The Son of Ice and Dusk

Where I read my Professor's secret diary

When Edgar stopped speaking, the whole Temple became made of ice.

"The Ice Palace," Raegan said. "This is the clue as to where we have to go next. But we should probably take a nap first."

"The world is about to end and you want to take a nap?" Jeff asked.

"Don't be absurd," Raegan replied. "Earth is not about to end and KI doesn't even exist. But we all need our beauty sleep, especially Ryan."

I seconded this, but I didn't want to sleep on the ice. Thankfully, only the temple had frozen over, so we slept amongst the dunes of the beach. Jeff, Raegan and Edgar would take turns waking up and paying attention to threats.

I was glad they didn't ask me to. Not only was I exhausted, but I started dreaming as soon as I fell asleep.

In my dream I was Vitaly, just like the last time.

I couldn't remember what it was, but I knew something horrible must have just happened. I could feel it.

Somebody died. I couldn't bring myself to think about it. It was too painful.

I looked around. I was in KI, near the Temple. I just had a crazy idea about the Enemy Mirror.

A name came to mind. Jono Mitchell. And then I could contact the New Faith. Of course, behind their bigoted exterior, they could understand.

Leaving clues, somebody else would be able to look for the Enemy Mirror, I thought. Samuel's son, if he won't be killed. I swore to myself I was going to help him.

I had to move fast. I knew somebody wanted to kidnap me.

I was scared out of my mind and terrified of them. But they weren't the Reapers.

They were the Awakened.

I woke up sweating.

Raegan was sleeping like an angel, while Jeff and Edgar were already awake.

"Don't you need some rest?" I asked a pale and nervous Jeff.

"No, I don't," he replied. "I'll only be able to rest once we finish the quest. I can understand why you or Raegan would want to sleep — you almost died yesterday and she has seen her father's ghost. I'm the only one who doesn't have anything to lose."

I wanted to ask him what he meant, but I knew.

Raegan often thought of the past. I had a chance for my future since I had just left behind a place where I didn't belong.

Jeff, however, only had this moment. Avenging his father's memory, looking for the Enemy Mirror — this was all he had ever had.

"Jeff is right, let's go to the Ice Palace," Edgar said.

"No," Raegan retorted. "Breakfast first."

"I think I should call the shots," I pointed out. "I almost died yesterday. Those wounds don't magically disappear, you know that right? I barely have strength to walk. Breakfast it is."

Breakfast didn't mean the same thing it meant in Brighton, sandwiches and orange juice that I ate at the care home before school. And it didn't mean what it meant back at the Academy either — whatever we chose from the little buffet Mister Winter prepared, usually toast, jam, fruit and cereal.

Breakfast on KI meant Raegan picking strange berries and fruit and Edgar telling her whether they were poisonous using the knowledge of what you shouldn't eat on Earth. And we had to trust the same rules worked for this fairytale world.

"Raegan told me the story of the Ice Palace and for once, I already knew it too," Jeff said enthusiastically. "It was popular outside Set's series, with the title A Dragon and Two Princesses. I didn't know it was based in the same fictional world."