Jim Hines - The Snow Queen's shadow

Danielle backed away from the darkling. “Sounds good to me.”

Talia landed on all fours in the snow. The impact looked solid enough to make Danielle wince, but Talia shook it off.

“I know this place,” Gerta whispered. “She built it from our daydreams, back when we were children. It’s been so long I’d forgotten. The palace of the Snow Queen, the true ruler of all Allesandria, who would use her magic to fix all that was wrong in the world. She’ll be in the throne room at the center.”

As would Jakob. Danielle stopped herself from calling out to her son. “Can you get us to Snow?”

Gerta limped toward the palace. Snowflakes swirled around her, and more of the ice wasps circled overhead. They merely watched, no longer trying to sting. Gerta stopped before a door of frosted ice. She held out one hand, and Talia slapped the hunting knife into it without a word. Gerta jammed the thick blade as deep as it would go.

Danielle shivered. The sun was setting, and the wind had picked up. “Whatever happens, I want you both to know how much-”

“Shut up,” said Talia. “We know.” She jabbed a finger at the darkling. “You. I need my spear back.”

“Gerta…”

Gerta managed a one-shouldered shrug, but her fear was easy to see. “This is what I was made for.”

“Thank you.” The words were inadequate, but they were all she had. And then a blur of white leaped from atop the palace, and there was no time for words.

Talia jumped back as the monster dropped into the snow. The darkling hadn’t finished changing back into its spear form, so she grabbed it by one spindly arm and flung it directly into the monster’s face. The darkling clung like an insect, and the monster roared from shock and pain. Talia slammed into it from the side, trying to force it away from Gerta.

She needn’t have bothered. The darkling’s touch had done its job, and the monster soon stopped moving. Talia grimaced and looked away, trying to shut out the image of mummified flesh and dry bone.

Snow’s next attack was magical in nature. Three of the icicles overhead cracked and dropped like spears. Talia yanked Gerta back as the ice shattered on the ground, close enough that smaller shards jabbed her legs. “What other sort of protections did Snow daydream about?”

“Mostly traps that would protect us from our mother.” Gerta ran the knife around the edge of the hole she had created, widening it with every touch. “Bottomless pits. Passages that seal behind you. Things like that.”

“Is that all?” Talia grimaced.

“No.” Gerta forced a smile. “But we don’t have time to list all the ways we dreamed about stopping her.”

Talia glanced at Danielle, who appeared unfazed by the traps. She looked ready to carve her way through every wall in the palace if that was what it took. Talia hoped her determination wouldn’t get her killed.

“I’m ready.” Gerta stepped back from a hole just wide enough to squeeze through. “It probably won’t stay open for long.”

Talia retrieved her knife and pushed past. To the darkling, she snapped, “Aren’t you supposed to be a spear?”

Between one step and the next, a white-furred arm shot out and seized the darkling by the throat, dragging it inside. Talia swore and climbed after them.

The darkling was doing its best to hold off a trollshaped creature with claws of ice. Darklings were quick and agile, but the troll held it fast. One white hand crushed the darkling’s neck while the other slammed its head against the ice wall. The darkling tried to shift its form, but the troll wouldn’t let go.

Talia flung her knife into the side of the troll’s neck. When that did nothing, she reached back through the hole to take Gerta’s knife, which she used to stab the back of the troll’s leg. She ducked as it swiped at her with one hand.

That distraction was enough for the darkling to seize the troll’s other arm. Ice and fur fell away, and the flesh beneath withered. The troll roared, but the darkling clung tight. Dust fell from its fingers, and the limb dropped away. There was no blood.

The darkling sprang, one arm wrapping around the troll’s head, the other grabbing Talia’s dagger, still lodged in the troll’s neck. Talia grimaced as the darkling yanked the knife free and slashed the troll’s throat.

“Are you all right?” Danielle asked.

Talia nodded, watching the darkling as it tossed the knife to the ground and backed away. It had fought as fiercely as a wild beast, but that final blow had been artistic in its precision.

Gerta had dropped to one knee, brushing snow from the floor to reveal the frozen surface of the lake. The ice was clear as glass, showing only blackness below, and reflecting the tall, curved hallway around them. Green and blue light flickered within the walls, like slow flames trapped in the ice.

Gerta wiped away more snow. White cracks were spread through the ice in a pattern too regular to be natural. Like tiles, if every tile were a plate-sized puzzle piece, no two identical. “Something’s wrong.”

“You don’t say,” Talia muttered.

“The mirror… it’s tainted.” She glanced back at the wall. “When we entered the palace, we passed into a magical circle.”

That couldn’t be good. “What kind of circle?” asked Talia.

“A line of blood, traced just below the surface of the ice. I think it’s for a summoning.”

“Remember what she said back in Kanustius,” Danielle said, her voice tight. “She doesn’t mean to rule Allesandria. She means to destroy it.”

A summoning circle the size of a palace. Just like Snow’s mother had used. “Can one demon summon others?”

“I’m not sure. With Snow’s help…” Gerta trailed off.

“It’s a mirror.” Talia crouched beside her. “Snow could always shatter her mirrors at will. Can’t you do the same to this? Crack the circle enough to disrupt its power?”

“But not enough to drop us all into the lake, please,” Danielle added.

“Mirror, mirror, cold and bleak-” But even as Gerta spoke, frost spread over the ice. She swore and yanked her hand away. “It’s Snow’s mirror, not mine. The mirror, the traps, the entire palace is attuned to her.” She gave a weak smile. “In a way, it’s comforting. The fact that the palace rejects my control proves I was more than just a piece of my sister. That I was my own person.”

Talia’s jaw tensed at the word “was.” She straightened. “Stay behind me. There will be other traps.”

“We don’t have the time.” Gerta extended a hand to Talia. “I can get us through.”

“How?” Talia asked.

“Snow and the demon have been trying to reclaim me ever since she learned what I was. It’s time to let her.”

“No.” The word slipped out before Talia could stop it. Gerta had made her choice back in the fairy mines, but this was too soon. There had to be another way.

Gerta took her hand. “I’ll hold on as long as I can.” The tightness of Gerta’s grip and the cold sweat of her palm belied her calm tone. “Hopefully, as she starts to pull me back into herself, it will be enough to make the palace accept me. I should be able to control it for a short time, before I lose myself to her.”

Talia glanced down the hallway. “How long?”

“That’s hard to say.” Gerta managed a halfhearted smile. “I’ve never done this before.”

It was the kind of thing Snow would have said, only Snow would have hidden her fear better. Talia blinked. “Fight it.”

“Snow tried to fight the demon, too,” Gerta said, her fingers squeezing Talia’s palm. “She couldn’t-”

“Snow was alone when this thing took her. You’re not. Listen to my voice. Stay with us.”