Dawn of Fog and Glass

Chapter Eleven: Dawn of Fog and Glass

With a shudder, a thick metal door slides up from the ground, cutting us off from the entrance. My heart leaps upwards, closing up my throat and fluttering in my stomach. I lay a hand on the cool metal of the door.
We're trapped in here.
I jump when a voice crackles over a speaker embedded in the glass dome ceiling.
"You guys know the deal, okay? When I call one of you out, you're out. I won't do so until it looks like someone else has got you beat. Everyone get onto a mark and wait for the green light."
Draco grabs my wrist, eyes wild, voice low and urgent. "You have to tell me who you are. Please. How do you know Orion?"
The back of my neck prickles. "I—"
"Draco, stop pestering Arden and get to your mark!" Tyrone rattles through the speaker.
My breath shakes in my chest. Draco tears his eyes away from me and moves away. I glance around the floor, where black tape settles in "x"s around the dome. Though there are six marks total, only three of them are occupied; one by the blonde girl at the far end; another by Draco to my right; and another by Dominic across from him. I slip onto the nearest mark, my nails biting into my palms.
Deep breaths, Arden.
It's hard to take deep breaths when I'm trapped with people who could kill me at any moment.
They're much too serious for my liking. The girl's face turns lifeless as she cracks her neck. Dominic's features become cold and unforgiving, although that's not too different from how it was before. Draco rubs his hands together. I don't like the sparks that sizzle on his skin.
Before I have time to strategize, a green light flashes from the ceiling, nearly blinding me.
The chaos starts when a crackling line of stalagmite-like icicles blossoms along the ground towards Draco. He jumps aside, flames licking up one of his arms.
"What was that?" I ask, staring at the ice.
"That," Draco breathes, "was a Dominic. And you haven't answered me." He releases the licking flames in a curving spiral that nearly singes Dominic's hair. He lunges to the side.
A fast blur whips around the sphere, and someone's arm locks around my neck.
I silently thank Brannigan for teaching me what to do in this scenario.
I flip around and face her. The switch in my position confuses her and gives me enough time to drive my elbow into her ribs. The impact is rough and jolts through my arm.
She releases me as her hands fly to her ribcage. She groans, cursing under her breath. I don't miss the opportunity and run, ducking under a blasting shock of fire. The air sizzles around me, blazing before of my face. Smoke tickles the air with a pungent, thick smell.
I glance behind me. The girl clutches her ribcage, coughing in a cloud of smoke.
My feet slip on a patch of solid ice.
Someone catches me. Draco.
"Thanks," I breathe. "I—hey, you tried to hit me!"
He sighs. "I was trying to get Beth when she had you in a headlock, but you moved and got in the way."
I scowl. "Oh, well, excuse me for saving myself."
Dominic's eyes roll into his head as a layer of frost slithers up Beth's skin. She shakes her arms and takes off, moving so fast she turns into a blur. Dominic growls, trying to catch her with clumps of ice rising from the ground.
An icy tentacle stretches from the ground and wraps around her ankles. She crashes to the ground, smacking her chin on the floor.
A beep echoes through the ring, accompanied by Tyrone's magnified voice. "You're out, Beth. Dom got you."
A smile creeps up Dominic's face. His hand goes to the ice around her ankle and melts away. She scowls up at Dominic, looking as if she's debating whether or not she should spit in his face. He offers her a hand up, to which she swats away. The metal door grinds open to allow Beth to leave and watch from outside. A thin man in a white medical uniform scurries to her side and begins treating her chin.
"Who are you?" Draco repeats. "How do you know Orion? Did you go to school with us?"
"No. I only met you when—," I begin, but a cloud of ice shards interrupts us. I duck, rolling away from him, and turn my back to the cloud. Better my back gets hit than any vulnerable areas.
I miss most of the shards, but a few pelt my back or slice against my skin, ripping the sample uniform here and there. I put my arms over my head and tuck my face into my knees, protecting my head, face, and organ area.
I scramble to my feet as soon as the ice shards stop coming. My head spins. Dominic stands a few feet away, Draco stumbling to the other side of the ring,
"Draco, she's open! Hit her!" Dominic yells. I shake glass shards from my hair. A thin line of scarlet sprouts from my cheek where a shard cut me. I wipe my hand across my face, smearing the blood across my palm.
