The Death of Winter

Keiran halted when she stepped away from him after she hit the pole. Normally, these types of accidents were funny to humans, but Keiran had no such sense of humor. His cold fingers brushed her forehead, the place where the brunt of the impact had landed. "Are you alright?" he asked, leaning down to gaze at her. The mishap seemed to chase away Keiran's normal barrier for trying not to touch people.
 
Liz blushed at his touch and quickly stepped away, trying to hide the red in her face. She shook her head. "I'm fine, I'm fine... I do that kind of stuff all the time." She said, laughing to try and make the situation seem less tense or awkward. His touch was so cold... but she liked it.
 
The way she moved from him so quickly almost startled him. Had he done something wrong? She had admitted to being fine, but he wasn't sure if he'd stung her pride or not. "I do not thing running into a metal pole is something you should do all the time. It does not sound safe." Even if he sounded concerned, he made no move toward her again.
 
Liz chuckled a bit. "No, I don't run into poles all the time... I just tend to be very clumsy." She said, starting to walk again. "I just don't want you to worry too much since it's just a small bump." She smiled as she looked around. It had gotten a bit late and she wondered where exactly his apartment complex was. It was awfully close to hers from where they were going.
 
They soon showed up at the apartment complex where Keiran lived. "This is where I live," he said, stopping and looking up at the door. He thought it looked open, but he thought nothing of it and turned his attention back to Liz. "Thank you for walking with me. I appreciate it, even if you are intending to go in the same direction. I will see you tomorrow."

With that, he turned, taking his time up the stairs to his room. The sooner she left, the quicker he could go back to the beach and speak to the High Spirits. He would have done it in the confines of his own home, but the connection with the cold air and the silent nature around him strengthened the connection.
 
"Alright, see you!" Liz said, walking into the building and into her apartment. She quickly changed into her pajamas, thinking about what Keiran had told her. Maybe she should work a bit more on her writing... She nodded, making up her mind. Keeping a bra on and grabbing her journal, she headed out in a tank top, short shorts, and a hoodie. She walked to the beach, hoping some nature would help her write.
 
Keiran waited until she disappeared from his sight before he moved back down the stairs, fighting the urge to sprint to the beach. Once his bare feet wiggled into the cool sand, his eyes turned a brilliant white as he came into contact with his High Spirit brethren. Focused as he was on his mission, he neglected to check if anyone occupied the beach with him. Bright, glowing eyes upturned toward the sky, he seemed almost like he could just vanish into a spiritual form right then and there.

You are late.

"I apologize. I was... held up."

Keiran, do not get distracted. The High Spirits of Summer came to converse with us. They are aware of our predicament.

"I understand. Sarin found me. He knows they are becoming stronger and that we are weaker. I fear they will make an attempt to kill me soon."

Have you found a human who believes in us?

"I believe so. It is only one... The other humans here do not seem to want to understand."

You must hurry. The snow will fall upon us soon.

"How am I to know when the first snowfall is? This world has a range of winters."

We assume it is the minute you set foot in the snow, but we cannot be sure. We know that as each day passes, we grow weaker. You must feel it as well. Keiran knew he did. He felt weak and too warm. It caused him to turn the thermostat down in the book store even lower.

"I know... I am trying. These humans want nothing to do with our winter."

You must do everything within your power. Keep Sarin away from you and whatever human you have. This is the last conversation we will have until you return, or until we fade from the seasons.

"What? No! You cannot leave! I need your wisdom."

We are sorry, Keiran, but we cannot maintain contact each night with so little energy. We are doing what we can to keep winter moving, but it falls to you, High Prince, to keep us alive. Goodbye, Keiran Hir-Morana.

"No, please!" he cried, his voice sounding pained, the first sign of emotion he'd really shown since becoming a human.

But they were gone from his sight and the light in his eyes faded. Cold hands clenched into fists as Keiran glared at the sand beneath his feet. He knew they were all weakened, and he was getting the least of it due to his manifestation. He couldn't leave them to die. If they were going to fade, he was going with them. But he had it in him to make someone believe him. Still, it didn't stop the single tear from rolling down his cheek to freeze into a perfect drop. A shake of his head scattered the solidified drop. He had to make her believe.
 
