Chapter 430 - Enya

Mihr's mouth fell open. He touched his parted lips as he incredulously stared at Adrianna. He jerked his head back and said, "Surely you know about the white witch?" 

"Not much…" she answered. She had read about Enya in the Ministry's library. There wasn't much information. 

"Why are we going there?" asked Mihr, trying to balance himself on his broom. The gust of wind from outside had increased. "It is going to be difficult, my Queen." 

The only stuff that Adrianna knew about Enya was that at over seven feet tall, she was an extraordinarily beautiful, tall and imposing witch who was known to enchant anyone on first encounters. Her powers were limitless.""Yes, I know that," replied Adrianna with determination. 

Haldir extinguished the torch as they neared the cave's exit. They stepped into a flat landscape. The cold wind was forcing the snow into drifts slicing their exposed skin. The streaking clouds covered the snow-capped mountain peaks far off. In the distance they heard a bear's roar. 

Haldir was scared that if they were exposed to this weather, their bodies might freeze. He motioned everyone to stop, as they tightened their clothes around their bodies and shifted closer. Mihr covered his ears as pain started to set in. "I feel my breath is sawing at the throat," he complained. 

Haldir brushed away the ice crystals that had formed over his brows. He brought his hands forward. He circled them over each as though forming a snowball inside his palms. Slowly he brought them apart. A thin layer of crystals of snow started to gather around his hands. They swirled in a circle and attracted more flakes to join them in this dance. Gradually the circle was big enough for him to pass through it. Suddenly he threw his hands out and the circle spread over all of them in the form of a sphere covering them on all sides in a thick layer of soft, slowly moving ice crystals. The air warmed up around them. They moved forward as a smile came on Mihr's lips. He looked at Haldir with appreciation. 

"Why do I feel you are about to fall in love with Haldir?" said Adrianna looking with a raised eyebrow at him. 

Haldir shuddered. 

They flew for more than an hour, but all they met with were animal footprints in the snow. Adrianna got impatient. "How far?" she asked. 

"Another hour," replied Haldir without looking back. In his heart he was getting deeply concerned about the baby. "Adrianna, Enya is a selfish witch who thinks about her benefit first. He is arrogant, cruel and a very cunning strategist. Legends have it that she had killed her sister and then tried to enchant humans around her. They pushed her away from their land and so she created a land of her own and her land is into perpetual winter." Haldir waved his hand in a circle. "In this place only her magic works best. You may be the strongest witch in your realm, but she is strongest in hers."

"I know," said Adrianna with a sigh. It was going to be difficult. But this was needed. 

"Your magic is going to be limited here, so be careful in what you talk to her."

Adrianna nodded. 

As they neared the white witch's realm, they saw several sculptures in ice – of animals and humans. 

"These uninvited souls tried to cross into her realm," said Haldir with a layer of warning. 

"We are also uninvited," said Mihr, trepidation seeping from his voice. His body trembled as he looked at the two Mozia who were flying on his sides. Their faces looked as cold as stone. When Adrianna didn't answer him, he turned to the Mozias and said, "What are your names?" 

"I am three," said the one on the left. 

"I am ten," said the one on his right. 

Mihr looked at thirty and ten with wide eyes moving his head from left to right. 

Their brooms flew in between those frozen figures and came to a stop about five hundred meters in front of an icy castle that had pointed tops. It looked as though its jagged roofs were piercing the skies. It looked eerie. 

Adrianna alighted her broom and so did the others. 

"What are you doing?" asked Haldir with narrowed eyes. 

She didn't answer and continued to walk. Her broom flew beside her. It nudged her to sit on it but Adrianna refused. 

Suddenly, she felt the air ripple around her. "This is it," she said. "We need to break these walls to enter her realm." 

Haldir jumped off his broom and walked to stand beside her. Mihr followed. 

"I want both of you to feel the ripple in the air and push the wall, while I force it to create a hole for us," she ordered. 

Haldir and Mihr worked in tandem. They pushed the wall. Adrianna chanted her spell. Her yellow eyes gleamed. She took her wand out and touched the wall with it. A hole was formed as the wall rippled and separated. Immediately they passed through. The wall closed behind them. 

"Hello Adrianna," the honeyed voice of a woman echoed. 

"Enya." Adrianna nodded in acknowledgement. She could feel the magic in her getting suppressed. She felt distressed but didn't say anything. 

A tall woman with papery white skin walked out of air in front of her. Her white gossamer and gauzy gown made her look pale like a ghost. The silver hair was softly falling to her waist in waves. Her crown consisted of a white silver band across her head with a single blue sapphire in the center looking like a deep night sky. Haldir stood tall despite her imposing presence while Mihr and the Mozia cringed. 

Enya flicked her fingers and all of them found themselves inside her castle. She walked to her throne that was carved out of ice and pointed chairs for them to sit. 

"What is it that you seek from me, Adrianna?" asked Enya with a scoff, as she examined her long fingernails. 

Adrianna smiled politely. She put forth her proposal and waited for Enya to answer. 

Enya took a deep breath. Her pale lips broke into a smile. "Okay, I will. But what would I get in return?" 

"My solidarity in case of human invasion," answered Adrianna.