A fresh blast of wind whipped Snow’s hair and clothes telling him that they’d finally arrived, but he refused to let go right away. Not that he needed the support of the arms around him. But, since a few ‘jumps’ back, he had noticed that ZaiWin¹Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). would waver for a bit, his feet unsteady, every time he took them to a new location. He was getting too tired, Snow knew, the brief moments ZaiWin would allow himself to rest between jumps not nearly enough to allow him to replenish the energy spent. Not to mention that they hadn’t had anything to eat in three days.

Once he felt him a bit firmer on his feet, Snow finally let go of his clothes, which in turn worked as a sign for ZaiWin to release him as well.

Looking up to see how he was doing, Snow was immediately caught by those sharp blue eyes staring back at him. Which was kind of embarrassing, he concluded, taking a step back and averting his gaze.

They were on another rocky, mountain ridge, Snow noticed, squinting when the strong wind brushed his face. But they didn’t seem to be as high as before and, for once, they weren’t exactly in the middle of nowhere.

Standing on a narrow, equally rocky path, Snow could see it slither between the tall walls of black rock, until it turned left and disappeared out of sight.

“Come, we’re almost there.”

Turning around, Snow was ready to contest the absurd idea of making another ‘jump’ so soon. But then ZaiWin was already following the narrow path towards what looked like an impenetrable wall of black rock.

So, they were walking, Snow realized with a silent sigh of relief. It would be night soon, he concluded with another inspection at his surroundings. Somehow he had to convince ZaiWin to stop for the night and get some rest, he decided, rushing to catch up with him.

Watching him walk in front of him, Snow couldn’t help notice how tall he was. Well, of course Snow was a bit on the short side, he grunted in his thoughts, that sudden realization a bit more than a little unpleasant. He had always been a small child, he recalled, the other kids always looking taller and stronger than him. And the fact that he’d spent most of his life practically unable to move, being fed watery broths and soups when he was fed at all, had probably not helped his physical development. He really wished he could be as tall as ZaiWin, and wondered if he would still grow taller, even if just a bit.

Unlike ZenTar²Literally zen (silent) + tar (wind)., who was obviously strong, with broad shoulders and a muscular body, probably fruit of hard work and military training, ZaiWin was more on the lean side. Which didn’t mean he lacked in strength as Snow had well learned, some times not in the most positive of ways.

His long, black hair, even tied up at the top of his head, reached the small of his back, and it looked as smooth and silky as it felt to the touch.

Snow knew that nobles and important people always tended to wear it long, especially those who had been born with lighter shades of hair, like blond, red, bronze, or copper. They would use it braided in the most intricate ways, clasped and decorated with bright gemstones and glistening hairpins. The more complex and adorned their hairdo was, the richer they were supposed to be, he guessed.

ZaiWin, like ZenTar and MenTar³Literally men (lake) + tar (wind), had black hair, a common color of hair. Sure, when you looked closer, you could notice some differences, his hair being much darker than most, reflecting the white light of the day in shades of dark-blue. But it was still black, after all. And yet he wore it proudly long like any other nobleman would.

On the other hand, he didn’t seem to pay it much attention, Snow concluded, tilting his head to one side, noticing how disheveled it was and how it was only getting worse, as the wind kept whipping it from side to side. Even ZenTar and MenTar had worn their hair carefully braided, although ZenTar’s was mainly short, his small braids hidden amongst his dark waves, MenTar’s wasn’t much longer than his shoulders.

ZaiWin was the Governor of a Province, wasn’t he?, Snow wondered with a frown. Now that he thought about that, he didn’t feel like such an important person at all. He could see him as a General, a Calzai⁴ Literally cal (bright) + zai (blade), or Blade of Light. It can be translated in common language as General, one of military leaders of the Empire. Each Province has it’s own Calzai. as they called him, always coldly ordering everyone around him, having no qualms about killing his enemies. But a Governor?! It just didn’t add up, he sighed. The way he saw him, ZaiWin was this dark, silent, deadly force, able to crush one’s soul with a glance. And it was hard to imagine him, let's say, hearing farmers complain about the weather, or making plans to build a new road, no matter how much he obviously worried and cared about the people of Nox⁵Literally nox (night). Nox is the name of the Clan (family name), also the name of a Province. ZaiWin uses it because he is the Governor of Nox.

And then there was that … distortion, Snow frowned as he focused on feeling it more clearly.

