FROST- Jotun Chronicles #1

New Teacher

“I’ve only ever seen the Queen in battle once.” Erik’s eyes were far away, his voice held a note of awe as he remembered, “she is a blur, a whirl wind of snow and ice. She freezes her opponents even as they move against her.”

“Freezes them?” My voice sounded high and strained. I remembered Loki telling me I wouldn’t be able to freeze him, “I thought frost and fire sort of canceled each other out.”

“Usually they do.” Erik nodded. “That’s why we fight more effectively with swords. But a very powerful jotun can overcome the powers  of his enemy. The Queen is extremely powerful, she can do so without thought. But if you were to try to freeze Loki for instance…” here he raised his eyebrows, and I tried not to blush, “you would have to try very hard. You are lucky in that you have frost blood in you, it will be harder for the Queen to freeze you.”

“Why?”

 “Our powers aren’t meant to be used against our own kind. It’s nearly impossible to freeze your own kin.”

This reminded me of my fight in the hallway with lady Edda, how furious I had been. How the ice crackled under my fingers and she had shrieked in surprise. “I think…I think I’ve done it,” I said hesitantly. When Erik looked confused I continued hastily, “On lady Edda, when we were fighting. It wasn’t much ice, but the way she reacted you would have thought I’d stabbed her.”

Erik was steadying me with interest. “Because you’re not supposed to be able to do that.” He smiled suddenly. “You continue to surprise me, Amo- Megan.”

“Thanks.” I folded my arms over my chest, trying to ignore the fact that he’d almost called me by that name. I was beginning to hate it.

“How are the dreams?” he said abruptly. “Have you had any lately?” Erik was looking at me eagerly, like he was hoping I would admit that I had. The light in his eyes made me back up a step. Did he somehow think he was communicating with his dead love through me? That he could still hear about a part of her in my dreams?

I shook my head. “No, I haven’t had any more lately.”

He looked crestfallen. “Ah, I was hoping she would surface to help you in battle.”

Battle. He was right. My skin prickled all over. I hadn’t had any dreams lately, did that mean I had lost my ability with the katana? My wide eyes must have communicated panic, because Erik drew his sword from the scabbard with a ringing of metal on metal. He brandished it, waiting for me to draw my sword. I pulled the katana from the scabbard with shaking hands.

He swung without warning, and my arms went up automatically, the weight of the blow vibrating through me as I blocked his sword. The clash of steel echoed in the huge empty training room. He danced backwards and swung again, and I countered just as smoothly. The movements seemed as natural as breathing. Relief flooded through me, and Erik finally stepped back, thrusting his sword back into the sheath at his hip. He dragged one hand across his brow and nodded, satisfaction evident on his face, “Dreams or no, you’re still doing fine. I don’t know too much about genetic memories, but I think it’s safe to say that the sword skill is in there for good.”

Thank god for that. The subject brought up a question I’d been wondering about. “Speaking of genetic memories….when I first met the girls they had dreams too. What does that mean?”
                Erik waved one hand in the air, as if this wasn’t significant or important, “The Queen sent out soldiers to imprint on the girls. She had this idea that she would breed super soldiers that knew how to fight straight out of the womb. It didn’t work very well. So when it came time to imprint on you, she made sure she did the magic herself, to make sure nothing went wrong.”