Excerpt: Lady of the Snow

They will not survive the night.

Yukionna floated along the wind, blending in with the whirling snow as she watched her prey. Two men in straw coats and wide-brimmed bamboo hats stumbled along the narrow mountain pass, piles of wood strapped to their backs. She held back her laughter as she watched them fight against the winter winds. Their last memory would be of her icy breath against their skin as she took their pitiful lives.

Humans were such feeble creatures.
***
Yukionna stood outside the door of the riverside shack where the two men found refuge. She could have easily killed them hours earlier but thought she'd give them a false sense of security in their ramshackle sanctuary.

What made them think they would survive such a night in the pathetic excuse for shelter? Even the ferryman had abandoned his little hut for the protection of the village at the base of the mountain, knowing that staying the night would put him at her mercy. Perhaps they knew that they would be risking their lives staying there; it was astonishing that they were able to find this little shelter with the blinding snow.

Well, their safe haven wouldn’t protect them much longer.

No fire-light came from within; the shack was too small to build one. She smiled. Fire made it impossible for her to come close. She gained strength with each cooling degree of the bitter winds.

The uneven weather-worn door was all that separated her from her victims. She fanned her arms towards the door, directing the swirling winds towards it. It opened with ease.

She entered the hut, the snow-light from behind her illuminating the small space. The men lay huddled beneath their straw coats, apparently trying to block the cold.

That would not deter her.

She floated over to the first man. His wrinkled face had certainly seen better years. His hair was the same color as the snow around her, the few remaining strands of black hiding beneath the white. He looked remarkably peaceful in his slumber given the ordeal of his mountain trek.

She bent over him and placed her fingers on his neck. His body jerked from the touch of her icy fingers and his eyes flew open and met her own. He opened his mouth to yell but her gaze prevented her victims from moving. He did his best to move, blinking frantically as if to break the curse of her gaze.

“It’s too late,” she whispered. “You cannot break the spell once I touch you and look into your eyes.”

But the man didn’t want to accept the inevitable. His muscles tensed. His eyes darted in the direction of the other man and moved his lips in a silent attempt to call out to him.

Didn’t she just tell him it was of no use? Humans were always the same—struggling against the inevitability of their impending death. The more he struggled, the longer and more painful the process.

She was more than willing to drag out his agony if he wanted it.

She stroked his face letting the cold seep from her fingers and into his body slowly. His muscles trembled in response to the shock wave of ice. The trembling extended from his neck to his shoulders and down through his torso and legs as they fought to maintain precious warmth. She felt the rivers of blood beneath his neck pulse faster as his heart desperately tried to send blood to his extremities. His breaths shallowed.

A shadow of realization dawned in his eyes. It was the same look she’d seen hundreds of times before over the centuries.

Death was near.

She hovered closer to the man’s face and blew her breath upon him. The white smoke glistened with tiny icicles as it encased the old man’s face. He gasped as he took in the breath, the icicles freezing the inside of his body. His ears, lips and nose turned blue and the color of his fingers turned from the flesh colored warmth to white and then purple as the blood froze in his body.

It would be mere moments now. The once trembling muscles ceased and became rigid. Each beat of his heart took longer to pump what remaining blood still moved in his veins. Finally, his tired heart could take no more as it succumbed to the cold. The old man’s eyes no longer stare in fear; they were frozen in death.

The man had given quite a struggle, taking longer to freeze than many of her other victims, especially for one of his apparent age. She removed her hand from his neck as a sense of fulfillment washed over her. Each life she took renewed her strength.

A sharp intake of breath from her right jolted her from her brief revelry. She turned. The other man lay on his blanket, staring at her. Ah yes, one more victim.

He was barely more than a boy.

Yukionna crossed the room in an instant and stood over him, extending her fingers to his face. His eyes widened as she touched him and he opened his mouth in an attempt to cry out but was unable to as her gaze paralyzed him.

“There’s no one here to help you,” she said. “Your friend is dead. But don’t worry; you’ll soon follow him.”

She tightened her grip on his neck, ready to take another life….

It’s a shame he’s so young. Yukionna pulled back her hand quickly at the odd thought that crossed her mind. What was that? For the briefest moment, a strange human emotion came over her. Something akin to remorse.

She looked at the young man again, inching her face closer to his. He was a handsome man, with sharp cheekbones and a prominent lower jaw. His thick wavy black hair was tousled from sleeping. And his eyes—though there was a sliver of fear, it was not as frantic as the other man. A hint of daring radiated from those eyes, as if he was examining her.

But there was more to those deep brown irises. They stirred emotions within her that she didn’t know existed.

A strange tingling simmered in her chest and she suddenly felt incredibly sad and forlorn. But that wasn’t all. Desire accompanied these emotions—desire to…to…

Enough! Her inner being screamed at the unwelcome feelings. No human made her feel vulnerable. He must pay. She would not be swayed by a pretty face and brave front. He would die the same way as the other man. She reached out her hand towards his face again…

But she couldn’t shake his gaze—now she was the one mesmerized. How could mortal eyes have such power? What spell was he casting on her?