Draco ignores him, turning to me. "You met me when?"
"When the Fog—"
A wall of pure ice cuts me off. It sweeps around my left and curves around my right, attempting to cage me in. I see it coming and dart from the middle, sliding on the slippery ground.
The glass dome is very excited about my presence. It hums, almost seeming to chatter with its nearby panes. If only I could learn how to use that energy and turn it into a weapon, maybe I could do something other than dodge blows.
"Draco, why aren't you getting her?" Dominic grunts, blocking a heavy stream of pure flames with a rotating ice shield. He faces me, straining against the weight of the fiery blow against his slowly melting shield. "And you, why aren't you attacking us? We're both vulnerable!"
Because I don't know how, dipshit.
But I don't say that. If they know I'm essentially useless apart from hand to hand combat, they'll know they have the advantage. If they know they have the advantage, it's game over for me.
"She's obviously keeping them secret to use them against us later so she has the advantage of surprise," Draco huffs, flames licking up his arms and shoulders. His uniform must be fireproof; it doesn't burn in the slightest.
I don't point out that Draco already knows my ability. Maybe he's only covering for me. Thank you, Draco.
I consider jumping in to help, but what could I do? Plus, back at Marksberg, Brannigan liked to emphasize one important thing about fights concerning more than two people: don't involve yourself if you don't have to. Save your energy until you absolutely need it.
"I didn't meet anyone when the Fog hit," Draco gasps, straining to hold his control over the fire. "I was stuck in a cellar up until Crawlers broke in, followed by government officers. And the only people in the cellar before were my parents, Orion, and this other random girl."
I blink. "Draco."
"What?" He grunts. At this point, he's nearly blown through Dominic's shield. He'll get Dominic out in a moment, and then we'll really talk.
"I'm the random girl!"
The fire sputters out instantly. He turns to face me, eyes shocked. My heart races. Did I really just say that? Did I really just reveal to him that I, the girl from the cellar, am alive? And I know Orion, a person who he presumably thought was dead?
"You're—"
A block of ice materializes around his feet, crawling up his pant legs and wrapping around his waist. In only seconds, Draco is trapped inside his own personal cage of ice. It's not a surprise when Tyrone's voice booms from the speaker.
"Dom, let him go. Draco, you're out."
Dominic plants one hand on the ice block and seems to suck the ice straight off his body as if from a magic vacuum.
Draco lays a hand on my arm. I expect it to be cold from the ice; instead, it's burning hot. I yank my hand away.
"Is he alive?"
"Draco, you're out. Please be a good sport this time," Tyrone says.
"Is. Orion. Alive?" He breathes, almost too low to hear.
My shoulder blades prickle with fear. Something about Draco is much, much different from the boy in the cellar. From the boy in Orion's paintings. And it's not just the vibrant change in hair colour or that his little flame tricks are now lethal blows. Something in his eyes is wild, angry, broken, urgent, desperate.
My throat squeezes tightly around itself. I can't do much more than nod slowly.
Finally, I say, "Yeah. Yes, Orion is alive."
His face goes white.
The metal door slides open, and Tyrone pulls him out by the collar of his uniform.
"I told you to be a good sport, Draco." He sighs. Draco's eyes don't leave mine, but the rest of his face drops, becomes cold. Emotionless. Unfeeling.
Or maybe he's just that shocked.
He doesn't fight Tyrone, just lets Tyrone pull him to the benches with Beth, the blonde girl. A small group of medical help surrounds them, treating to wounds. Small flames still dance around Draco's arm, racing up and down his sleeve like a serpent.
I notice with a squeeze in my gut that other students are crowding around the ring, watching. The session must be over, but Tyrone seems to want us to finish before we leave. Yay me. Dozens of people will watch Dominic blast me to smithereens.
Lovely.
The buzz of the glass intensifies. It feels my nervousness and blankets me with its strange thrum. If I knew how to use that and turn it into a weapon, I would maybe be okay.
Unfortunately, I don't know how to use it.
I skid aside from a whirl of ice shards. They track me. I drop to my stomach, hands pressed against the ground and elbows supporting my fall. The shards explode when they make contact with the ground. I roll out of the smashing zone, covering my head, and come face to face with Dominic. His blue eyes go wide.
From far away, Dominic is dangerous. If he so chose, he could have killed me with those shards. Up close, he's much less experienced.
