//------------------------------// // The Cycle Begins // Story: My Little Cryophoenix: Black Ice is Magic // by Twiggles6 //------------------------------// In a great ornate hall carved from the very ice of a massive glacier, children dressed in warm furs played and wrestled with each other. The room was grand in scale, with the most defining feature being the large stone etching in the center of the floor representing the stone eyes that watch over all of the Frostguard tribe. The young ones all fell silent as a gorgeous woman in a blue satin dress with hair as white and lustrous as the snow outside entered from the cold. “Gather round, children.” She said in a voice to be envied by the sweetest songbirds. “It is time for stories.” She said, prompting the children to gather and sit around her as she knelt in the center of the floor etching. “What story will you tell us tonight, Lissandra?” One of the children asked, scooting forward a bit as she looked eagerly to the older woman. Lissandra giggled lightly and ruffled the child’s hair. “Tonight is the night for one of my favorites, child. Tonight I will tell you the story of Anivia, the Cryophoenix.” “The cry oh feen… What’s that, Lissandra?” The same girl from before asked. “Imagine the most beautiful bird you’ve ever seen.” Lissandra said, emphasizing the word ‘beautiful’ with an arc of her arm. “Oh! Like that bird the outsider had?” One of the boys near the back asked. “Now, now.” Lissandra said. “You should know better than to talk about that outsider. Remember how she left so rudely after we were so hospitable?” “Yeah, but she had a really cool bird.” “Well I assure you, the cryophoenix is ‘cool’ in a very different way.” Lissandra said, turning her attention away from the boy and to the rest of the group. “Anivia is the name used by the Freljord’s most powerful and most ancient protector. She is a massive, magnificent bird whose body is made up of the sacred ice of the ancient Freljord. “A bird made of ice?” One scrappy looking boy asked. “Yes, ice.” Lissandra said with a nod. “She has existed for as long as the Freljord itself, and will continue to exist as long as it does. She will never truly die as long as there is snow and ice in this world.” “But everyone dies someday, don’t they?” Another girl asked. “Like Snowy.” She said, looking at the ground sadly. Lissandra cradled the girl’s cheek in one palm and shushed her gently. “Snowy was your pet, I imagine?” “Uh huh.” The girl said, shutting her eyes. “He was my friend. I miss my snowy kitty.” She said, beginning to sob. “Now stop those tears, dear.” Lissandra said, pulling the child into a hug. “Snowy is with the Watchers now. In fact, I’d bet he is watching over you right now.” She said with a smile, putting the girl at ease. “Much like how Anivia also watches over us all. She may die, but she is reborn every time. It is said that the cryophoenix dies at the end of a great age, and is reborn at the start of the next one. She has lived at least a thousand lifetimes, and will surely live for thousands more.” “What does she do to protect us though if she can’t even protect Haela’s cat?” Another girl asked. “Anivia is the gentle breeze that guides the lost traveller.” Lissandra said, addressing the crowd softly. “And she is also the fierce blizzard that drives malevolent forces away from our sacred land.” She said, gaining some fervor in her storytelling. “She ensures that each and every one of us can sleep soundly at night without fear, and she is truly a magnificent sight to behold.” “You’ve seen Anivia, Lissandra?” The boy who spoke earlier asked, mouth wide and eyes shining. “Indeed I have.” Lissandra said with a nod, gaining oohs and ahs from the children. “I have spoken with her as well. She told me that as long as she lived, she would stop at nothing to protect the Freljord. And trust me when I tell you that she fully intends to keep her word.” “What else did she say?” A girl asked as the group of children all leaned in a bit closer to Lissandra. “The last thing she told me was to make sure…” Lissandra paused, looking around at all of the bright faces expecting some great secret to be revealed. “To make sure that all of the children of my village were safe at home before the sky became too dark.” The children all groaned at once, causing Lissandra to laugh a bit to herself. “Now, now young ones.” Lissandra said, standing up and lightly brushing down the front of her dress. “You must go home now. I will have more to tell you another time.” She said, blowing a kiss to the children. Now go home, and be safe.” Though slightly disappointed, the children reluctantly finished saying their goodbyes and departed for their homes. Lissandra was eventually left alone in the great chamber, standing in the center of the eye on the floor. “Anivia.” She whispered as large crystals of black ice began to rise around her feet. “You are the embodiment of the Freljord’s grace and beauty.” She said, her dress flattening and seeming to solidify against her flesh. “You are the avatar of the whirlwind’s might.” She said, her voice gaining a strange echoing quality as the black ice shards grew up to be as high as her waist. “And soon, you will be the greatest force towards the purification of this world.” She smirked as a smooth black ice headdress materialized out of the air itself, covering her eyes and splitting into two extended prongs in the back. “For there is no purer thing on this plane than the crushing power of my black ice. You will see this very soon.” She said, cackling lightly as she sank down, seemingly melding into the floor and disappearing along with the