them down this path. But just as he was about to complain, he noticed that the path continued into something like a tunnel under where the two hills joined. If they’d climbed even a couple of feet higher on the field, they would have never seen the path, or the tunnel. Anyone who would ever venture in these parts and was looking to continue to the following hills, would have simply chosen to walk higher up the field. And even if they were looking for the path, they would not be able to find it, unless they knew where it was.
Daniel’s heart began to race faster at the thought of finally arriving at their destination. The others were having similar feelings of anticipation, and as if by unspoken accord, they all hastened their pace.
The tunnel turned out to be quite short; only a few steps and they were on the other side of it, where they all stopped, staring in awe at the wonder before their eyes. The place they found themselves in was an enormous cave, inexplicably bright and covered completely in ice. A beautiful blue glow gave the whole place a moon-like shine, which Daniel especially appreciated.
On the far wall opposite them, they saw the facade of a small castle, which was no doubt built inside the mountain. How deep it went they could not tell from where they were, but the courtyard in front of it was quite spacious. A high wall, seemingly made of ice, surrounded the courtyard. It prevented access to the castle, apart from a small iron gate, which they soon found to be locked.
‘We found it,’ Nemo yelled, excited and in awe. ‘We found it, Dan; we found it.’
Daniel kept staring at the castle before them and didn’t know if he should believe it or not.
‘I do believe he’s right,’ Heli affirmed, ‘If this is not the Great Lord’s castle, then I don’t know what it is. Well done, Dan; you did it.’
‘We did it,’ Daniel corrected him, not taking his eyes off the castle. He wasn’t sure what to think. Its walls seemed cold and unfriendly. It looked old enough, yet it somehow gave the impression that it hadn’t known life, at least not for a long time. He took two steps towards the iron gate and stopped right in front of it. ‘Do you think he’s in there?’
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Heli said, moving past him to check out the gate. He gave a push to test it, but the gate wouldn’t bulge. Ice had built up all over it, making it impossible for them to climb over.
‘Guys,’ Nathaniel called, while scanning the area around. ‘Don’t you find it strange that there’s ice everywhere? This is a cave; it does not rain or snow in here, so where did the ice come from?’
‘Maybe the water comes from the cave walls and freezes from the cold temperatures,’ Daniel said thoughtfully. ‘It’s not that uncommon really.’
‘Or maybe Winter’s been here,’ Nemo suggested. They all looked at each other, not sure what to say to that. Everything was possible, but if that was true, then this was bad news.’
Heli turned again to examine the gate.
‘I could probably take care of the ice, but I don’t know if that would help.’
‘If you can take care of the ice,’ Nathaniel said, getting closer to observe, ‘then I’m sure with enough heat you can take care of the lock too. Have you ever tried something like that before?’
‘No, but in theory it should work.’
‘Then I guess it’s worth a try,’ Daniel added.
Heli removed his backpack from his shoulder and handed it to him.
‘Hold this for me please, and give me some space. It might get a bit hot in here.’
The three boys stepped back as Heli placed his right hand where the lock was supposed to be. Letting out a frightened sound, Lightning trotted backwards, appearing nervous. He began stomping his feet on the frozen ground, as if getting ready for a fight. Daniel walked up to him, trying to keep him calm, while watching Heli’s hand gradually glow red and causing the ice around the lock to start melting. Soon the whole gate got hot enough that all the ice on it thawed off. Then the metal of the lock began to turn first bright red and then yellow. In a manner of minutes, the heat being released from his hand left a big hole where the lock was, and the gate eventually swung open inwards.
Taking a deep breath and smiling feebly, Heli wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to face them.
‘That was easier than I thought it would be. Alright then, what are we waiting for? Daniel, do you wanna go in first?’
‘I think you’ve earned that honor, my friend. Lead on,’ Daniel said, patting him on the shoulder.
‘Follow me then, and better keep your weapons ready, just in case.’
Sword in hand, Heli now advanced through the open gate, while Nathaniel and Nemo followed after him. Daniel pulled on Lighting’s reins, but the black stallion would not move. Shaking his big head, he refused to make a single step towards the castle, prompting Daniel to stop, too.
