The light of the sun was gaining ground over the Peaks of Peril.
The grove, covered by the white mantel of snow, began to regain its green under the heat of the starting day.
Birds filled the air with their music.
Other animals wandered the grove, exploring the humid woods.
The fall of the tree of pack of snows could be heard, if not felt directly, as experienced a stag under the amused eyes of a doe.
At the village, almost everykirin was smiling this morning.
But their smile faded when they met the worried gazes of the parents of Ivory Frost on one side, and the sight of their leader on the ground.
She was properly lying there, her eyes closed, her breathing slow.
She was shaking though.
She had seen, like everykirin present, the column of light.
Every eyes were focused on it, and though the kirins staying with her were surprised, they did not understood.
Except two who turned their eyes towards her face decomposing.
She was startled by the presence of a kirin next to her, opening her eyes.
"Are you okay, leader?" asked one friend of Ivory Frost with a worried face.
She froze, unsure of what to say, what to do.
"Do Ivory needs our help?" the friend continued.
The leader stayed silent, not knowing what to say...
She closed her eyes.
"I-I-I don't know..." she finally whispered.
Opening them again, she saw that the ears of the kirin were now flat on his head.
Then, they raised up.
"We can still check," he decided, running towards the grove.
Some kirins decided to follow him, many youngs, but also some adults.
But not the parent of Ivory Frost.
They layed themselves next to their leader, both on her right.
Their eyes met the ones of their leader.
There was no need for words.
Tears flooded the eyes of the mother, and soon of the father too, nuzzling against each other.
Both hidden by the body of their leader from the rest of the kirins, they stood there for a good part of the morning.
Before joining the search party.
But even with the snow melting and the sun trying to prevent the effects of the cold created by the ice wyrm, the autumn was there already.
The drop of the temperatures could not be entirely compensated, and the search party came back sooner than they wanted, without result.
The next two weeks, the leader joined some of the search parties, as well as Ivory's parents.
But the kirins had to prepare for the winter too.
The magical disruption of the weather had to be compensed.
And it meant less time to look for Ivory.
At the begin of the third week, the leader called of the end of the search for Ivory Frost.
During this meeting, the eyes of her parents were humid, but both stood strong together.
In the same time, the kirins and their elders insisted to recognize Ivory as their heroine.
The leader also submitted to the vote the creation of a tale of her story, titled "Thorn of the Frozen Star".
Every kirins were surprised.
All eyes turned to her parents, who looked at each others and nodded.
With the approval of the first concerned, everykirin knew that their next year would be dedicated to Ivory Frost.
All eyes turned to the leader were humid.
Some tears ran, some sobbed, but all stood still, wanting to honor the memory of Ivory.
They stood strong for their leader.
During the next spring, the kirins were active within the grove.
With the help of their leader, they tried to find the few clues left by the fight between Ivory and Zuriak.
The researches continued during the summer, without much success.
The morning of the first anniversary of Zuriak's defeat, the leader of the kirins where nowhere to be found in the village.
Some other kirins were missing too.
Using her own cosmic powers, she was following the faint trail of the past, as she had planned.
With her, the parents and the three closest friends of Ivory.
They followed their leader, noting what she was saying, reviving a little what Ivory had been confronted too.
They climbed the same mountain until they reached the cliff at the top of the mountain.
Here, they took their first rest, the leader drawing a little more in her to have an idea of what happened.
Her head turned towards another peak.
But the kirins prevented her to stand up and continue.
They forced her to take a break, to eat and drink, as she looked weary.
They enjoyed the sun warmth over them, chatting a little before continuing with their task.
Later that day, almost at dusk, they entered a crystal cave.
They found old traces of fire, and of blood.
The leader lied down on the ground, shaking a little.
One of the friends of Ivory was waiting, pen and scroll ready.
The leader lit her horn, and used her power again.
For a moment she described how there was nothing.
Then she gasped.
She struggled to describe the scene that she was witnessing.
The eyes of all but one kirin closed a moment.
The pen was scritching against the scroll, even if tears appeared in the eyes of the scribe.
As the spell came to an end, the head of the leader rested on the ground, looking at the moon and its strange pattern since that night.
She told the others that this was not the final place to go.
But they saw she was exhausted.
They decided to rest for the night there.
They did not touch the traces left a year ago.
They woke up early.
After a quick collation, they continued their stroll to the next place.
They met some difficulties to climb there, but when they reached the location, they found nothing.
The mother of Ivory looked for her leader, who closed hers, using her powers once again.
But this time, it was shorter, and she didn't say a word.
Instead, she turn her head towards the rock formation over the cliff.
She walked there and looked below.
A shiver run alongside the spines of each kirin, when they finally understood.
Taken aback by the revelation, the dawn found them first.
It warmed them, as well as it seemed to wake them up.
They started to go down the mountain.
They only found trees, but even the kirin accompanying felt the energy from this place.
Their leader stopped before a larger tree and sat under it.
Cosmic energy had made this area flourish with plants.
And as the sun was rising and its light reaching this part of the grove, the flowers opened before the six kirins.
They stayed there until their lunch time.
The parents of Ivory were the ones who explored this area the most, walking slowly, looking everything.
Her friends were looking for traces of her passage, but the vegetations had covered everything.
Her leader just layed down under the big tree, who was in fact two trees entangled, appearing as one.
This time, she was the one writing on the scroll.
They regrouped and went back to the village.
A few year laters, Ivory's parents welcomed a newborn.
The leader reassured them that she would have a long life.
After all, she felt and saw the signs of the cycle.