"Where did you find that tinderbox?" Hans asked Louise while the dog carried them across the snow-covered flatland, running so fast and smoothly as if he was flying.

"Gerda the dragonfly... Well, I should say Berenice, the sorceress, gave it to me when I told her that we would accompany Rosalind on her journey. I can't believe that... that Gerda never existed, that it was Berenice all the time..." Louise shook her head thoughtfully.

"Yes, it... she is so... unusual," Hans replied, struggling to find the most correct words to describe the Owl Sorceress of Terra Sonalis, as he brought his hand to the bridge of his nose to push back the glasses that were not there anymore. "She has been watching us from the beginning..."

"It seems that she really likes you two, she was very generous to both of you," Rosalind said, looking from Hans' face, so strange and new without his glasses, to Louise's shiny, translucent wings.

"Let us eat something, and then we should rest a little. We did not sleep at all last night. And I have a feeling that crossing the Snow Queen's garden won't be an easy task," Hans ended their conversation by fishing out some food for all of them from his pouch.

"We don't have much left to eat... and now without your magic... hopefully, it will suffice..." he whispered to Rosalind as soon as Louise fell asleep, covered from head to toe by the black dog's warm fur.

"I know, Hans. It won't be easy. We have to hope..." The fairy trailed off, yawning, and in no time, she was asleep too.

Hans sighed deeply, then, following his friends' example, settled among the dog's black fur as well.

They did not know how long the dog ran because they slept most of the time. When the large animal finally stopped, making them dismount next to a tall garden wall made of round pieces of ice rather than stones, and reminded Louise that she could only call him back twice, it was still bright. But they did now know if this was because it was still early or because the nights in this part of Terra Sonalis were as bright as days.

"Which way, Rosalind?" Louise asked when the black dog vanished into thin air.

"There!" Rosalind said unhesitatingly, and Hans and Louise followed her along the gelid, semi-transparent wall until they reached a tall garden gate. It was made of two sheets of ice and adorned with the most fantastical carvings.

As it stood open invitingly, the three friends passed underneath its arch, holding hands.

They walked up a snow-covered lane leading across a large, eerily quiet garden full of glittery, bluish flowers made of crystal or ice, they could not say, for a short while, before it started to snow. Pulling the hoods of their winter coats over their heads they kept walking bravely, listening to the susurrus of the snow settling down around them as the soles of their shoes slipped and skidded along the lane which led them deeper and deeper into the Snow Queen's sanctuary.

The perfect, tiny snowflakes falling from the sky gradually grew in size and number. Soon, they were as big as spiders, mice, then rabbits and even swans. They seemed to be rushing towards them from all directions, always faster as if they were attacking them purposely, causing great frost, wind and darkness so complete that Hans and Louise lost sight of the winding lane under their feet and followed in Rosalind's wake blindly.

When they finally reached a sweeping staircase leading to a magnificent castle made completely of ice and snow, it stopped snowing abruptly.

Trembling with cold, they tried to brush the snow off each other's clothes, but it did not help much. Their coats were damp, heavy and cold, no longer offering any protection against the frost. Exhaustedly, they stumbled up the slippery steps and walked inside the castle through another open door, not knowing what to expect.

Berenice had kept her promise, the Snow Queen and her army of goblins were not at home, the three friends noticed as they walked, shivering, across one vast, empty, icy hall after another, their footfalls echoing through the eerie silence.

They met no one until they entered yet another room and stopped in their tracks. This one was different. Its walls were lined with dozens of glass, or better, ice cases, full of all sorts of creatures, trapped inside by frost. Luckily, they were alive-- their eyes observed the three friends through the layer of frozen water, keeping them prisoners first with surprise, then with a silent plea.

Hans, Louise, and Rosalind exchanged shocked looks. They had no idea how to help them all.

Suddenly, a soft voice reverberating off the castle's freezing walls interrupted their despairing thoughts.

"I can't do this, there's something amiss..."

"Blue..." Rosalind whispered, rushing towards the door leading into the next room.

