A blast of frigid wind almost sent Gabriel flying as he approached Mama Gretel's healing chambers, not from the late Snow Queen, radiating instead off of a man... a beautiful, cold near dead looking man. His lips were purple, skin blue with cold, eyes a entirely white matching his hair. His every feature was inhumanly perfect, sharper and spaced too perfectly in order... and yet, he was lovely, crying in clear mourning.

  Sensing another wave of power born of that mourning, Gabriel manifested his own barrier of warm, reddish magic around the Healing Chambers. However, before he could go to help the man, offer a shoulder to cry on, he a woman's voice rippled throughout the room, soft yet strong, beyond even iron in it's potency.

  "Please, do not allow your loss to undo all the good in your heart." No voice had ever sounded so perfect and feminine, dripping with genuine honey sweetness. Everyone, even Man oozing the cold power, turned to look at her... she was beautiful, even more flawless than the fey man was... with blue eyes and auburn hair short cropped around forehead... and the other side looked and was, horribly burned.

  Trained as a healer, Gabriel's mind filled with knowing surpassed only by his rage. 'That sort of burn is magical... I can feel it lingering in her skin... no force, not even Mama Gretel can help her. It smells of Fey magic...' His gaze followed her burns, as it layered across her chest and yet did not touch her other eye at all. She looked almost melted...

  "Is there anything I can help you with, Sir?" The woman said, not coldly but without her previous warmth. Fixed on him, she seemed more curious than anything.

  Tipping his head, he offered a respectful smile. "I was just curious as to who you were, ma'am, never met you before."

  "My Boy is a healer, dear El, he will not judge your wounds beyond how to best heal you." Mama Gretel, standing across the room, announced ending the minor show off. Having aged in the last seven years, allowing her true age to start to manifest, his Mother looked about forty as opposed to the near eighty she was."Gabriel, this lovely lady is El... she has asked to join us our coven, and she shall be your assistant apprentice."

  Walking over to him, El curtseyed, showing she was in a cloak and riding breeches. "It is a pleasure, Gabriel."

  'Her breeches are tailored for her, yet they are worn... she from money.' Reaching out, they shook hands, only he noticed her burns extended to down to her right hand as well. "It really is a pleasure, I will be sure to pass on as much as I can." Turning, he beamed at his mother, who smiled right back. "I missed you, Mama G..."

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  "And I you, Baby... now, as much as I wish to ask how your trip went, there is much to discuss. Elias, as your Mother's heir,... and inheritor of her power, would you like to explain what my son need so to know?"

  Elias, the Fey born boy, turned to Gabriel. "It's real, the Dark Mirror... and it's getting stronger. My Mother has been studying the shards for decades, and what she had discovered is that there are many with pieces of the mirror, being infected by the dark malignancy... in the small country of Priam, Mila the New Queen, has one of these fragments... and through it, is growing inhumanly powerful. We have heard terrible things from our sources, apparently she wishes to eat her young Step Daughter's heart..."

  El, clenching her fists reflexively. "Is Snow White... alright?" They all turned to her. "I... I... I knew of the royal houses, studied them for the purpose of alliance and possible marriages. Snow White was... well, she is eight years old, not a good for me as I am sixteen."

  Gretel frowned. "A local ally of this Coven's, My Father in Law actually, has been watching over Snow White for some time... but, there has been something... wrong." She turned to Mama Scarlet. "I am afraid we lost contact... with the entire reason. Mila has placed a barrier around the entire kingdom, no one may enter of exit without her say so." A growl left Scarlet's chest, but she said nothing. "We know he is alive, that much we can tell... but the barrier, it's is... why we are so worried about the Mirror. The mirror is fueling the spell, and through it's corruptive effects, is warping the minds of those within."

  That was when Elias lifted a hand, and a snowflake formed above his palm. " I can get in, her powers cannot affect our mind... nor can it effect El, who I sense has been blessed by a Fey herself."

  The burned woman recoiled, turning away. "Yes... she...I was saved from... this-" She pointed to her face to the burns, lingering around her chest. "... by a Fairy... Evette,... she... tried to save me before, through gentler means. Her final gift was a blessing, awakening my potential for magic... my mind has always been my own, and that is true of magic.... or so she said."

  Elia turned to Gabriel. "You're the strongest mage here, stronger than your mother, I find it hard to believe the mirror would be able to hold sway over you... "

  "The three of you have been commissioned, by the... Snow Queen... to... to find Snow White... and either save her... or kill her." Mama Gretel's words were unbridled shock to all but Elias, who nodded.

  "She is not... just a little girl. We are unsure why, but the girl holds a dark, malevolent power in her blood and heart. It would, if consumed, grant the Witch Queen unbridled power and true immortality... and if that happens, she will hold even more power than my Mother did."

  Turning to Elias, Gabriel drank in his look of utter despair and fear. "Well, we better ensure that never comes to pass. When do we leave?"

  "Now." Elias and Gretel said as one, setting the tone for what would be a journey he could never have anticipated.