Ice 2

I told the kid to make a cup with her hand and poured some of the vial's liquid into it and told her to drink it.

As soon as she drank the drink, she looked satisfied with herself more than ever.

And so I also drank the rest of the liquid, and the cold turned to warmness, my thermosensation reversed, and with it came satisfaction.

"When are we gonna see Daddy?" she asked, "very soon" I answered, a knife piercing my heart, "now we have to hurry alright?, because I have somewhere to go first, is that okay with you?", "Yeah" she answered, "But we can't take too long, I already miss daddy".

A thousand Cultros pierced my heart.

I ran about a kilometer when I noticed a sign saying that the kingdom of ice was to our right, And I ran towards the right at a steady pace; trying not to tire myself out before we reach there.

The frozen wasteland stretched endlessly before us, but the lights of the kingdom of ice were growing closer with each step. The vial's warmth kept the cold from slowing us down, but the weight in my chest was far heavier than any blizzard could be.

The girl held onto my cloak as I ran, her grip firm but trusting. She still believed. Still hoped.

I clenched my jaw and kept moving.

After another half-kilometer, I saw something in the distance—a towering ice wall, jagged and massive, encircling the kingdom. A gate stood at its base, faintly illuminated by glowing blue lanterns. The entrance.

"We're almost there," I told her.

She perked up. "Will Daddy be waiting for us there?"

I didn't answer right away. My throat was tight, my thoughts spiraling. Very soon, I had told her. But what was I supposed to do when we got there?

The weight of my lie crushed me, but I had no choice. I couldn't break her heart here, not in the middle of nowhere.

"Yeah," I whispered. "Just a little longer."

I forced my legs to keep moving, pushing forward through the icy winds.

Then, something changed.

The air grew still. Too still.

A presence—something unseen—pressed down on us. My instincts screamed at me to stop, and I skidded to a halt, tightening my grip on the girl.

A figure stood in the snow ahead. Cloaked in pure white, its face hidden beneath a hood.

I hadn't heard it approach. Hadn't felt it until now.

I stepped back, my hand moving to my Cultro. "Who are you?"

The figure tilted its head slightly. Then, in a voice as cold as the ice itself, it spoke:

"The vial. Hand it over."

My blood ran colder than the tundra beneath my feet.

I instinctively stepped back, pulling the girl closer. The figure didn't move, but the weight of its presence pressed against me like an unseen force.

"The vial isn't yours," I said, gripping my Cultro tighter.

The figure exhaled slowly, mist curling around them. "It doesn't belong to you, either."

I didn't answer. Every instinct screamed that this person was dangerous. They hadn't drawn a weapon, but that only made them more terrifying. Someone confident enough to demand something without force was either incredibly powerful… or completely insane.

The girl trembled against me. "Who is that?" she whispered.

I didn't have an answer.

The figure took a slow step forward. The ice beneath their feet didn't crunch or crack—it was as if they weren't even touching the ground.

"You don't understand what you're carrying," they continued. "That vial was never meant to reach this place."

I slowly shifted into a defensive stance, Sefor beginning to stir within me. "Too bad," I said. "It already did."

For the first time, I saw something under the hood—a faint, glimmering smirk.

"Then you leave me no choice."

The air turned deadly.

Before I could react, the entire landscape erupted.

Massive spikes of ice shot up from the ground, encircling me and the girl in an instant. I leaped back just in time, twisting my body to avoid being impaled, but I barely had space to move.

The girl screamed, clutching onto me.

The figure raised a hand, and the ice spikes moved, twisting and shifting like living things.

I gritted my teeth. This person… controls the ice itself.

There was no time to think.

I released Sefor.

The blue light surged around my Cultro and legs, filling me with a burning energy. I pushed forward, dashing between the shifting ice. My blade flashed as I struck, shattering the frozen spears in my path.

The figure remained still, watching. Calculating.

"You're fast," they murmured. "But not fast enough."

The ice twisted again. This time, it formed something else.

A hand.

A massive, clawed hand made of pure ice burst from the ground, reaching for me.

I grabbed the girl and threw myself to the side, barely avoiding the crushing force as the ice hand slammed into the ground, sending shards flying everywhere.

I landed hard, rolling to absorb the impact. The girl whimpered, clinging to my cloak.

I pushed myself up, breathing hard.

This wasn't a fight I could afford to lose.

And I was just getting started.

"Who are you" I asked, "tell me", My rename is Karah of the Merged", "she answered, "and who are you?", "I'm nameless" I answered dodging another spike of ice.

Karah's smirk widened. "Nameless? How fitting for a slave of the Blacklands"

Another wave of ice erupted beneath me, jagged and fast. I barely managed to flip backward, the girl still clinging to me. If I had been even a fraction of a second slower, I would have been skewered.

She's playing with me. Testing me.

I needed to end this fast.

Sefor burned through my veins, and I let it spread, focusing not just on my Cultro, but my entire body. The moment the blue light surged around me, I felt it—power, movement, flow.

I charged.

Karah raised a hand, and a wall of ice formed between us in an instant. But I wasn't aiming for her directly. I twisted midair, planting my foot against the ice wall and launching myself sideways, angling toward her blind spot.

For the first time, I saw surprise flicker in her eyes.

I slashed.

My Cultro, bathed in Sefor's light, cut through the cold. But before my blade could reach her, Karah vanished.

I hit the ground, skidding to a stop, my breath heavy.

She reappeared a few meters away, standing as if nothing had happened. The ice where she had been a second ago was untouched.

"You're fast," she admitted. "But not fast enough."

I gritted my teeth. That was the second time she had said that.

And it pissed me off.

She wasn't invincible[title card].

No one was.

I glanced at the girl. She was shaking but trying to be brave. I had to get her out of here.

"Karah of the Merged," I said, gripping my weapon. "What do you want with the vial?"

Her expression turned unreadable. "That liquid disturbs the balance," she said. "It wasn't meant to exist. It must be erased."

"Then why not take it before I drank it?"

Her eyes narrowed.

That was it, wasn't it? She couldn't. Or at least, she shouldn't have waited.

I clenched my jaw. "It's in me now."

"Yes," she said. "And that means I have to erase you, too."

The air turned sharp, freezing.

I exhaled, gripping my Cultro tighter.

So be it.