Himora was first to reach Smith (being the faster of the two of us).
"Oh, no, you don't!"
As the plate of ice lifted Smith higher and higher, Himora jumped and slashed at it in an attempt to bring it down, but he wasn't quite fast enough, and it slipped just out of reach.
"HIMORA!"
I was but seconds behind Himora, and in a split second, he turned and sheathed his sword, pulling it to his chest height.
"GO!"
I leaped up and kicked off of his sheath, propelling myself into the air.
"HEEEAA!
I had done it.
My spear struck the ice, and its long, sharp blade was lodged into the bottom of the giant plate.
"HOLD ON! I'LL FOLLOW YOU FROM THE GROUND!"
Himora called up to me as he drew his sword and made for the gates of the city, which, for some reason, was the direction the plate was heading in.
"IT-I MEAN HE MUST BE TRYING TO HELP US!"
I called down to the now-sprinting Himora.
It's the only reason I can think of, outside of maybe more pixie magic.
Himora looked up thoughtfully as he nimbly dodged between the now-thickening trees. The ice plate had led him off of the trail, and it seemed to be heading straight for the village. I was guessing it wasn't going to stop for the guards at the main gate.
"I'LL STAY WITH SMITH, YOU TRY TO FIND A WAY IN, OKAY?"
"FINE!"
Himora called to me.
"BUT BE CAREFUL, MAN!"
"I will"
I thought to myself as the ice carried me and Smith over the towering brick walls into the village known as Seather.
Himora had a slightly harder time getting into the heavily guarded village. From above, the many houses I could see guards stationed along the walls, all looking ready and alert at all times. It was a surprise to me that I had managed to make it this far in without being brought down by javelins. I guess the summoner of the ice was one of this town's usual visitors.
On the opposing side of the wall, Himora stood looking up at the summit. From where he stood, the top of the wall seemed to touch the sky.
"Dammit...climbing is out of the question..."
He thought to himself.
As he ran his hands over the large bricks he noticed that even if he could make it to the top, it would be impossible to find any good footing on the way up, for the outside of the wall seemed to be composed of a strange, smooth stone that he had never saw in person, but could recall his father referring to as "marble".
"Crap...I might as well go talk to those guards."
He thought to himself as he put his sword away and made his way toward the gates.
The wooded area around the perimeter of the gate was really thick, and the trees seemed to be far larger than average. Then again, Himora was pretty short, so maybe it was just the size comparison.
The distance from the point of the wall where Himora was to the gate was only about 50 feet, so in no time, he stood once again on the path. To his surprise, the guards were, for the most part, paying him no attention. He found it strange that within the first few seconds of them seeing him, they didn't apprehend or question him.
"Maybe they just don't see me as a threat."
Himora laughed to himself as he cautiously approached the heavily armed guards. One within speaking distance, Himora stopped, not really wanting to get too close without warning.
"Um...Excuse me...Sir."
He called to who he figured was the "main" guard, or the man who appeared to be in charge, since his armor seemed to be the bulkiest of the lot.
"I...don't mean to intrude, but I was wondering if you could possibly open the gates for me...Sir?"
For some reason, Himora felt slightly intimidated in the presence of these men. Something about them made him want to reach for his sword, but he stopped himself before it would cause a problem.
The men were no normal guards.
Their hair seemed to fall to their knees, and their gauntlets were large and deadly-looking. To Himora, it seemed like they could easily lift a boulder and shatter it with those gruesome-looking armored gloves.
"I'd better be careful with these guys."
Himora said to himself.
"They don't seem to be too friendly."
But Himora was wrong.
In fact, he couldn't be further from the truth.
As he crept closer, his sword's sheath slightly clanked against his belt, and the slight sound seemed to catch the guard's attention.
"HALT! YEILD! Ye shall go no further than ye have, lad!"
All along, the majority of the "men" had their backs to him, but upon their turning to face him, Himora could now plainly see that the freakishly long "hair" was in fact beards, and what he had thought were massive gauntlets were actually just very large gloves.
These were no normal men; they were Dwarves.
Himora couldn't help but laugh internally. Just as soon as the dwarf closest to him had stopped shouting his orders, Smith's angry red face popped into his head.
"Hey...hey, be easy! I'm just a kid. I bring no threat to you, okay?"
Again, Himora laughed, but this time he didn't hold it in as he had the first time. The guards didn't seem to be flustered or irritated by it, so why stop? Himora continued until he was well out of breath.
The dwarf in charge stamped his heavy boot in protest.
"Wat's got yer heart all in a tickle, son!? Ye been at it like a jolly fearie!"
Himora stood straight, correcting his posture so as not to further offend the dwarves, obviously seeing that he had.
"No...it's nothing, just that I used to have a friend who bore a remarkable resemblance to you...it just made me laugh, is all."
The lead dwarf appeared to be at least slightly taken aback, but he quickly shook it off and continued with his formalities.
"Okey, lad...dat's enough o-dat for now! Wat's yer name bein'"
Himora presented his sheath and brought it to eye level, causing the leader to jump back in surprise. Normally, he would pull the magnificent blade from its home and salute with it, but he didn't think the dwarves would see it as formal as he did, so he kept it put and went on.
"I am Himora Amir of the Eastern Waterian tribe. I've come to find a friend of mine who was taken within...some time back before now."
The leader seemed to become irritated with Himora.
In an instant, he was at Himora's side, with his spear head to the side of his face.
Himora didn't move.
He wasn't scared, but more taken aback at the dwarf's actions. He replaced his sword at his side but kept his hand on the handle of the deadly weapon. The dwarf now went on, suspiciously eyeing Himora's hand and his sword.
