ICE

172. Ancient Legends

RAVENNA'S HEART STOPPED beating inside of her chest. The air in her lungs froze solid and she stared at him, her eyes wider than the moon. Her cheeks burned as an endless wave of heat flushed beneath her skin. She opened her mouth slightly to speak.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood upright.

She whirled around — just in time to block a loosely formed glob of magic that zipped through the air toward her head. As her icy shield melted back into the earth beneath her, she shot an annoyed look back over her shoulder at Caelan.

His lips were stretched back into a large grin. "Improvement," he remarked. His tone and expression radiated with a sense of pride. "Very nice block."

"You just said that to distract me," she said with a slightly disappointed huff. She wasn't sure which hurt more — the embarrassment that she felt for her flushed reaction or the seemingly lack of sincerity on Caelan's part.

Caelan tilted his head slightly and arched an eyebrow. "Did I?"

Her eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to respond but then clamped it shut. Another icy shield formed behind her, stretching high toward the ceiling above their heads, as she sensed something else flying toward her.

Another round of training commenced. It stretched throughout the day, until the sunlight faded and slivers of moonlight began to stream through the slender windows in the study. Both stopped moving, panting heavily. Ravenna leaned against a table and Caelan pressed a hand flat against the wall, holding himself upright.

"You are getting better," he remarked once he caught his breath.

Ravenna flushed bright red again and turned away, refusing to allow him the satisfaction of her reaction. She turned her attention toward the map that remained stagnant, glowing across the stones that comprised the wall beside them. "We need to strategize," she remarked. She gestured toward the visible sea of copied ice soldiers that advanced toward Zeporia, depicted as individual dots that covered almost an entire side of the map now. Each day, the army grew closer — and now those menacing little dots appeared to be encroaching on some of the nearby towns.

Ravenna glanced at the map and frowned. "It won't be long before Vyses is knocking on our door," she added. "We need to figure out how we want to approach this impending fight."

Caelan nodded. He examined the map and heaved a sigh. "It is hard to tell yet what kind of army we are dealing with. I believe that Vyses is with them, but that may not be the case."

"If he were smart, Vyses would remain in the Capitol and allow a clone to lead the ice soldiers," Ravenna muttered. "Let them do all the dirty work. At least, that is what I would do if I were in his shoes."

"That very well could be the case here," Caelan said. He seemed to nod in absent agreement. "It will be near impossible to tell whether or not the Vyses that is moving with the army is a clone. It is also impossible to see what kind of modifications he has made so far to his ice soldiers."

Ravenna snorted. "We almost need our own Lyth," she remarked. Her expression was sad as she stared at the map in front of her. No doubt that Lyth was being forced to fight with the ice soldiers as well.

Caelan's brows furrowed with slight confusion. "What do you mean?" he questioned.

"Vyses used Lyth to gather intel," she explained. "That is why you encountered him and were able to kill him. He was sent to figure out who you were."

"Ah," he muttered, recognition flashing within his eyes. His expression morphed into a grimace. "I genuinely tried to put that poor child out of his misery," he said. "It was impossible to do back when Vyses worked at the tavern — it would raise questions among the humans, especially those who lived there. I also feared that Vyses would find another. When I saw Lyth and those ice soldier reinforcements, I knew that I wouldn't have another chance. I tried to put him out of his misery."

His expression was sad. "But I guess Vyses found the poor kid?"

Ravenna nodded. "He was resurrected and within Vyses' possession by the time that Vyses arrested me."

"That's a shame," Caelan murmured. He shifted his gaze toward the map again, his expression somber.

"We will save him again," she assured both Caelan and herself. It was the only way that she could ignore the hurt that ached within her heart for Lyth. "We will save him from Vyses."

Caelan just nodded in response.

Ravenna frowned and pointed to one of the nearby cities. A swarm of dots grew closer to it. "How can we protect the humans who live here?" she asked him. "Can we evacuate them?"

"We might be able to," he said. His expression was still grim. "But there is a chance that they are already dead. It depends on how close those ice soldiers actually are."

A frown tugged at Ravenna's features. She stared at the dot for a moment, guilt swarming within her stomach like an angry cloud of buzzing bees. "I think that we should send a small group of ice soldiers to investigate," she said. Her gaze shifted back to Caelan's face, watching for his reaction. "Maybe we can find a way to spy through one of the soldiers. Not only will it give us more information about the army that's advancing toward us, but we can also help save whoever is still in that village."

He glanced at her, an eyebrow arched. "That isn't a bad idea," he remarked.

"We also need to look at potentially evacuating the humans that are living here, in Zeporia," she told him. "They need to be relocated somewhere safe and away from Vyses."

Her nose scrunched up. "I just don't know how to do it kindly."

A thoughtful expression marred Caelan's features. He tilted his head and pressed his lips into a firm line. "Well," he said, "I know how we can get them to evacuate."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh?"

"It just won't be very nice," he admitted.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Oh, how do those ancient human legends go?" Caelan frowned, tapping his index finger against his chin. "A horrendous, villainous dragon attacks the town," he said. He glanced at Ravenna and winked. "And steals a damsel in distress."

~

happy sunday friends! ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

I know that it's not Tuesday but wanted to go ahead and post this chapter, considering I've been slacking so much lately!! I genuinely am so sorry about not posting anything for a bit. I seriously appreciate your patience with me!! I swear I'm going to get back into the groove soon. (╥﹏╥)

I hope that you have an amazing weekend and hope to see you next week with more updates!! Thank you for taking the time to read!! ❤

ash ❤