"Rosalind, wait!" Hans called, but there was no way of stopping her. So, holding hands, Louise and Hans followed the Rose Fairy quickly.

The floor of the next chamber was made of a huge, softly glowing mirror, similar to the one Berenice had in her underground castle. And there were many more mirrors propped against its walls.

"Here's where the shards come from," Louise whispered, her voice becoming visible as a thick puff of steam.

This room was even colder than the rest of the castle, as if the mirrors were not crafted from a simple glass, but rather ice, Louise thought as she looked around.

Hans nodded absentmindedly, then pulled on her sleeve to attract her attention. Louise turned to him, then followed his gaze towards Rosalind.

The Rose Fairy was making her way carefully across the mirror floor, towards the centre of the vast hall. There, a handsome Butterfly Fairy boy, whose cheeks and lips were as blue with cold as his wings and eyes, was sitting on the steps of a tall dais on which an empty throne carved from ice stood.

"Blue. I... fo.. found you," Rosalind said as she approached him, breath hitching with emotion.

The butterfly looked up at her questioningly, attracted by her voice and her long black hair, which looked even darker and more shiny against the pure bluish whiteness reigning within the Snow Queen's castle. Too soon, he shook his head, and his gaze dropped back to the step on which he was sitting, where a sort of puzzle made of pieces of glass lay. It was nearly complete, only one small piece seemed to be missing.

"I don't know you," he told Rosalind, not looking at her. But I'm glad that you came. I'm bored here, always alone... Lilith promised that she would let me go home once I finish this, but I can't... Something's wrong... Do you know where my home is?" Blue asked suddenly, losing his interest in the puzzle again.

Rosalind turned away from him, her eyes full of tears she didn't want him to see as she glanced at her friends.

"Would you... want to... find your way home with us?" the fairy asked tentatively, still not looking at him.

"Yes," Blue agreed, nodding his blonde, curly head, "why not? It will be days before Lilith comes back again, and I don't want to stay here alone any longer... But first I must finish this..."

The strange piece of mirror, Rosalind. The one you took in the forest from Amarylisa and Aspen... Hans thought, as he suddenly remembered that shard, quite different from the others, which Rosalind decided to keep.

The fairy nodded, smiling at him through tears, and rummaged through her now almost empty pouch. She found that piece of glass and sitting down next to Blue, shivering with cold in her damp clothes like her two friends, put it in the empty place. It fit perfectly.

"That's a pretty flower!" Blue exclaimed, looking at a large rose made of pieces of mirror. "I... I knew its name once, I think... I can't remember. Never mind. Shall we go now?" he asked, standing up and offering his arm gallantly to Rosalind, who was struggling not to cry.

"Yes, let us go home," the Rose Fairy agreed, her voice only a hoarse whisper.

All together, they left the room. But when they reached the hall full of frozen creatures again, they realised that they could not possibly leave the castle without helping them.

Louise took out her tinderbox conjuring up a lively fire, and even before the dog appeared, all the creatures were freed from their icy prisons, and those who were fit enough to walk and talk were thanking the three friends, finally dry and warm again.

"Mistress," the huge dog found its way to Louise, making the sea of creatures surrounding her part.

"Could you take all of us to the shore, please?" the girl asked him.

"Not all. There's too many of you," the dog said, shaking his furry head.

"All these creatures then, except the four of us?" Rosalind suggested, pointing to the three of them and Blue.

"I could take half of them now, then return for the rest. But I'm not allowed to carry any of you four," the dog said after a while of what looked like pensive silence, making Hans wonder if he was somehow communicating with Berenice. "Making me come back would cost you your last wish, though."

The three friends looked at each other thoughtfully. If this was the only way to save all these poor creatures, Louise was more than happy to agree...

"Wait!" A swallow who they had freed from ice hopped towards them. "There are more than ten of us, and there are two crows as well. We will carry the rest of them, and if we are allowed, you too." The bird looked at the dog, and when he nodded, it continued, looking back at Louise, "Save that last wish, you never know when you might need it."

"Are you sure that you are strong enough to carry us?" Louise asked.

