Oath Swearing

The old woman kept staring at her, but Sasha did not approach her.

No matter what, the women in the boat were able to wield a magic far greater than her just by being themselves.

Rudy jumped up from the docked boat, and ran straight to the old woman, hugging her like a little boy separated from his mother.

Which he was, but Sasha remembered his earlier fierceness. He was more than deadly, especially so if that wolf obeys him.

The old woman stared at her for a moment more, before turning away, and hobbling towards the boat.

The boat left the shores of the island with the old woman aboard.

Sasha did not linger, for she somehow felt Rudy could make it out alive just fine with the protection of those women.

Thus, she returned to the first stop, to prepare for the oath swearing ceremony.

She did not even notice one of the women had shot an arrow towards the dragon.

She has almost wasted an entire day out here trying to find Fang Island.

So, she should at least be able to get out of the smoking sea before the night is through .

Otherwise, it will be too late to reach Barrier by tomorrow.

Sasha wandered in the fog again. She wondered if this is the reason that the journey to Fang Island is considered so deadly. The fog covered an area where even a compass did not work.

For her, who is on a dragon, it is an easy task to raise above clouds and check for the pole star.

However, those sailors on ships ! how were they supposed to know which direction is which? On top of it, what's with those splashes that she could hear even from this altitude in the sky?

Just what kind of beasts are roaring below that she felt the vibration of it's roar high up in the air? Sasha did not want to know.

All she could pray for now is that the little boat Rudy boarded on will pass by without danger.

The women on the boat seemed capable of manipulating water, so it shouldn't be hard for them to sail. Wind and direction are useless in western ocean, so if there was someone who could find a path just by touching water, it was the best.

Soon, Sasha saw salvation.

She is out of the fog, her mind is out of the thousand random thoughts. She flew straight for the peak that she camped on. The peak rose at least five feet higher from the last time she was here.

Moonsnow was dismissed to hunt in the sea, while Sasha stood on the slippery icy cliff.

She had randomly used the power stored in Winterstar, yet, she has not assimilated most of it.

Perhaps, it is time to exercise her creative muscles. She opened her hand and focused on the cold element flow from Winterstar. Soon, the slippery and rough slope has become a perfectly flat circle, with ice poles standing all around.

Perfectly translucent ice windows formed in between ice poles, while the entire peak has become a round tiered pole extending into the sky, with steps going around the pole, from it's beginning to all the way up to the highest peak.

In between, there were small rooms where one could stop and rest. All the same, if one wished for it, they could climb it all the way to the top.

While Sasha has done this much building, the cold magic stored in Winterstar is not even reduced to a half. Sasha was shocked at the discovery.

She could probably build a whole ice city if she uses all the remaining magic. She opened her fur blankets, set the fire, made herself a meagre dinner with beef jerky and black bread. Then, she settled down with her spirit body, and once again started absorbing cold elements.

However, this time, she is quite ready.

As soon as a flood of cold elements formed, she dove into the Winter Star pendant with her spirit body. The cold elements flew right into the pendant rather than onto her spirit body.

This time, instead of letting the elements pool into the center, Sasha separated all of the elements, and created a flow of elements among all the directions she has seen.

Soon, all the remaining gems on Winterstar started increasing their cold magic power, with that, they slowly changed their color.

When Sasha came to consciousness from her magic practice, it's almost dawn.

She closed her eyes, and slept. While her body is indeed resting when her spirit body is active, just such rest is not enough to sustain her. Moreover, she needs to be at her best for today's oath swearing ceremony.

It was noon when her dragon landed on the wall near the first stop.

The frontier guards seemed extremely relieved to see her. It's as if she is the savior who has come to save them.

When Sasha went down, she realized why she received such royal treatment.

The Snorcs are gathering together underneath the first stop's gate, and are demanding entrance.

Their numbers are already at twenty five thousand and growing.

Worse yet, there seemed to be giants and mammoths among the gathered, their numbers in hundreds.

Listening to the explanation of the Snorcs already within the first stop, all the giant clans are moving. The number of giants is going to be far higher than people of Winterland or frontier guard ever expected it to be.

In the first place, giants were creatures of legends. Now, more than hundreds of such creatures walked and talked right in front of their eyes.

The lords in the first stop seem to be restless. The arrival of Sasha has literally made every one ever so happy, for in this moment of crisis, they realized something extremely important.

Sasha Winterchild owns a dragon.

She is the only one among the entire bunch with an ability to destroy giants and mammoths if need be.

More than that, Countess Winter holds higher authority on the frontier guard than lords and kings.

In the first place, Countess Winter was a measure made with absolute worst in mind. Thus, countess winter had every authority over the Frontier guard, save for disbanding the order.

The lords were all ready and waiting for her in the dining hall.

Sasha gave orders immediately. They will go to the top of the barrier, and then strap themselves in the flying carriage.

The lords all strapped themselves in apprehensively. The few attendants checked all their straps for sturdy ness. Bran remained back at the first stop, while Dan flew along with her on the back of the dragon.

As the dragon took off into the air, Dan's two arms came around her to hold on to the handles on either side of Sasha. Sasha leaned back comfortably into Dan's embrace, enjoying the warmth she missed dearly in the past three days.

The dragon covered a hundred miles in a mere fifteen minutes.

The lords looked shocked as they landed on the ground and the carriage stabilized.

Dan and Sasha came down slower, from the dragon's back, walking along the dragon's wing, which Moonsnow extended ever so kindly, to let them come down easily.

The dragon walked to the elder tree, then made itself comfortable as if it's preparing to watch the oath swearing ceremony.

Sasha walked down to the elder tree first.

She had to carve a mouth on the elder tree, then offer her oath's.

If her oath is true, then a face forms on the elder tree, as a symbol of her reign.

When the face is formed, the lords would place their hand in the mouth, and swear their loyalty.

Sasha dearly hoped that she could complete the ritual by herself.

She carved a mouth, enough to hold her hand. She sliced her palm gently, and placed the hand in the mouth and cut part down.

The next moment, it's as if a mouth is latched onto her cut. The tree drank her blood, like a man starved for water.

At this rate, it will suck off all my blood, Sasha opined. She controlled her expression not to show pain. Even so, Dan noticed it anyway.

The next moment, Sasha is standing in a blank space, in a mirror lake. There is nothing in the air, nothing in the sky, only her reflection in the still water underneath herself.

'Are you worthy?' a voice echoed in her head.

Sasha is absolutely sure she is worthy.

" Yes, I am." She answered.

'Will you hold on till the end ? ' The tree answered.

Sasha wanted to say yes.

But her throat wouldn't move.

The sucking speed of blood increased, she is sure.

'Will you hold on till the end ?' The voice asked once more, even more powerfully.

Sasha is all too aware of the future. Knowing the future is at times a blessing, but more times than not, it's a curse.

This is one of those times it is definitely a curse.

The blood sucking speed of the tree increased once more.

Sasha fell to her knees in the mirror universe.

'WILL YOU HOLD ON TILL THE END ? ' the question echoed all around her in the entire universe. It's as if she is drowning under the weight of the throne and the questions it posed.