The Winter Flame Brings the King

Venus stood in front of the Winter Flame in the frozen caves outside of her village. It was pitch black in the caves, the only source of light coming from the dim blue flame. Venus grumbled angrily to herself as she paced back and forth in front of it.

She didn’t want to be guarding the Winter Flame, but she had to. It was her turn. She thought the stupid tradition would’ve been over by the time it was her turn, she thought they all would’ve seen how stupid and pointless it was. But here she was.

The tradition of the winter flame started in Venus’ village long before she was born. Many years before, a prophet had foretold the coming of a great king that would follow the light of the Winter Flame and find the village, bringing peace and prosperity with him. For this reason, the flame had to be kept alive, and it was to never burn out. Every twenty-four hours, a new person from the village would be tasked to guard the flame. It was a random drawing from the list of names kept by the list of elders that determined who it was.

Venus finally stopped pacing and sat on the hard ground in front of the winter flame. She remembered the day she had to put her name on the list. She had only been seven years old, and she had begged her father not to make her do it. A full twenty-four hours of being paranoid about some dumb flame in a cold cave was not her idea of fun. But her father forced her to, telling Venus that the king would arrive long before her name was ever called. Boy was he wrong. Seven years later, here she was.

A rustling noise drew Venus out of her thoughts. It sounded as though it came from behind her, but the way the sound was echoing around the blackness meant it really could’ve come from anywhere. When the noise sounded again, Venus froze.

The cave became eerily quiet once more.

It was so silent that Venus could hear the sound of her ragged breath, she could hear her heart beating wildly, and she could hear her thoughts spinning out of control. What could it be? What could be hiding in the dark? Anything could be hiding in these frozen caves.

There it was again. Venus whipped her head around. “What are you? A polar bear? A reindeer? A-a moose? Oh, please don’t be a moose.”

Suddenly, a gust of wind rushed overhead, and Venus ducked down, screaming.

Then, silence.

Venus uncurled herself and started when she saw a snowy owl perched on the pedestal of the Winter Flame, a dead lemming in its beak.

Venus clutched at her heart and slowed her breathing. “What are you doing in here? Finding a snack?” she asked the owl. “I don’t have any food, but I am hungry. Care to share?”

The owl only stared in response, his dull grey eyes boring into her brown ones.

She exhaled. “Look, you can stay in here, but you need to get away from the flame. It’s important,” she told him, waving her hand to get him to move.

But the owl stayed where he was, turning his head behind him to gaze at the flame, the lemming still dangling from his mouth.

Venus inched closer to the owl, hoping she could scare it away from the WInter Flame. “Come on, please! There’s plenty of other places to perch in here… I think. You can see better in here than I can.”

The owl turned its head back to look at her but did not leave. It did, however, drop the lemming at Venus’ feet and hoot at her.

Venus cringed and kicked the dead animal away. “Ew ew ew ew ew! Alright, you need to go. Shoo, shoo!” She swatted at the owl to get him to leave.

But instead of flying away as she expected, he hopped back into the Winter Flame.

Venus gasped and watched as the owl screeched and fell to the ground, now engulfed in the light blue flame. Smoke plumed from its body as it writhed on the ground.

Venus couldn’t do anything, as there was no way for her to extinguish the flame. Smoke filled the cave, way more than there should have been coming from the burning owl. Venus coughed and shielded her face from it, unsure of what to do.

Abruptly, the screeching stopped, and the smoke began to clear. Venus squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, not wanting to see the mangled and burned body of the poor owl. But suddenly, a voice cut through the quiet of the caves.

“Hello? Hello, girl? Where am I?”

It was a man’s voice, deep and powerful.

Venus glanced up and her eyes widened as they took in an ethereal man that now stood before her. Light emanated from his body, lighting the entirety of the cave. He had snow white hair and eyes that looked similar to the owl’s, only they were a brighter grey. He was wearing a majestic cape made of silver feathers that glistened in his light. “Girl? Can you not speak? Where am I?”

After her initial shock, Venus finally found her voice. “Y-you’re in the frozen caves outside of my village. But who- what are you?”

The man stood tall and placed his hand proudly on his chest. “I am King Adrian Constantine!”

“You’re him!” Venus realised. “You’re the prophesized King!”

“Yes, and this is the village I was destined to find,” the King told her.

“But I don’t understand,” Venus gestured to the pedestal where the flame used to reside. “The flame, it’s gone. I thought you needed it.”

“Yes, I did. Would you like to hear a story?” the King asked.

Venus nodded, and the king began to tell his tale.

He had ruled over a kingdom in the tropical regions of the world. It was so vast and prosperous, that he had been titled the most successful king of all eternity, But others sought his kingdom, including the evil witch Cassandra. She infiltrated my castle and cursed him in the night, turning him into a snowy owl. She then told the King that the only way to break her curse was to find the legendary Winter Flame, and cast himself into it. The flame would be the only substance powerful enough to melt away the magic.

“It’s taken me decades to find it, but, well… here we are. Who do I have to thank for guarding this flame for such a long time?” The King asked, moving forward to clutch a stunned Venus’ hands.

“My name is Venus, your highness,” she replied meekly.

“Venus, what a beautiful name.” He kissed her knuckles.

Venus blushed. “Well, it wasn’t just me. All of the people of my village have taken their turn watching the flame.”

“As much as I appreciate all of your efforts, I’m afraid it has all been in vain.” He released her hands and sighed. “I have been away for so long, I cannot go back to my kingdom now. I don’t even know if it still exists.”

“Please, don’t worry. Come to my village. You will be welcome there,” Venus assured him.

The King smiled and nodded. “Yes, that would be quite nice.”

Venus held out her hand. “Come.”

As the King took it, Venus couldn’t believe how lucky she had been to witness this. Perhaps traditions weren’t so stupid after all.