Forged in Frost and Fire (Book 1 in the Chronicles of Kings trilogy)

Chapter Twenty One

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

The world around me was white and swirling, I could feel it whipping around me, ripping out of my very being without any control. It was like a dam inside of me had broken and now there was nothing to stop that storming white fury inside of me.

I felt so cold. I thought I couldn't have felt cold anymore but I was wrong. This cold was the type that stroked my very soul. I shuddered with power and another blast of white flew out from me. I was in the middle of a blizzard, it looked like. I was at the eye of the storm, my clothes whipping in the wind I was creating. I was aware that there were screams around me, the sound of others shouting and the pattering of footsteps as people ran away. I was a thing to fear now. I was a thing of nightmares. And I hardly cared.

I screamed and slammed forward with the power that flowed out of me. The ground that my hands touched splintered and cracked as ice coated it. The whole ground was covered in slick ice. What was happening outside of this blizzard around me...I had no idea. Again...I didn't care. The blizzard around me strengthened, the wind made my hair fly back and my eyes burn.But I was already crying, so maybe the tears weren't from the wind.

My veins were flowing blue and I saw the edge of my fingers frosting, the frost coated up my hand and forearms. Tellie's eyes flashed inside my mind, hazel and rimmed with dark lashes. Her smile was there too, I saw her grinning at me after I stole my first apple from the market, watched her lips curve into a smile a moment before Heather leaned in for a kiss. I screamed again and more power gushed out. I couldn't control it, it just ebbed and flowed of it's own free will.

She was dead. She was gone. And there was nothing I could do. Nothing but freeze from the inside out. And maybe I was fine with it. Freezing was better than that endless pit of agony that was waiting for me on the outside of that blizzard. Maybe I could've just stayed there, in the eye of the storm, letting my weeks of pent up power ebb and swirl around me. It would've been nice, peaceful...

My moment of bliss was shattered with a clawed hand reaching through the white wall and grabbing my arm. Nails ripped through my sleeve and stabbed at my skin. I grunted as that hand gripped me tight enough to bruise before yanking me out of the storm.

My powers slowed and stilled as I slammed into the ground, falling face first into the mud. I turned around to see that the previously green and brown area, teeming with people, was now frost white and completely empty. A winter wonderland of my own creation. How charming. The white was ruined by four looming figures wearing all black. All black armor. I recognized the swords at their hips and the crests on their armor. The Royal Guard. And here I was thinking I couldn't have been more angry...

I thrust my hands out and shot ice bullets out at them. Two hit their targets, plunging into their necks. I saw crimson bleed from the wounds, falling in rivulets down their armor. I let a grin slip onto my lips. Let them bleed.

One of them shoved their sword at me and I raised my hand in defence. Ice shot out of my palm and coated the blade. It swung against my forearm and shattered into a million pieces at the impact. I watched as the strange pieces fell to the ground and skimmed my face and neck, leaving shallow cuts behind. The man and I both stared at the ruined sword. He looked as shocked as I felt.

The other guard was less slow to action. He slammed the butt of his sword into my head with a crack and I let out a whimper, falling to the ground as pain erupted in hot prickles over my skin. I felt cold blood leak from the wound and into my hair. A groan left my lips as I tried to get into a sitting position. If I was on my feet they couldn't hurt me, I had a better fighting chance. Weak from the agility course, my muscles shook with the effort. But it wasn't even like I had a chance to push myself up before something was slamming into my back and forcing me back down.