Anne was not at all old, as many imagine witches to be. The woman was in her mid-fourties, light-haired, small and thin, dressed in an elegant mixture of deep grey and red. She recognized Teemu at once and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"Got any trouble?" she asked at once, when Wintersun greeted her. Teemu nodded.
Anne invited the three men into a spacious dining-room. There was nothing extraordinary about the place, except an extremely large red cat who slumbered peacefully in the corner. The witch made some delicious berry tea and then listened attentively to Wintersun's story. And every phrase made her mood darker.
"The Snow Queen is another name for Her Majesty Hel, the goddess of winter and death," she said seriously. "I fear, it's nearly impossible to bring your friend back."
However, Jari did not believe someone could be impossible to him.
"Why Kai and not me?" he asked.
"When did you meet her first? Name the exact date."
"15 December".
"And on December,23, you got the pendant from Teemu. I designed is as a strong shield from the underworld creatures. It bears one of Odin's names, this is why Hel didn't dare to harm you. Your drummer provoked Her, so She decided to take him instead."
"What exactly may she want?"
"If they kissed or made love, Kai Hahto must be dead by now. But, fortunately, Hel isn't much interested in things like this.
"What does She like?"
"Rational things. Order. Mathematics. Perfection. Your music, I'm sure, otherwise She would not sing the underworld song to you".
"What does She hate?"
"Fire and the warmth of the sun. Сutesy. Fire and passion."
"It can't be so simple, Anne. We have plenty of passion in our music," Jukka intervened.
"This may be the third reason She took Kai and not Jari. She might enjoy pure rythm without vocals and melody".
"Evil bitch," Jukka sighed.
"I wouldn't recommend to disturb Hel, but I know: if you don't go,you will never forgive yourself" said the woman, contemplating the rain that was pouring outside. "Please, go home wait for two ravens. When everything's ready, they will come to guide you."
"Ravens? Here, in the city? They may come, and they may come not," Jari objected.
"If you don't want to die once you arrive, you should do exactly what I say," nailed Anne.
"What should we do in exchange?" Jari asked.
"You could buy my latest book on Runes, the woman answered with a smile. And, hey, don't go with the ravens without paying the second visit to me! Your magic charms will be ready by this time!"
The friends spent two painfully long weeks preparing for the journey and waiting for the signal. Of all the three bandmates, Teemu Mantysaari was the most experienced traveler and outdoorsman, so he was in charge of buying the necessary clothes, food and equipment for a long stride away from the civilization.
Jukka helped him around: the preparations being the best way to chase away gloomy thoughts. The bass guitarist read somewhere that Hel's snow warriors feared nothing but fire and intended to buy a personal flamefrower, and only its heavy weight stopped him from this undertaking.
Jari continued his infinite guitar practice and slept 10-12 hours a day. At free time, he studied thouroughly the book he bought from Anne and wrote something in his shabby notepad. He surrounded himself with some other books concerning old Norse magic and the lore dedicated to Her Majesty Hel. In the evening, the three gathered at Jari's place and played together until sleep didn't make their eyelids heavy. Sometimes they passed out with guitars still in their arms.
And every day they asked themselves - what if Anne joked about the two ravens just to get rid of them and sell her pretty expensive book?
The window was half-open, when Jari heard the clancking of sharp claws against the windowsill and the impatient wing-flapping. It was still dark outside, the clock on the nightstand showed 3.15 AM. However, this time the lead guitarist was not at all sleepy, he was full of strength and determination. He opened the bedroom window to the ravens, and the mighty black birds greeted him with loud cries.
"This is true! Yes, this is true!" Jari whispered in euphoria and sang:
"Sons of winter and stars, arise!!!"
making Teemu fall from the bed to the floor and get tangled in the sheets.
"Fuck you, Jari," Jukka moaned from the living-room. "Do you see what time it is?"
"Yes, and we can't afford to waste it!"
"Shall not we see Anne first?" Teemu reminded.
"She must be sleeping now, but we can't wait until daytime," Jari said, heading to the kitchen. "Can you believe it? We're ready, at last!" he exclaimed, ready to dance with joy. He cut several pieces of cheese and grabbed some buisquits to feed the birds who fell on the treat with a great pleasure. Teemu attempted to stroke a raven on the head, but the creature jumped aside and gave the guitarist an angry croak.
Having finished the meal, the band dressed and took their backpacks. Despite the season, Teemu insisted that his bandmates should wear warm clothes. As for Jari, he took pains to fetch an acoustic guitar and hung it over his backpack.
"Music is magic," he said. "The only one that will work for sure!"
The streets were empty, the glossy leaves reflected the gold of the first sunbeams. Fresh morning wind was playing with the travelers' hair. The ravens were flying slightly ahead. Sometimes they sat down on street lamps and cried, encouraging the humans to move faster. The bandmates found themselves outside Helsinki, when sunrise was in the full blaze.
However, deep inside the forest night still reigned, and Wintersun guys could hardly see each other's faces. Neither did they see the birds that led them and could only learn direction from the sound. Finally, they found themselves in dense mist and had to hold to each other not to get lost. Sunshine was too faint here, and no one would say where this damp fog would end. Strange little shadows were moving between the trees.
"Seems like it's begun..." Teemu wishpered. "Hold on, Kai, help is coming!"
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