Data & Magic Chapter 74: The Frozen Heart

With the naming dilemma finally run its course, everyone was happy or satisfied with Snowbright and Snowy for short. Snowy didn’t seem to overly care, like she would be happy to answer to anything as her name really. She was just mostly happy to have been given a name. The team cautiously retraced their steps towards the riverbank clearing. Jett led, moving with fluid silence, while Roland took the rear guard again. William walked flanked by Julia and Caspian, acutely aware of the small, warm weight of Snowy nestled in the sling against his chest, occasionally feeling faint pulses of thought: < Trees tall! Sky far! Cold still? >.

Indeed, as they moved back towards the river, the peculiar chill intensified dramatically. What had been a noticeable coolness earlier now became a biting, unnatural cold that penetrated their cloaks and leather. Frost reappeared, thicker this time, encrusting the ground, glazing the leaves and branches in intricate, crystalline patterns that glittered sharply in the strengthening morning light. Their breath plumed in thick white clouds. Ambient temperature deviation increasing, William confirmed internally via EMMA. Thermal readings significantly below seasonal norms for this region. Localized hypothermic zone re-entered.

“Gods preserve us, I thought it was bad before, but this time it's like walking into deepest winter,” Caspian muttered, teeth chattering slightly despite his bundled cloak. He touched a frost-covered fern, pulling his hand back sharply. “It feels... draining. Like the cold itself is leeching warmth.”

Julia nodded grimly, her own breath misting. “It is draining energy. This isn't natural cold, Your Highness. It feels like concentrated elemental magic, or the profound absence of heat left by such magic. Immense power would be needed...” Her voice trailed off as they reached the edge of the clearing where they'd found the boar carcass.

Jett held them back, performing a final sweep before signalling the all-clear. The boar remains were still visible where scavengers had dragged them further into the bushes, a grisly reminder of the lurking unknowns. Snowy squirmed slightly in her sling, projecting a thought directed at William, accompanied by an image of the river's edge near the dilapidated jetty. < There! Closer! Need to see! >

“She wants us closer to the water,” William relayed, moving cautiously forward with Julia and Caspian, while Roland and Jett maintained watch. He reached the muddy bank where Herbert's boat had been, Snowy now peering eagerly over the edge of the sling. “Alright, Snowy. We're here. What did you want to show us?”

< That! > The thought was a pulse of focused excitement, directed towards the river itself.

They followed her indicated 'gaze'. Floating sluggishly in the dark, swift water just off the bank was a large, misshapen block of ice. It was easily the size of a small room just with the ice that was visible above the water, they could only imagine how big it was underneath. Its surface strangely smooth in places, jagged and crystalline in others, possessing an unnatural, deep blue translucence that seemed to glow faintly from within, even in the daylight. It wasn't drifting with the main current but seemed almost anchored, radiating an aura bone-deep cold. A visible shimmer distorted the air above it, and the river water seemed to flow around it, leaving a small perimeter of eerily calm water directly touching the ice. Frost coated the nearby riverbank rocks even more thickly than elsewhere. Anomaly detected: Localized cryo-energy source, William thought, EMMA flagging intense cold warnings. Object exhibits properties inconsistent with naturally formed river ice.

William felt Snowy tremble slightly against his chest. He carefully lifted her out, letting her perch on his armoured shoulder, her tiny claws digging in gently for balance. Her telepathic voice filled his mind, tinged now with profound sadness and reverence. < This place… this river… this is where I hatched. >

The team listened silently as William quietly relayed the core of Snowy's projected thoughts, sensing the shift in the dragonet's emotions.

< My mother brought me here… or her egg, perhaps. She was hurt. Very badly hurt. > Fragmented images flickered through William's mind again, snow, darkness, immense pain not her own. < I don't know how. She was already… fading… when I broke free. >

< When I first saw light… she was… still. Cold. > The memory was sharp, filled with infant confusion and terror. < I grieved. I cried out. For… > Snowy paused, the memory apparently difficult. < …a long time. Then hunger came. So strong. I had to leave her side. Found berries… bitter roots… near here. >

< When I returned… she was gone. Her body… vanished. > Snowy's mental voice trembled. < But… this was here. > Her tiny claw gestured towards the immense ice block. < The water froze around it. The air grew cold. I… I was scared, but I went closer. Dove down. > An image: dark water, intense cold, and a soft blue light deep within the ice. < I saw it. A crystal. Pulsing. Blue… like her eyes. It felt… like her. Her essence? Her heart? Frozen. Preserved. > Her desperation returned. < I tried to reach it! To free it! But the ice… too hard. My claws too weak. The cold… it hurts. >

The tragic story, delivered with childlike simplicity, explained everything, the unnatural cold, the lingering energy signature, Snowy’s own desperate state. A dying ice dragon, perhaps expending the last of her immense power to preserve something of herself, or encase something dangerous, leaving behind this chilling monument and an orphaned hatchling.

Snowy turned her head, fixing her large blue eyes directly on William, projecting focused hope. < You helped me. With the offering. You have… a strange warmth about you. > (Likely just my baseline human temperature feeling warm to an ice dragonet, William mused). < You are strong, yes? Different? Could you… could you reach the crystal? My mother’s… heart? Please? >

William stared at the ominously glowing ice block, felt the unnatural chill radiating from it even yards away, saw the dark, fast water swirling around its base. EMMA was already running projections. Analyse Cryo-Energy Field: Intense localized cold, estimated temperature well below freezing point of water. Analyse Water Depth/Current near object: Approx. 10 meters, minor current detected. Hypothesis: Diving to retrieve submerged object requires specialized thermal protection and decent swimming / diving ability to navigate current. He didn't need EMMA to tell him the conclusion. Risk Assessment: User immersion in magically chilled water = rapid onset hypothermia, muscular failure, high probability of drowning. Acceptable Risk? Zero.

“Snowy,” he said aloud, his voice gentle but firm, projecting the sentiment mentally as well. < I understand. It's… important to you. But that water… the ice… it radiates intense cold. Far colder than normal ice. > He shook his head, meeting her pleading gaze. < I cannot survive that. I'm human. I don't have your natural resistance. Entering that water would likely be fatal for me within minutes. > Can't retrieve the asset if the retrieval unit suffers catastrophic failure.

He saw the hope visibly drain from Snowy’s eyes, her small form slumping slightly on his shoulder, a wave of pure disappointment washing over him telepathically. The guilt felt sharp. He wanted to help, but the risk was simply too high, suicidally so.

Just as the heavy silence settled again, Julia stepped forward, her gaze fixed thoughtfully on the ice block, then on William, then back to the ice. “Fatal for you, perhaps, William,” she said, her voice carrying a considering tone. “But maybe not... unavoidable.” She tapped a finger against her chin. “The cold is magical in nature, extreme, yes. But magical cold can, theoretically, be countered by magic.” She looked at him, a calculating glint in her eyes. “Perhaps… perhaps there is a way. A spell, or a combination of spells, designed to provide temporary, but intense, thermal protection…”