~Vaela

My feet scuff over rocks, gloved fingers gripping slick ice as I climb.

"Can you wait up? I'm going as fast as I can and am seconds away from breaking my ankle."

Turning, I look over my shoulder. My friend and companion for this trip, Eyla, struggles up a particularly steep part of the cliff, bundled in layers of clothing to the point I can't see her face.

"We are nearly there," I assure her, prying my numb hand between two slabs of rock, hoisting myself up onto a ridge.

"Exactly, so wait up."

With two feet planted on the flat edge of the ridge, I look out over the view. Sharp mountain peaks rear up into the sky, grazing the clouds. Below, a layer of hazy fog wraps around the thick base of the mountains, shrouding our view of the village tucked into the valley.

"I'm sorry, I'm just anxious." Leaning down, I grasp Eyla's awaiting hand, her feet scrambling on ice as she struggles up the crux of this climb.

This trip has been in planning for months now.

Only a few feet above us, a cave is situated snugly into the mountain. Rumours suggest that somewhere in this mountain, a pureblood immortal lives in solitude. Not only is he a pureblood, he is a Sin.

Eyla braces her hands on her knees, breath clouding in front of her face.

"You have..." I motion to my own face with my finger, grinning at all the snow that has gathered on her features.

"Yes, I know, you were kicking it all down on me. Jerk," she mutters, brushing the flakes away hurriedly. When she looks back up at me, I realise how poor her attempt was, snow still dusting her dark lashes and tinted cheeks.

I tilt my head, smiling. "It suits you."

She ignores me, tilting her head back to examine what’s left of the climb.

"What do you think we are even going to find up here anyway?"

"An ancient burial site, maybe an old rendezvous point for powerful immortals from centuries ago, maybe a pond of eternal life..."

Truth is, I don’t exactly know. I’ve researched this place to death, and yet no one can truly confirm it’s origin, it’s inhabitants, or what is hiding up there. Eyla and I are to be the first to explore it.

Eyla gapes at me, her large brown eyes practically swallowing her face. "Seriously?"

"You can't be having second thoughts...Not when we had to hunt down that crazed lady and get her to transport us all the way up here,” I remind her.

I nudge my foot into the rock, testing it’s ancient stability.

"Could she not have transported us right into the damn cave?" Eyla mutters, adjusting her gloves.

I don’t divulge the manner of ridiculous things I had to do to conjure up enough money to pay the old hag off. She doesn’t have the ease of magic like the pure bloods do, to transport herself and others around at leisure. I’m not even sure she’s going to be there to take us back at dusk.

"It's shrouded by magic. That's why I'm so interested in being the first one up there,” I exclaim, dragging myself up the rock, my stomach pressing painfully against its jagged surface. I hate ice. I hate snow. I had this.

"Fine, but if there a single vial of eternal life juice, it's mine."

Why Eyla is so interested in eternal life when she is an immortal whose lifespan lasts into the centuries, I’m not sure. I have other motivations.

"Alright, but if there are chests full of priceless jewels, they are mine,” I tease, holding my forearm up to block against a stack of disturbed snow that rains down upon me.

"Okay. Maybe we can share,” she grumbles.

With one last push, I’m up onto the final ridge. Eyla follows my route, a string of creative profanity joining her climb upward.

"Up here," I encourage, grabbing her wrist, tugging her up the final part. "Don't slip on the ice."

She’s shuddering under my grip as I steady her. The height is dizzying, the thinning oxygen forcing me to calm my hurried breaths.

"It's freezing up here.” Eyla turns, teetering on the narrow ridge. "I may not be able to die from falling from these heights as an Immortal, but it's sure going to impair my life for awhile."

"Then don't fall." I shrug.

She whips her head toward me, gaze narrowed. "Have I ever told you I'm grateful for you being the most annoying person I've ever met."

"Sarcasm isn't very becoming of you." I turn, scrambling up the short slope, revealing the mouth of a cave tucked into the mountain side.

"This is it..." Eyla marvels, swatting me away as I lean over to turn her flash light on.

"This is the entrance. Let's go in."

