Chapter 18: Frosten

Sniff.

The cold bit into my lungs as I breathed in. It spread like ice through my chest.

Dangerous.

We couldn't stay here long.

I glanced around—just snow and ice, endless and white.

"Ahh... why the hell are we here?!" I turned back. Anna's face was twisted with frustration, eyes blazing.

Not that I cared.

She could die out here.

But not before helping me secure that book.

I looked down at the emergency escape relic in my hand. She got it from that clerk behind the counter. I wasn't sure why he handed it over—maybe he saw the name on her ID and panicked. If that was true, there was probably a tracker in it. He definitely tipped off the Estellias by now. Maybe he thought I was holding her hostage.

Not entirely false.

I infused ether into the device and hurled it at a frozen tree.

PAH!

It exploded into shards.

When I turned back, Anna was staring at me, wide-eyed.

"You just destroyed an escape relic?! Are you insane?" she roared.

"Get down, Eat ice," I said, utterly unconcerned, and kept walking.

She screamed immediately, her body forcing her to obey despite herself. The slave seal made sure of that.

I kept walking, thinking. She probably knew what the relic contained and pretended not to. Maybe she thought I'd cling to it since it was our only ticket out.

Smart girl.

I stopped.

Looked up.

A cave. That's what I needed to find. Of course, it'd take a while.

BOOM!

The ground shuddered. I snapped around.

"Stop eating," I said sharply.

She looked up at me, blood streaking her face. Her white dress was in tatters, soaked and torn. Tears, blood, snot—she looked wrecked.

I tossed her a healing potion—the second one. The first was back in the forest to fix her shattered bones.

She scrambled for it, uncorked it, and downed the glowing liquid. Her wounds sealed within seconds.

"I hate you," she spat, tearing a piece of her dress to wipe her face before tossing the cloth aside.

"Trying to seduce me?" I muttered, glancing at the tear that now revealed her panties. Not sure where she got those. I sighed, disinterested, and turned away. "You'd have better luck with a rock."

"HA! HAHAHA! Seduce you?! Me, Annabelle?! There are literally thousands of better-looking people in the world! Have you even seen Auston?! He's everything you're not, you stupid bastard! You—"

Her voice faded into the background. I was listening for the sound again.

Something was coming.

I scanned the surroundings.

Frozen trees. Tall. Climbable.

"You are to remain where you stand until you see a beast," I commanded, activating my ether. It was getting easier, flowing more naturally. With a burst, I scaled one of the trees. The branches weren't as overgrown as a normal forest's, but they held.

"WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?!" she screamed up at me. The fury in her eyes said she'd strangle me in my sleep if she could. But she couldn't. Not with the seal.

She tried to move. Pain shot through her body each time, making her stop. All she could do was glare.

I waited. Watching.

Then—movement.

"An ice orc?" I whispered. They usually attacked in groups. But I only saw one. The others might be hidden.

"An orc?" she echoed. This was probably her first time seeing one.

Mine too.

Didn't see what was so exciting about it.

"Kill it," I said.

"You don't have to tell me," she growled, stretching out her hand.

Ice coalesced into a lance. She fired.

"Hey!" I snapped.

She looked back.

I tossed her one of the ether wands from my spatial ring. They helped focus her casting.

The orc held a massive ice shard, blocking the lance—but the shard cracked.

"GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" it roared and charged.

Wait. She wasn't supposed to move.

Whatever.

She panicked. Immobilized by the seal, she flared her ether. Instantly, a wall of ice rose between her and the orc.

"Huh." I blinked.

Her casting speed was improving.

But the orc didn't stop—it shattered the wall and lunged. Somehow, she had endured the pain from the seal and shifted slightly. Blood ran down her nose. Her resistance was growing—but the backlash from the seal was getting worse.

I pushed up my sleeve. The tattoo on my arm was glowing.

Wait.

I raised my hand. Focused.

"Ice," I whispered.

A massive spear formed in my mind.

When I opened my eyes, I cursed.

"Fuck…"

My ether drained in an instant.

But there it was—floating in front of me—a massive, perfectly-formed ice spear.

I tilted my head.

"Interesting."

"Damn it!" Anna screamed below. The orc's shard slammed into her shoulder.

She gritted her teeth. Her eyes burned bright blue.

She summoned a huge spear of fire—but before it launched—

BOOM!

My ice spear tore through the orc's chest like thunder.

She stared up, stunned.

I sighed.

"Stop gawking like an idiot. Come get me down."

With my ether gone, I was drained.

Tch. I really needed to start accounting for that… or one day, it was going to get me killed.