Glacies

They had reached civilisation, there was a huge sign made of ice with the word Glacies engraved on it.

They walked through the sign and we're greeted with a truly angelic sight, houses made of ice, snow falling gingerly out of the clear blue sky as if it was an enchantment, the children running around throwing snow at each other and the occasional snow angel kid.

The houses were an opaque pastel blue colour and everyone was wearing matching white and blue outfits.

They went to the local inn which was easily identifiable since the sign had a bed and breakfast on it.

It had the same engravings as the sign at the front but it said Taberna.

The door opened by itself by sinking into the snow and reappeared when they got in. Once they had entered, a gust of warm air hit them full force and it felt like paradise so all of them keeled over except the masked man of course.

Alex woke up with his eyes shut on an impossibly soft bed that felt like he was floating on clouds.

"This feels so nice, am I in heaven, did I die of frostbite?" he asked.

"No you did not, but I could help you with that," someone said.

Alex opened his eyes and yawned while stretching.

He looked around and saw that the clouds he was referring to were something that looked like snow but didn't feel it.

The bed the snow was on was made out of ice and sitting next to it was a grumpy blond kid who was watching him.

"Dude, why are you looking at me while I'm sleeping that's kinda cree-"

Alex's head started hurting and saw Zaiel in a blank white environment smiling at him invitingly.

His head stopped hurting and the blond boy asked if he was fine and he answered that he was okay and hurriedly left the room.

He went down a flight of stairs and saw Claire and the masked man sitting down at a table while drinking what seemed to be orange juice.

He joined them and sat down. They were discussing what to do with the day, it was midday so there was no point in leaving unless they wanted to travel at night which would make the cold, colder.

"So, what do I call you?" Alex asked the masked man.

"You can just call me James," James answered.

Alex's head started hurting again and a vision of the white-haired man that was unrecognisable to him appeared in the same place that Zaiel did and blacked out again.

***

Back in the library Mei and Connor were sitting opposite each other thinking about where and how Davies has power but they didn't know what it was when said person jumped off one of the balconies and knocked Connor out with one blow. Connor woke up in a cell with steel chains on his wrists and ankles.

Everything around him was stone except for in front of him which was where the bars were.

He looked down and saw that he wasn't wearing a shirt, he also noticed that there were multiple slash marks across his chest which looked like it had been done by a whip. He felt all the pain at once and started screaming in agony.

***

Mei had seen Connor disappear into thin air and saw Davies standing where Connor was.

She yelped in surprise and jumped back. They were both looking at each other for a moment, she looked down and bolted towards him but because she was avoiding eye contact she didn't see him lifting his right leg into the air and when she was in range, he hit her shoulder so hard that she did a full-on front flip and smashed her head against the marble floor and lost consciousness.

***

Alex woke again in the same soft bed and stood up.

He walked down the stairs and saw James and Claire sitting down at the same table as before. He walked over to them and sat down next to James.

"Feeling better now?" James asked

"I couldn't be better, although, I am a little hungry," Alex replied

James walked up to the front desk and said something.

He came back with a platter full of meat, fried eggs and rice that looked very appetising.

Alex's stomach rumbled and he grabbed a drumstick, he dug in gratefully.

After they had finished their meals James piped up

"Right, time to go to the market," he said

"And why can't we go to the capital, we're wasting our time here," Alex said

"Where do you think I get the clothes we use and the food we eat while travelling, I can't magically create them," James replied in a semi annoyed tone.

Alex shut up and the three of them left to the marketplace.

Though it was night, it was still bustling and full of life.

There were floating lights in ice containers and the ice didn't melt.

They walked into an alleyway with multiple shops which were all very frightening to a shop that had no customers.

It was dark and quite frankly, scary. They had all types of jewellery including rings, necklaces, bracelets etc.

James walked up to the man standing in the stall, he was a hunchback wearing a brown, tattered cloak.

He handed him some weird coins that neither Claire nor Alex could recognise. The hunchback gave him 2 rings. James walked back to Alex and Claire and gave them both one each.

"That ring is very useful because if you smash the gem on top a protective barrier surrounds you until you either are safe or if you take the ring off," James said.

They went back to the marketplace, to butchers and bought multiple pieces of meat. They then went to the shop opposite which sold all types of ready-made food and drinks. They bought a ton of water pouches and went back to the inn and back to bed.