I hope she can’t sense the wariness in my tone. Thick, pointed icicles hang at the entrance, daring us to enter the cave of shadows. Trudging through the snow, I wrap my fingers through Eyla’s, until she halts abruptly.

"Ah...maybe I don't like this idea suddenly." Her eyes are squeezed shut.

I tug her hand. "You can stand out here in the cold if you like."

Her expression contorts, thoughtful.

"Maybe I can be convinced if there are pretty pure-bloods in there."

Pretty is one way of describing them, albeit I’ve never actually laid eyes upon one. Although the chances are low of us actually stumbling into one in this single cave, it is amusing to imagine Eyla trying to seduce one.

"There might be."

Eyla let’s out a huffed breath. "Fine..."

We wander into the cave, flashlights beaming through the thick shadows. The wind vanishes, however the air is still bitterly cold, with an earthy taste to it. Ice crunches at our feet, echoing through the unnerving silence.

Eyla tugs her mouth covering off, while I pull my hood back. "This place is creepy."

"It has to have something in it, I mean look at the way this place is built. It can't be fully natural." I run my hand along one of the walls, feeling the solid structure. Under the ice, the faintest trace of unfamiliar material can be made out.

Eyla wraps her arms around herself, keeping her flashlight pinned straight ahead. "Just like it's not fully natural for us to have essentially climbed a mountain to get here."

"You didn't even have to do much climbing," I remind her.

My hand suddenly loses contact with the wall. Turning my light, I examine a gap in the wall. Beyond, an emerald hue is visible, outlining the walls to another part of the cave.

I snag Eyla’s jacket with my fingers. "Follow me through here."

Turning, I squeeze myself through the gap, emerging into the other side to reveal an astounding sight.

"What is that?" Eyla gasps.

I grin. "Exactly what I was looking for."

Forged into the ground rock, is a small pool full of a rich, magical green liquid. Many shallow pools surround it, all full of this pristine substance. It emerges from a spot on the wall, dripping down slowly to the main pool, which drains into a crack in the floor.

"Is this the eternal life thing? If so, I may have a long life span, but I'm going to need to keep up with my pureblood boyfriend." Eyla steps forward, the reflection staining her skin.

I grab her arm, yanking her back. "Woah, don't touch it."

"Why not?" She tugs away from me, although examines the pool warily, rubbing her arm.

"It could be anything," I snap, squatting down to get a closer look. "This is magic remember, we can't take any chances."

It’s not as if I blame her. The way the liquid ebbs fluidly along the rocks, the colour otherworldly, is hypnotic. This is not a creation from nature, but from magic.

Eyla rubs her gloved fingers along her lips, thoughtful. "Then why did we come up here?"

"To prove this exists. I mean, surely pure-bloods come up here." I twist, examining the rest of the cave. The alluring reflection of the pool traces the jaggered walls and ceilings of the cave structure, revealing nothing more magical.

"Let's go explore the rest of the cave then,” Eyla drawls after a long moment, turning back toward the narrow entrance.

As I raise from my crouch, my foot slips, the edge of my boot skimming over the water. Droplets spray up my pants, just as I scramble back, knocking my knee against the sharp edge of the rock.

I yelp, the liquid so cold it burns my skin, a few droplets landing on an exposed part of my ankle. Pulling my pant leg up, I examine the spot. Stunning, neon liquid beads atop my skin, then dribbles before being soaked into my skin

Eyla’s face is muddled with horror. "Are you okay?"

For the briefest of moments, I’m knocked back, the ghost feeling like my blood has completely stopped moving in my veins halting my breath at my lips.

And then everything resumes, something seeming to have lifted itself off me. The world around my buzzes. My tongue tastes sour, my ears ringing and my skin burns with the low temperature.

"Something is wrong,” I breathe, tugging my gloves off my hands.

"What are you doing?" Eyla stands a few feet back, examining me with caution, wary I’m about to transform into some ranging beast.

Leaning back, I fold my pant leg up until it reveals my knee. The wound is nasty, blood dribbling down my leg from a layered mess of uneven scratches and gashes.

I just stare at it, seconds passing as horror so cold, so bitter it’s heavy in the way it settles in my stomach, the weight of it revealing a crushing revelation.

"I'm mortal again,” I whisper.