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

Chapter Thirty

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

There was a steady movement, like what I imagined the bobbing of a ship would feel like. A gentle swaying. Something warm and hard was pressed against my side, thawing that frost that was building inside my chest. In fact, the ice felt like it was everywhere. It didn't feel good, it didn't feel reassuring like my power. It felt intruding, foreign. I didn't like it.

"Eira you need to keep your powers in check. You're freezing me," a deep voice said. I didn't recognize the voice from where I was floating in deep nothingness. It sounded familiar, and sidled along my cold edges, weaving between the walls I had built since Tellie's death. A voice wasn't supposed to do that.

"I'm going to help you, but you need to trust me," the voice spoke again, though this time it was closer, and cut through the fog in my head. Sable. I could feel his warm hands on my face, then on my shoulder and my side. He flipped me over so that I was on my stomach. My back was still on fire, though every other part of me was cold.

"I can't," I whispered. My throat felt like it was closing up, in fact, I could barely breathe. Every inhale made my back twitch with pain, and the air scraping against my throat was agony in itself.

"Eira, your lips are turning blue. You're freezing from the inside out." I felt something flutter over my mouth. I groaned as agony flared down my back, pulling my mind away from the fact that Sable had touched my lips.

"Healing. I have fae healing," I muttered. Every word was harder to get out. I could feel the darkness creeping in on my vision again, more insistent than the last time. I wished that whatever had willed me to sleep before would come back and whisk me away once again.

"It's not enough," he said. It sounded like he was getting frustrated, his words were sharp, lined with something bordering between worry and anger.

"Let me help you." Another wave of pain washed over me and I let out a moan, burying my head into something soft. I had never felt this sort of pain before. It felt never-ending, the sort of pain that made a person go mad. Ice flared out of my hands and I heard it woosh before colliding with the ground and shattering. Sable let out a grunt and I wondered if it hit him too. Oops.

"Please," he said. I cracked my eyes open to see the world was tilting and swirling around me. I swallowed against the nausea in my throat. I couldn't see my surroundings, all I could see was a face hovering above me, black brows drawn in, a line forming between them.

"You'll..." I closed my eyes against the pain. More heat. More cold. My body felt like it was battling itself. With every wave of heat, a wave of ice went up to battle it. I could feel my body temperature rising, though my powers were trying to fight against that too. "You'll hurt me. You always hurt me." Sable sighed sharply.

"I know, I know I do," he said. I felt his breath skitter across my face and I was too fearful to open my eyes to see just how close he was. "So let me do this for you. I felt an ice-cold tear slip from the corner of my eye.

"Okay."

Almost immediately, I felt something whoosh over my backside, and the world around me dimmed, as if the colors were getting bleached from the world. And then...something was touching my back. It didn't hurt, in fact, it almost felt...euphoric. A sigh escaped my lips and I was pretty sure I heard Sable chuckle, though I was floating too high to be sure.

Strange things were happening on the skin of my back. It felt like all the pain was dripping away from the wound, and then it felt as though the split skin was being put back together again. It should've hurt, I should've been screaming, but instead I was floating on some sort of cloudy bliss.