Derina: The Frozen City

A Night To Remember

Lora descended the stairs to meet Nerel, who waited for her at the bottom. He offered her arm and she took it gratefully, squeezing it tightly, painfully aware of people's eyes on her. As Alendor came down the steps, a beautiful light music started, elegant and graceful, washing over them like a breeze. Lora knew that they had to dance now, James, Aris and Alendor would find a partner and join Lora and Nerel in the middle. This was the part she was scared of, her mother had her take ballet, but that wasn't a ballroom dance, she was worried that she would make a fool of herself. Aris had taught her basic steps, but told her that if she just relaxed, she would do fine, it was in her blood, she sincerely hoped that was true. As they approached the center of the room, everyone who was not a part of the first dance, backed up, allowing them plenty of room to move about. Suddenly Nerel stopped and gently turned her to face him, setting one hand lightly on her hip, his other gripping her hand. Lora set her other hand on his shoulder and swallowed hard. Nerel smiled at her kindly before leading them into a dance that matched the beautiful light music. At first, Lora tried to keep up with Nerel's steps, until he squeezed her hand, reminding her to relax, and so she did. Almost instantly her jagged harsh movements became light and airy, the two of them seemed to glide over the floor effortlessly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Aris and a person she could only assume was Alrek, dancing to the left, and james and Amanda on the right. As they spun around, Lora looked for Alendor, finding him in the crowd asking a woman to dance. She felt comforted knowing her friends were dancing as well. She looked up at Nerel who was smiling, his eyes sparkling in the bright light, she smiled back at him, thankful for his relaxing presence. As the song ended, Nerel twirled her around under his arm, when she stopped, he took a step away and bowed. She gave a slight curtsy, and then walked with him into the crowd. Suddenly Lora became aware of an overwhelming wave of applause. Her face flushed as the people around them told them how beautiful the dance was. Then Lora heard Alendor asking for everyone's attention. He was standing in front of the entrance steps. “Now that the first dance is over, you are all free to enjoy the night, food can be found in the dinning hall to my left,” he said, gesturing to a large archway on the wall beside him, “music and dancing is here in the ballroom, and the gardens are open for you to enjoy. So go ahead and celebrate!” he smiled brightly and everyone started to disperse, most heading to the dinning hall, some couples began dancing, and Lora realized that the music they danced to was coming from a group of fey across the ballroom. 

Nerel turned to her, “what would you like to do?”

Lora chewed on her lip for a moment, when she looked at him he was watching her with concern. “Well I don't want you to think you have to stay with me all night, I'll be fine. I'll probably head over and get some food, maybe meet some new people.”

Nerel gave her a smile. “I think i would rather stay with you for now. Besides, it would probably be easier for you to meet people if someone you know is with you, Not to mention, I know a lot of the people here.” 

Lora smiled in gratitude and nodded, and with that Nerel lead Lora to the dinning hall with a hand on the small of her back. The dining hall looked much like the ballroom, but instead of an empty dancing area, the room was filled with many circular tables scattered around for people to sit at. The walls were lined with long tables covered in a variety of foods, many of them vastly  different from the food on earth. They walked to the closest table of food, covered with pots of colorful soups, including the pretty spring green soup Lora had on her first night in Derina. There were also many types of salads and fish, and other seafood that Lora didn't recognize. She grabbed a crystal plate from a pile on the table, along with a bowl. She filled the plate with many foods she hadn't tried, and filled her bowl with some thick orange soup. The last few days Lora has learned that she shouldn't be afraid to try any of the foods, she hasn't tried anything that she didn't like yet, though Aris had challenged her to find one. After Nerel filled a plate, they approached an empty table to eat at. no sooner had they sat down, a young elven girl approached them, she looked to be around sixteen, with long blonde hair and pretty hazel eyes. she wore a light green dress with silk flowers woven into the skirt. Her hair was braided back in tight rows on the left side of her head, a light green ribbon woven in. the braids seemed to hold back her hair so it can fall over her right shoulder in beautiful elegant curls..

“Do you think I could sit with you?” she asked Lora nervously, shifting her weight.

Lora smiled at her and gestured to the seat next to her, “of course you can, just take a seat, what's your name?” 

The girl took the seat next to Lora, her face bright with excitement. “Oh, my name is Ellina, my parents are advisers to prince Alendor. You are all they have been talking about for weeks, everyone has been excited for your return.” she explained, “you are much more beautiful than I imagined, and your dress is absolutely stunning.” 

Lora’s face flushed, “oh well thank you, so is yours.” 

Just then Aris appeared with the person he had been dancing with. They sat in the chairs next to Nerel, plates piled high with all types of strange foods. 

“You did a beautiful job dancing Lora, I'm proud of you.” Aris said as soon as he sat down.

“Thank you, I was worried at first, but it was actually quite fun.” Lora explained, she took a bite of her soup, and her mouth exploded with flavor. It was tangy, with a slight bitterness to it. 

“Well I'm glad you had fun, by the way this is Alrek.” he said gesturing to the guy next to him. Alrek smiled, “it's an honor to finally meet you Lora.”

