The snow was coming down hard now; like giant white ants falling from the grey sky, coming to attack Cassidy. In these mountains, there was nothing to protect her from the evil snowflakes and the blasted cold. There was also nothing stopping the goddess, Fema, from sending storms and monsters to kill Cassidy. Cassidy was a tall, graceful girl who was 14. She had lived in St. Louis, Missouri with her father, Gregory F. Stolt; who had taught her how to fight when she was 3. So, she had no trouble with the monsters that Fema sent, which were small and pathetic. Now, he was dead. Cassidy blamed Fema and all the other gods; especially her mother, Destra, who was the god of animals. She had never even bothered to try to save Cassidy’s father that fateful day when he had been pounded by hail as big as basketballs from a single cloud. It was right above him, as Cassidy tried to go help him; her Nana, crying, held her back. That had only been a few weeks ago but it felt like years. Now, she was on her own in these cold, unforgiving mountains. She thought of the day she got to these godforsaken mountains, as she sat next to her small, weak, golden fire. She traveled to these mountains to find the fortress of the North Wind. Her Nana had said he had something that belonged to her that was kept safe in his impenetrable fortress.

Scratch, scratch, scratch. Cassidy leapt to her feet and pulled out her knife. The sound was coming from the opening of the cave. Cassidy crept toward the entrance, expecting it to be just another feeble attempt by Fema to kill her. Suddenly, there was a burst of wind, blowing out what fire there was. Two yellow eyes peered out at Cassidy in curiosity, not hatred. As Cassidy prepared to fight, a white tiger stepped out of the shadows. It was as big as the largest dog that you will ever find and its eyes a soft blue. Cassidy thought this was strange since they had just been yellow a minute ago. She wasn’t scared of it, either. She knew it was probably Destra trying to make it right by giving her a pet.” I’m not a pet but I am from the goddess, Destra” said a voice from out of nowhere. Cassidy looked around, surprised. Her eyes rested on the tiger. It bowed and spoke, “Greetings, your highness. My name is Erasi. I have been sent by her highness, Destra, to help you with your quest and return you safely, for you must defeat the goddess, Fema.” Cassidy looked, dumbfounded, at the tiger trying to figure out how Destra was making it talk. “I assure, you I am not a puppet,” the tiger said calmly. By now Cassidy recovered, and replied, “I’m sorry you had to come this far but I don’t need any help from Destra. I can take care of myself.” Suddenly, the fire flickered back to life growing bigger than it had been before. “Did you do that?” asked Cassidy suspiciously. “So I may be of some use,” replied the solemn tiger. Cassidy looked into the hot flames and thought about what it would be like to have a companion with her. She didn’t even know if she was going in the right direction. Maybe this tiger knew which way to go, thought Cassidy. “Exactly! I do know where the North Wind’s house is located!” exclaimed the tiger, reading her mind again. Cassidy thought a little longer and came to a decision. “Fine but you have to follow some rules. First, no reading my mind! Second, you must get your own food. Last, you will lead us and will find caves and shelters that we can stay in. Got it?” Cassidy ranted. The tiger shook its head yes and lay down for the night. Cassidy did the same as the flames flickered away to nothing.

Cassidy woke to someone breathing down her neck. As her eyes fluttered open, the tiger spoke;”Good morning, your highness. We must hurry so we may get to the fortress of the North Wind before night fall.” “One more rule,” Cassidy said sleepily, “don’t call me “your highness”,” and went back to sleep. When Cassidy finally got up, the tiger was gone. A dead animal, resembling a fox, was in its place. A large piece of meat, already cooked, sat on the rock next to her, waiting for someone to eat it. As she ate, Cassidy wondered how the tiger had cooked the meat and where it was now. She tried to think of what it had said its name was; Erasy, Erasoo, Erasi. That was it; Erasi. She supposed she should probably start calling it by its name. By the time the tiger got back, Cassidy was finished eating and packing all of the supplies she had brought. “Let us go if you are done here you…, I mean, what shall I call you?” asked Erasi. “Well, Erasi, you can call me Cassidy but this is strictly a business relationship,” reminded Cassidy.
As they set out, the snow stopped, suddenly. For the first, Cassidy could actually see her surroundings. The ground was frozen, barren, and slightly slanted with the exception of a few edible plants, which Cassidy had the fortune of stumbling upon on occasion. The sky was bright and sunny and no clouds could be seen, which made Cassidy very suspicious. Another thing that made Cassidy suspicious was the fact that there was a strange booming sound and the ground was shaking. (Imagery) Erasi seemed to notice something too. He started to run. Cassidy followed. The booming was getting closer and the shaking worse. Something was coming; something big and she had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t one of Santa’s elves coming to give her a Christmas present. They needed to find somewhere to hide and fast! “We need to find somewhere to hide, fast!” Cassidy shouted to Erasi. “Get on my back!” Erasi yelled back. “What!” Cassidy exclaimed.” Just do it,” Erasi commanded. Cassidy jumped onto his back. As soon as she was on his back, Erasi sped away, as fast as car going 100 miles an hour (Simile)! Cassidy couldn’t feel her face. It only took a few minutes to find a cave to hide in. Just as they ducked into the small, cramped cave, something passed their cramped hiding place. It was giant and ugly with only one eye in the middle of its head with hair matted down on the sides of its pudgy face. It wore what looked like the fur of a mammoth and was carrying a crude club that swung menacingly at its side. (Imagery) In one stride, it was more than 200 yards away. “What was that?” Cassidy asked, a little scared. “It was a Cyclops, though I don’t know why it would be all the way up in these mountains,” Erasi replied. “How can you go so fast?” Cassidy asked. Erasi didn’t reply. “How can you go so fast?” Cassidy asked again. “It is my curse,” Erasi replied sadly. “What? What curse? Why would Destra send me a cursed tiger?” Cassidy questioned Erasi. “Because I can run fast… I… do not have teeth. Her Highness sent me because the curse is supposed to broken by a daughter of Queen Destra,” Erasi replied reluctantly. “You don’t have teeth? How do you eat? How do you kill things?”Cassidy was freaking out now. How was she supposed to survive with a tiger that didn’t have teeth? “I burn the meat so it crumbles in my throat. I told I can breathe fire, right? Well, I can so I burn it, just through the skin, and well that’s about it,” answered Erasi. Cassidy looked at him in amazement. “You can breathe fire!” “Yes, but it’s not easy to control it. We have to get going before it gets dark,” explained Erasi.