‘Guys, wait,’ he called after them, ‘Lightning’s afraid of something. Maybe we should…’
‘Now what?’ Heli called, turning around to see what the deal was. He had just entered the courtyard, when all of a sudden something sharp cut through his left thigh, causing him to fall down on the ground, screaming in pain. Blood began pouring out of the wound, and in a matter of seconds, the icy ground where he fell, turned red and soggy. Caught completely by surprise, Heli turned to see what attacked him. At that same time, Nathaniel and Nemo both stepped backwards out of the gate, their faces white with horror.
A loud and powerful roar echoed through the cave, as from inside the courtyard a giant creature reared its triangular head high up towards the ceiling, its hollow eyes fixed on the intruder. Its shape was similar to that of a lizard, with amazingly big teeth and what seemed to be two horns where its ears should be. As it moved slowly towards Heli, the boys could see the rest of its body. The head was attached to a gigantic horse-like torso by its thick long neck, while its long tail ended up in the shape of a blade. A line of sharp spikes ran all through its body, from the tip of its head, down to the end of its tail. It had no wings, as far as they could see.
Seeing blood dripping from its sharp tail, Heli realized that was what had wounded him. The creature was not only white as snow, but it actually appeared to be nothing but ice and snow. It was alive, yet it wasn’t a living thing.
Daniel could not believe his eyes. He had read much about dragons in his books, and this thing fit most of the descriptions, yet it wasn’t real; it was somebody’s work. It had been manufactured for a purpose and there was only one person who could have done this, Winter.
Alarmed, he dropped Lightning’s reins and everything else he was carrying on his shoulders, and drew out his bow, running towards his fallen friend.
‘Heli get out of there.’
Heli had already gotten up to face the dragon.
‘Daniel, stand back,’ he called. ‘This is my fight.’
‘No,’ Daniel shouted, firing two quick arrows at the ice beast, with a speed that surprised even him. His arrows were masterfully crafted from strong unbreakable wood, finished with a silver tip, and they had never failed him before. But as they made contact with the creature, they simply bounced back, causing no harm whatsoever.
‘You can’t help here,’ Heli yelled. ‘Guys, hold h
im.’
Nemo and Nathaniel grabbed Daniel as he was darting past them to get to Heli, but they did not have to hold him back. Seeing that his arrows did not work, Daniel stopped and tried to think.
In the meantime, the dragon had come close enough to attack Heli, and raising itself up on its hind legs, threatened to crush him under its massive front ones. Heli rolled swiftly to the ground, ignoring the pain from his left thigh, and raised his arm trying to insert his blade in the underbelly of the beast. The sword glided on the hard exterior of the dragon, making a screeching sound, but causing no damage. He slid away from its hind legs, and swung his sword again trying to cut through the left one. The sword bounced back, just like Daniel’s arrows had done before.
Frustrated, Heli got back up and tried to run away from the dragon as it was turning around, but its tail swept under his feet and dropped him to the ground. Then just as fast, the dragon aimed its blade-like tip of the tail at his heart and struck hard. Heli rolled quickly on to his left side, causing the tail to punch a hole on the ground where he was. He prepared for a second blow, and just as it came, he rolled back to his previous spot. This time however, as the dragon’s tail hit the ground next to him, he swung his sword and as the metal struck, the thinnest part of the tail broke like glass.
There was no blood, nor shrieking from the beast that had now managed to turn completely around, facing him again. Moving quickly, the dragon lifted its front right leg, and caught Heli on the ground between its claws. Heli screamed in pain under its immense weight and cold, while the dragon approached his large head, examining its pray.
Horrified at the sight of Heli being crushed, Daniel shook his friends off and ran through the gate inside the courtyard.
‘Heli, use your heat. It’s nothing but ice; kill it with your heat.’
Daniel wasn’t sure if Heli heard him or not, but he did not manage to repeat himself. The dragon swung its long tail at him, and threw him flying back outside the gate. The force of the impact left Daniel gushing for air, but he didn’t care. With the boys’ help he got up again and began running back towards the dragon, which at that very moment released a loud roar, as if in terrible pain.
