“Not only did you break into my premises but you are trying to steal my pet, again.”
“You’ve done something to him!” I burst out. Jack muttered to me in a warning tone, but I ignored him, “You’ve taken him and brainwashed him!”
“No.” Elvira Frost cut across me, “We simply made him into what he was always designed to be. A weapon. Intelligent like a Mage. Powerful like a bear. Fast like a cheetah with the flight of an eagle. The beast was meant for me all along, and now he is in his rightful place, at my side and in my service.”
I was so angry now my whole body was shaking, “You’ve turned him into a monster!” I cried.
“No. The monster was always within him.” Elvira disagreed, “We merely released it.”
“Change him back!” I was yelling at the top of my lungs now, “Change him back!”
Elvira’s face became suddenly stern and her black eyes glared at me. I felt myself recoil involuntarily.
“You will do well to watch who you are talking to.” She said in a low voice. My breathing quickened and I looked to Jack and R?ven who were equally afraid.
“Please. We will leave.” Jack said pleadingly to Frost. I snapped my attention back to him angrily.
“No! No! I will not leave until I get Hawthorne back!” My eyes were beginning to mist up again.
Elvira Frost stood up quickly from her throne and hissed at us, “You’re precious Hawthorne has no idea who you are, you silly girl.”
“Avalon, if we don’t leave we will die here.” Jack muttered pleadingly with me.
“You go then.” I was trying to hold my sobs back, “Go, Jack.”
I could see in Jack’s eyes that he wanted nothing more than to run from this place and never return but as always he stayed by my side. I turned to R?ven, “Please, just go. I don’t want you to get hurt here.” But beautiful R?ven merely took my hand in hers and left me wondering how I had gained such lovely friends.
“So it looks as though you don’t want to leave.” Frost’s sharp face glared at us, “Then perhaps you will answer a question for me, seeing as you know so much about my feisty friend here.” She indicated towards Hawthorne who had not relinquished his glare.
“What?” I hissed through gritted teeth.
Elvira breathed deeply and I saw a flicker of annoyance flash across her face. Clearly there was an issue to be resolved that no one could figure out.
“Why does he not fly?” She said slowly.
I felt my brow relax involuntarily, yet somehow I was not surprised. It had been a question that had baffled us for a long time, and I think I finally realized the answer. I felt my heart swell with love for Hawthorne.
“Well?” Frost pressed, angrier this time, “Why does he not fly? His wings are strong and adequately sized but he cannot lift himself from the ground. Whenever I order him to fly he goes crashing to the ground as though he were bound to it by some invisible force. We have tried everything. He cannot fly alone, nor with myself or anyone else upon his back. There is no logical explanation for it and I want to know the answer.”
A strange sound filled the ice room. It echoed around the walls and sounded a hundred times louder than normal. My laughter. It reverberated and multiplied, carrying all the way up to the extremely high ceiling. I laughed and laughed, and could not stop myself for a long time. I was positively hyperventilating. My shrill laughter lasted for ages and no one in the room spoke a single word during my odd outburst. When I had finally calmed down I was wiping my eyes which were watering due to pure happiness. Jack and R?ven were looking at me as though I were utterly mad, which was probably the case. After everything that had happened to me lately of course I had gone a little mad.
“Ava …” Jack couldn’t find the words, “What?”
“What? What is it? What is so funny?” Frost demanded. Her fists were clenched into balls. She was humiliated, “Tell me why the creature won’t fly!”
Correcting my face into a more appropriate expression I turned to Elvira Frost. I took a deep breath and said in a rather unsteady voice, “Because, Mistress, Your ‘Vulmessian’ was designed to fly for one person, and one person only. His true Master. I suppose your ‘very powerful Mage from Concord City’ did not expect a mere peasant like myself to have control over such power. So you see, Hawthorne will never fly for you, because his heart belongs to me.”
“Ridiculous.” Some colour seemed to have returned to Frost’s cheeks for she was so angry, “Nonsense! I am the master of this beast! He obeys only my orders! Does he not ignore you when you call his name? Is it not you he is ready to pounce upon? Perhaps we should release him from his shackles and see who he chooses?”
It was true. Hawthorne’s red eyes were filled with hate and bloodlust. He clearly did not recognize me at all and would surely rip me to shreds. But how could I make him remember?