"Don't ye go lyin' ta us like dat again, boy! Me don't like ta be lied ta so blatantly! Wat is yer REAL name now, boy!"
Himora was confused and kind of offended, but he kept his cool and calmly addressed the brazen dwarf.
"That is my real name...I wouldn't venture as to create another if I'm meeting a comrade here, yes? Please, just let me in."
But the dwarf wasn't taking it. He wouldn't let Himora by that easily.
"If ye is who ye say ye is, den prove it! Dare is no way ye can be Waterian! We hears dem all be dead to a one!"
Now, Himora was getting deeply offended. He knew on the inside that this statement was true, but for the dwarf to state it so flatly was a totally disrespectful gesture.
"First of all, it's WATHERIAN, not WATERIAN...secondly, I shouldn't have to prove myself to you, nor to anyone else, and thirdly, I AM Himora Amir, and I AM the last of my kind, but I would appreciate it if you didn't throw it in my face like that..."
At this, Himora drew his sword.
The long, sharp blade glinted in the sunlight, and in its radiance, all of the guards took a step back.
"If you must have proof."
He said with a sarcastic yet aggravated tone in his voice, and a roll of his emerald green eyes. In an incredible display of speed, Himora was suddenly high above the heads of the guards who stood in shock and amazement. He flipped and spun several times, then landed nimbly on one foot. His posture was perfect, showing off the true strength and balance, not to mention the beauty of the lost Watherian tribe. The band of dwarves was frozen in amazement. Their spears, axes, and hammers were lowered, and they all fell to one knee in respect for the last Eastern Watherian.
"Me do say, lad...dat was sumptin' ta see! So ye really are of dat tribe, is ye? Come, Sir! Let us open da gates fer ye!"
Himora watched and sheathed his sword as the lead dwarf shuffled over to the gate and shouted an order up to the tower man, whom Himora hadn't noticed was there. Within seconds, the giant, marble, steel-framed gates began to swing open slowly, laboriously creaking and groaning as they did so.
The dwarves showcased great power and stamina as they quickly pulled at the large chains and turned several large gears that served as the pulleys and levers, which in turn activated the gates.
Himora quickly stepped forward and shook the hands of all of the dwarves, feeling smaller for the fact that he wasn't much taller than the brave, little men.
As I hung perilously from the bottom of the large, frozen plate, it carried me effortlessly over homes and huts without ever attracting the smallest amount of attention. It had been a little under what felt like an hour, and by now, my hands and arms had begun to grow sore.
"When will this thing land?"
I thought aloud as the plate carried me over a small group of people who seemed to notice me just about as much as they noticed the clouds. A noise from above made me hold my breath and hold perfectly still.
It was a voice.
The voice of a girl who seemed to be sitting just above my head. I was lucky that the ice wasn't transparent, or I would be out of luck. She'd drop me from hundreds of feet up, and I'd no doubt fall to my death. As the voice went on, another one joined her, and to my shock and disbelief, it was the voice of Smith.
"Wadaya tink yer doin freezin' me up like dis!? Dis an outrage! LET. ME. DOWN!...NOW!"
Smith was in a rage, and it sounded like he was trying to sit up. I just hoped the girl wouldn't grow annoyed and decide to drop him, but to my further surprise, she either wasn't or didn't sound much like an enemy. She constantly worked at calming Smith.
"If you keep moving, you'll just make your wounds worse, so hold still. We'll be at my aunt's house in a moment...she'll help."
Smith didn't seem to be willing to listen or cooperate, for his voice just rang out louder than it had the first time.
"WAT MAGIC IS DIS!? RELEASE ME NOW, YOU DIRTY LITTLE, MUSHROOM MUNCHIN' GOOD FER NUTTIN'!--"
But he was cut off at that.
"I am no pixie."
The girl responded with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"You need medical attention soon, or you'll die...or would you rather I drop you from here?"
The question sounded more like a threat than a promise, but I wasn't going to take the chance.
I made my move.
Within seconds, I had grabbed hold of the nearest edge of the ice and pulled myself up, flipping and landing atop the thick ice plate. Directly before me sat a young girl, and beside her was Smith.
Both of their eyes grew wide with shock.
The girl was arguably less surprised and seemed to maybe even know that I had been there all along. The ice was slick, and luckily, my tail helped me keep my balance.
For a moment, I couldn't move.
Her eyes seemed to captivate me and lock my bones in place.
They were like a bright puddle of water the day after a long rain.
Shades of blue swam and shifted about, seeming to want to never be still, unlike anything I had ever seen in nature.
Her hair flowed swiftly from her head to well past her shoulders, shimmering a bright, silvery blonde with subtle streaks of red that seemed to shift about just like her eyes.
I had planned on ambushing the speaker and taking control of the ice craft, but that wasn't going to happen.
As hard as I tried, I couldn't move a single muscle.
Her beauty was like the wind, encasing me and chilling my body and mind.
The soft frost seemed to even chill my bones and ice my blood.
I couldn't strike her.
I couldn't lay a hand on her, even if I could move.
She was just too beautiful to tarnish in such a way.
I had to breathe in deeply and force out the only words I could think of.
"Re...release...him."
It was sad.
Pathetic.
No voice held no authority or aggression.
I was far too dumbstruck, too infatuated to put much effort into it.
I had failed Smith and myself, and her attack made that point stand out even more.
"Hmph...just like a man to gawk and stare like a dog! You're all the same."
With a swift, quick move, she threw a kick that I could barely see, let alone block, and within seconds, I was spiraling toward the ground after her well-trained foot made contact with my love struck face.