Coldsnap: Harbinger of Ice

Chapter 15: The Night of Ascension

As the four of them walked down the entryway back to the Tidal Throne, Leo got Coldsnap's attention. 

"Yes, what is it?" she asked, a hint of tiredness in her voice. 

"Do you remember all the cool stuff you did at the Grand Terminus during your little rap number?" Leo inquired. 

"Yeah....? What about it?" 

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why didn't you use any of that during our fight with the Seared Hand? I mean.....high-intensity freezing shockwaves.....a gigantic dragon made entirely out of ice.....we could've won that fight much quicker!" 

Coldsnap laughed. "I still want a.....somewhat fair fight, you know? Combat isn't fun if it's a total curb-stomp. I live for the challenge.....for the difficulty and the struggle. After all.....how can one improve and grow as a person if they don't experience hardship from time to time?" 

Leo chuckled. "You have a point there. And I will admit that scuffle was rather fun." 

"Right? Let's hope this is enough for Hydraxus to rally the Water Sect to our fight against Flamestar." 

Just then, she noticed that Keena was remaining unusually silent, staring straight ahead with near-unblinking eyes. 

"Umm.....Keena? You okay, dude?" Coldsnap asked worriedly, waving her hand up and down in front of the water mage's face. 

Keena promptly snapped back to attention. "Huh? What.....? Oh.....sorry, Coldsnap.....I was just.....thinking of something....." 

Firebird patted her on the back. "Hey, if this is about you almost hitting me with your attack back there, don't worry about it. It's not like you would've killed me; if anything, you probably would've just weakened me temporarily. And even without my fire augmentations, I'm still no slouch with these knives." 

The water mage took a deep breath. "You know what.....? You're right. It really, really wasn't that bad....." 

However, it was clear that she was desperately trying to convince herself; to make herself believe that the whole ordeal was less dire than it actually was. She had trained for weeks.....months.....no, years.....to be the absolute best she could be; and now here she was, recklessly putting her own allies in danger without even bothering to think first. 

Was she even worthy of this promotion she was about to receive? 

"Hey guys, we're approaching the main chamber again," Coldsnap alerted. "Keena, be ready to give your report to Hydraxus." 

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The four mages neared the large table in the middle of the central room; the same place where they had first been briefed on their mission by the Water Sect leader. Hydraxus already stood on the opposite side of it from where they had entered, eagerly awaiting an update. 

"So how did it go, dear Keena and friends? Have the nasty Seared Hand mages finally met their ends?" he asked. 

Coldsnap, Leo, and Firebird remained at the other end of the table while Keena neared Hydraxus and handed him the pendant she had taken off of the neck of one of the Seared Hand members. 

"They have, Hydraxus. In addition.....I retrieved that for you as evidence." 

She held her breath as he examined the trinket closely. It appeared to be a small, glowing, orange crystal that hung by a lanyard and had a dark, foreboding "F" engraved in black on its front.