Jillian awoke to the ground vibrating. She turned over on her stomach and blinked in the pale, gray morning light trickling through the trees to their campsite. There was another tremor and Jillian saw something that made her blood run cold.

A tall, lumpy figure was circling the campsite, in shadow due to the faint light. It shuffled a bit closer and Jillian saw its huge body only covered by a loincloth, long, thick arms and legs, and a too-small head. She saw its tiny eyes and gray-green skin. It was an troll. Or was it an orge? No, definetly a troll.

Jillian fought the urge to run screaming into the forest. She'd heard stories of people who'd tried to outrun trolls and did not end well for them. They creatures were unfortunatly very fast runners. She instead satyed still and silent. The troll luckliy didn't seem to notice them as it sniffed around curiously, swinging a massive club almost twice the size of Merko.

Merko! Did he know of the troll? By only moving her head, Jillian turned and saw that Merko was indeed awake. He was lying on his stomach like she was, but was trembling so much, she was surprised Big and Ugly hadn't noticed. She stared at him, sliently mouthing, What do we do?

Merko swallowed nervously and seemed to get his fear under control. He pointed to himself and mimed running toward the troll. He then pointed to her and the opposite side of the woods. The message was all too clear. Merko was going to distract the troll long enough for her to get away. She was suddenly back at the opposite bank of Bear's Prison, looking on in fear. Kit's scream echoed in her ears.

No. She was not going to let anyone sacrifice themselves for her ever again. Jillian shook her head rapidly and pointed at herself, Merko, and then the still oblivious troll. They would do this together.

It all went wrong almost immediately. As they slipped out of their sleeping bags, Jillian's boot snapped a twig and the sound was like a clap of thunder in the quiet forest. The troll whipped around and she saw his ugly, mishapen face clearly. His tiny brain was working overtime and he finally concluded that they would make fine breakfast. He growled menacingly and charged, club raised. With a shriek, the two dodged the club, but the troll was just as fast as all the stories Jillian had ever heard.

Merko danced like a leprechaun on a log, trying to get the creature's attention. It worked but instead of chasing him, the troll threw a boulder at the elf. He tried to duck but it clipped him on the shoulder and stumbled to the ground in pain. The troll grunted with its easy victory and began to lumber over to claim its prize.

Jillian found her voice. "No!" She grabbed a few rocks and lobbed them at the creature's head. The first two bounced off harmlessly but the troll turned at the last minute and got a rock right in the eye. The troll bellowed in pain and ran half-blind at Jillian swinging that huge club. Jillian ran through the trees, leaping over logs and boulders at a alarmingly fast speed. She guessed the terror of being clubbed to death really puy wings on one's feet.

She ducked behind a tree to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding out of he chest and she could hardly breathe. Panting, she peeked out and heard the distant sounds of the angry troll. She couldn't outrun him forever and the troll may lose interest and return to the campsite where an injured elf was, lying helpless. She had to face him.

"I can do this," she whisphered to herself.

Jillian strode out from behind the tree and starting walking in the direction of the troll sounds. As she did so, she couldn't help doubting herself, again. Could she control her magic enough to stop the troll and not flash-freeze half the forest? She definetly had to try or her friend was food.

The troll was sniffing the ground, ten feet away, trying to pick up her scent. "Hey, Ugly!" she shouted. "I got more to throw at you than rocks!"

Those beady, black eyes locked with her violet ones and for a stunned moment, they stared at eachother. Jillian's fingers twitched and she decided to take the first move. She thrust her hands forward, sending a blast of ice at the troll's legs. Ice formed around the bulky legs and the creature strained to break free. For a second, Jillian thought it was over but the ice began to crack.

"Oh no," she muttered. She sent a couple more blasts but the troll dodged them both, letting her magic coat two trees in glittering ice. He advanced slowly, as if realizing she would not outrun him this time so there was no point of exterting himself.

Exerting...She had to exert herself. Jillian was holding back her magic, afraid of not being in control. She narrowed her eyes at the troll. "Freeze," she growled.

Ice crackled aaround the creature. The troll was completley encased in a block of ice, except for his head. Jillian didn't want to kill him or anything. He struggled to break free but this time there was nothing he could do.

She saluted to him playfully and ran off-right into Merko. Literally. They collapsed on the ground in a heap.

The elf's eyes were huge as he scanned over the subdued troll and frosted trees. "You...the ice" he managed.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," Jillian tried to explain. "I just found out about a couple days ago and-"

"Ice," Merko repeated. He fixed his eyes on her intently. "Who are you?" he demanded. His gaze was almost as fierce as the troll's had been.

Jillian took a step back, comepletly blown away by this sudden change in demenor. "Who am I? I...uh.."

"Who are you?"

Who was she? All she had was her name and some freaky ice powers. She lowered her head. "I'm afraid I don't know, Merko."

The elf seemed to be having a silent arguement with himself, as if deciding if she was telling the truth. "Fine, Miss Jillian," he said, his words clipped. "But we need to talk."

The made it out of the woods and found themselves in a little fishing village on the coast, with severl ships, big and small, docked at the harbor. Jillian and Merko slipped into a crowed tavern and smelled of fish and sweat. Not exactly pleasant but it was warm and dry. They slipped into a corner of the tavern, in the back and waved away any barmaids that came by to take their order, due to the fact that they had no money.

Jillian leaned in close. "So what's this all about, Merko? Why are you acting so strange?"

