It’s already winter and the Empire of Snow has its first snow fall. The winter in Empire of Snow would last a decade. And it would snow everyday during this decade-long winter. I looked up at the sky filled with falling snow, and the sight made me thought of the snow fog forest. Snow fog forest was a place that would never snow; the weather in snow fog forest would always be like end spring and early summer. The sunset was always like a warm glow shining throughout the whole forest.
The chirping of the birds snapped me out from my trance; I turned around to see Ying Kong Shi standing under the cherry blossom tree. All the leaves and flowers had already fallen off from the tree, leaving the sharp withered twigs piercing the pale blue sky, and the sight made Shi looked even lonelier. He was staring at me smilingly; his hair has grown so long till they had touched the ground while the length of my hair was only at my ankle. The length of the hair measured the spiritual power of the Ice Tribe illusionists. This would mean Shi possessed better capability of using his illusion skill. Since young, he has been a highly talented child.
Shi looked at me with a bright and innocent smile and said. “Ge, it’s snowing. This is the first snowfall of the winter.” Snowflakes were all over his hair, his shoulders and his young and handsome face. But for me, there wasn’t one on me. “Shi, why don’t you use your magical shield to block off the snowflake?” I asked him, holding my hand up over his head to activate the magical shield. He raised his left hand, curling his ring finger up and withdrew my magical shield over him, facing me. “Ge, why do you dislike having snowflakes on you so much?” He looked at me and I could see the hidden sadness in his smile. Then he turned away to leave, watching his back and my heart couldn’t help but to feel sad. This is the strongest illusionist with the longest hair of the Empire of Snow. This is the only person who would not use his magic shield to block the snow. He is my one and only brother, whom I doted the most – Ying Kong Shi.
—
During these 30 years of exile in the mortal world, I have not learnt any illusion magic. I could only turn water into animal ice sculptures and sold them to make a living. And we could never stay at one place for too long, we have to run from the pursuit of the Fire Tribe. There was once, a man took all my ice sculptures away without paying, and Shi stood in front of that man to block him from leaving. He bit his lip and stared at the man without uttering a word. The man pushed Shi to the ground. So I went to pick up a bowl of wine, walked to his front and handed the bowl to that man. The man smiled grimly at me and said. “Little rascal, are you trying to poison me with the wine?” Upon hearing what he said, I took a sip of the wine, and told the man. “So you are afraid of death.” That man got p.i.s.sed by my words and took the bowl from me, emptying the content in it and said. “I’m not afraid of you f.u.c.king little b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” Then he died. Right before he died with his eyes staring at me widely, I told him. “You’re wrong. I’m not a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I have the purest blood.”
I merely turned the wine into ice in a shape of a trident and pierced through his chest.
That was my first time killing someone. It was also my first time to find the blood of mortals was different from us. It wasn’t white in colour, but hot bright red. I suppressed the fear within me and when I turned to look at Shi, I couldn’t understand why was there a cruel and evil smile on his face. But that smile disappeared very quickly.
Just when the man fell to the ground, the sky started to snow again. I held Shi in my embrace, standing in the middle of a heavy snow. Shi looked up at me and said. “Ge, we’ll never be killed by others anymore. Right?”
“Yes, Shi. No one can kill you, I will protect you with my life because if I die, you will become the future king.” I said.
When I was 139 years old, I met Li Luo – the youngest and greatest sorceress of the Empire of Snow. At the age of 130, all royalties would become an adult so when I was holding the under-aged Ying Kong Shi, people would mistake me as his father. No one knew that we were the remaining princes of the Empire of Snow. I still remembered the time when Li Luo appeared; the snow on the ground got swept up into the air, blocking the sky and the sun. Everyone started to flee, while I continued carrying Shi and stood there because I didn’t feel any murderous aura from her. At the end of the snow, Li Luo was standing on a unicorn with snow falling around her. She got down from the unicorn and made her way towards me. Once she got to me, she knelt before me with both arms crossed. “My king, I am here to fetch you home.”
—
That winter was my last winter in the mortal world, the snow was like willow. Willow was my favourite plant during my stay in the mortal world because its flower was just like the snow in Ren City, the snow that lasted a decade.
Seven days later, when I stood at the bottom of Ren City with Shi and Li Luo, I burst into tears all of a sudden. The time when I left home, I was still a kid, but now I have become a tall and handsome prince just like my older brothers, the future king of the Snow Empire. The new wall around the city was more majestic than before, and I saw my father, mother and other sorcerers and astrologers standing on the wall, looking at me with a smile. I could hear them calling Shi’s name and me. Shi was hugging my neck and asked me. “Ge, are we back at home? The red people will not kill us anymore?” I kissed his eyes and said. “Shi, we are back home.”
As the city door opened slowly, I heard the cheers of the entire city. I held Li Luo’s hand and said. “I love you. Please be my princess.”
Many years later, I asked Li Luo. “Li Luo, seven days after I met you, I fall in love with you. What about you? When did you fall for me?” Li Luo knelt before me and looked up. “My king, when I came down from the unicorn and knelt before you, I have fallen for you.” Then she smiled at me, and numerous white cherry blossoms began to fall, covering her hair with pollen on her eyelashes. Li Luo’s hair wasn’t purely silvery white, but slightly bluish white. That’s because she wasn’t a pure blood, and she could only become the best sorceress but never be able to become an illusionist. But I don’t mind.
