𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 ✯ 𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑥 ℎ𝑜𝑔𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 ✓

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

❉━━━━━━❈✾❈━━━━━━❉

'𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄, 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 fight a villain with tropical powers,' Giulia grumbled, stabbing the blunt end of her tetela lance in the snowy ground between some rocks to keep her balance.

The hill she and the five others were climbing up against, was very steep and despite her firm leather boots, she still hadn't a lot of grip on the slippery snow. Everywhere Giulia looked, the reflecting white blinded her and snow rained down on her, right in the collar of her jerkin, as the wind blew through the branches of the orchard.

'I have seen enough snow for the rest of my life,' she added while she pulled loose the lance again after she had climbed onto the iced rocks. A group of red apples hung far above her, frozen in their perfect state due to a layer of swirling ice crystals, and though it looked rather beautiful, Giulia was still done with the winter scenery.

Phoenix chuckled by hearing her endless stream of complaints and stuck out his gloved hand to help her farther up the hill.

'Everyone quiet now,' Peter ordered in a hushed tone, glancing over his shoulder and resting his hand against the frozen bark of a tree as he crouched down to gaze upwards between the trunks. 'We're nearing the castle walls.'

The light coloured stones of the castle functioned like a perfect camouflage and Elodie needed a few moments to spot the wall as well ─ even after Lucy had nodded with her chin in its direction ─ since it was closer than she had expected. Caolán kneeled down next to Peter and the group of six waited patiently, yet anxiously, a few minutes while observing the top of the wall, but it didn't seem as if this side of the castle was being patrolled.

Peter lifted his hand to draw everyone's attention and pointed at the hidden door after ushering them to be quiet by placing his index finger against his lips.

Everyone rose back to their full length and as quietly as they could, they sprinted through the snow towards the door; its usually oaken colour was hidden behind a coating of ice and Lucy stared in concern at the frozen hinges. Peter and Elodie scraped the top layer of snow that blocked the door away with their boots, exchanging a small smile as their eyes crossed, while Caolán and Phoenix pulled at the door handle with all their strength and weight.

The ice on the hinges broke and a narrow opening appeared between the door and the stones, but wide enough for Giulia to stick her lance through it. Using her weapon as a lever, she helped the boys to open the frozen door and slowly, the opening grew wider and wider until it was big enough for them to slip through.

Giulia snuck through the door opening as the first in line and she twirled the lance in her hands a few times, ready to fight off a guard if the secret passageway was being watched. The tunnel in front of her was dark, but nothing stormed towards her and she lowered her lance again as the others joined her.