The Winter War, epub Read online

  “This kid at my lunch table keeps calling me ‘ginger girl’ and ‘carrot top’ and ‘freckle face,’ and he gets all the other boys to laugh at me. I was just sick of it. So I dumped a carton of milk on his head.” She paused. “He deserved it.”

  Ivy glanced at her mom in time to see her stifle a small smile. “And you think that was an appropriate response?”

  Ivy shrugged. “It was all I could think of at the time. Honestly, Mom, you have no idea how mean and stupid those kids are.”

  “Oh, I probably do. I was your age once too. You know there is nothing wrong whatsoever with having red hair. Some bullies like to tease, that’s all. You shouldn’t pay any attention to them.”

  “Everyone always says that. But it’s just hard.”

  “I know. But this is not like you. You never used to do things like this.”

  That was true. Ivy didn’t even know why she had reacted the way she did. She liked her red hair. It was different. It made her stand out. Yet when those kids made fun of her, it just seemed so mean and rotten. She’d lashed out in anger.

  Ivy looked out the window. The sky was gray and lifeless. Everything was frozen and still.

  Her phone beeped. She took it out and saw a text from Brianna.

  I looked for you at lunch. They said you got sent home. What happened?

  She deleted the text without answering. What she did was probably all over the school by now. She wished she didn’t have to go back ever again.

  “Mrs. Loomis said she would deal with the kid in question and she wants you to tell her if the teasing continues,” said Ivy’s mom. “But if there’s another milk-carton incident, you’ll be back in her office. I need you to promise me that you will not do that again, no matter what anyone says to you.”

  “I promise,” said Ivy, choking back tears. She hated to cry, especially in front of people. It frustrated her that in Ahoratos she could be a fearless Warrior, but in this world she was such a useless, ugly mess.

  When they got home, Ivy helped her mom put away the groceries. Then she went up to her room and pulled a guitar out from under her bed. She’d gotten the guitar for Christmas the year before and had started taking lessons. She loved to sing and play, especially when she was upset.

  Halfway through her song, her phone started to ring. She stopped playing, annoyed. It was probably Brianna again, bugging her to find out what happened. She pulled out her phone to decline the call, but then she saw the large image of the Crest floating on the screen.

  She had never been so happy to see that Crest.

  CHAPTER 12

  An Unexpected Encounter

  Finn paused in his shoveling and wiped his brow. He was sweating, even though it was freezing. He’d had no idea there were so many sidewalks at the Cedar Creek Rec Center. He had to clear them all before it opened for after-school programming that afternoon.

  The whole day before he’d spent clearing the driveway and parking lots, using the pickup truck fitted with a snowplow blade. Driving that truck had reminded him, eerily, of the Askalons, the giant tank-chariot things that had plowed their way through Ahoratos to the Mountain of Rhema.

  That was probably why it was taking him so long to finish the snow clearing. He couldn’t get his mind off those chariots, or the ice-snakes, or the ice-webs, or anything to do with the battle. Or with Ahoratos. He was aching to go back. In fact, he often wished he could just stay there. To never return to this world and his boring life as caretaker for the rec center. He’d wanted so much more for his life. It was only a few years ago that he was the star of his high-school football team, dreaming of going pro. He’d blown up that dream with the mistakes he’d made. Curiously, though, he didn’t have that dream anymore. Being in Ahoratos, learning to be a Prince Warrior, and making new friends had changed him more than he even realized.

  Finn had been rescued from Skot’os by Rook, with a little help from Ivy. Rook had been like a big brother to him, had understood him like none of the others could because he’d been a prisoner in Skot’os once too. Finn had even taken over Rook’s old job at the rec center.

  But now Rook was gone. Finn knew that Rook wasn’t really gone. Ruwach had promised that Finn would see Rook again one day. But still, not being able to see him or talk to him right now was hard.