Moving backwards and away from Heli, the dragon kept on roaring as it lifted its front right leg, which Daniel saw was now halved and dripping water. Below him, Heli stood clothed completely in bright yellow fire, lifting up his sword, which was similarly covered in flames. Without looking or speaking to anyone, Heli advanced towards the dragon that seemed to have realized it could be hurt. Unable to go far from him, the dragon kept threatening him to stand back, but Heli continued to advance.
His flames grew bigger and stronger, while all the ice around him began to melt away. The dragon started to sweat as the great ball of fire cornered it against the wall of the cave. In a last attempt, it swung its tail against Heli, but the flaming sword cut through it without any resistance.
With wonder in their eyes, the three boys witnessed as a pair of flaming wings, much like those of a wingman, grew out of the ball of fire and carried Heli up in the air. Approaching the dragon’s head, while the beast was trying in vain to fight him off, Heli landed a series of blows with his sword, and slashed the dragon into pieces. He proceeded to slash away mercilessly, until the ice creature stopped moving. When he was done, all that was left was piles of ice on the ground, that continued to melt under the unbearable heat of Heli’s flames.
When he was sure that the dragon was no more, Heli began to descend, reducing his flames until his naked body fell on the ground. The boys ran fast in his direction, dropping on their knees beside him. They noticed with horror his chest crushed and turned blue under the weight of the dragon. Blood was pouring out of his mouth and right thigh. His eyes were closed, but his chest was still moving up and down as he struggled to breathe.
Daniel’s heart almost stopped beating when he saw the state of his friend. This looked really bad.
‘Nemo, get some blankets please,’ he spoke with a trembling voice. Nemo ran back to Lightning and their bags, returning with two blankets. They used one as a pillow under Heli’s head and the other to wrap his naked and bruised body.
Daniel leaned closer to his big friend, careful not to touch his wounds.
‘Heli, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?’
Heli opened his eyes slowly and gave him a weak smile.
‘Hey, Dan; I told you this was my fight.’
‘Yes, it was; and you won, Heli, you killed it. Are you hurt badly? Can you move?’
‘I think I’ve come as far as I can, my friend. I’m sorry; I can go no farther with you.’
‘What are you talking about? You’re gonna be ok.’
‘Here,’ Nathaniel drew his attention, handing him a small flask. ‘It’s Summer water; they gave it to me in Dard'h.’
Daniel hurriedly took it from him. Hope lifted his spirit in a heartbeat; maybe his friend would be alright after all. He poured some into Heli’s mouth, who swallowed it with difficulty, and then poured some more unto his open wound. To their dismay, the water had no visible effect on the wound and Heli did not appear to be feeling any better.
‘Why isn’t it working?’ Daniel almost screamed, scared and desperate.
‘I don’t know,’ Nathaniel answered, ‘it should work; it took much less time with me.’
‘Maybe I didn’t give him enough.’
He tried to make Heli drink some more, but his friend refused.
‘It’s alright, Dan, you tried.’
‘No, I can save you,’ Daniel insisted; now barely holding back his tears. The dreadful idea that Heli might not make it, was sinking into him like a rock into the sea.
‘There’s nothing you can do for me, Dan, but there’s still time for everyone else. Please, promise me you won’t give up looking for the Great Lord. You have no idea how close you are.’
‘I…,’ Daniel tried to speak, but Heli had not finished.
‘And promise me you will look after Hëna; she’s not gonna be the same after this.’
‘I promise,’ Daniel managed to say, tears chocking his every word. ‘I promise.’
Heli smiled once more and then turned his head to look at the castle before them.
‘We did it,’ he said one last time, smiling feebly. He then spoke no more. His chest stopped going up and down, and he went still.
Just as his last breath left his lungs, and his eyes closed never to open again, up in the night sky, where they could not see, the light of the moon shimmered and expanded in a big quick wave throughout the sky. The moon itself began to descend towards the earth, growing ever smaller and dimmer.