//------------------------------// // Ch.9 Flake to the Rescue // Story: The Origin Chronicles Vol. 1 // by SmokeShadow95 //------------------------------// Spike headed behind the barn to get the cart that was used by the Frosts to visit the town. He picked it up at the handles and found it surprisingly light. The work he had been doing had really built his muscle up. Spike took a moment to look at himself. Back when he was in the Crystal Palace he had grown from being a baby dragon the size of filly. He got taller and bigger than he had ever been. It happened fast. Then he came here. An ice farm on the edge of the Crystal Empire. And he worked. His arms became formed and strong. His body became lean and thin, but stronger still. But it was not just his body that had grown. Spike had gotten faster as well as stronger. His reflexes were amazingly fast. His mind was stronger as well. It was possibly his strongest asset. He was quick minded and now he was able to solve problems easier and faster then ever. He was able to see connections that were unclear before. He said a silent thank you to Luna and Shadow for giving him the opportunity. Without dragon magic in his life this never would have happened. He collected his thoughts and headed out. Flake jumped in the back and they were off to town again. Flake was practicing magic the entire way there. She had found a few ice chips in the back and was playing with them. She was able to lift and move them with almost no effort. “This is so cool,” Flake said, “Thanks again, Spike.” “My pleasure, Flake,” Spike said proudly. “What else you think I can do,” Flake asked. “You could work on making a force field,” Spike replied, “Would really come in handy if you got into another snowball fight with that Snow Banks filly.” “That is a great idea,” Flake said, “But how will I know if it works?” Spike flicked his tail out and hit a big pile of snow. The backlash sent a wave of snow high into the air and it all landed in the cart. Flake was covered in it. “If that happens and you get snow on you, it isn't working,” Spike said with a laugh. Flake shook the snow off her and glared at Spike. The glare did not last long. Flake got an idea. Spike did just teach her a little about magic. She looked to the land just beyond the path they traveled. She saw snow. Nothing but snow, as far as her eyes could see. She grinned a mischievous grin and focused. This was going to be good. The snow on the side of the path began to shift. It followed the cart along the path. The farther it went the more snow was collected. After a few minutes Flake had a small avalanche following her. She collected it all in a big ball of snow and sent it right for Spike. Spike was just walking along with the cart behind him. He was still snickering a little to himself for the joke he played on Flake. It was then he noticed that she was being way too quiet for her usual self. Did he hurt her feelings? Flake did not seem like a filly whose feeling were that easily hurt. No, she was plotting her revenge. That did seem just like her. But what was she doing? As Spike was thinking about this he noticed it was getting gradually darker. It was still early in the morning. There was no reason for it to get dark. He looked to the side just in time to see a snowball the size of Big Macintosh and Hammer Falls combined heading for him. Before he had time to even scream for help it struck. It was like a magic trick. One moment Spike was there, and the next he was gone. Flake watched as the snowball carried Spike a just off the path and stopped. She laughed and laughed as Spike pulled himself out. “Hahaha, I got ya back,” Flake said in between laughs. “That. Was. Crazy,” Spike said. Flake stopped laughing as she heard Spike. He spoke each word as if it were its own sentence. Each word spoke for itself. Spike had just freed both his arms from the giant pile of snow that used to be a giant snowball. He breathed fire to melt the rest away. As soon as his feet were clear he made his way toward the cart. Flake backed all the way up to the other side. She pressed herself against the wood as much as she could to try ad hide from Spike's gaze. He made it to the cart and looked directly at Flake with intensity. “I had no idea you could do that much with your magic already,” Spike said. “What? You mean you ain't mad at me for the giant snowball,” Flake asked. “It was definitely a shock to see coming right at you,” Spike said, “But I'm not mad at you. Your magic has gotten pretty strong if you can pull that off.” Spike resumed his place pulling the cart. The whole snowball incident slowed them down a bit but they still made it in good time. Just like the last time they pulled the cart out in front of the general store. They walked in and the store manager was all to happy to see them. His shop was doing better than ever. He was able to use the extra money that Spike gave him to fix up his shop and even upgrade it a little. He fixed the leak he had in the corner. He was able to expand the awning covering the front of his shop. He took his sign down and repainted it. His entire shop looked brand new. He was getting many more customers because of it. So when Spike and Flake walked in he was thrilled to see them. “Well hello there, Flake,” He said, “I see you brought Spike along