As the Ice Dragon's head killed its own body, the howling wind and blizzard gradually died away. Angel no longer had the strength to sustain Frost, and the storm became ordinary snowflakes that drifted down onto the King of the North's headless body.
The dragon's head, having breathed out the last of its icy flames, fell onto the ice with its spine and clinging flesh trailing behind it. Thud. Its blue eyes, still open in death, stared at the stunned Grosell as though he were the one who had killed it.
Then, before everyone's eyes, the headless dragon corpse and the head that had betrayed it turned into streams of blue-white light. They gathered above the ice, outlining a doorway with an arched top.
When the light faded, a Double Door stood on the ice. It looked as though it had stood there for a thousand years, heavy and silent. Thick ice covered the arch, with icicles hanging down in front of the doors.
No one needed to tell them what it was. They knew at once that this was the exit from The Travels of Grosell.
"Finally... we did it!"
Grosell was the first to speak. His silver armor was gradually fading, and a dragon claw had torn a huge wound in his side. Laughing heartily, he stepped forward as though to touch the door he had waited thousands of years to see. Instead, he toppled forward and struck the ice with a boom.
"Grosell!"
Shatas realized something was wrong and rushed to the giant's side with elven speed. She took off the Rose Necklace and tried to put it on him, only to find it was too small even to serve as his bracelet. She looked anxiously toward Snoman the Ascetic.
Snoman had used Notarization too many times