The Majors, Cold Fury (Book 2)

Chapter 76: Scott POV

I don't know how long I stood there, staring.

Dread pooled into my lower stomach like water slowly rising to drown me in that choking fear of a repeat. It felt like I was suffocating in a blanket of anxiety slowly eating away at me until I was nothing but a creature of worry like I had been before.

It couldn't have been me this time, could it? I hadn't even been over there for ages...It had to be something else... I might as well check it out, right?

I exhaled slowly, trying to calm myself down and force away a panic attack of sorts, brushing away the crystalizing ice off of my knit sweater that had begun to cling to the wool.

Deep breaths...

Finally, after several minutes of trying to gain control and trying not to freeze Rivendale back over, I started forward. The pathway up to the hill behind the palace was steep, and slightly unfinished. I stumbled up it, nearly tripping several times on protruding rocks and uneven potholes.

Slipping and sliding I made my way to the flat surface of the hill, scattered around were the large spires of ice towering over myself... they seemed to form rings around one another, all the points almost gesturing towards the center where the largest spire stuck straight up out of the ground.

I hugged myself, the chill stinging my arms through the holes of the sweater. I cautiously moved forwards between the large, pointed ice pillars, their surfaces reflective like mirrors and showing my image throughout the maze of spikes.

I felt eyes watching me, which were really just my own bouncing off of the sheer surfaces of the crystal-clear ice, but it still felt like each pair were burning into my skin like hot metal.

I slowly made my way towards the center, stepping over shards of ice poking out of the ground to rip up the grass and dirt.

My breath instantly caught in my throat at the sight of what resided in the center.

The center spire was huge, much bigger than I had originally thought, spanning nearly eight feet in diameter. I craned my neck to look at the top, hardly visible from right beside it. But my eyes landed on what was inside of it.

Nestled into the center of the spire was a sword.

Its form was blurred from the layers of ice shielding it from the open, details masked but still rather prominent...

"What on earth..." I murmured to myself, pressing one of my hands against the ice, searing cold but pleasant against my palm. I leaned closer towards the glass-like material, catching my own reflection again and a pulse of Xornoth's crystal dangling from my neck.

I could have just left then and there. It was none of my business. Nope, none at all. I did not need a mysterious flashy sword that somehow encased itself in ice that just randomly appeared in my empire. I had learned too many times that meddling in situations like this only dug me deeper into my grave of troubles. But... 

I couldn't help it. Curiosity always got the best of me. It always won. 

I pressed my fingers against the ice, feeling it melt beneath my fingertips until I hand reached my arm up to my shoulder through the ice, my chest now pressed against the spire.

 I stretched my fingertips, straining my arm to try and reach the hilt of the sword that was barely inches away.

Finally, with one small lunge that nearly tugged my arm from its socket, my hand wrapped around the hilt.