Zane and Zoe felt emotionally exhausted. It was hard to think of Uncle Ulmer being reduced to a bunch of papers. Mr. Raynor handed them the last of the forms to sign. “Well, I’m glad the two of you could make it. I know it’s getting bad out there. You came a long way just to meet with me about your uncle’s property, though. All the way from Japan. If you don’t mind my asking, I am curious why you didn’t just meet with our Tokyo representative.”
“I’m sorry? What Tokyo representative?”
“Mr. Yamoto. He was supposed to contact you and set up a meeting…he didn’t contact you, did he?”
They shook their heads. Zane snorted. “I wish he had. We would’ve been glad to take care of all this from back home. Neither one of us had any burning desire to come back here. No offense.”
“None taken. Dag isn’t exactly the luxury vacation capital of the world. I am sorry for the misunderstanding, though. Our firm will pick up the tab for your stay here. I’ll make sure of it. It’s the least we can do for dragging you all the way out here just to sign papers. Let us know if you wish to sell his house here in Norway, by the way. We could handle that for you as well.”
“We want to look at it first, but we both knew before we got here that we’d be selling it. Japan is our home. I’ve been staying with a friend, but I’m sure Zane will want to continue living in the lakeside cabin Uncle left us there.” They signed the last of the papers and got up to leave. Mr. Raynor gave them their copies and shook hands with them again.
“Thank you both for coming. I have your number at the hotel and I’ll call you before you leave about taking care of the bills. If you have any question, don’t hesitate to call me.”
“Thank you. You’ve been a great help. You’ve made everything a little easier for us.”
They bundled up and braced themselves to face the wind. They couldn’t believe it had gotten even stronger since they’d gone in. Snow was falling thick and fast. As they trudged back to the hotel, they passed a small playground. A young girl was swinging back and forth on the swingset. She wasn’t even wearing a coat.
Zoe called out to her. “Don’t you have anything warm to wear, young lady? You’re going to catch a cold out here. You should really be heading home. This storm is getting worse.”
The girl kept swinging. In a sing-song voice she said,
“Fire and ice
never mix
now they seek
the god of tricks
what once was gone
returns again
the power of the north
will cause you pain
Beware!”
A swirl of snow blew past so furiously, that they couldn’t see the girl. When it died down, she was gone. Zoe was getting angry. She started shouting. “This isn’t funny whoever you are! You can knock it off with the cryptic rhyme games, we’re not interested in playing!” The two of them turned to go when a gust of wind knocked them to the ground. “Zane! Did you feel it? The storm’s alive!”
“I’ve had enough of this! ARMOR OF TUNDRA!” Zane called the armor. Zoe could feel it surging with power, her own pulse beating in response. She let go, becoming pure spirit and merging with Zane and the armor. “ARCTIC BLAST!” They sent a flurry of wind and ice in every direction. The storm redoubled its efforts, slamming into them like a hammer. They were pushed back, but didn’t fall. Zane/Zoe thrust an ice spear into the ground, causing a great wall of ice to form. They tried to use the wall as a shield against the raging wind. The storm seemed to rear back and jump at the ice wall, shattering it into a million pieces. The two of them steeled themselves for another strike. Zane/Zoe closed their eyes and tried to block out the storm. It came towards them, a seething mass of snow, ice, and wind. The storm dived at them like a corkscrew, ready to drill into them with all its concentrated force. Zane/Zoe did not budge. They started throwing ice spears as rapidly as they could, each one trailed by its own icestorm. Spears appeared in their hand as soon as one was let loose. Each blast made the attacking storm lose some of its unnatural cohesion—two wild forces crashing into each other. The storm dissipated more and more until the wind died down. The snow began to fall in a lazy, natural pattern again.
The Warrior of Tundra fell to his/her knees, exhausted. The armor disappeared and Zane and Zoe were left sitting in the snow. Zane laughed. Zoe looked at him funny. “I was just remembering how cool I thought it was at first to get magic armor and help save the world. It does come in handy, but I’m beginning to think this thing is a magnet for evil.”
“I think you’re right. We never used to have so many interesting vacations…”
“Or meet such weird people. Man, I wish we were boring again.” The two of them got up slowly and walked back to the hotel, muscles aching.
A snake. Zoe could see it now. A huge, vicious snake hung above her, filling her with dread. It writhed and hissed, but it, too, was a captive. There was also someone there—a woman. What was she doing?
She had a bowl in her hand. Zane could see her worried expression. She was worried for him. The snake opened its mouth wide, dripping venom from its fangs. The woman hurried to catch the venom before it hit Zane. It sizzled and crackled as it struck the bowl.
Zoe watched in horror as more of the acidic venom oozed down the fangs. It started to fall. Zoe flinched, but it never touched her. Sigryn caught it in the bowl.
It was falling again. Zane strained against his chains, feeling his wrists chafe with blood. Stop. Stop! STOP!
Zoe screamed as the venom struck her face, burning like live embers. Her whole body jerked and writhed as she felt her flesh sizzle.