  Now Finn just wanted to do what Rook did: rescue prisoners like him. If he could, Finn would just stay in Ahoratos and go on rescue missions. He’d beaten a whole squadron of Forgers once, even before he had gotten his sword. He knew he could do it. Whenever he had a chance, he asked Ruwach when he could go back. But Ruwach always said the same thing: “There is a time for everything.”

  Finn bent over to start shoveling again. He supposed he’d just have to wait on Ruwach’s time.

  He got to the end of the sidewalk and turned the corner. There he saw a figure in a dark green coat spraying the back wall of the rec center with graffiti.

  “Hey!” he shouted. The kid saw him and dropped the paint can. He started to run. Finn ran after him, his strong legs leaping through the snow, the shovel held over his head. “Stop!” he yelled. He could see that the boy was struggling against the deep snow, unable to move as fast. Finn caught up to him, dropped the shovel, and tackled him. The two fell into the snow, the boy struggling to get free before finally giving up. Finn raised himself up so he could see who he had tackled.

  “Landon?”

  He knew this kid. He was often at the rec center, but he usually didn’t participate in any of the activities except for basketball. Mary Stanton had told Finn that Landon had once bullied Manuel relentlessly.

  “What are you doing?” Finn barked at the kid, holding him by the collar in the snow.

  “Nothing,” Landon said, trying to pull himself away.

  “You call that nothing?” Finn pointed to the large blotches of green spray paint on the wall.

  “I was just . . . messing around.”

  “Why aren’t you in school?”

  “Didn’t feel like going.”

  Finn pulled a phone from his pocket. He showed it to Landon.

  “I’m about to call the police. Do you want me to call the police? Report you for defacing a public building?”

  Landon hesitated, then shook his head.

  “Okay then, here’s the deal. You are going to clean that paint off today, before the rec center opens. And, you’ll come here every Saturday for a month and help me with the maintenance.”

  “What? I’m not doing that!”

  “Then I’ll start dialing.” Finn hit the numbers 9-1-1 on his phone. His finger hovered over the Send button.

  “Stop.” Landon sighed and grumbled. “Okay, fine.”

  “If there’s a day you don’t show up, I will be coming to look for you. And believe me, you don’t want that.”

  “I get it.” Landon pushed Finn away and struggled to his feet.

  “You’d better go get some soap and a scrub brush,” Finn said.

  “I don’t have that stuff.”

  Finn sighed. “Fine. You can use our supplies. Come inside, and I’ll get them for you.” Finn turned to head toward the door.

  “Hey,” said Landon. Finn turned back to look at him. “Why didn’t you just report me? Why are you . . . giving me a chance?”

  “Because I was just as dumb as you once,” Finn said. “And someone gave me a second chance.”

  Finn took Landon into the building and got him a bucket of cleaning solution and a scrub brush. Then he sent Landon out to clean the wall, with the warning that if it wasn’t absolutely spotless, he would call Landon’s parents. Landon grunted but did as he was told. Finn left him to his work and went back to retrieve his shovel. But when he got there, there was something hovering over the top of the shovel handle. The Crest. Solid and bright, rotating slowly in midair. Finn smiled to himself.


  Guess I won’t finish the shoveling after all.

  CHAPTER 13

  Scouting

  There it is.”

  Finn and Ivy paused at the edge of the wood. They had been walking for quite a long time, their boots forming snowshoes so they could move quickly in the deep snow. The trunks of tall trees rose up all around them, bare branches crackling in the stiff wind.

  The Mountain before them was covered in snow and ice. They couldn’t see the very top because a dark cloud ringed the entire summit. But smoke continued to pour into the sky, creating a black cloud overhead. Thin rivers of red lava trickled down the mountain, like blood, slowing and steaming when it hit the snow.

  “He’s taken over the whole mountain,” Ivy said.

  “Probably building some new fortress at the top,” Finn said.

  “Do you think those Askalons are still around?”

  “Probably. And see those skypods?” Finn said, pointing to the large lumpy, rock-like objects floating in the air near the top of the mountain. “He’s probably got spies on them, keeping a lookout. Maybe even dragons.”