Even though he had been able to clearly feel it when they’d first met, since VinWei⁶Literally vin (hard) + wei (crystal) had given him that bracelet, it had become almost like a whisper, always present at the back of his mind. And yet, it was still clearly there. In fact, he could almost swear that it had become … stronger, even though he couldn’t clearly explain it. Like … the feimao⁷Literally fei (raging / furious) + mao (beast / monster). Raving beasts that appear in unbalanced, ungoverned lands. They possess destructive markings that in turn corrupt the land even further. Hard to explain in just 2 lines -_-; Anyway. Bad, vicious things that need to be killed., he concluded, his heart jumping painfully at the sudden association. Of course, it was hardly the same thing, but still … Or like those other Celestials … There was something … wrong with all of them, though in clearly different ways. As if they were, somehow … unnatural, a dissonant note on the otherwise harmonic melody of nature. And, in ZaiWin’s case, he could feel it much more clearly every time he used his … power, even when they ‘jumped’. Almost like what he had felt when YunZen had opened that gateway for him.

“We’re here.”
The sudden sound of his voice actually startled him, and Snow couldn’t help raise his head and stare in disbelief.

Speaking of gateways … Had he just crossed another one while lost in his thoughts?, he wondered, quickly looking back.

No. No strange gateways. Just what looked like a tunnel made of natural stone. So where had the village in front of him suddenly sprung out from?

“Welcome to End of the World,” ZaiWin was still saying, when a group of men appeared out of nowhere, carrying what looked to be heavy swords and spears, a few even some evil-looking axes.

They all had the same evil look in their eyes, their faces weathered, some showing more than a few ugly scars. And the way they were walking towards them was everything but welcoming, Snow concluded, unconsciously taking a step back, his heartbeat racing inside his chest.

They looked the kind of men he had done his best to avoid as a child, the kind of men no one would doubt capable of slicing one’s throat for a handful of coin.

The one walking in front of the group, a tall, bulky man carrying a large, bloody-red broadsword, roared loudly at the sight of them and, effortlessly swinging what Snow was sure to be an extremely heavy weapon, charged towards them as if ready to split them in two.

“It is really you!! You son of a bitch!!” he shouted in a loud growl, and Snow couldn’t help stumble back at the sound of that thundering voice.

His gaze immediately turned to ZaiWin, instinctively fearing for his life, but the lean column of darkness in front of him remained unmoving, facing his enemy with cold detachment.

“How dare you step foot in here again! You bastard!!” the man kept shouting, and swung his heavy sword towards ZaiWin’s head, making Snow take a sharp breath, his heart drumming loudly in his ears.

Nox ZaiWin sighed at the sight of the older man charging towards him like an enraged wild beast. He had been expecting that, he thought with resignation. And so he tried to look as harmless as possible, knowing that responding in an aggressive way would only provoke the thick-headed, cold-blooded, stubborn man in front of him even more.

When the heavy sword practically descended on his head, he simply took a small step to one side, avoiding what would have most certainly been a deadly blow that would probably have transformed him into a messy puddle of blood on the rocky ground beneath his feet. He was about to try and talk some sense into the man’s head, when a burst of icy air brushed through him.

The cracking sound of the ground freezing reached his ears, accompanied by a chorus of frightened and angry shouts coming from the men in front of him. And, in the blink of an eye, they were all solidly frozen to the ground, the ice climbing up their legs all the way to their knees.

“You fucking bastard!!” the man right in front of him shouted, even angrier, and ZaiWin raked a nervous hand through his disheveled hair, releasing a heavy sigh before slowly turning back.

He had completely forgotten about … that, he concluded, noticing the panicking expression on the boy’s face, the air leaving his mouth in panting white clouds due to the sudden drop in temperature.

Crap! Well, what was done was done, he told himself, trying to quickly find the best way to solve this matter, calmly making his way towards the panting boy. Anyway, he had done a good job at controlling it, he concluded, a small smile of pride touching his lips.

“You son of a bitch! Release me this instant!! Or I swear I will cut you into such tiny pieces that not even that bastard dog of yours will be able to put you back together!!” the man at his back kept shouting but he simply ignored him, his attention focused on the pale eyes looking up at him, in a mix of cold resolution and fear.

Placing a comforting hand on his head, he softly ruffled Snow's silver hair. It had grown quite a bit since he’d met him, beginning to show what looked to be natural waves.

“It’s all right, Snow.”

Snow frowned, obviously not convinced at all, and his pale eyes turned to the closest man frozen to the ground, still savagely growling and brandishing his sword.

“Yeah, he can be noisy like that,” ZaiWin agreed, looking back as well.

“What did you say?! You fucking bastard!!”

“You know? Right now you’re not helping yourself at all,” he told the man, raising his voice enough that he’d be heard above all the growling and threats. “You’re just scaring this brat, here. He’s the one who froze you all to the ground, not me. And you know there’s no way I can melt ice, since my fire holds no heat. So, unless you want to stand there and wait for my dog’s arrival, so that he may set you free, you better calm down and, for once, learn how to behave yourself,” he added, his voice dripping cold irony as if he couldn’t care either way, and the large men growled again, fuming in anger, his dark eyes turning to Snow, making him take another step back.