"Keiran?" A familiar voice asked the boy. Liz was standing a bit of a ways from him looking concerned. She walked over to him slowly before kneeling down and putting a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "Are you... Are you alright? What are you doing out here?"
 
Keiran tore from her grip with more force than he needed, staggering upright. When he found it was only Liz, he relaxed, shoulders sagging with his most recent news. "Liz, I... I apologize," he said, the formal tone working its way back into his voice. "I did not know you would be here. I... what are you doing out here?" he asked, mimicking her question to him. How could he tell her he wasn't what she thought he was? Keiran had never dealt with humans directly, but from observing them, he knew they didn't always take bad news lightly.
 
Liz shook her head. "I... I was going to... I don't know." Liz said, shrugging. "I just went where my feet took me." She curled her toes, not sure how to react. The scene she had just seen was so... strange to put it lightly.
 
The way she didn't look at him, he knew then that she'd seen everything. "I... you have seen me as I truly am. Some of my true form. I did not mean to hide it from you, but I did not know what to expect from humans." The generalization sounded so accusing as it came out of his mouth. "Did you hear everything? My part in the conversation, I suppose at the very least."
 
"I heard the voices-spirits, talking to you..." Liz said quickly. She felt nervous. A spirit, a winter spirit who was apparently some prince was on Earth, in the heat, trying to save winter. This sounded like a book to her, one that a young child might read. She bit her lip not sure what else to say.
 
Well, he was surprised that she had heard them, and he also wasn't. No one had ever been around to listen on his conversation to judge whether or not the spirits spoke with a voice or just in his head. "Then you understand what I am here for." He leaned slightly, doing his best to lock her blue eyes with his gray.

"Are you frightened of me because of this? If... If you want nothing more to do with me, I understand." He hated to admit that, only because Liz had been one of the few humans to entertain his conversations about the cold and not hate him for his word choice.
 
Liz shook her head. "No, not that. I just... you need help and I'm not sure how to help you." She looked up at him, pulling her hoodie close to her body as she shivered. "Besides, I always mess up somehow..." She murmured, thinking back to the last time she was asked to help. She ended up losing her father that way.
 
"But you can help me," he implored, stepping up in front of her. She was cold, and he sought to help her with that. He was colder than she was, but as he wrapped his arms around her lightly, his body almost seemed to suck the cold from her limbs. It made him go below what was considered healthy by human standards, but she warmed up all the same. It wasn't a warmth that hurt him either, which was strangely nice.

"I... the spirits, we require your help. Your kind is unintentionally killing us. The love of summer and heat weakens us. If I cannot get the belief that winter is just as important, we will fade away. There would be no snow, no cold ever again, in any of your lifetimes."
 
"But how do you make people believe that winter is important..." Liz said, biting her lip as she felt warmth return to her body, glad for the sudden heat. She smiled slightly when she remembered what her old grade school science teacher use to say about heat. He said that there was no warm, only cold moving from one place to another.
 
"I do not know. That is why we need you. You have a natural appreciation for the cold. By an extension, that is an appreciation for those who bring it. I cannot convince everyone, but with your assistance, I can. You believing in the idea returns to me my strength. It does not do the same for my spirit brethren." He sighed, hand resting on his head. It seemed like an overwhelming task for just one spirit and possibly a human.

His grey eyes were closed, but his head was still tilted in her direction. "Will you help me?" His voice, normally cool and controlled, was just a whisper, almost too desperate for someone like him.
 
Liz didn't hesitate as she nodded. "Of course." She said, her voice just a whisper. Her blue eyes burned with determination, happy to help. If she could do maybe just one thing right in her life, maybe she wouldn't feel so terrible about herself.
 
Visible relief washed over his pale features, and his hand came away from his face. "Thank you." His gaze flicked up to the stars, watching as they twinkled without a care for his problems. "I believe you should return home. It is late, and you need rest. I must discover how I am going to going to help the spirits."
 
"Yeah... walk with me?" Liz asked, pulling her hoodie close. She looked over to Keiran with big blue eyes that hid behind her glasses. She waited for him to start walking before following him to her home.