It was already snowing again when Cassidy and Erasi came out of their yawning cave (Personification). “Hold onto me,” Erasi commanded, staring into the white blankness of the world around them. They walked for hours, Erasi leading, Cassidy clinging blindly to his black-striped coat. When Cassidy couldn’t feel her legs, Erasi would make a small fire and they would rest. As they kept going on like this, Cassidy thought about her father. Erasi was acting like her father would, calm and protective, quiet and solemn. It made her miss him even more. Her father had been the only one Cassidy had been able to talk to about anything and everything. She felt bad for being so short with Erasi, having him around was her father alive again (Metaphor).
As they went along, Cassidy noticed the slope of the ground was getting steeper. Finally, they reached a point where they were above the clouds. It was amazing! A gigantic fortress stood in front of them, with walls as tall as a 100 story hotel (Simile) and went all the way around the summit of the mountain. Its walls were made of rainbows and there appeared to be no windows or doors. It was a solid wall with watchtowers at each corner. “How do we get in?” Cassidy asked. “The stairs,” Erasi answered, sniffing around the crusty snow. “What stairs?” Cassidy was completely lost as to what Erasi was talking about…until they appeared. “How did you do that?” Cassidy asked, bewildered. “Come, let us go before they disappear again,” Erasi replied, avoiding the question. So, they climbed the stairs of a black, slippery rock to the top of the wall. Cassidy counted the steps until 2,000, when she lost count. As they reached the top of the stairs they started to disappear, from the bottom to the top. On the other side of the wall, a giant city made of the same black rock as the steps. There was a castle closest to them with shimmering rainbow walls and huge rubies set into place above every window and door. There was no apparent way to get down from the wall, but Cassidy assumed Erasi knew how to. “How do we get down?” she asked. “Jump,” Erasi said plainly. “What! You want me to jump!” Cassidy exclaimed. “Yes, if you do, the North Wind will choose to either save you or let you fall. You’ve got a pretty good chance of surviving, though,” Erasi explained, getting ready to jump. “OK,” Cassidy replied uneasily. She trusted Erasi. This is the first really life threatening thing she had ever done, even though demigods were supposed to do dangerous stuff all the time. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped. Fear gripped her insides like an iron fist, not willing to let go. Then, she was floating gently to the ground right in front of the massive door of the castle. It opened and a strong wind push Cassidy inside. As soon as she was inside the doors shut.
The inside of the castle was a cavernous chamber with many chandeliers. Millions of diamonds were set into the rainbow walls. In the center of the room was a throne of wind. Yes, wind. Golden leaves were swirling inside of it, yet nothing seemed to be disturbed by the powerful wind chair. In the chair was an elegant man in red robes, who seemed to be in his late 40s. He spoke in a squeaky voice, like the whistling wind outside of the castle. “I believe you have come to get something from me.”
“Uummm, yeah I guess. So, what do you have for me,” Cassidy answered. “I have this.” Something flew out of his hands and landed at Cassidy’s feet. “It’s a stick,” she said, disappointed. “Not just any stick, but you must find the way to use its powers for yourself,” he replied mysteriously, “ You may go now I am done with you.” “Wait! Where’s Erasi?” Cassidy was concerned. She hadn’t seen him come down from the wall. “It is waiting for you outside,” the man answered with disdain. Before she could protest, she was pushed out the doors by the wind and left alone facing a lot of funny looking creatures. One stepped up and spoke;”Greetings we are the elves of the North Wind, we will show to you to your tiger.” Cassidy looked at them, bewildered. The elf reluctantly continued, “Santa’s helpers.” “Oooohhh” she responded, “How did you end up here?” “We come help the North Wind when all of the toys are made. It is almost Christmas, you know. Santa can’t give you presents if you are not at your house in Missouri.” “How did you know I was from Missouri?” Cassidy asked, astonished. “I know a lot about you, Cassidy,” the elf replied mysteriously, “We must go for the North Wind grows angry.” So, the little elf took her to Erasi. He was next to the great rainbow wall perfectly unharmed. Cassidy was relieved. “Why didn’t you come with me?” Cassidy asked. “I have had my problems with that man and I did not wish to relive them,” Erasi responded. They arrived on the other side of the rainbow wall by going through a secret door. The door led to a surprisingly dark tunnel, since it was going through a bright rainbow wall. At the end of the tunnel, there was a light. They emerged where they had found the stairs.”Why couldn’t we have used this tunnel to get into the castle?”Cassidy asked. ”You are full of questions that cannot be answered,” Erasi replied. Cassidy looked down into the clouds below. “Now all I have to do is make it back to Missouri alive.”