“I will kill you too, you fucking brat!!” he shouted and ZaiWin immediately placed himself in front of Snow, hiding the scary man from his sight.

“Is that what you call behaving yourself?” he asked, clearly mocking the man, and the man growled, shouting angrily, throwing his heavy sword at him.

Midway across the air, the red sword split into another four identical bloody blades, in a strangely familiar pattern. But ZaiWin simply waved his hand, a heavy mass of darkness rushing from his fingers, easily blowing all five swords away to one side as if he’d just swatted a fly. The swords fell on the ground but, unexpectedly, didn’t clatter or clang, transforming into splatters of red blood that sent shivers running down Snow’s spine.

“Now you’re just being rude,” ZaiWin told the man and that dark vibration that always clung to him became even denser. “And you’re starting to dangerously piss me off!”

“What’s going on here?” a woman’s voice demanded, swiftly and effectively cutting the tension that had filled the air, and Snow peered from behind ZaiWin’s back to see a group of women making their way towards them.

The one at the front, a brown-haired middle-aged woman, was still wiping her hands on the apron she wore around her waist, her hair tied in a rushed bun at the top of her head. She glared at the man that had just attacked them, obviously displeased about something, her eyes gleaming dangerously, and apparently didn’t notice, or merely chose to ignore, their present icy predicament.

“I was wondering why you suddenly gathered all the men and rushed outside, as if you were going on some stupid, senseless raid!!” she grunted, sounding no less angry than the man in front her had sounded.

Placing a polite smile on her lips, she walked towards ZaiWin and Snow, passing by the large man without so much as sparing him another glance. Suddenly much calmer, the man simply followed her steps with an incredulous, outraged expression on his face.

“Why, if it isn’t the little lord,” she smiled up at ZaiWin and, holding her gray skirts, made a small, clumsy curtsy.

“Rain,” he replied with a bow of his head, and Rain took both her hands to her waist, glaring back over her shoulder.

“Is my stupid husband giving you trouble again?” she practically growled and the large man’s eyes flared in angry indignation.

“Rain! Don’t you even dare welcome this treacherous bastard into our home!” he roared threateningly, but Rain waved a dismissive hand at him, apparently immune to his scary outbursts, turning back to face them.

“Please don’t mind him,” she sighed, as if she was too tired of having to put up with him. And then her attention perked up. “I see you’ve brought a guest?”

Finally stepping to one side, ZaiWin placed a hand on the boy’s head and nudged him forward.

“This is Snow.”

Rain tilted her head to one side, the obvious ‘only Snow?’ written all over her face, but then placed a renewed smile on her lips.

“Welcome to End of the World, Snow” she told him, repeating those same strange words, and Snow nodded, suddenly feeling embarrassed, since everyone, including the men he’d just frozen to the ground, were now staring at him. “Will ZenTar be joining you?” Rain went on, searching the path behind them as if she expected to see him appear at any time, and ZaiWin shook his head.

“Not for now. He’ll be arriving a bit later.”

So they did know each other, Snow confirmed, daring take a look at the man still standing just a few feet from them, his dark, angry expression making him shiver.

“Well, now. Follow me. I am sure you’re tired from your travels,” Rain pleasantly declared, turning to guide them, and ZaiWin followed her without a moment’s hesitation.

“Rain!!” the man still shouted in a threatening tone when she passed by him. But she ignored him again, the incarnation of a flawless hostess leading her important guests.

“You will stay with us, obviously,” she declared, to which the man growled again, and Snow rushed to catch up with them, not wanting to be left behind. “Storm will have a fit, once she learns that you’re here. Right now she’s out hunting. She’ll be back in a couple of days.”

ZaiWin nodded and the other women parted to let them through. Unlike the men, they all seemed rather pleased with their presence, greeting them and bowing their heads as they walked by.

“I am sorry to drop on you unannounced,” ZaiWin said, he too sounding carefully polite, even though the way they treated each other was far from what Snow had expected from a Governor and his subjects.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Rain waved another dismissive hand. “You know better than anyone how things work around here. There’s no way we could have readied ourselves to receive such an important guest even if we wanted to,” she laughed it out, even though her smile looked a bit forced.

“I wouldn’t have wanted you to do any of that, even if you could,” ZaiWin promptly replied and she looked up at him, her sharp gaze showing nothing but deep appreciation.

“I know. We all know. I just meant that nothing would be different, even if you had announced your arrival. Well, my stupid husband might have tried to ambush you on your way up here,” she considered with a second thought and sighed. “So maybe it was better this way. Though he’s like that, I’m still not ready to become a widow.”

Silvareiel

Hehehe, bye-bye diplomacy. ? Enters Snow and everyone is frozen to the ground until they learn how to behave ?