setting of the sun. High up in the farthest reaches of the Ironspike mountain range, a great frozen eagle nested in peaceful meditation. The bird began to stir as snowflakes began to fall gently from the clouds. “Snowflakes.” Anivia mused as she watched the crystals fall. “No matter how many times I watch you, I never see the same one twice.” She said, laughing lightly to herself as she extended a wing to catch the flakes. One solitary snowflake came to rest on the tip of her wing, after which she carefully brought it closer to her face. “Such a simple thing, and yet so unique.” Anivia said, examining the snowflake closely. “You are alone. Not like any of those that you know. You will never be like them, but that’s okay.” She said, turning the flake over in her wing. “You, like your brethren, are so very insignificant alone. But together, you can create such a terrifying force as an avalanche. It never ceases to amaze me that this is possible.” Anivia sighed. “So where will your destiny take you, little snowflake?” She asked just before the crystal in question was whisked away on a sudden gust. “What?” Anivia asked as she watched the snowflake soar into the sky, turn black, and then fall to the ground like a stone. “I have felt this corruption before…” She growled as she watched the clouds darken. The pure white snowflakes from before were being replaced with black, twisted facsimiles of their former selves. “Ice Witch!” Anivia beckoned, rising from her nest and spreading her wings wide. “Show yourself, so that I may finally rid the Freljord of your taint!” “Anivia, how can you be so wise and yet so foolish?” And echoing voice asked from the ice itself. “You can surely tell how much stronger I am than you. My power is growing, and that scares you. Doesn’t it?” “Lissandra! Enough of your games!” Anivia boomed, kicking up black snow as she rose into the sky. “I will not tolerate your corruption any longer!” “But of course you won’t.” Lissandra said as she emerged from the snow. “Before long, you will embrace the power of black ice.” “I shall do no such thing!” Anivia shouted as she whipped up a mighty blizzard of pure ice, buffeting Lissandra on all sides. “You think that such a petty storm with faze me?” Lissandra asked. “Of course not.” Anivia answered. I have yet to bring my full force to bear!” She screamed as she launched a frozen spear at the ice witch. “I have no time for your pathetic spells!” Lissandra said, encasing herself in a tomb of black ice, shattering the ice spear into fragments on impact. “You will succumb!” She shouted as a giant claw of black ice materialized behind Anivia and swatted her to the ground. “AUGH!” Anivia shouted as she hit the floor of her nest, quickly being covered in black snowflakes. “Why can’t I move?” The cryophoenix thought in a panic, struggling to even breathe as the black snow continued to fall and press down on her. “And here I thought you would put up a fight.” Lissandra said with a sigh. “Just as well. You will be far stronger when I am through with you.” She said as she generated a jagged stake of black ice in her hand. “This gem on your forehead has always intrigued me.” Lissandra said, stroking the ruby in question with her free hand. “However, I think this one will look far better on you!” She yelled as she thrust the ice stake forward, plunging it deep into Anivia’s head. Anivia screamed out in pain and terror as she felt something she had never felt before. “Why… Why am I cold?” Anivia wondered as her consciousness began to fade. “And so ends a great age of the Freljord.” Lissandra said, stepping back to admire her handiwork. The shard of corrupted black ice jutted from the center of Anivia’s forehead like a terrible horn. It completely covered the lustrous red gem once visible there. “And so begins a new age of power for the Watchers!” Lissandra shouted to the sky, cackling wildly. As she was looking away however, something had begun to happen to Anivia. The magic of the Freljord and the polar opposite magic of the black ice began to react in a way that Lissandra had not expected. The surrounding area was soon enveloped in a magical aura, distorting space and time around the two entities. “What is this?” Lissandra asked as she looked back to Anivia. “No! Stop this instant! This was not supposed to happen!” She yelled, screaming as the entire mountain peak exploded in a spectacular display of magical energy. “Oh, I hope Angel will be happy with these.” Fluttershy said as she plucked another carrot from her garden and placed it gently in her saddlebag. “I’m sure he will be. He’s been less picky lately, and this was a very good harvest besides.” She said before moving on and humming to herself. A sudden commotion in her chicken coop however, broke her from her reverie. “Elizabeak? Are you causing trouble again?” Fluttershy asked as the chickens all spilled out of the coop. “Now girls, you know it isn’t time for you to come out yet.” She said as the chickens began pointing frantically at the coop. “What’s that?” Fluttershy asked. “You say there’s an egg in there?” She asked, gaining a nod from the chicken in front. “And none of you laid it?” She asked, getting urgent shakes of the head from every chicken this time. “I suppose I should see what the fuss is about.” Fluttershy said as she poked her head into the coop. “Oh my!” She gasped when she saw a large egg surrounded by pure white ice shards. “You poor thing! You must be freezing! I need to get you inside right away!” Fluttershy squealed, dumping the carrots out of her saddlebag to make room for the egg and galloping inside her cottage as quickly as she could.