Coldsnap: Harbinger of Ice

Chapter 22: A Fractured Relationship

The Boreal Throne was a mostly barren room; although it was made of pure ice like the rest of the castle, not many structures lay around it. The only features of note were the main entrance, which remained locked, the two additional side doors, a big circular area in the middle of the room that was decorated with a complex pattern, and a large throne at the back wall with a huge "ice sun" engraving acting as its backdrop, with a short set of stairs leading up to it. However, the Frost King himself was nowhere to be seen.

"Umm.....that's a little weird....." Keena said. "Shouldn't he be in here? What kind of ruler doesn't stick around to defend his own place?"

"No.....he's here," Coldsnap replied. "Probably set a trap for us."

Firebird raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

Coldsnap shrugged. "It's definitely what I'd do."

"So.....how were you planning on getting that huge chair out of the way so we can get to the basement?" Leo asked, elbowing the heroine in the arm once again.

"Please stop doing that," she pleaded. "Why don't you and Keena go have a look at it? See if you can find anything."

The pair did as they were told, leaving Coldsnap and Firebird at the base of the stairs.

"He wasn't helpful at all, was he?" she asked her friend.

"Nope," Firebird replied. "Left me to fight the Ice Sentries on my own, and insisting on stuffing his face with an entire chicken that was in the dining room."

"Seriously? Alpin never cooks anything.....don't tell me he ate it raw?"

"I had to deal with keeping him safe on top of handling the guards. And don't worry, he cooked the chicken."

"How?"

"By slapping it."

Coldsnap barely stifled a laugh. "What?!"

"Hit it at high speed with a heated hand," Firebird explained. "Fixed it instantly. The one thing that he did that was actually somewhat impressive."

The icy heroine sighed. "What are we going to do with him?"

I can think of a lot of things..... Firebird answered internally. The fact that she knew Leo was a traitor and couldn't do anything to expose him yet without suffering repercussions ate at her mercilessly from the inside. It was clear that she was angry, but she did her best to remain calm.

"Yes! Quite a handful, that one!" Firebird responded, obviously seething. "Really can't believe he's part of the team!"

"Still.....he might be useless as heck, but at least he hasn't done anything to intentionally harm us yet. Sure, he's worthless, but at least he's not hostile," Coldsnap added, setting off the fire mage even more.

"Nope! He's not entirely useless!" Firebird said. "Didn't he make us those costume-changing scanners? Agree to recruit your friends and family from Earth to help us deal with Flamestar?"

However, the heroine remained oblivious for the time being. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe I was wrong about him before. When this is all over, I'll be sure to make up with him."

Firebird grumbled incoherently as she took Coldsnap by the arm and hauled her up the stairs towards Leo and Keena.

"Coldsnap, look what we found," Leo reported, pointing to a keyhole in the back of the throne.

"You picked the lock in the training quarters earlier.....think you can pick this one, too? I'd assume that once it's unlocked, the throne should move out of the way," Keena suggested. "Then we can get to the jail cells."