Glacia

all's well that ends well–
to claim victory above all;
heartbreak in a hollow shell,
they could never make you fall

the hourglass is frozen still
the snowglobe moves no more:
in this instant, you are one will
and that which came before

the riddles and the crawling words
nothing more you did or gave
you pray that they, as courier birds,
find their way back, safe,

and that you, only powerless
in one word, one line, not the rest,
stand by the reverse of the glass:
no one knows when they are blessed.

Winter Wind Apparel Winter is coming. 2000 White Queen Trinkets No better than the Black Queen. 60 Smoky Quartz Minerals & Ores Dragons who stare deeply into this quartz may begin to discern meanings from the interplay of the dark and light flecks of quartz. 70 Dried Flowers Organics Looks just like a live flower in every way, except flatter. 27

What's to be said about Glacia? She vanishes every Saturday, she's gathered a strange little entourage, and she's on thin ice with Hollowmaw. The Mirror may trust all of her clanmates with her life, but she trusts no one with the lives of her warriors, and she knows Glacia spins her half-truths, at best. The sincerest she's ever been is a promise that she means well. But that is no actual answer, is it? It only brings more questions. If not for the prevention of a terrible accident, well... Glacia would have been gone a long time ago. After she prevented Smolder from giving into her curiosity and losing her mind at the Thundercrack Carnivale, she was given some leeway. But if her secrets lead to the endangerment of Clan Lucerna... ... she hopes for everyone's sake that they won't. Not yet. She'll admit everything, face whatever consequences they place on her, when all is said and done. There is blood on her hands, and it will only grow thicker, but she cannot stop. Not yet. There are still monsters to slay, innocents to save, spirits that must be laid to rest. She can face justice once they have. But not yet. She has work to do.

In the shadowed corners of Clan Lucerna, you may find Glacia.

You'll feel her presence before you see her. Time starts to feel off, somehow, in a way I can't quite explain. Your feet feel sluggish one moment and graceful the next, even though you're certain you never changed your pace. If you head towards the heart of the distortion, you'll feel a chill in the air, growing in intensity the farther you go. Eventually, snowflakes start drifting from somewhere, even in the middle of a hot summer day.

She snaps at attention when she sees she has a visitor, and just like that, the magic is gone. Time proceeds at a normal pace again, and the chilly wind quickly warms. She may give her best smile and invite you for tea. She may not acknowledge your presence at all, if she doesn't feel like speaking.

She may say a few cryptic words - "Don't drink the mead", or "No matter what you see or hear, stay on the trail", or "The monsters only hunt other monsters". More often than not, they seem like nonsense, but a wise soul will remember her words and understand them when the time is right. She saves who she can from meeting a grisly end. It's some small penance, in her mind.

The dragons of Clan Lucerna rarely have to rely on her, but when she leaves her little corner of the Hewn City, they know to head her words. She saved Smolder and Moth and three hundred other strangers, one Thundercrack Carnivale. She saved Astra, though that particular rescue involved a little less chronomancy and a lot more deception.

The dragons of Lucerna know that their mysterious clanmate means well, even though she is often distant from the rest of them. Perhaps she even cares about them in the only way she knows how - after all, she's saved quite a few lives. She opens up to those who don't pressure her to open up, given time and patience. Still, even to the few scattered dragons she considers friends, she never does tell them where she goes once every week, and why she often drops by Smolder's den with a bloodied dragon near death held gingerly in her claws.

"I save who I can." She responded when pressed, and answered no further questions before retreating to her corner of the city.

No one really knows what to make of her. Understandably so, perhaps. The only dragon who has even begun to unravel the mystery of where she goes every week is Astra, and even then, she only has a sketchy half-truth. Glacia covers her tracks so well, somehow never losing her way in her web of lies, and only speaks through her pulling of the strings and sending her messages through a trusted ally to hide her identity.

I wonder how long anyone can live a quadruple life. Will she be lucky enough to take her secrets to the grave? I can't place why, but I doubt it.

On the other hand, if anyone could do it, it's her.