//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 Thoughts and voices // Story: Serpent of the South- Return from the North // by J-90 //------------------------------// Chapter 1 Thoughts and voices ??? pov Imprisoned... By the use of some archaic royal privilege... Curse those visions... Curse those visions... Curse them all the way to the deepest depths of the Seven Hell's... Cold slumber... A freezing cold forced slumber... And she just left me here... Unable to move... Unable to feed... Barely able to think... Or even dream... Yet my memories still stay strong... I had a home... Friends... A purpose... A calm way of life... Yet she still saw as a threat to her little ponies... Even after I actually gave her a chance... And she tossed it away... All because of those accursed visions... And she had the gall... To say 'sorry'... While imprisoning me in ice... And going back to her oh so comfy life... In her golden ivory towers... When I get out of this frozen torment... I WILL... Make her... Pay... No matter who... Or what... Stands in my way... ??? pov "Are you certain this is it?" "Yes... I can sense her band. She is in there." What's this? "I hope so. Otherwise we hauled all this equipment here for nothing." Voices? "I promise, they most likely will be needed." Coming from outside this frozen prison? "Høvding! Sir! We found the entrance! But it is blocked by a barrier of magic." "Well? Can you do something to it?" "I can only absorb magic from the living beings. Do you maybe have something that might help?" "Hmmm... Perhaps I might. Brothers! Sisters! Clear out your pipes! Let's see if this piece of pony magic can withstand our ancient tones!" What is this? Singing? Like a choir following a single note? Like it's coming deep from the throats of many... "Did it work?" "Let's check. Stand back" Sound of something shattering? Does not sound like ice... Almost like glass. "All right then. You, get in there and be careful." "Yes høvding." Steps?... Approaching steps? Almost like hoof... They stop... "She is here! Matches the description given by the good sir perfectly!" "All right then! Then let's start expanding that hole so we can get her out!" ??? pov I'm hearing... Pickaxes... Someone is digging... Somewhere close... Small source of warmth too... Are they... Are they making an attempt in freeing me? That can't be... Who would even know location of my cold prison... Other than her... Someone is approaching... One has graceful steps... Other one is with heavy sounding steps... "It is her..." "Are you certain that she can help us? None has been able to break The Wall, and we don't even have much to offer to her in return." "I'm sure she most likely will help your people, once you explain your plight. Maybe even more so once she hears what's going on in south." What? "Still cannot believe how many things where boiling below the surface among those ponies." "And your exiles most likely did not help the matters?" "They where fools to even follow him. And he was even bigger fool, for thinking he could just come crawling back, and ask forgiveness for his crimes." "And you fed him to the fishes. Rather creatively I might add." "Nothing more than a our kinds tradition for dealing with treasonous traitors. Personally I would have given him the 'Blood Eagle', but it would have made it faster for the bastard..." Who are these two? The one they call høvding sounds like an interesting lady... "Wait... Did you see that vapor? Do you think shes starting to wake up already?" "Could be possible. Hard to say when, with the weather outside. She might fall asleep during the trip, but with warm enough fire she should wake up again with a relative ease." "Well you better help us in hauling her on the sleigh, AND pulling it as well. I don't want my kin getting overtly exhausted from pulling all that tail back to the village." "It will be no problem. I just want her somewhere safer for now..." "And we just might have a big enough shelter for her to stay warm. But now, let start removing ice from her ar-" ??? pov Blacked out for a moment... Now what is this sound? Like something sliding on snow... Am... Am I covered by something? Where I'm even being taken?... Can't move... Still too cold... Wind gently blowing through my hair, caressing my face... "Ummm... Sir? Are certain she is going to survive? That long time spent in ice might have caused something." "She survived a thousand year long sentence in Tartarus, and practically stayed in her prime, so she most likely is still going strong after recovering. And I hope nothing has happened due to all the ice..." He sounds worried... About my health?... Genuinely?... Or are they just needing me healthy enough for something?--- They did say something like that earlier... "How much further until we're back at the village? I'm getting tired from all this pulling." "Soon brother, don't get your antlers in a twist. And be grateful that the weather is not at the heart winter-phase yet, or this would be a near-death sentence this far up in north." "No need to tell me that sister." There are several more around me? Folk who live in the north... They don't sound like ponies... Who... And what are they... "Høvding! We're almost home!" "Good. Just little more everyone! Then we can all have a good night's rest from this little effort!" Cheers? Now the thing I'm on is being pulled slightly faster. Well, they did say 'home'... What kind of I wonder?... ??? pov Happy voices... Welcoming pullers home... Many also sounding rather curious... About me I bet... "Welcome back home Høvding. I see your little excursion with our good guest was a success." "Yes indeed. What told you that? Was it maybe the huge serpentine maiden we hauled in here from some iceberg that had made it to the nearby shore? Now let us get her somewhere warmer. I think she started to stir a bit on the way here." More movement... Is that... A sound of a door being opened?... Now the wind stopped... Am I now indoors... Can I maybe get my eyes open? "Høvding. I think shes waking up. Or at least trying to get her eyes open." Everything is blurry... Figures around me... Three I think... All of them... Have horns... No, one has a pair of horns, the rest have... Antlers... "Easy, easy. You have slumbered a good while in ice. Please stay a while and rest... Lady Naja." They know my name? How?...