We walk through the castle hallways, we move for what seems like hours, the endless halls making our perception of time derail. eventually were led to a door, it’s large and engraved with ancient carvings, the sun is hidden in one corner while a battle of souls is spaced around the rest.

Surrounding me, the party I joined begin to whisper amongst themselves

On my right side, my new light stands, my reason in being here. without her persuading me into joining the party, I would be stuck in my deadbeat tavern.

Now I’m here breaking into an ice castle, trying to kill a god.

her long white hair flows with the winter breeze, her face is stern, focused on whatever it is beyond the door. on her ears, she wears a large amount of jewelry, I’ve never noticed that the singular teardrop ever glowed. it’s not too dark in here but I guess it must be the lighting.

The rest of our party members are in front of us finish their conversation and decide on pushing the door open and continuing forward. For a second I feel my breath hitch in the back of my throat. The corridor in front of us is dark, it takes a moment , but then unlit torches hidden on the wall begin to burn a light blue, slowly illuminating our path. The ceiling is tall enough for at least 5 goliaths stacked on top of each other. the stone walls glisten with the newfound heat sources. dented along the walls, encased in blocks of ice stand adventurers, down the entire hallway, people of all races and sizes stay frozen in time. Gasps escape a few of us realizing the horrors upon us.

The smaller form beside me begins to walk forward, she presses forward without hesitation, almost breaking out into a sprint, and her earring begins to glow brighter as she moves.

Confused, we take after, following her footsteps as she blindly continues leading. everyone falls silent as we chase after Varis, the only sound can be heard from our footsteps and the odd rat scurrying away from us. it’s too quiet. several thoughts race through my mind, what is she doing? What happens if there’s a trap, is she under a spell, wow As she races ahead of us, I’m reminded of my wife, long hair swaying with each step, a determined presence, almost intimidating. taking my breath away with each stride.

Varis stops a few feet ahead of us, her eyes locked onto one of the frozen figures.

“Varis, what’s going on?” our red-headed half-elf asked.

were met with silence. looking up on the pedestal where the ice is, i notice that the same turquoise glow is emanating in the cube, sparkling the ice fragments within creating a kaleidoscope view on the stone floor under our feet. confusion runs through all of our faces. looking closer at the person stuck inside, I see the same dark skin as Varis, white hair pulled into a tight ponytail, similar breathtaking facial features, on this Drows ear, the same earring that my love wears. Questions form in my head, the world begins the spin with all the different possibilities of this. Is this her love, was i just a toy, who is this person, how did they get here, why are all of these people trapped? strings pull at my heart, I look over towards Varis to get answers, her eyes are wide open, staring blankly at the sight, nothing comes across her face, she looks like a shell of who she was before. looking at her again she looks smaller, more fragile than the person she was one day ago. the supposedly strong and commanding Drow seems to be breaking, and falling through the ground in front of me.

“we don’t have the time for this, let’s get going” an agitated voice boomed, I look back and see Bruce, our large shark man, and some of the others begin to move forward again.

looking back towards Varis, my own thoughts take over again, I wonder if this person was close to her, someone important that she lost and has been searching for. instead of fear and anxiety churning my stomach, my heart melts.

“yeah.., let’s get going” Forcing her eyes to wander off, Varis turns to take up the back of the party.

I watch as she takes one last glance at the man in the ice, and continues forward. Her steps don’t carry the same weight in them as before. , she walks beside me, reserved and out of place. I lack to find any hint of anger or confusion on her face, she’s moving but it’s almost like she herself is trapped in the ice.

“you know” I pause, “I’m here, Varis”

I see her eyes gloss over, and with the slightest turn of her mouth, that’s all I need to know that she heard me. We proceed with silence, taking in each other’s presence. the blue flames illuminate and guide us to the Frost Maiden.

At some point in our journey, I feel Varis slip her hand into mine, I give her hand a couple of squeezes. Something I used to do with Myra. I promised I would follow her where ever she went. Finding Varis was finding her again. I just hope that Varis can find her other person in me.