A Girl, Her Dragon, and an Ice Castle

I woke up in a freezing cold dungeon. No, literally, the cell walls were made of ice. Two snow leopards paced outside my cell. One had a war scar across its eye and down it's muzzle. The other’s tail was reduced to a stub and it was missing a hind leg. The events of the previous evening slowly started to come back to me, how the Ice Queen imprisoned me deep down in her ice castle, how Dameian and I risked everything for this mission, and finally how my parents looked at me like a piece of trash and threw me out like garbage. 

I shivered and analyzed my situation. I was in an ice dungeon in cold shackles, and Dameian was somewhere in this palace as well. First problem, how to get out of ice chains. Fire, perhaps...but how? I couldn’t just summon fire or anything. I looked out the small window at the frigid landscape. I heard a whoosh against the snow, almost like a bird landing in the soft powder. 

No, not a bird...a dragon.

Fireball was never late to the party, he was right on time. I whistled, signalling that I was in this confined space. He turned his fiery red head toward my voice and waddled over to me. His soft green eyes showed worry and pain. 

“Hey Fireball! Not a moment too soon. Can you melt these chains, boy?” I said in a gentle voice, as I held up my chained arms. His face lit up and he blew out fire through the bars. The temperature rose for a fleeting moment, and my wrists were free. 

“There’s my Fireball,” I said. “I’ll meet you in the basement, okay, big guy?”

He nodded slightly, as if he understood what I said. I stroked his red scales before turning towards the cell door. The snow leopards looked like they could take you down in a second, but they weren’t very bright. The keys were lying on the floor inside my cell, as if they simply wanted me to escape. I shook my head and picked up the keys. The one with the scar turned and looked at me.

“Ah, finally! She wakes, Alberto, she wakes!” he said to his buddy, Alberto. 

“Yay, finally! Time for some fun at last!” Alberto said. 

“Fun? How is my waking up beneficial to your entertainment?” I asked, curiosity in my voice. 

“Well, we get to fight you now! Isn’t that right, Scar?” Alberto said. 

I couldn’t help but giggle. 

Scar scowled. 

“What’s so funny, girl? You’re supposed to be our entertainment, not the other way around.”

“Well, I couldn’t help but notice that you have a scar and well your name is Scar, but how did your parents know that you would get a scar sometime in your life?” I said. 

He frowned, and felt his spotted face. 

Alberto looked nervously at Scar and then at me. 

“Let’s not go there, okay? How about you open the cell and then we fight you to the death? Now that sounds like a better idea,” Alberto said. 

All of a sudden, an Arctic fox who looked like she meant business walked by briskly. She stopped at my cell. 

“What are you two up to this time?” she asked the snow leopards.

“Uh, nothin’, Nancy, just doing our job, that's all,” Alberto said. 

The Arctic fox named Nancy glared at Alberto. Then, her gaze shifted to me holding the keys. 

“WHY DOES THE PRISONER HAVE THE KEYS???” she exploded. 

“Uh, well you see, she stole them from us,” Scar said. 

“WHY’D YOU LET HER STEAL THEM?” Nancy yelled.

Before either of the stunned snow leopards could answer, an arctic wolf came marching down the aisle. His white fur was incredibly imposing, and he looked quite handsome with a sly smile on his face. I caught Nancy blushing ever so slightly. 

“Maximus, whatever are you doing here?” Nancy asked. 

“I’m just checking in with you, of course. What’s all the ruckus about?” the arctic wolf, Maximus, said. 

He looked at Alberto to Scar to me and back to Nancy. 

At last, Nancy spoke up.

“Well, the prisoner was trying to escape, Maximus, and these two are responsible,” she said, gesturing to the snow leopards. 

“Well, That’s actually why I’m here. Let her escape.” Everyone looked at the arctic wolf with a look of surprise. 

“But Maximus, why would you want her to escape?” Nancy asked, her face expressing much concern. 

“The Queen has requested her presence, Nancy. I was sent to escort her.” He turned to me. "Go ahead and open that cell, come with us to meet Her Majesty.”

