The ice witch plants her staff in the snow and takes a breath. The snowy peaks rise up around her like the points of a crown and the wind blows through their notches, making her flesh goosebump where it is bared.
Raising her hands to the blue sky, she closes her eyes and begins to recite the incantation. At first, nothing happens. Then the winds begin to shift course, agitated like a wild beast being poked awake. Snows that lay out of the natural path of the wind are now kicked up by its new courses, as they flow here then there.
The ice witch frowns in concentration. She brings her hands closer together. The freezing winds coalesce into a single stream around her. She snaps her hands together, locking her fingers. The winds snap into a thin, sharp line, so concentrated is their fury that the blur of their force can be seen with the naked eye.
The ice witch relaxes and opens her eyes to see the shaft of freezing force hovering before her. She reaches out and takes the vibrating spear from the air.
Paddy Dobson
1st January 2023