The Ice Princess

Chapter 18

warning: this is probably some short, warbled mash that i just threw up

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All five armies headed towards one place. The castle. I had one last chance to convert Opah, Resme, and Brial into our side. I signaled for Olivia and Cora to stay where they are. I ran in the direction of where the armies would converge. The trumpets were already being sounded.

Approximately ten more seconds. I ran faster.

"Argh!" I slipped on the ice. The warriors held their weapons up. Time seemed to stay still. The trumpets stopped. One by one, they all opened their mouths for one last battle cry.

I didn't hesitate to stop and think. "No!" Quickly, I uttered the Latin words. Virtus de glacie. The warriors then slammed into four thick walls of ice. A few pulled back the rein of their horses to avoid being in the chain reaction of grunts and to avoid falling over.

If this wasn't nerve-wracking, I would've laughed as everyone seemed frozen in surprise. Regaining my composure, I made the ice beneath my feet rise out of the ground into a small platform. My jaw slackened as I saw that the army lines stretched for at least half a mile, if not longer.

"Listen," I shouted at them. No time for small talk. I could hear the scrambling of the inhabitants of the castle. "Marie-Hale and Devora Sharpe are trying to poison you! They want to rule the entire land of Araisa! Opah, Resme, and Brial, you are saying you want to be poisoned as we-"

A deep voice scoffed to my left. "Of course we don't want to be poisoned. Why do you think we are on the side of the Queen of Callia? So we could also share in the reigning of Araisa. You must be stupid."

I looked at the dude incredulously. "No, sir, you must be stupid. You think Devora and Marie-Hale would share their pow-"

"Considering we're protecting them from being attacked by the forces of the other three kingdoms," Another voice said from my right. "I think they'd be grateful."

I rolled my eyes, sighed, and cringed. The fallen, disoriented soldiers were now ready once more.

"So for the last time, I can't just stop this war and convince you to just team up against Marie-Hale and Devora?"

Suddenly, all four walls shattered. Apparently, soldiers were beating and smashing and breaking the ice while we were talking. I shielded myself from the shards, and the battle cries commenced.

I lowered the platform, and prayed for the courage for what I'm about to do. I lowered it until I was underground. Under the packed snow and ice. A few soldiers fell with me.

"Oh my god," I whispered. I had expected soil underneath all that snow, but apparently, it's all snow. White all around. I guess that's a good thing, since I don't have power over earth. I made myself a tunnel so I could get out of, estimating where I left Cora and Olivia. As soon as I thought I could climb out, I did. Ten feet away from me, around sixty warriors were dueling. Further away was Cora and Olivia. The former was shielding the child from the battles. I ran over to them as a soldier charged. I made an ice wall that he would slam through.

Going underground again, I led Cora and Olivia to the basement of the castle. We could hear the stampede of horses and feet above.

"This is tiring," I complained, as I made the snow form a path for us, and as soon as we went through that particular place, I made the snow form again so the ones above weren't too thin for the weight.

"Let me try," Olivia said. She said the Latin words and tried to melt the ice. It was going well, until I saw that the snow above was falling.

"Don't," I said. "The snow up there might collapse." She stopped. I noticed Cora was shivering, so I put a bubble of warmth around her, like the ones we used when searching for Devora.