“It's an honor to meet you as well, I've heard much about you.” Lora replied, giving Aris a pointed look.

Nerel leaned back in his seat, “yeah, Aris hardly ever stops talking about you.” he smirked, his eyes glittering mischievously, as he took a sip of a shimmering blue drink. Aris’ face flushed pink as he busied himself with his food, making Alrek laugh.

“I'm flattered, Aris.” he said, giving him a playful nudge with his elbow. 

“Oh don't tease him Alrek.” Ellina said defensively, “it's a wonder to me how he stands you.” 

“Well obviously it's my killer charm, besides, You're just jealous.” Alrek said as he tossed a small yellow fruit towards her. She caught it out of the air effortlessly. 

Nerel chuckled and turned to Lora, “Ellina and Alrek are siblings, if you can't tell.” 

“Unfortunately.” Ellina said jokingly. 

Lora smiled as she watched them, so playful and relaxed. 

The group continued some idle chatter as they ate, a lot of teasing and joking. After a while Lora felt herself relax. When all of her food was gone, she excused herself so she could go to the dessert table. About halfway there, Nerel caught up to her. “Alrek and Ellina are arguing again, I figured I would leave Aris to deal with them.” he said, making Lora laugh.

The dessert table was covered in a wide variety of foods, many of which look almost like human dishes. Nerel stopped to talk to a group of people gathered on the far end of the table. Lora grabbed some pretty pink pie and thick sherbet before proceeding to the other end of the table where a variety of strange colorful fruits sat in woven baskets. She picked up a rather strange one, bright blue with spots of purple. She put it on her plate, but right as she went to turn and walk to her table, a little boy appeared next to her smiling. He picked up a baby pink fruit and held it out to her. “I suggest trying this one, I think you'll like it.”

Lora took the fruit from him with a smile of her own, “well thank you.” she said as she took a small tentative bite. It was delicious, much like a honey suckle and a strawberry mixed, and yet absolutely indescribable. She set the fruit on her plate and turned back to the boy. 

“It's really good, thank you for showing it to me, what's your name?.”

He nodded, “your welcome, my name is Linton. And the fruit is called Estara, they grow everywhere here, we have them all the time.” he paused, as if debating on saying something. “You came from earth right?” he asked tentatively. 

Lora smiled at him, “yes i did, though it is vastly different from Derina.”

Linton frowned, “I wish I could see it, I bet the food there is delicious.” 

Lora laughed, it amazed her that an elf would want to try human food, given that their own was so delicious. “Well how about this,” she said, picking up one of the little pink fruits. She set her plate on the table and crouched in front of Linton so that she was the same height as him. She held out the fruit towards him. “Would you like to try an earth fruit?”

Linton's eyes widened and he nodded vigorously. Lora closed her eyes and let out a small breath, allowing her magic to flow into the fruit and morph it into something else. When she opened her eyes, a perfect plump peach sat in her palms. Linton stared at it, his mouth hanging open slightly, awe clear on his face. “Go on, you can eat it, it's called a peach.” 

Linton glanced up at her before hesitantly taking the peach, as if he was scared it would disappear. He raised the fruit to his mouth and took a big bite. Linton jumped back, holding out the peach when the juice came seeping out. Lora laughed, and Linton's face lit up as he chewed. Once he swallowed, he looked at Lora, “this is so good! We don't have anything like this here!” His excitement made Lora laugh even more. 

“Would you like to try something else?” she asked and Linton nodded without hesitation. Lora stood up and took her plate and filled it with a bunch of food. The two of them walked to a nearby table, where Lora turned the food into things she enjoyed on earth, fried mozzarella sticks, pizza, macaroni and cheese, everything she could think of. Linton was ecstatic, he tried each dish and excitedly told Lora what he thought of it. Soon, people noticed and trickled over, all wanting a small taste of human food. After Lora had changed all the food she had, she let everyone eat what they wanted as she got up to find a drink. As she stepped away, Nerel appeared in front of her, smiling and holding two glasses of a glittering liquid. He held out a glass to her and she accepted it gratefully. She had started to get a little tired using so much magic at once, but as soon as the liquid passed her lips, she was flooded with a warmth that seemed to erase the tiredness completely. 

“Thank you Nerel.” she said.

“You're welcome, I figured you would be tired after all that, I know I would be.” he said, gesturing to the group behind her. 

“I did not expect elves to be so curious.” she replied with a chuckle.

“Yes well, our world is in shambles, it's no wonder they find earth fascinating.” he said with a small laugh. “If you're done eating, would you like to dance?” he held out his hand to her.