The elf twiddled his fingers nervously. "Its a lot. I'm not sure where to begin." He paused and seemed to find a starting point. "You know the difference between enchantresses and witches, right?"

"Oh, oh, yes," Jillian replied, taken aback. "Enchantresses control elments and witches use wands and potions." She hadn't expected the conversation to start there.

"Right. The most common elements that can be controles are the main four: water,earth,fire, and air. Then the more rare ones are plants, lightning," he glanced sideways at her, "and ice. Ice is the most rare one of all. The most famous ice wielder known is-"

"The Snow Queen," Jillian finished. "Okay? Why is this important."

"I said there are tricky rumors about the Snow Queen. One is that when she rose to power, she began eliminasting other ice wielders so none could appose her. She believed that she should be the only one."

It may have just been Jillian, but the tavern got darker and colder with these words. "Woah. No way. She wouldn't-"

Merko raised an eyebrow. "Miss, I know you are smart, but how would you know? You have never met her. Niether have I," he quickly added. "But, like before, we must use caution."

Jillian tried to wrap her mind around all of this. Her mind was buzzing with questions. "So the only two known ice wielders are me and the Snow Queen?"

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, I don't know, honestly. Here's a curious thing I saw a year ago when I was searching for my family. I was in this town, somewhere with dusty farmland and heat. I think it was called Brooks. One day, suddenly a blizzard rolled through the area!"

Seeing the look on her face he added, "Yes, Miss! Out of nowhere! It was the dusty days of summer and there hadn't been a cloud in the sky. I got worried it was the Snow Queen but later I heard from some recruiters that she hasn't left her palace since the last war. That got me thinking, who could have caused it?" He raised an eyebrow at Jillian.

She was quick enough to put two and two together. "It wasn't me!" she protested. "I've lived in an orphange all my life! It must have been someone else!" Jillian froze. A thought formed, so out there, so crazy, something she had never considered before.

"What if," she began slowly. "It was someone else."

Merko stared at her blanky. "You just said that. Do you need air, Miss?"

"No! I'm fine. What if there is another ice wielder? Someone near my age. A-a brother or a sister." Those words sounded foreign in her mouth. A sibling? She had often thought about parents but never a brother or sister. What if he or she was still living there? Their parents couldn't be there because why had they kept one child and gotten rid of the other? It had to only be a sibling. Yes. If she thought anything else, she would go crazy.

"You really think so?" Merko asked softly.

Jillian had almost never felt more sure of something in her life. "Yes. I have to find them."

"What about the giants?" he questioned.

She laughed. "Family is more important than giants. Now that I realize someone is out there, I have to find them. We shouldn't be separated from family. After it find my sibling, all three of us will go to the giants and then the Snow Queen."

Merko smiled. "That sounds very happy and cozy. We need a map."

The land was shaped like a pancake that had a hard life. That is to say, it was very misshapen and there were alot of holes and ridges. The large kindgom of Grimm spread across much of the southeast, with the Snow Queen's territory taking up most of the northern land. To the west, there were several smaller kingdoms such as the Glasis Kingdom, the Apfeldell Kingdom, Koralle Kindgom, and the Dornen Kingdom. "Where is this town?" Jillian inquired.

Merko squinted at the map, trying to read the tiny letters of each town, city, or village. "There." He pointed to a spot between Grimm and Koralle, a kindgom surrounding the southern coast .

Jillian gaped. "We're going to have to travel that far? On foot? That'll take forever! If we had a boat we could sail around the coast, but we don't."

The two lapsed into silence, both out of ideas. Jillian watched the people come and go through the tavern door and caught sight of two men in the street who were in a heated arguement. One was waving his arms around and kept pointing towards the harbor. Were they talking about a ship? After telling Merko she had to use the bathroom, she slipped out of the tavern door and hid on the porch.

The two men were propably as opposite as one could get. The one doing all the yelling was tall and slim, with a bright blue button-up coat, white shirt and trousers, and knee-high boots. He was tanned and had bleach-blond hair. As he spoke, Jillian realized he had an interesting accent that didn't seem to pronounce the letter r or a like others did. He said cart but to Jillian, it sounded like cahht. All sounded like Ol'.

The other man was so tall and bulky, he resembled a troll. His skin was so deeply tanned it looked red and his dark hair was tied back in a bandanna. He wore a dirty white shirt with no sleeves that showed his big muscles and red pants with holes in the knees. He was also barefoot. When he spoke, his voice came out low and rumbling, like how one would expect a thunderstorm would speak.

"We're now behind schedule," the bluecoat man said. "All because you decided to be lazy and not load the ship! We need to get to Apfeldell before winter and we should have left this morning!"

The troll-sized man shuffled his feet. "Yes, captain."

"Thank you," the other said briskly. "Now move. The rest of the crew it still working and even with your help, we can't leave until twilight."

After a couple of salutes and Yes, Captains, the two walked up the gangplank to an older vessel with golden-brown wood and no flag at the mast.

Jillian rushed back inside and grabbed the map. Apfeldell was further than Koralle, but perphaps they wouldn't mind taking a little detour.

After telling Merko her plan, the two waited until twilight and crept to the dock. The ship was still there and they gangplank was still down. "We'll go to the hold and wait until they can't make us go back. Then we'll tell them our plan," Jillian instructed.

Merko stumbled behind nervously. "Are you sure this is a good idea? They could not be friendly to stowaways.

Jillian laughed and pointed to the name of the ship, painted on the hull. "Come now, Merko. They named their ship, the Jolly Roger. How bad could they be with a cheerful name like that?"