with you again. I can't begin to thank you enough for that bit of extra money you gave me last time. My shop hasn't had this much business since I first opened it.” “Glad to hear it,” Flake said, “We're here for supplies again. Here's the list.” “Okay then. It will take some time, as always, but I can give you a discount this time.” Flake and Spike were talking with the manager when they all heard a commotion outside. Something was going on. Flake moved over to the big front window to get a look. There was a pony running through town. He did not look good. He was screaming something, but it was hard to hear what from inside the store. Flake rushed outside with Spike right behind her. The pony had gotten closer. He looked even worse up close. He appeared to be a guard of some sort. But his armor was torn and frosted over in many places. His hooves looked worn and his horn was completely iced over. His eyes were wide with fear. He was still screaming about something. Spike went over to him and tried to calm him down. He eventually stopped rambling on and looked Spike dead in the eyes. “Help! Help,” He said, “Ice. Just a touch. Ice everywhere. Swarming. There was nothing I could do. Help!” The pony stopped talking and fell silent. It was like he turned into a statue. It was not until later that Spike learned it was more like a sculpture. An ice sculpture. Spike looked down at Flake. She looked scared. Spike would be to if he were in her hooves. “What was he talking about,” Spike asked, “Do you know who he is?” “H-he looks kinda like one of the guards from the shipments that come from the city,” Flake managed to say. “What about the 'ice everywhere'? What did he mean by that,” Spike insisted. “Ice imps,” Flake spat out, “Them greedy imps attack shipments and take all that they can. But I ain't never seen 'em do this to a pony.” “Okay. Where do these shipments usually come from,” Spike asked urgently. “From the south,” Flake answered, “Why?” “You stay here, Flake,” Spike said assertively, “I will be back soon.” Spike was gone before Flake could protest. As scared as she was Spike could not let her come with him. He ran down the nearest road that went south. It did not take long for him to find the shipment. It was a convoy of three carriages strung together. It was the first time he had seen an ice imp. Ugly little things. Small and thin. They only stood as high as a filly at their largest, but were as mean as the cold wind in a blizzard. They made up for their small size with their numbers. Spike now fully understood what the mad pony meant with his words. The ice imps could fly and were easily surrounding ponies. With a touch of their teeny little hands they could spread ice and cold. Entire ponies were encased in ice within mere moments. Spike got their just in time to witness it firsthand. He ducked behind a large boulder to avoid being seen by the imps. They were stealing the contents of the carriages and carrying it off to some unknown destination. Spike waited until they were all gone and headed for the ponies at the carriages. There were six of them total, not counting the one in town. Spike checked each one of them in turn. They were alright for now, but would not remain that way for long. He loaded them in the back of the closest carriage and pulled it back to town. It was not an easy task, but he got it done. The ponies in town saw him coming and rushed to help him. A couple of farmers in town took over pulling the carriage until it was in the middle of town. Spike quickly unloaded the rest of the frozen ponies and placed them on the ground. Flake ran up and gave him a big hug. “I'm so happy you're okay,” Flake said. Spike was happy to see Flake again too. He was to tired to respond, though. A carriage is heavy enough on its own, but with six frozen ponies in the back it was really heavy. Just then a pony in the crowd screamed. Spike whipped around to see what had happened. Nothing had happened, but something was happening. The first pony that ran through town screaming was freezing. The town crowd could do nothing but watch as the frost and the ice traveled across his entire body until he was fully encased. What Spike didn't understand was how? There was no swarm here. He got his answer when an ice imp popped out from his mane. It was hiding in there and freezing the pony from inside his armor. When the imp realized where he was he tried to flee, but Spike's quick hands grabbed him. The imp struggled to get free, but Spike had a strong grip. The imp tried its signature move. He place both hands on Spike's claws and began to spread frost up his arm. The cold was like nothing he had ever felt before. He breathed in a breath and let loose a breath of fire that nearly melted the little imp. It melted the ice on his arm and stopped the imp from squirming. Spike transferred the imp to his tail and turned back to Flake. “I need you to do something for me, Flake,” Spike said. He guided her over to the frozen ponies and pointed at them. She still looked scared. Maybe even more so now that she had seen an ice imp in person. Spike had to break her from that fear. Or at least distract her from it. He knelt down by her and talked to her softly, but strongly. “Listen, Flake,” Spike started, “I need you to free these ponies from the ice. They won't last long