Coldsnap: Harbinger of Ice

~PARAGON CINEMATIC UNIVERSE: PHASE 1, BOOK 5~

*This novel serves as a concurrent story to both Viper's Bite and Shocker Rising. It does reference some minor events from those novels, but this story may otherwise be enjoyed separately.*

"Alpin would rather have Flamestar burn the entire world alive than see a woman ascend the Boreal Throne." -Firebird

The Mage Aspects are an otherworldly order of elementalists who hail from another dimension. The four sects that compose them-the Fire Sect, the Ice Sect, the Water Sect, and the Earth Sect-work among the humans of Earth in secret, protecting them from natural disasters, as well as other more trivial crimes should the need arise.

Quite possibly the Aspects' greatest pupil so far is the 17-year-old girl named Cassie, given the designation "Coldsnap" by her colleagues. Initially born with a slight vision defect, she has shown immense potential in her ice manipulation abilities, rivaling that of the Ice Sect's leader, Frost King Alpin, who sees her as a threat to his rule; furthermore, her clashing views on humanity compared to his own don't help much, for she believes that the Aspects should form proper relationships with Earth's inhabitants while Alpin thinks they should stay hidden. Fearful that she could usurp him one day, the Frost King banishes her from the Aspects entirely and casts her down to Earth, lying that he is preparing her for a "much greater purpose", when it was truly just an act of envy.

Unfortunately, this paves the way for the power-hungry leader of the Fire Sect, Morton Flamestar, to begin enacting his plans to conquer Earth and drown it in an eternal flame, seeing humanity as not being worth the Aspects' trouble. Now, it's up to Coldsnap to unite the other three sects and push back against Flamestar's corruption, before the world's entire population perishes in the fires of his hatred.

• Cover designed by @Castiment