When I reached 200 years old, I spoke to my father. “Father, I want to marry Li Luo.” The moment I finished my words, no one in the palace made a sound. One month after that meeting, Snow City had its first unprecedented heavy snowfall and that was when Li Luo disappeared in that snow.
After that my mother told me everything in tears. My father would never allow a half-blood to be my wife. My wife could only be the mermaid from the sea palace.
I remembered when I charged into my father’s chamber; he was sitting high up in his ice throne, I used all my powers and defeated him. Seeing him on the floor, then I realized how old he had become. He was no longer the one who won the holy war and the ultimate ruler of the world but just my old father. At that moment, I couldn’t help but cry. My father didn’t say a word. My brother was standing by the side with his arms folded, watching the whole scene. In the end, he let out a chuckle and turned away to leave.
—
Someone told me Li Luo had gone to the mortal world, while some said she gave up her powers and repatriated to the Magic Snow Mountain. But Xing Jiu told me Li Luo had been buried deep down in the Sea of Ice.
Then Shi came to ask me. “Ge, have you ever thought of finding her?”
“Find her? Maybe she is already dead.”
“Just a maybe. Maybe she is still alive.”
“Nope. What’s the point of finding her back? Eventually I still have to take over the throne and become the king of the Snow Empire. As for Li Luo, she can never become the queen.”
“Ge, do you like being a king so much? Why can’t you just leave with her?”
“How am I supposed to leave father, mother, my people and you just like that?”
“Ge, if I love someone, I am more than willing to give up everything.” Having said that, he turned around to leave. And myself, I continued to stand in the middle of the snow. This was the first time in my life that I didn’t use my magical shield, and the snow fell on us, covering our shoulders.
That night, I dreamt of Li Luo. Just like what Xing Jiu had told me, she was being buried deep underneath the Sea of Ice. She was smiling and calling my name. She said she was waiting for me and kept calling my name, Ka Suo, Ka Suo, Ka Suo…
She got down from the unicorn, kneeling before me with both arms crossed. She has a bluish white glow around her and she looked up to me, saying. “My king, I am here to fetch you home…”
—
Xing Jiu was the youngest and greatest astrologer of the Snow Empire, he was also the one who managed to live even after reading Ying Kong Shi’s future. After Shi had attained his adulthood, he had the same silvery white hair just like me. But inside his hair, there were several strands of flaming red hair. Father had once gotten seven astrologers to read Ying Kong Shi’s future, and the first six died in the middle of the reading. All six of them vomited blood and died. Xing Jiu was the seventh one and I only remembered him staring intensely at Shi for some moment before a smile crept across both faces. The kind of smile that looked evil and strange at the same time.
After that Xing Jiu walked to me and knelt down, saying. “Ka Suo, my young king. I will protect your safety with my life.” Once finished, he turned his head to look at Shi and left after that. He didn’t tell anyone about the result of what he had read.
Some time later, Xing Jiu told a palace maid to send me a painting. The painting depicted a huge black rock situated at the coastal sh.o.r.e and next to the rock; the sh.o.r.e was filled with flame lotus. Above the lotus, there was a gigantic white bird hovering in the sky.
When Shi came to my chamber, he saw the painting. His eyes, suddenly, were filled with snow; he turned to leave without saying a word. The wind began blowing from nowhere, blowing onto his white robe.
—
I took the painting with me and made a trip back to the snow fog forest. Those tall ancient trees continued to provide shade in the forest, sunlight pierced through the gap in between the leaves and shone onto my eyes. There were deer and children playing along the stream. They were all pure bloods. Some of them are astrologers, some were sorcerers but there wasn’t any illusionist. The illusionist has now grown up and brought a painting back.
I stood before granny, looking at her wrinkled face and said. “Granny, I am Ka Suo.”
She came over and raised her hand to stroke my face. She smiled. “My king, you have grown up and you look just like your father. Tall and handsome.”
“Granny, can you tell me the meaning of this painting?”
“Yes, my young king. That coast is called Offsh.o.r.e and the black rock is called the Punishment Rock. If anyone were to violate the taboos of the Snow Empire, he / she would be tied to the rock eternally.”
“Granny, what about the bird?”
“That is a snow bird. This bird will only appear near the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Their voices can melt snow and ice.”
“Then why didn’t I see such bird in this forest?”
“Ka Suo, my young prince, that’s because there isn’t winter and snow here.”
“Granny, what about the flame lotus? What do they represent?”
“I don’t know, Ka Suo. Maybe Xing Jiu is able to tell you, but I can’t. I’m old. I once remembered an old king told me about the flame lotus, he said the flame lotuses will open forever. They symbolize despair, broken and love at all costs.”
“Granny, Shi and I had pa.s.sed the highest test for illusionist.”
“Really? How’s the result, Ka Suo? What’s the remaining number of cherry blossoms?”
“Granny, none. None remains.”
I saw a warm smile spread across granny’s wrinkled face and the laughter of the children traveled into my ears, making me realized that I have not heard Shi’s laughter for a long time.
[Ice Fantasy by Guo Jing Ming]