in there.” “B-b-but I can't do that,” Flake said, “I don't know how.” “You can do it,” Spike firmly stated, “Focus on the pony and not on the ice. You care about others. I am proof. Use that compassion. Passion is power. Focus on the ponies. See them stepping free of the ice. Picture the ice melting and it will happen. You can do this. It is just like the giant snowball. I know you have the power.” “You should listen to her, dragon. Fake Flake can't do anything when it comes to magic. Why don't you just breath fire or something?” Snow Banks. Spike recognized her voice from the last time he was in town. Spike was not known for getting angry but this was time when he lost his temper. He stood and whipped around so fast and sudden that the snow around his feet shook. He glared right at Snow Banks with a fury. “Now is not the time! These ponies are in serious trouble,” Spike yelled loudly, “Unless you want to help her, keep your mouth shut!” “She can't help me,” Flake said strongly, “Because she doesn't care about anypony but herself. I can do this.” Flake closed her eyes and focused. Her horn sparked and glowed like nothing before. Spike was right. She did care about others. He would not be there if she didn't. Flake now saw this in herself. She used it as fuel for her magic. Her horn glowed with an white intensity as she focused. The ice around one of the ponies began to glow. A small red glow of warmth was beginning to appear in the ice. It was slowly starting to melt as the warm glow got bigger. Spike was so proud of her. He could not help but Smile. Flake stopped to catch her breath and the glow faded. It was a start. “Keep it up, Flake. I will be back soon,” Spike said. “Where you goin' this time,” Flake asked with a huff. “To get back the supplies that belong to this town,” Spike said with a smirk. Spike ran off again. He headed south again. He was going back to the carriages. The ice imps were swarming the ponies there for some reason. According to Flake they had never done that before. Spike was determined to find out why. He knew that if they did that to ponies outside town it was just a matter of time until they started attacking the ponies in town. That was not going to happen. He would make sure of it. He made it to the carriages and the whole scene looked different. It had started to snow and the snow was covering up all the broken things. Spike was not sure what to do. He knew next to nothing about ice imps, but he knew someone who might know more. He pulled the Night Calling Mirror out of his coat and called Shadow. “Good to see you, young blood,” Shadow said. “Yeah. Same here. Listen, I need your help with something,” Spike said quickly. “Oh, really,” Shadow said, “You know there will come a time when I won't be able to help you. You will have to solve problems on your own.” “All I need is any information you can give on ice imps,” Spike replied. “Oh, is that all,” Shadow said, “Ice imps are small, greedy, and usually travel in swarms.” “I know that much,” Spike said, “But how do I find and defeat them.” “That is a different subject all together,” Shadow said, “Ice imps prefer caves that let in a lot of light. They like to see the gleam off the ice or something like that. If you can manage to capture one you can use it to guide you to their cave. Ice imps are naturally drawn to others imps.” “Thanks, Shadow,” Spike said happily. He released Shadow and put the mirror back in his coat. He brought his tail up to his face to see the imp. He had wrapped his tail around his arms so it could not freeze his tail. He was quite attached to it. The imp was just glaring at him. It must always have a face contorted to anger. Spike shivered. It was partly because of the cold and partly because of the ugly little imp he had hold of. He pulled his coat tightly around him and headed off to find the imp cave. Judging by the amount of imps that attacked the carriages Spike guessed the cave was nearby. He remembered back to when the imps were carrying off all the good they had stolen. They flew uphill. Spike found a nice steep hill that led up into the snowy rocks. Perfect. That should give him a better idea of where they went. He used his tail to hold the imp so he could have both hands free to climb. The rocks were covered in snow and he was struggling to get a grip with every stone he grabbed. He even tried to breath fire up the rocks and melt the snow. He only tried that once. The melted snow turned to water and froze before it could even run off the rocks. He only succeeded in making ice. Good thing he had claws. After what seemed like an hour of relentless climbing he finally made it to the top of the hill. He scrambled to the top and was greeted by a gust of freezing wind that howled through to rocks. Spike pulled the imp into view. “Which way now,” He asked forcefully. The imp did not answer. Great. Spike was not even sure if they spoke. And if they did would he even be able to understand it? He watched the imp more closely and figured something out. Every time the imp struggled to get free. He always thrust his head into one direction. That was where he needed to go. “Thanks,” Spike said sarcastically. The imp started to freak out as Spike headed off into the direction he chose. That confirmed Spike's theory. Spike also confirmed that imps are