I hesitantly walked closer to the clustered animals.

“What about Dameian?” I asked.

“Who’s Dameian, child?” Maximus asked, showing genuine curiosity. 

“A friend of mine who was also captured,” I responded. 

Maximus’ expression shifted. 

“Well, the only other capture was an animal…”

My heart skipped a beat.

“It’s him, trust me.”

“Um okay...I’ll go get him, Maximus,” Nancy said.

“Okay, just be sure you keep the chains on tight, we don’t need any escapees especially of his size,” Maximus said. 

Nancy nodded and turned the other way to go fetch my friend. I unlocked my cell and before I opened it, I said some words.

“Gentlemen, please guard me with your life, if you fail, I have permission to kill you. Nancy is a big threat to my life-source,” I said, power intertwined in my voice. Technically, I wasn’t lying...Nancy was somewhat a threat to this mission. 

The boys’ eyes glazed over, like icing on a cinnamon roll. I stepped out, and they didn’t even bother to chain me. I knew I had done my hypnotist job well. 

This escape is gonna be easy peasy, I thought, as I flipped my reddish brown hair like a supermodel. Despite my freckles and flaws, I would be passable as your average teenager, but I was not your average. I always had cuts on my arms and hands, and no one bothered to question why. 

I hummed to myself as the boys were freaked out by any small sound. I grinned slightly, showing my pleasure in my work. 

We walked past several vacant cells before coming to two giant oak doors. Frozen statues of a range of animals lined the hallway. 

“Wait here until I call you,” I said.

They stayed where they were.

I opened the doors and walked into the foyer. A red carpet spilled out in many directions down different halls. The temperature was freezing (or rather, below freezing), and particles of ice drifted around aimlessly. I turned down a hallway to my right and that led me to the lesser explored parts of the castle. I could only hope that Dameian would remember what I told him about hallway navigation. I turned another corner, and to my surprise a voice called out.

“HALT! Who are you and what are you doing in these halls?” it said.

“I’m Princess Angelica, daughter of Queen Aria. Don’t I have permission to roam about my home?” I said, in the snobbiest voice I could muster. I turned around to come face to face with a snowy white guard owl. He was rather tall for an owl, and had a very sharp beak as if he enjoyed sharpening it just to scare his enemies. 

He cocked his white head to the side, amber eyes glowing. 

“I’m sorry, my princess, I didn’t recognize you.” It was a wonder what you could do with a pocket full of lies. I racked my brain for his name.

“Frosty, correct?”

“Yes, milady.”

“Go to Mother and tell her that I’ll be out for a stroll,” I said, using my power over words to my advantage. 

“Yes, Princess.” And off he went. I grinned to myself and kept walking. 

Angelica, what a snobby name, I thought to myself. 

I passed by many doors and rooms and whatnot before finally arriving at the basement. I opened the door gently, and at a small table sat Fireball and a polar bear. I nearly ran down the stairs in joy at the sight of my two friends. The polar bear morphed into a human. I hugged him tightly.

“Dameian! Glad you could make it.”

“Yeah, so am I. Those halls are twistier than a snake.” His cheeks warmed up and he looked cute when he blushed. 

“So, I see Fireball joined us, huh boy?” he said. My dragon gave a small snarl and nuzzled against Dameian. “How’s the hypnosis working out for you, Zyra?”

“Fairly well. It obviously worked today,” I said, jokingly. 

“Right. So about the mission…”

“Ah, yes, the mission. Well, it might kinda be jeopardized at the moment-” A crash interrupted me.

“I knew you were spies, I just knew it!” came Frosty’s voice from a hidden microphone. “No tricks on this owl! Just you wait until the queen hears about this!”

I scowled. He’d seen right through me. I ran up the stairs to the door, but found it locked. 

“Curses,” I muttered. Fireball started to toss out flames to anyone who wanted them. Dameian shifted into an arctic wolf and started howling. I imagined that Frosty was off to tell the queen about our escape. I hoped that things wouldn’t take a turn for the worse.