The Blood in Our Veins

Chapter Thirty Eight - Project Frost

- TRISTAN'S POV -

Several warriors and spies stood in the tent with Ryon and I while we predicted Gallahein's next move. As I understood, Taron, one of the merchants that traveled in and out of the Palace, had some valuable information.

"What is it, Taron? What's so important?" I asked. The man seemed genuinely afraid.

"One of the servant girls told me of over four hundred soldiers marching this way." he reported dutifully. I almost ran him through on the spot.

"We destroyed almost ten hundred of their warriors in the last battle. This isn't a threat." I explained slowly, barely containing my anger. I had been woken up at the crack of dawn for this?!

"No, sir. You don't understand. There are four hundred and one of them." he said. I snorted. The wealthy vendor held up his hand, wishing to continue relaying his worthless data. "I have come to believe that this extra warrior is Project Frost." My eyes widened. We had received confirmation of Project Frost about two weeks before. From what we knew, it was some kind of immensely powerful weapon that had the ability to destroy us all. The False King had spent many gold coins for the production of the destructive force.

"Are you sure?" I questioned.

"I would bet my life on it, Prince Tristan. They've lost ten of the Twelve Battles. According to law, they can't go much farther. Project Frost may be the only way they can win. Unless we find out who or what this weapon is, and turn it to our uses, there's no way we'll survive." Taron pointed out. I groaned. He was right.

I waved them all out of the tent. They knew to stay away when I was getting into one of my moods. Once the others had left, I turned to Ryon. "We need to train them. All three thousand. Our soldiers are getting too confident, too cocky. They don't know what's coming." I said.

"Then we should tell them. They have a right to know." he replied coolly.

"No. We can't. Half of our ranks would vanish into thin air."

"It's better than bodies on stretchers, and you know it." Ryon stated. I let out a breath of air.

"Fine. Tell them. Until they leave, train them hard. I want my men ready for anything." I barked.

"Why are you so set on the idea that they're going to leave? They've each sworn to protect what's left of the throne. Loyalty to you shall never die." he reminded me. I waved him out of the tent with orders not to let anyone enter. I stayed inside for two days studying countless maps and reading hundreds of battle strategies.

Suddenly, just as I was finishing up a book titled 'The Great Battle of Farannica', Bryn burst into the tent, worry a dominating feature in his presence. "What is it, Bryn? What can be so impossibly important that you can disobey a direct order and waltz in here without so much as permission?" Sweat dripped down his face and he was too out of breath to answer. He simply held out a red piece of thick, standard-issue paper. I snatched it out of his hand, furious with the child.

Horror struck as I lept from my chair and sprinted from the tent. If that card was more than an empty threat, we were all more than likely to die. On the paper was stamped a golden snowflake. The symbol of Project Frost. I shouted orders to my men, directing them to the north side of camp. When it came, we would be ready. In almost no time at all, my ranks were lined up on the edge of our small civilization. A few wolves that had been within earshot were among the men.

A thick fog had settled on the plain in front of us. It seemed to have brought an uneasy silence with it. Almost materializing out of fear itself, a warrior stood just at the end of the nothingness. It was entirely clothed in white, only the eyes visible through a thin slit in the fabric. The fog concealed the bottom half of Project Frost, making it seem as if it were made of the stuff, and this was all a figment of our imaginations. It watched us for a moment, then retreated into it's fortress of mist.

A brave man looked at me, fear dancing behind his eyes, and took off into the fog. He was swallowed whole by the great snowy beast. Not ten seconds later, there was a shout, of which cut off abrubtly. A freezing wind rippled our forces. The fog dispersed, blown away by the icy gale. Project Frost hovered about three meters in the air... above the man who had so courageously entered the mist. He lay crumpled on the ground, the hilt of a weapon protruding from his shoulder.

Project Frost flicked its wrist and shot off toward the east, propelled by winds of extraordinary power. Naturally, I was the first to speak. "What the hell was that?!" I cried. No matter how much we wanted to deny it, we all knew. I ran forward to tend to the man on the ground. I checked his pulse. Thankfully, he was alive. Unconscious, but alive. I looked at the weapon in his arm. The end of the hilt had a snowflake on it. The blade read a single phrase, but it was unreadable. It seemed to be in Draconic, if I remembered correctly. Only then did I realize how stupid I was to refuse those lessons in the Lost Language. Sindri had no choice, considering that she was next in line for the High Throne. Lucky Sindri...

I removed the dagger from the man's arm. It was then that I saw what was carved into the ground next to him.

Consider this a warning.

The man was hauled away on a single stretcher. I stood to examine the weapon. It was beautifully crafted, with a gold cross-hilt and silver blade. I looked in the direction that Project Frost had flown. It truly was a warning. If Gallahein had power over things as terrifying as this, what had he done to Sindri? He would have tortured her to no end, if I had my head on straight. If that was true, then she would be in no condition to rule over Arkenon. When the time came, I would have to be High King.

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It took me FOREVER to write this. I couldn't think of how to put it, so I had to win a pinball game. I'm getting a little rusty, so my score was only 138,450. Stupid broken paddle thing. The whole Project Frost idea is kinda cool though... I'd like to send a shout-out to my wicked awesome cousin Ryan, just because he's cool and plans to stuff his face with Thanksgiving nummies tomorrow. I think I need to give all you peoples some advice.

1. If your brother decides to do a belly-flop on the couch, don't hold up your foot.

2. When your best friend greets you, don't say "Good morning. I see the assassins have failed."

3. If someone is coming to visit you in five minutes, DO eat all the ice cream possible. Sometimes, after they leave, you'll find that the carton has mysteriously disappeared.

4. If you happen to be a tyrannosaurus rex with access to the internet, don't mess with me. I have a head of lettuce and I'm not afraid to use it.

5. Eat chocolate while you can. I plan on completely destroying the population. Each and every piece decided to move into my stomach. :)

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