rather stupid. He was waling for a short while when the snow picked up. As it layered along the ground he found it harder and harder to walk. Each step took more and more effort. He was tired before from pulling the carriage into town. He was beginning to wonder if he had the strength to get to the cave. No. He had to get there. He had to show that he believed the same advice he gave Flake. Passion is power. And he cared for every pony in that town. He would not let them down. His thoughts were stopped by the feeling of the imp in his tail squirming and freaking out like nothing before. He must be close. Spike looked ahead of him. It was hard to see anything through the snowy, cold wind that was blowing across the land. Spike shivered again. He hated the cold. And now he was stuck in it, but not for long. He spotted a cave entrance and ran for it as fast as he could. The cave was a nice shelter from the wind outside. He shook off the snow that had built up on his coat. He brought the imp forth and watched it. It was facing forward, deeper into the cave. It scrambled to get away from Spike. It even went so far as to bite Spike. It was barely even a pinprick of a bite, but the sting of the cold outside made it worse. Spike returned the attack with a quick flick of his tail. It uncoiled from the imp and sent it headfirst into the cave wall. It hit hard and slid down the wall before stopping in a slump. Serves him right. Spike breathed a fireball in his hand and used that as a light source. He was too tired to use magic right now. Even though night vision would come in real handy. Plus the fire would help to warm him up. His fire breath would do fine for now. He ventured further into the cave and away from the snowstorm outside. It was a labyrinth in there. Every time Spike turned a corner it was another corner, or a fork, or a dead end. He was getting tired of it. Maybe he should have kept the imp with him. Finally he made it to a large clearing. In it was a large ice spire. Much larger than anything the farmers in town had. It was more like a fully grown, bare ice tree. It had dozens upon dozens of branches and they all had smaller branches. It was like nothing Spike had ever seen. At its base was a pool of water. Spike looked down into it. It was the clearest water he had ever seen. He followed the flow back to find that it all came from a large waterfall that was flowing in from beyond the rocks. He dipped one claw into it. It was also the coldest water he had ever felt. But why was this still water if everything else was ice? Interesting. Spike looked around further. He had not seen any ice imps yet. Maybe this was not their cave. He saw a small cave that led to an area behind the waterfall. He slowly ventured father into the cave. After a long walk he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. He dimmed his own fireball until he got to the end of the tunnel. He put his out and peeked around the corner. He found the imps. They were organizing all the things that they stole from the carriages. That was just a small portion of the loot that they had built up. They must never use any of this stuff. It was all just sitting there. Spike ducked back into the tunnel. Okay. How was he going to do this? He needed to get all of the stuff back that the imps had stolen. Maybe he could wait while they slept. If they even slept at all. Oh, what was he going to do. Spike never got the chance to find out. Out of some small hole that he couldn't see the imp he captured came flying in. It rushed up and made a lot of noise. More imps came up to it. Spike could not tell what they were saying, but based on the motions and sounds used he could bet they were talking about him. He would be found eventually. He knew that. Shadow taught him that the first move is always the best one to have. So Spike made the first move. Spike built up all the fire energy he could muster. He crossed his arms as the energy built up and stepped out into the room with the imps. They immediately took notice and came flying at him. The entire swarm came at him at high speeds. Perfect. Spike flung his arms wide open and let the fire loose. He combined that with a breath of fire that sent many imps into a panic. But that was not the end of it. They started to throw small chunks of ice at Spike. He put up a shield to block them, but the imps were a smarter lot than Spike knew. As some threw ice at him more came up behind him and started to freeze his tail and his feet. He shot the shield outward and knocked down many more imps. He stomped around and breathed fire at his feet to get the imps away. It worked a little. The backed off to a safe distance and tried again. This time with more imps. They were all over him. His tail, his chest, his head, his legs. Everywhere. They were everywhere! This must be how the ponies felt being swarmed. Spike had one final move. He called on his last reserves of energy and sparked a fire that spread across his entire body. Only, it did not work fast enough. The ice imps had already encase most of him in ice. The fire went out before it could do any real good. The imps finished the freezing process with his face. Now all he could do was to sit there and watch. Then he got a surprise. Flake came in with her horn glowing and she blasted away many of the