"We are. It won't be as fast and comfortable as if he carried you, but..."

"That doesn't matter, thank you," Louise said to the swallow, who bowed to her.

"Would you please take them to the Wild Swans' cave on the shore?" Louise pointed out the most poorly looking animals to the dog.

Nodding silently, he laid down and let more than half of the creatures climb on his back.

"And you two as well," Rosalind said to a couple of Mushroom Elves. "Go with them, and please, look after them for us until we arrive, use your magic to help them before we find a way to take you all to the butterfly camp on the other shore."

"Of course, Princess," the tiny Mushroom Elves agreed, joining the animals already settled among the dog's long fur.

As soon as they were gone, the rest of them mounted the swallows and crows and in no time they were flying from one vast hall of the deserted castle to another, and then outside, through a blinding snowfall.

Like before, the angry, huge snowflakes seemed to be attacking them, determined to make the poor birds drop their passengers. But the swallows and crows flew bravely across the Snow Queen's garden, and the moment they were beyond its tall walls, the blizzard stopped.

"Who... is she?" Blue, who was sitting behind Hans on the largest swallow, asked some time later.

"Your... good friend. Rosalind, the Rose Fairy Princess," Hans said, following the butterfly's look to the swallow carrying Rosalind and Louise. "She came all the way here to find you."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because she and many others who care about you were worried. You disappeared, and no one knew what happened to you," Hans explained patiently.

"But I was fine with Lilith, just a little lonely... I'm sure I'll miss her now, maybe I should have stayed..."

Hans didn't know what to say to that. It was such a complicated situation; Blue did not seem to remember Rosalind at all. And she didn't have her magic to perform her memory spell.

"Why don't you rest a little? It will be a long and boring journey," he told the butterfly in the end, deciding to leave this to Rosalind.

They flew for hours until it started to snow again, and the exhausted birds finally settled under a tall tree growing at the edge of a forest to rest. They were not far from the frozen lake where Berenice's magic had brought them before-- they could see its partly frozen surface reflecting the pulsating veil of colourful northern lights brightening the night sky in the distance.

Rosalind, Hans, and Louise took all the rest of the food given to them by Roza from their pouches and shared it with the swallows and crows and their passengers. It wasn't enough, but there was nothing to do about it.

"Don't worry, Princess," one of the swallows said to the worried looking Rosalind, sitting huddled under a blanket next to Blue, who kept observing her carefully. "We should reach the shore by tomorrow night.

"Thank you so very much," Rosalind said gratefully. "Let us rest now, tomorrow will be another long day."

The swallow nodded, and all the birds shifted closer to the other creatures, hoping to provide enough warmth for them with their thick plumage.

"I think I know you... I can't remember..." Blue muttered, lying down next to the fairy on the bed of dry needles fallen from the branches of the ancient conifers rippling and whispering in the northern wind above them.

You can't remember how to conjure up food or fire with your magic wand, how could you remember one girl... Hans, lying down within earshot, thought despairingly, as he shivered with cold while his stomach rumbled with hunger, quite forgetting that Rosalind...

"Hans!" she scolded, making him blush before she spoke in a much gentler manner to her forgetful butterfly, "Don't worry, Blue. It's alright. I'm... sure... that you'll remember later. Sleep now."

Louise wiped away a couple of tears, which escaped her eyes at hearing Rosalind's heartbroken yet brave and hopeful words, and snuggled a little closer to Hans. He wrapped his arm around her promptly, mindful of her new wings creating a translucent barrier between them, hoping to protect her from both cold and melancholy. They... didn't have much time left together... Those wings were already making his friend a part of a different world, a place where he would never belong...

"Oh, Hans..." Rosalind whispered sadly in the darkness.

"Hush Rosalind!" the boy whispered back, feeling his temper rise. This wasn't the right moment for her to disturb his thoughts. "Please. I'm fine."

The fairy nodded in the darkness sympathetically, and then, slowly, they all slipped into sleep, lulled by the sweet scent and the silent whisper of the grove of conifers sheltering them from the snowfall.