All That Glitters

A white flash, then cold, black nothingness. Something told her not to breathe. Elletaris opened her eyes and screamed, allowing precious air to escape. The black turned blue, the nothing to water, and panic crept over her as she noticed the sheet of ice above her head. She looked around herself frantically for a means of escape, but wherever she had fallen through, the hole had frozen over.

She tried to move roots to break the ice, but none were near enough. She struck at the barrier with numb hands and elbows, but to no avail. The water and cold dampened her strength. Perhaps if she had - no, she did have - her staff. Elletaris pulled her weapon from the leather strap that held it to her back and used its tapered end to batter the ice.

Her vision blurred, reminding her how little air she had left. She hit at the ice harder, then harder again as it began to crack. The force of the blows loosed the staff from her hands and sent it careening downward. She dove after it, thanking Elune for the somewhat shallow water here. She could already see the lake bottom and the staff not quite so far below. She closed her hand around it and prepared to ascend, but something else caught her eye: a warm, golden light emanating from a small gem just beneath her. She swam further downward and grabbed it before returning to her efforts to break free.

To Elle's surprise and relief, the ice shattered faster than before. Within moments, she had an opening. She pulled herself through it, gasping, then screaming as she inhaled the freezing air. She shivered violently and scanned her surroundings. Her sabers must be somewhere near. She called to both and neither answered. She called again with the same result and cursed. Where were they? For that matter, where was she? The only lake in Winterspring this size was Kel'Theril, but she barely remembered leaving Frostsaber Rock.

Wind toyed with limp locks of Elletaris' hair. It dusted her with snow in increasing amounts and promised more. There would be a storm soon. She needed to find shelter, somewhere. There was a group of trees not far off the ice. Too frozen to stand, she crawled toward it.

By the time she found a decent shelter, a large tree with a somewhat hollow base, she could feel nothing. Her staff would not fit inside. With some effort, she pried it from her hand and drove it vertically into the ground, where it would hopefully indicate that someone was here.

She hurried into the tree and covered the entrance with roots and a layer of bark to shield her from the wind. She removed her heavy, ice-soaked furs for fear of hypothermia and used the last of her energy to take the form of a cat with her own fur before finally allowing herself to rest. She curled against the far side of the tree in anticipation of unconscious peace, but the glow of that honey-colored gem, still frozen to one of her gloves, would not let her sleep.

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This is a storyline for two of my characters on World of Warcraft. I'm going to continue it, but I figured I'd post it here just because.