imps. They were drawn away from Spike. They had a new target. No! Spike could not let Flake get hurt. As the imps were swarming around her Spike got a rush of energy. His eyes began to glow. The ice encasing him cracked and chipped. The imps and Flake all turned to see what was happening. The ice was shaking and shattering. Piece by piece the ice fell until finally, Spike broke free. He emerged from the mist with glowing green eyes and an angry look. “Get away from her,” He said forcefully. He put both hands up and a gust of wind came from nowhere and blew the imps away from Flake. She ducked down underneath the wind. She looked back at Spike. He did not seem like the same dragon. He looked so intense and focused. The imps saw it too. They all swarmed him, but with no effect. He put up a shield bubble around him and Flake. The imps just bounced off of it repeatedly. They were trying so hard to get through. Spike would not let that happen. With one quick motion of his hands he let the barrier down and started up another wind. This was not a directional gust, however. He put his hand close together and the wind in the chamber started to circulate. Spike slowly spread his hand apart and the wind got stronger. Flake took cover right at Spike's feet. The wind continued to circulate at faster and faster speeds. The imps were no match for that kind of wind power. They were caught up in the whirlwinds pull and sent in circles. Flake could see what Spike was doing, but not where he was going. There was nothing to do with the imps now, but she had an idea. She used what little bit of magical energy she had left and focused on a chunk of ice in the ceiling. She used focused heat to melt the edges away. She caused it to fall into the chamber with a tremendous crash. Snow poured into the chamber behind it. After a few moments the snow stopped and revealed a hole to the outside. Spike took advantage of the opportunity Flake made. He pulled his hands together and raised them to the hole in the ceiling. The imps were sent flying out of the cave and into the snowstorm of the outside. Spike stopped his magic and let them sit a moment to regain their balance. A few looked back a Spike angrily. He roared at them and that was the last push they needed. They flew off to some desolate cold place far away from town. Spike looked down at Flake. She was smiling until she saw his face. He didn't look happy to see her. But that changed. Not for the better. Spike's eyes went back to normal and he was looking at Flake normally. Flake noticed, though, that his eyes were unfocused. Then, in that moment, Spike collapsed. Flake Spike had just run off to deal with the imps. Flake had just thawed a little bit of the ice around one of the pony guards. She was not done yet. She had to start again. Her horn glowed brightly with a white intensity. She pointed it directly at the pony. She focused on the pony. Spike told her to see the pony stepping free of the ice. She could see it. It was easy to see that. Water began to drip from the side of the ice. It pooled around the base of the pony's hooves. Flake focused as much as she could, but it was not enough. She released her hold on the spell and the warm glow in the ice faded again. “I told you,” Snow Banks said snobishly, “Fake Flake can't do magic.” Flake's anger rose exponentially with that comment. She responded with magic. Partly to prove Snow Banks wrong and partly because it would hurt her. Flake turned on dime and faced Snow Banks. Without a word she fired a blast of magic at her. Snow Banks never saw it coming. The sudden feeling of cold, the inability to move. She could see Flake looking at her rather evilly. She walked up to Snow with a sly grin. “How's that for magic,” Flake said smugly. She tipped the flash frozen Snow Banks over on her side. She hit the ground with a sharp crack, but the ice barely chipped. That gave Flake and idea. Spike was wrong. She had been focusing on the pony. Freeing him and letting him step free. But, what if she focused on destroying the ice? That would free the ponies. She went back over to the pony she had partially melted free. Once again her horn glowed and she called forth some magic. This time she sent a small wave of energy into the ice. It traveled through the ice crystals and cracked and chipped everything that it contacted. It was so much damage that the pony was able to force himself free. It took all the strength he had left to do so. He collapsed from the exposure and the town doctor rushed over to him as Flake moved on to the next pony. She knew what to do. She dug her hooves into the ground and got one good charge of magic. She focused a little bit of energy into her horn and sent another wave of energy into the ice. It made its way through the ice and did much damage, but it did not break the same way the first pony's ice did. Why not? What was different with this one? The ice! Of course! It was not melted. She had started off with a melting on the first pony. She looked up at the ice and noted every single crack and split. She closed her eyes and sent a new wave into the ice. Not just energy this time. It was a wave of pure heat. It followed every crack and split and melted the ice all the way through. This caused the ice to thin out and melt into many smaller pieces. Flake saw what