by Logan Jacobs
“Excellent work, Cole,” the woman said in a quiet voice. “I hope you know just how powerful you truly are.”
“I’m still learning new things about myself every day,” I said as I gazed upon her flawless face.
“And you will continue to,” she answered with a half-smile. “Now, are you ready for our next lesson? The sun in your world will be rising soon, so we must complete this test as quickly as possible.”
“Alright,” I said as confidence and excitement swelled in my heart. “I’m ready.”
“As I said, this task will be challenging, even more so than the previous lesson,” she explained in a stern voice. “You will have to listen very, very closely.”
“Of course,” I said. “Tell me what to do, and I will do it.”
“First, like with any other spell, you must open your mind and heart to Satan and allow his power to wash over you like a blood-filled storm. Let his overwhelming glory give you the strength you were born to possess! Feel it all around you, and soon, you will be able to summon herds of dragons, packs of bears, loyal shadows… and whatever beings you’ve tamed and bent to your will!”
I closed my eyes and took in a sharp breath of air. A cool breeze whipped around me, and for a moment, it felt like I was in the middle of a brutal storm. Then, as evil flowed through my veins and my heart hammered wildly in my chest, I could feel my unholy lord’s glory overtaking my senses.
“You’re ready to utter the spell… I can feel it in the air,” the raven-haired beauty said. “Just repeat after me. ‘Ego in vtero producite!’”
“Ego in vtero producite!” I cried out with closed eyes.
Suddenly, the wind grew more violent, and the suddenness of it all nearly knocked me down. I planted my feet and remained tall and still, and even without opening my eyes, I could feel the world changing and the forest becoming more crowded.
“Open your eyes, Cole,” the woman ordered in a firm voice.
When I did as she commanded, my mouth gawked open as I stared upon thousands of shadow doubles, bears, elk, dragons, and other animals and creatures I had controlled in the past.
“Unholy shit,” I gasped. “I did this?”
“In this realm, you did,” the beautiful woman said with a gorgeous grin, “but you still have to test your talents in the waking world.”
Before I could say another word, the woman neared me and then placed the tip of her finger against my forehead, and suddenly, everything vanished from view, and I could feel myself tumbling back inside the warm tent, surrounded by several of my women as the familiars stood guard outside.
I shot up from the furs, and despite the cold, sweat trickled down my body.
“Master?” Faye said in a sleepy voice as she slowly opened her green eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Before I could answer, Alexander’s voice abruptly resounded in my head, and my stomach sank at the tone of his voice.
Cole, the villagers from below! he warned. They’re coming! Soldiers made of ice and bone, and they’re climbing up the dragon’s peak!
Chapter 16
“Everyone, wake up!” I commanded as I tossed the heavy and warm furs aside, and the women in my tent quickly stirred awake with wide eyes and open mouths. “Now! There’s no time to waste! Ice soldiers are approaching!”
“Ice soldiers?” Akira repeated with a raised black eyebrow before she quickly dressed, put on her boots, and then tossed on her furs. “Revna never said anything about ice soldiers… what the hell are they? Are they from the village guarding the lake of fire?”
“They’re warriors created by elders and made from the thickest, toughest skin,” Morgana quickly explained. “I’ve read about them in books… they can withstand any handcrafted blades, spears, axes, and even--”
“Well, fan-fucking-tastic,” Akira interjected as she tossed her new bow aside and then ran her fingers through her dark hair. “I think we get the picture. Damn it… I was praying to Satan for another chance to pierce some more elder created bastards.”
“We’ll fight with what we know best,” I reminded the hot-tempered Wicca as I stared deeply into her ebony orbs. “We’ll fight them with wands and the most powerful magic we can conjure up, and once we cross the lake of fire, we will kill anyone who guards the ice-castle and find the second artifact.”
“Yes, of course,” Akira said in a softer tone, and then she looked down at her feet. “You’re right, master.”
“Of course, he is,” Vesta purred as her silver eyes danced around the tent. “No matter what these creatures are, we can take them on, just as Cole said. I have all my faith in him.”
