Coldsnap: Harbinger of Ice

Chapter 3: Together Again

Early the next morning, Cassie sat in the dining nook and saw Mike and Alexis off as they left the house to tour Alexis's college campus. After they were gone, she finished her breakfast, went to her computer, and booted it up while contacting Michael again through Discord. 

"Hey!" she greeted. "You free to log on?" 

Within seconds, Michael responded; he didn't have a particularly busy day planned, anyway. 

"Yeah, sure! I'll meet you on the home screen!" 

However, while Cassie's game was booting up, she heard the doorbell ring. 

Huh.....that's weird. The tour couldn't possibly have been that short, could it? she thought to herself. Alexis probably forgot something. 

However, when she opened the door, a familiar-looking Fire Sect mage wearing a full-body set of red and black armor with gold highlights, dark-grey combat boots, and flaming pauldrons---while also wielding a twin pair of burning daggers---stood at the entrance, happily grinning from ear to ear. 

"Hi, Coldsnap!" she said. 

"Firebird?!" 

Both girls squeed in delight before pulling each other into a hug for several seconds. 

"It's been.....what? Like.....two years? I've missed you so much! Anyway, what are you doing here?" the ice mage asked. "Did the Sect Leaders send you on a mission?" 

Firebird shook her head. "Nope!" She took out a small device from her outfit and showed it to Cassie. "And yeah, I've missed you a lot, too! Morton Flamestar gave me this transport puck yesterday, so now I can go back and forth between Earth and the Elemental Realms any time I choose, even when I don't have an objective!" 

Cassie pulled her friend in close. "I smuggled one of those with me, too," she whispered. "Alpin doesn't know, though." 

"What? No way! Maybe we can both return to the Realms for a while and---" 

"Everyone still thinks I'm supposed to be gone, remember?" Cassie pointed out. 

"Oh, yeah. Umm.....about that....I'm starting to think that you leaving the Elemental Realms back then was a mistake." 

"What? What do you mean?" 

"Alpin claimed that he received whispers from the Ascendant about a 'dangerous threat' that he had to send you to Earth to prepare for, right?" 

Cassie nodded. 

"But.....it's been two whole years, and the Mage Aspects have still been operating exactly the same as they were back then. We still continue to protect the Earth from threats, but up to now, nothing has threatened us." 

"What? Are you sure?" 

"Yep. Trust me, I've quite literally been there the whole time." 

Cassie thought about this for a moment. A small part of her began to think that she had been deceived, but she pushed it aside for the time being. She had known Frost King Alpin for more than a decade, and he was a valiant Sect Leader who directed his mages with the utmost confidence. Surely he had her best interests in mind, right?

".....Maybe it's too early," the ice mage suggested. "The Ascendant wasn't specific on when exactly I would return. It could be tomorrow, next week, next month....maybe not even for the next decade. Kind of like how Christians aren't exactly sure when Christ will return." 

"Absolutely none of the other mages or Sect Leaders have bothered to establish contact with you since then. I was only granted the ability to come and visit you yesterday, and just between us....it seemed like Flamestar was extremely reluctant to give me this transport puck. That doesn't raise any red flags?" Firebird inquired.