Sacrifice (The Snow Queen #2)(18)

The soldiers tried using rocks and other weapons enchanted by Tollak. Eydìs tried ripping it apart; Liv attempted to purify it; and an earth magic user tried crushing it between rocks with no success.

Finally, Phile approached it. Her normally bright and happy face was blank of expression as she adjusted her grip on Foedus. Abruptly, she slammed the tip of the weapon into the surface and leaned, all the muscles in her body bunching with exertion. Foedus did not glance off the surface as the other weapons had done, but it didn’t make a crack.

Phile leaned into the dagger, and Rakel could have sworn she heard hissing. The room temperature dropped even though she was using her magic to counter it, and Phile still strained.

Phile gasped and pulled back, sweat beading on her forehead in spite of the cold temperatures. She shook her head. “No good,” she said. “Little Wolf?”

Rakel reluctantly drew closer to the mirror, shivering when she saw the reflection. This close, she could see Foedus had made a nick on the mirror surface, marring it, but it was miniscule—barely a pin prick on the ornate monstrosity.

The mirror didn’t perfectly reflect what was in the room. It shrank the image of those present, and magnified the darkness of the cave. As Rakel stared at it, something brushed her skin.

Use me…

Rakel glanced behind her, but no one else seemed to have heard the dark whispers.

You will be Queen, the most powerful and beautiful in all the land.

Rakel knit her hands together and clenched her jaw so tightly it hurt.

Those who hurt you will pay. They are nothing.

The ice on the mountain outside started to crackle and groan, and behind Rakel everyone murmured as the temperature dropped again.

It is your right. Use me!

Rakel blinked, and the mirror was swallowed in a thick layer of ice. The ice was so cold it made Rakel’s skin turn pink, and the rest of the party had to stumble towards the door.

She tried to push ice under the ornate frame and slam pointed spikes into the surface. Nothing worked. She even pushed ice in the few fine cracks from the missing pieces, but no matter how much pressure and power she put behind her magic, the mirror did not buckle or break.

“Princess,” Oskar gasped in the cold.

“No,” Rakel said. “We have to destroy it! We can’t leave it standing!” She pushed more of her power into it. The ice vibrated with the intensity of her power, and the ground shook.

“Rakel—stop!” Phile fell while trying to get closer to her, groaning as she writhed on the cave floor.

Rakel reached deeper, pouring pure magic into the mirror. She grasped for more. Though she still had an ocean of it left, it wasn’t flowing out fast enough. Rakel felt a glimmer of magic and reached for it, pausing when she realized the magic radiated from her ice-castle on Ensom Peak.

In that moment, Crow tackled her, yelping when he touched her. “Princess, you’ll kill ’em if you keep this up!”

Rakel let go of her powers and turned around, horrified when she realized she had nearly frozen her company to death. Halvor had frost in his hair; Phile was curled up in a ball on the ground, and Frodi was out cold.

“I’m sorry,” she gasped, falling to her knees. “I’m so sorry.”

Oskar knelt next to her and slowly placed an arm over her shaking shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Oskar said.

“Clearly this mirror cannot be broken by regular methods.” Halvor brushed white flecks of frost from his clothes. “We will have to return to Ostfold and further research it.”

Rakel shivered when she felt dark air brush the back of her neck. “We can’t leave it like this.”

“Do you want to take it with us?” Halvor asked.

“No!” Rakel emphatically said.

“Then it must stay as it is,” Halvor said.

“You can seal the cave off with ice and snow,” Oskar said.

“It won’t be enough,” Rakel said bleakly. “Ice and snow cannot contain its wickedness.”

Crow smiled at her. “It has sat here for years, Your Highness. If you hide it well enough, it will stay here for a bunch more.”

“Frodi’s conscious,” Eydìs said.

“Excellent.” Oskar hopped to his feet and offered his arm to Rakel. “I suggest we make our exit with all haste? I find this place…unsettling.”

Rakel took his arm and stood, her feet and muscles unsteady.

Oskar smiled and bowed at her. “Might I suggest you tap some of your magic, Princess?” he said. “You just used a hefty bit of power there, and I fear you will soon fall unconscious if you don’t take preventative measures.”

Rakel fumbled, feeling for the minty rush of her magic. It was there, but it wasn’t nearly as reassuring as usual. It surrounded and encased her, but she could still feel the filthy darkness oozing from the mirror.

She followed Oskar outside and, when everyone left the cave, brought down a curtain of snow and ice, sealing off the entrance.

Crow patted her shoulder. “It’ll hold, Highness.”

Oskar pulled the mercenary away from her. “No touching.”

“As long as we hold the northern Verglas territories, Princess, you have nothing to worry over,” General Halvor said.