Lora smiled, “that, I think, would be fun.” she took his outstretched hand and he led her into the ballroom. Lora was happy to see many people dancing, and they joined in, dancing gracefully to the music. For the next few hours, they danced, talked and enjoyed the company of everyone around them. Lora felt happier than ever, she only wished her parents were there. After a while, Lora and Nerel left the ballroom to visit the gardens. It was a beautiful place at night, many flowers letting off a soft glow, lighting the pathways with colorful light. Trees sway in the breeze, the gardens were much like the one at Paxton's towers, warm and filled with life, untouched by the cold winter outside. She couldn't help but wonder how they kept the snow from entering. Nerel led her through the gardens, telling her the names of many of the plants they passed. They stopped at a bench and sat down, staring up at the sky filled with glittering stars and the occasional cloud. She sighed, it was so beautiful, she couldn't help but wish the night wouldn't end. How nice it would be to stay in this night filled with laughter and joy, with no care in the world. But all too soon, Nerel informed her that the night would end soon, so the two of them headed back to the party. As soon as they entered the castle, Alendor found them.

“Lora, I'm glad I found you, James was telling me about earth. He said humans had something called fireworks, which were common at big parties. Do you think there's any way you could make some?” he asked excitedly.

Lora smiled, “of course I can, if you could manage to get everyone out into the garden.” 

Alendor nodded, “yes of course that would be easy.” Then he turned quickly heading to the front of the room. Nerel looked at her curiously, but she provided him with no explanation. A moment later, Alendor voice rang out over the crowd of people. “If everyone would please make your way to the gardens, we have one last surprise before the nights end. If you would, please follow Lora.” 

Lora and Nerel walked back out into the garden before any of the other guests. They found their way to a big round open space lined with benches. Lora turned around to the group that followed, the guests spilled out into the walkways, and occasionally had to stand on the lawn to make room for others. They all watched her excitedly, not sure what to expect.

“I need everyone to stand back a bit, don't worry, you will see it even if you can't see me.” she explained. Many people around her took a few steps back, giving her room. Nerel joined the group, standing next to Alendor in front of Lora, watching her intently. Lora held out her hand, willing her magic to pool in her palm before forcing it to burst into the air. A bright light shot out of her hand and high into the sky, the people around her watched as it rocketed up. Then, in a bright flash of purple, it exploded into hundreds of bright purple sparks. A loud bang sounded out as the sparks rained down in a shower of color. Lora heard people gasp and many cheers of excitement. She now held out both hands and willed her magic to send bursts of the fireworks in the sky, one after another explosions boomed out as sparks of every color filled the sky. She even sent a few shaped as hearts and stars, the guests were now cheering and laughing as they watched the sky change color. Lora felt her magic draining, but she willed herself to send up one more, this time, when the firework exploded, a huge beautiful phoenix burst into life made from orange and red sparks. Instead of dissipating like all the others though, Lora willed the huge bird to swoop down over the crowd. Many people burst out laughing and an overwhelming cheer of joy washed over the group. Kids chased after the bird, laughing and cheering until the bird swooped back up into the sky, where it wrapped its wings around itself before bursting into flames. Red sparks fell from the sky, causing kids to jump up and try to catch them. Lora sighed as she looked out over the crowd of people, wonder filling the face of everyone she saw. The phoenix was for her father, a small way for him to be there with her.  A wave of exhaustion washed over her and she stumbled a few steps before being caught by a Nerel. She leaned against him gratefully. 

“That was beautiful.” he whispered in her ear. 

Lora smiled, “I hope they liked it.” 

“Don't worry they did.” he replied as he led her back into the castle, following the rest of the crowd. Alendor caught up to them, he seemed to be practically glowing. 

“That was amazing Lora, thank you so much, I hope you didn't overwork yourself though.” he said worriedly when he saw her leaning on Nerel. 

“I'll be fine, don't worry, it's good practice.” she reassured him, happy that she could bring such joy to his people. Alendor nodded and hurried off to find his brother. Lora laughed a little, seeing him so excited was worth the effort. Nerel led her to a bench against the wall before he hurried off to grab something for her to drink. A moment later, Linton came running out of the crowd towards her. When he reached her he gave her a big hug, much to Lora’s surprise. Then he sat next to her on the bench. “I wanted to come say thank you. This was the best ball I've ever been to, those fireworks were amazing!” he exclaimed, his eyes bright with fascination. “And I didn't get to say thank you for the food either, I never knew humans had so many amazing things to offer.”

Lora laughed at his excitement, he was so energetic and sweet, she couldn't help but wish she had a little brother like him. “I'm glad you enjoyed it. Maybe some other time I can show you some more human things.” Lora said, and Linton's eyes widened. “Really? That would be amazing!” just then Nerel appeared with a glass. She took the glass gratefully and took a big gulp. Relieve washed over her as some of the exhaustion seemed away.

Nerel turned to Linton, “hey bud, your parents are looking for you, I think you are about to leave.” Linton scrunched up his nose before letting out a big sigh. “ok , well I have to go.” he turned back to Lora and gave her another hug. “It was nice meeting you.” Lora hugged him back. “It was nice meeting you too.” then he ran off. Nerel shook his head and chuckled. “Already got little Linton to like you, nice job.” Lora smiled but said nothing. “Alright, are you ready to go? All the guests are leaving.” he asked.

“Yeah lets go.” Lora handed him her now empty glass, which he handed to a servant passing by. Then he helped her to her feet and they headed to the exit, stopping long enough to say goodbye to Alendor before heading home.