Luckily for me, I'm the opposite.
I grab his arm, wrenching it around his back. I lock my arm around his neck. He attempts to do what I did to Beth earlier, but I'm too small for him. His elbow misses me entirely.
I keep one arm around his neck, the other tying his wrist to his back, and slowly press the tip of my knee into the back of his. He grunts, straining against me. The students outside the ring are cheering for Dominic, their voices echoing through the cavernous space.
"Run, Dom!"
"Freeze her!"
"She's almost got you!"
He struggles harder, and I nearly lose my grip. His skin turns ice cold, stinging my fingers. I bite my lip and apply more pressure to the back of his knee. He slowly bends, his legs shaking, until his knees press against the floor. His skin becomes colder, if that's even possible.
He twists in my grasp, though it's little more than useless. My arm, securing his neck, prevents his torso and head from moving; his dominant arm is wrapped tightly behind his back; and his legs are pinned to the floor under me.
The speaker crackles. "Dom, you're—"
His skin sprouts a thick layer of frost, creeping up my arms and temporarily numbing my fingertips. I jump back, arms stinging.
Dominic springs, catching me by surprise. His hands latch onto my shoulders and shove me to the icy ground, knocking the wind out of me. The surrounding students burst into cheers. Draco stares silently as the nurses work around him.
I trap my fingertips under my legs. Only a few moments and they'll regain feeling.
"How did you do that?" Dominic asks.
"What, the combat? It's basic self defence. It should have been the first thing you were taught."
Good, Arden. Keep him distracted.
His hands press my shoulders further into the icy floor.
"We never learned that sort of stuff. Just how to control our abilities."
I frown. "How are you ever supposed to defend yourselves if you can't even throw a punch?" My fingers prick with pins and needles as the feeling returns. Just another second or two.
"I can throw a wall of ice. Isn't that—"
I slam the palm of my hand into his nose. He shouts and recoils, stretching up. I wrap my legs around his waist and use the momentum to throw him on the ground underneath me. My forearm flattens his collarbone to the ground, the other arm fisted above me, waiting to strike.
Tyrone clears his throat. "Okay, now Dom is—"
The glass dome carpets with frost, and the temperature of the ring drops rapidly. Our breath comes out in white puffs. The sudden temperature shift is enough to distract me as he grabs my fist, coating it in ice.
It hurts. A lot. I cry out, the heaviness of the ice slowing me down as he flips me onto my back again.
Tyrone sounds confused now. "Or maybe Arden is—"
I knee him in the groin. Not the classiest of moves, but it's effective.
He groans, and I shove him away from me, scrambling back. With his attention elsewhere, the ice around me wrist falls apart, shattering on the floor.
Come on, glass. Work with me for once.
I stand unsteadily, hands shaking. I realize my mistake too late. I shouldn't have gotten this far away.
The onslaught of ice throws me against the wall, pushing me high out of reach. Dominic watches with a silent face. His eyes have enough expression, anyway.
The ice settles around my limbs, caging me in, big chunks and miniscule slivers shuddering around me.
Tyrone begins again. "Can we just say Dom won? Is Arden out?"
The buzzing of the glass burns in my ears, ready to explode. The glass dome creaks in the top, and a massive crack slices through the ceiling. A few students scream. Dominic shouts, and the ice releases me. The sound becomes dull in my ears, blocking out everything but the popping glass as hairline cracks spread from the chop in the dome like a disease.
"Okay Arden's out and Dom won and everyone just get out of the dome right now," Tyrone hisses, and the metal door slides open. The thrumming recedes as quickly as it came, like with the Marksberg window.
I drop to the floor. Dominic holds out a hand for me, which I don't take.
"Good fight." He laughs, much to my surprise.
"Good fight? You could have seriously hurt me!"
"You could have seriously hurt me, but we have medics nearby."
I scowl. "Medics. Not miracle workers."
My head spinning, I stumble over the chunks of ice and slip down the ramp after Dominic. He heads over to the medics nonchalantly, hands in his uniform pockets, and sits at a bench.
I move to Tyrone nervously. "I'm sorry about the dome. I don't have money to pay for it, but—"
Tyrone laughs. "Sorry? That was one of the coolest fights we've had around here in a while. Don't sweat it, we can replace it. Others have done worse." He claps me on the back. "You should get over to the medics, though. They'll want to tend to you."