was happening and did what she did best. She analyzed every piece of ice and found just the right spot. She turned around and kicked the ice right over the ponies chest. The ice made a sharp cracking sound and then fell to the ground piece by piece. Another pony was freed from the ice. That made two. Only five more to go. Flake was running low on energy. Could she really thaw five more ponies? She didn't have a choice. At least she had a system now. She walked up to the next pony in line and powered up her horn. She focused on the pony and the ice together. A warm inner glow of heat began to resonate from withing the ice. Flake kept this up for a few moments. After a good amount of ice was able to melt away she stopped. Then she moved on to step two. She thrust her head at the ice covered pony and sent a wave of energy that split and fractured the ice. Success again. The ice was one last spell away from falling to pieces. So Flake sent another wave into the ice. The heat wave finished separating the ice and she gave it a kick to start it falling off the pony. Three. She had gotten three out of the ice, but she was so tired. Maybe if she hadn't pulled that snowball prank earlier she would have the energy left. Spike did say her magic was getting stronger, and he was counting on her. She did not want to disappoint him, but she also did not think she had the energy to thaw four more ponies out. She did have one more thing she could try. It would take all she had and then some. She had never seen and definitely never done anything this big. She stepped back from the next pony and moved to a position where she could see all the ponies. And then she started her work. It was the same series of spells that she did before. Now she was spreading them to four ponies instead of just going one at a time. It was a challenge for such a small filly. She focused intently on all four ponies. It was hard for her to think about anything at all. All she could even imagine doing at that moment was thawing the ice. A small warm glow flickered in the ice of all the ponies. It was small at first. It took longer than any other time, but the glow slowly got bigger in all the ice. Flake had to concentrate. One wrong move and she just might make the ice explode out in all directions. Seeing as how she was in the middle of town with ponies on all sides, that would be very bad. It seemed to her like she was there forever. The minutes faded into hours and the hours faded away as she lost track. Her eyes were closed, but she looked up once to see how far the ice had melted. Her eyes opened and the sudden shock of the brightness of the light shining off the ice was enough to make her lose focus. The warm inner glow in the ice quickly dimmed and disappeared. It did not mater now. Flake had to move on. She took a moment to let her eyes adjust. She had lived there all her life and still was not used to that. Anyway, it was on to the next step. Flake took several deep breaths as she attempted the next spell. Her horn sparked and flaked and would not power up. No! Not now! This was not the time. Ahh! Flake stomped her hoof down and her horn lit up with white light. Flake acted before it went out again. She blasted the ice with another wave of energy. It was much bigger than previous waves. It was able to get all four ponies, but did not do the desired amount of damage. The ice was barely chipped. Flake sent another wave out. This one did more damage than the last one, but it was still no enough. And so Flake sent wave after wave. Each one was barely doing the damage needed. Finally, after many, many failed attempts Flake shouted as sent out a heat wave. The wave was more like a wall. A wall of pure heat that hurled itself at the ice with ice breaking force. The four ponies were sent back a few inches as the heat wall rolled over them. Some of the ice was taken with it. Yes! She had done it! All the ponies were free from the ice. Her victory was rather dark, though. Literally dark. Her vision was taken over by a closing blackness. The last thing she saw was the world turning on its side. Then it was gone. Flake woke with quite a start. She kicked the covers off her bed as she sat up. She was breathing heavy and had no idea where she was. She looked around with a panicked look on her face. Another pony came in as she was panicking. It was a nurse. “Hey. You're finally awake,” She said. “What happened? Where am I? How did I get here,” Flake said quickly. “You passed out after melting the ice off all those ponies. The effort of all that magic pushed you past the point of exhaustion. A few townsfolk carried you here,” The nurse said kindly. “How long I been out,” Flake asked. “Not very long,” The nurse answered, “Only about half an hour.” Half an hour? That was not very long, but it was long enough. Maybe she could still catch up. She leaped out of her bed and ran past the nurse. She seemed a little persistent that Flake should stay in bed to rest. Flake did not see it that way. She ran out of the hospital as fast as she could. As she exited the hospital she swore she looked over and saw her family riding a cart into town. They saw her too. Papa Frost stood up and called to her. His voice was silent to her. She turned away and headed south. That is the direction he went. She had to find him.