  “Great.” Ivy sighed. “And we know what’s in those skypods, so we definitely don’t want to mess with them.”

  “Ruwach told us just to scout out the situation,” said Finn. “To gather information and report back. Without being captured.”

  “Sure. Piece of cake,” Ivy said sarcastically. It still seemed odd to her that only she and Finn had been tasked with this job. She had a feeling it was because she and Finn were the only ones who had been prisoners in Ahoratos. Maybe Ruwach thought that gave them a special sort of ability to sense Forger traps.

  Seeing Ahoratos so frozen and desolate filled Ivy with an unnamed dread. And then there was that smell. Ahoratos used to smell sweet and fresh most of the time. Now this pervasive stink just seemed to hang over the whole land. There was no escaping it.

  “Let’s see if we can find a way up the mountain,” Finn said. “A secret way.”

  “If we go out into the open, we’ll be seen,” she said. She glanced at her breastplate. “Breastplate says to keep going this way. Let’s stay in the trees; it’s easier to hide if we see any of those chariots around.”

  She and Finn turned and started walking again, staying in the cover of the trees, which hugged the base of the mountain. To her surprise, her boots glided over the snow soundlessly, almost like skis. Finn’s did too.

  “That’s cool,” she remarked.

  They glided in silence, gazing around them, searching for something promising. But the landscape didn’t change much. Snow and ice and bare trees. The mountain rose so steeply that she couldn’t see any way they could actually climb up without being seen, let alone try to lead an attack.

  “It looks pretty hopeless,” she said.

  Suddenly two figures with swords raised jumped into their path. Ivy shrieked. Finn reached for his sword, but then Ivy started to laugh.

  “Kalle! Kristian! Where did you come from? You scared us half to death.”

  “Sorry,” said Kalle. Or was it Kristian? Ivy wasn’t sure which one was which. “We heard movement and thought it was a Forger patrol.”

  “Forger patrols? Have you seen any?”

  “Nope,” said the other twin. “But the Askalons are roving around. You can see their tracks in the snow. And there are Bone Breakers on all the skypods.”

  “Bone Breakers?”

  “Big birds. They look like giant vultures with blood-tipped feathers. Very keen eyesight. They will see anyone who attempts to climb the mountain.”

  “Great,” said Ivy. “What are you doing here anyway?”

  “We’re searching for a path up the mountain,” said Kristian. Or Kalle.

  “So are we. Did you find one?” asked Finn.

  The twins shook their heads. “There must be something we’re missing.”

  “I agree,” said Ivy. “Nothing we can do but keep going.”

  “Kristian and I will join you, if that’s all right with you,” said Kalle.

  “Sure. You guys are good at sneaking around in snow.”

  “We are used to it,” said Kristian with a grin.

  The four of them moved single file through the deep woods, keeping an eye out for Forger patrols or ice-belching machines lying in wait. Ivy led the way, following the steady beam of her breastplate, with the twins behind her. Finn stayed in the rear, as he usually liked to do, so he could look out for anyone who might try to attack from behind.

  They had walked about a mile when Finn spoke up in a harsh whisper.

  “Look!” The others turned back to see Finn pointing to the ground at their feet, where something appeared to be moving under the hardened snow. “Does that look like water to you?”

  “Yes! Running water,” said Kalle, his voice now buoyed with hope. “That could indicate an underground spring. Spring water wouldn’t be frozen yet.”

  “How does that help us?” asked Ivy.

  “If there is a spring, it’s probably coming from under the mountain. We should follow it. We might find the source of the spring through a tunnel or a cave. It’s not much, but it’s worth a look.”

  They followed the trickle of water until it formed a crack in the snow and flowed more freely. The stream led them out of the cover of the trees. Ivy paused, unsure if they should proceed in the open. The wind was picking up, and icy snow stung their faces like a swarm of flying ants.

  “Something doesn’t want us going this way,” said Ivy, raising an arm to shield her eyes.

