Safely inside covered sleighs the royal procession glided across the snowy tundra on their way to the Winter Reflection celebration being held in the port town of Frostpike. Though this time the gods had indeed been given their own sleigh separate from the royal siblings. Rhen was lost in thought, reflecting on what Ardjinn had told them about what he experienced in the rift at the last festival. 

“There’s no way to tell which way is up or down.” Ardjinn had said. “And this time I was underwater caught in a current, so that made it even more difficult.” He had seemed to realize he was mostly just complaining then quickly added. “What I’m saying is anyone else probably would have drowned.” Of course it had to circle back to boasting somehow. Though to be fair he was probably right.

Still, what was on the other side of these rifts? And why was it trying to take Spectrels?

"Think anything new and exciting will come out of the rifts this time?" Rhynne spoke, almost as if she knew what he was thinking. 

"I don't know," Rhen replied. "Whatever's on the other side clearly doesn't like Ardjinn though."

“Well, he does seem like the biggest threat to it.”

“I guess that’s true.”

While they still held concerns over what may happen at this celebration after the last three, there was a certain comfort in knowing what to expect. Not only that but all four gods would now be here in the Hollow. So surely they could handle whatever came about this time around.

Eventually the town came into view in the distance. Upon exiting their sleighs they were promptly greeted by the event coordinators, a large lynx and small snowy owl.

“We’re so glad you could make it! I hope your journey wasn’t too rough.” The owl spoke first. 

“Not at all,” Rhynne assured her with a smile. 

“Was better than having to walk through this frozen hellscape, I’ll say that much.” Ardjinn grumbled as he pushed some snow out of the way with his foot. Not that it really did him much good, melting the instant he made contact with it, steam rising off his boot. 

Yūrein stepped out of their sleigh after him, followed by Faeveil.

“Oh it’s not that bad,” Yūrein chided, standing next to Ardjinn.

“Yeah? Stop using me as a heat source then.” 

“No.”

Even Faeveil, despite having winter clothes like the others in addition to his fur, was still fluffed up to stay warm.

“What about you, big guy?” Ardjinn looked up at Faeveil. “You a fan of this weather?”

Faeveil simply huffed in response and stood on the other side of Ardjinn.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

The coordinators exchanged glances with each other as the gods bickered.

“Yeah, they’re just like that.” Rhen said quietly to the coordinators. 

“Right, well, anyway!” The owl turned to lead them through the town with her partner. “Most of the events are held inside,” she continued. “But the ice sculptures this year are simply fantastic!”

They passed by expertly crafted ice sculptures as they continued on their way, each beautifully intricate and impressive in size. Many had lights underneath and even inside them, the glow of which was distorted by every curve and edge of the ice and gave them a surreal sense of depth. At the center of the town was one massive ice sculpture shaped in Wraithyr’s image.

“Stunning work, the depiction is incredibly spot on.” Yūrein stared up at the sculpture.

“Well, the artist was lucky enough to actually have Wraithyr here to reference.” The lynx finally spoke.

“Wait, Wraithyr is already here?” Rhyne looked incredulously at the coordinators.

“She’s been here for almost a week now. We didn’t expect her to arrive so early either.” The small owl piped up.

“We can take you to see her if you’d like, since, well…” The lynx gestured to the three gods accompanying them. 

“I’d love to see her, it’s been centuries since we’ve spoken.” Yūrein smiled at the coordinators.

“Pass.” Ardjinn said flatly before being elbowed by Faeveil. “Eugh, fine, sure.” He threw all four of his hands up in the air as he followed the coordinators with the others.

They were brought to the edge of town on the opposite side from where they arrived. Several piles of splintered wood sat near the lone building that overlooked some kind of training ground. Down below was a tall dragon wielding an axe, throwing it at the wooden targets that had been set up around her. As the axe made contact with one of the targets it wasn’t hard to put together where the piles came from. 

“You made it,” Wraithyr said, without so much as a glance in their direction as they approached, keeping her focus trained on her target as she readied another axe.

“We’re a bit surprised you got here before us.” Yūrein smiled softly as she spoke.

“We all know what’s coming.” Wraithyr replied. “I saw no need to wait for a dramatic entrance.”

“Well you’re taking this awfully seriously. How out of character for you.” Ardjinn’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“One of us has to.” Wraithyr threw her axe and sent it sailing through the air almost too fast to track before it embedded itself deep into the thick wood of the target. Frost crept out of the edges of the gash before the axe dissipated and reappeared in her hand. Finally she turned her attention to the group, looking down at them with a steely gaze. 

“You two have your duties to attend to,” Wraithyr said when her eyes came to rest on the two royals. “Go, get out of the cold and enjoy the festivities.”

Rhen and Rhynne couldn’t help but tense slightly when Wraithyr’s gaze fell on them. They both nodded in unison.

“Yes, of course.” Rhynne said before she and her brother gave a small bow and turned to head back with the coordinators. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen her go inside once this whole time.” The small owl leaned in to mutter to the siblings as they left the training grounds. “I’m not sure she’s even slept at all either, come to think of it.”

“Do the gods even need to sleep?” The lynx’s question was directed towards the two royals as if they would know from their interactions with the other three gods.

“They…” Rhynne paused. “I don’t actually know.” 

“We haven’t really seen them sleep, but we’re also not with them constantly either.” Rhen said with a shrug. “They must at least rest sometimes though, right?”

Neither the siblings nor coordinators were too sure.

The atmosphere inside the town hall was in complete opposition to the freezing snowscape outside. Festive decorations lined the walls and hung from the ceiling while a fire crackled inside a large stone hearth towards the back of the building. Spectrels were gathered together in groups sharing stories and singing songs. All the gods, with the exception of Wraithyr, were inside as well to partake in the festivities. It all felt so cozy it was hard not to share in the joy. Though perhaps that didn’t necessarily extend to Ardjinn, who sat off to the side away from most of the other Spectrels. And anything particularly flammable.

“Sooo… Is there a reason you’re all the way over here sulking?” Rhynne sat down next to Ardjinn. She propped her elbow up on her leg before resting her chin in her hand while Rhen took a seat on the opposite side. After having spent some time together, the siblings had gotten a bit bolder with how they spoke to the gods. 

“Oh, you know, just trying not to burn the whole building down.” Ardjinn said, clearly irritated. 

“Can’t you just… tone down the heat?” Rhen asked.

Ardjinn’s many eyes all looked down at Rhen and he shrank away slightly.

“..... I… No? I mean… kind of? It’s…” Ardjinn sighed. “Look, it’s not as simple as you’d think, alright?”

“He’s just always hot-headed,“ Yūrein teased, gesturing to the flame atop Ardjinn’s head.

“I could fetch a bucket of water.” Faeveil offered casually, but his wagging tail gave away that this was a joke. 

“Hah hah,” Ardjinn seemed less than amused. “Anything else?”

“Well… I do have a burning question.” Yūrein looked over at Faeveil.

“Fire away.” Faeveil replied.

“What do you call a jacket that’s on fire?”

“What?”

“A blazer.”

“These are terrible.” Ardjinn said flatly, crossing his arms. “You’re both terrible.”

“Come on, don’t get too heated.”

“We’re not trying to roast you.”

“Yeah, we’re just trying to spark a conversation.”

“You two are seriously making my blood boil…” Ardjinn paused, the realization hit him as the others all burst out laughing. “I can’t believe-” He dragged a hand down his face in exasperation, but started laughing as well. 

“Feel better?” Yūrein smiled at Ardjinn.

“Eh, sure,” Ardjinn shrugged. “Just stop with the puns.”

“I can’t promise that.”

Chapter 5