The Story of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book One

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Everyone lapsed into silence again as the surrounding scenery grew blurry. The vaadin galloped faster and faster. Within minutes, we were traveling through a snowy field towards a tall, glimmering castle that seemed to be made completely out of crystal... or maybe it was ice. Panic filled me as the beast sped up. Without thinking about the bag of acorns I had clutched in my fist, I went to grab onto the bark of the animal's back desperately. The movement caused the bag to fly.

"Crap!" I yelled as I tried to grab for it before it fell, but I was too slow.

It crashed to the ground and spilled out the acorns, all twenty of them. The vaadin stopped abruptly. And if it weren't for Ciaran's firm grip on me, I probably would have gone flying over the stupid thing's head, just like Mike did.

"Oof!" he complained as he landed in a snowdrift.

The bag disappeared along with the acorns as the vaadin scooped it up and downed the whole thing. No amount of coaxing or pleading would get the animal to move forward again. Finally, we realized we had no choice but to dismount.

"Stupid!" I wailed as I waved my hands around. I was yelling both at myself and the vaadin.

Luke sighed and shouldered his pack more securely. "It is fine. As we are only a few miles away, and fortunately, Mike has extra acorns for the trip back. We shall keep moving. We do not want to be too long out in the wide-open like this."

Erick looked up at the sky and laughed as he shook his head, "Matty...you're always so predictable. Ever since you were little, you've been clumsy."

"Shut up," I grumbled. "I don't want to hear that from you."

I confronted the vaadin and tried to make a deal, "Hey, if you take us the rest of the way, I promise to give you more acorns on the way back."

"Hey! Don't be bargaining with my acorns, kid! I'll give you the eleven we need to get back, but we gotta hoof it for now. These vaadins won't go again once they stopped. You give it acorns now, and it won't take us to the castle; it'll take us to the flipping portal. It'll stay here for now until we come back. "

The vaadin just stared at me with those flower eyes it had and blew out short bursts of air that sounded pretty similar to a snicker. I glared at it and stalked away. "Okay, let's get moving."

Mike shook out the snow from his clothes while grumbling about hating the cold. Luke and Erick followed behind Mike, Ciaran, Dominic, and Adrian, and the rest took up the rear behind me.

After a few yards of walking, I put on the hood of the warm cape I was wearing over my tunic. Even with the hood tightly covering my head, it didn't keep out the bitter cold of this place. It was even colder here than it was at the Mansion. All around the snowy field were blackthorn bushes with no leaves. Their tangle of spiky branches cut a stark profile against the pristine white background. The sky was a gunmetal gray with only the barest hint of two puny white suns. The castle seemed not to be getting any closer either, as we had to stomp in deep snow that was freezing both of my feet into icicles. If we didn't get out of it soon, I figured I'd probably have frostbite. In the distance, badger-sized, furry animals were burrowing in and out of the snow. Their antics were the only thing that somewhat kept my mind off my stupidity and how close I was to becoming a Mattycicle. Some of the animals seemed to get closer, which delighted me, as I hoped to better look at them.

"Move faster," Mike ground out between gritted teeth.

I pulled my attention away from the animals and to the back of Mike's worried head. "W-what for? Th-tho-those li-little guys don't seem to be t-t-too dangerous." God, it was so cold I couldn't even speak.