  “There!” said Finn. The narrow stream led directly to the base of the mountain, where the Warriors could make out a small opening in the ice. “That’s where the water leads.”

  “Looks small,” said Kristian.

  “Maybe we can dig it out,” said Finn.

  “What’s that smell?” Ivy asked, wrinkling her nose. “It’s different from the Empty smell. But still bad. Like rotten eggs.”

  “Sulfur,” said Kalle. “Don’t worry; it’s not dangerous. Just stinky.”

  “Great.” A gust of wind nearly knocked Ivy over. The snow seemed to be falling sideways, blasting them with more stinging ice. “Maybe we should go back to the Cave!” she cried over the roar of the rising wind. “I don’t think we can make it in this storm.”

  “We have to go now,” said Finn. “The storm will be our cover!”

  “I agree!” said Kalle. “We came this far. We have to try!”

  Finn was the first to move, dashing across the icy expanse toward the small opening in the mountain. Kalle, Kristian, and Ivy soon followed, struggling against the wind that seemed to want to blow them back as far away as possible. Ivy thought it might succeed.

  “Come on!” said Kalle. He reached back to grab her hand. “I’ll help you!”

  When they got to the opening, Ivy could make out Finn on his knees, trying to punch a hole in the ice with his Krÿs. His whole body was coated in ice and snow, but he kept working. Kalle and Kristian soon joined him, hacking away at the ice until the hole was big enough to crawl through. Water streamed from the enlarged hole, smelly and steamy.

  “The water’s really hot,” Finn yelled to the others. “Don’t touch it with your bare hands!”

  “Let me go in first.” Ivy ducked and crab-walked through the ice hole, holding on to the sides to keep from touching the water. She straddled the small stream and stood up unsteadily, directing her glowing breastplate deeper into the tunnel that lay before her. Inside, the noxious smell was so pungent she had to plug her nose. Her breastplate glowed steadily, indicating that she was supposed to keep going in this direction, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

  “See anything?” yelled Finn from the entrance.

  “A tunnel!” Ivy called out. “I think we’re supposed to follow it!”

  She m
oved forward a few steps to make room for the boys, who tumbled in behind her. Kalle, followed closely by Kristian. Or vice versa.

  “Hot in here,” said Kalle, finding his footing on either side of the spring.

  “A sauna,” said Kristian. “We have lots of saunas in Finland, but this one smells very bad.”

  A few more hacks at the ice, and Finn wormed his way through the opening. Outside the storm raged, but the sound of the wind seemed to be dampened by the warm, humid tunnel. The four Warriors took a moment to catch their breath and adjust to the sudden change.

  “This must lead deeper into the mountain,” Ivy said. Following the light of her breastplate, she started to move, the boys close behind her. The tunnel curled around boulders and sometimes became so narrow they had to squeeze sideways.

  “It’s getting hotter,” said Kalle, pausing to wipe his brow.

  “As if we didn’t know that,” said Kristian with a slight scoff.

  The smell grew stronger the deeper they went. Just when Ivy was certain there was no end to this tunnel at all, it widened into a large cavern filled with bubbling water that glowed green, steam rising from its surface. The ceiling hung with massive stalactites, and the walls dripped with slime. The four Warriors stepped out of the tunnel and onto a narrow ledge that ran the circumference of the pool, trying to keep from touching the slimy walls.

  Ivy coughed. “Wow, that really stinks. I thought the Empty was bad, but this is worse.”

  “The Empty?” asked Kristian.

  “It’s what Evan calls . . . the feeling up there on the surface. You know. Whatever is causing that rotting smell that seems to be everywhere.”

  “I see. Empty.” Kristian nodded.

  “Should we try to cross?” said Kalle. “The tunnel continues on the other side. And it looks dry over there. Perhaps there is some sort of path up to the top.”

  “The water is too hot to swim,” said Finn. “And it might be toxic.”

  Ivy glanced down at her breastplate, which had gone dark. “No. I think we should go back.”