“As do I,” Faye added before she wrapped her furs around her shoulders.
“Yes, but before anything, the others must be awoken,” I said in a rushed voice, and then I pictured my Wolverine-like familiar and willed him to listen to my voice. “Alex, rouse the others awake! We’ll meet the others outside and reach the soldiers halfway down the mountain before they can climb the peak and reach us. Those sons of elder bitches will have no idea what hit them.”
Will do, Cole! my loyal familiar echoed in my head. I’m on my way!
Without wasting another moment, we quickly collected our weapons and other artifacts before swiftly and quietly slipping out of the tent and coming face to face with a stern Vanessa and the other concerned witches.
“Your familiar woke us up,” the professor snapped with narrowed eyes and a deep frown. “What the hell is going on, Cole?”
“Ice soldiers, no doubt Samara somehow alerted them,” I said. “Alexander was on watch when he spotted them headed this way!”
“Ice soldiers?” Revna gasped with wide, cool-toned eyes. “Satan’s darkness… blades and arrows aren’t going to work on them. Damn it!”
“Yes, we know,” Morgana said before she pulled out her wand. “But as our master said, we’ll find a way to take those fuckers out through using our most powerful spells.”
“Your damn right we will,” Vanessa said before she looked down at Isobel. “Crafted weapons may not work, but familiars can shred them into pieces. Isobel’s teeth are stronger than any blade, and ice soldiers are not immune to wild beasts. Everything and everyone has a weakness.”
“And Alexander’s wings are sharper than any spear.” I nodded as I looked up at my familiar as he flew above my head. “I know we can accomplish this. Samara is simply trying to intimidate us and hoping we’ll turn back… but we’ve already dealt with ice wendigos and Fenrirs before, so if she thinks this will deter us, she’s very fucking wrong.”
Cole, you must hurry! the woman from my dreams suddenly echoed in my head. You must defeat the ice soldiers in time, cross the lake, and then get past the guards of the castle before Samara sends a storm your way and floods the fiery lake to burn the entire palace.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath as I looked down the peak, and in the distance, I could see movement coming our way, just in front of the ice palace and the lake of flame.
“Master?” Faye asked in a soft voice as her green eyes studied me carefully. “Something new is troubling you, and it’s not the incoming ice soldiers, is it? It was something… or rather, someone else, wasn’t it? Just now, in your head?”
“Yes,” I replied as I rubbed at my temples. “The woman from the painting… she warned me there are more than ice warriors on the horizon. We have another problem on our hands.”
“Well, what the hell else do we have to worry about, Cole?” Vanessa asked in an impatient voice. “Spit it out, for hell’s sake!”
“She said once we wipe out the soldiers, we’ll need to cross that lake--” I started, but Vanessa sharply cut in.
“We know that obviously,” she snapped with venomous eyes. “What else?”
“If you would let me finish, then you would know,” I bit back. “The woman from my dreams warned me Samara will soon attempt to flood the lake of fire. She wants to destroy the ice palace before we can go in and find the second artif
act, which is hidden somewhere inside. Everything will be destroyed… including us.”
“Fucking elder cunt,” Vanessa grunted before she wildly looked around and sighed. “Right, so that means we’re desperately running out of time.”
“Well, first things first,” Penelope said with her chin raised, and when she spoke, it was in a calm and commanding voice. “Before we worry about Samara’s storm of fire, we need to kill the ice motherfuckers coming from the guarded village. I can already see them coming this way. They may look far away, but I can sense they will pick up the pace. They have strong feet that can move through the snow as easily as Marina could tread through water with her new legs.”
“I agree,” I said as I stared at the shadows of soldiers quickly reaching the base of the mountain and climbing up, and as they drew closer, I realized the orange-haired witch was right. They were already gaining on us, and time was running out. “Okay… once we take them out, we can find a way to cross the lake. Now, let’s get down there and meet them head-on! Wands out and at the ready. Make them suffer and kill every single last one!”
We nodded in agreement, rushed together down the mountain peak with our familiars in tow, and then clambered down to meet our enemy head on in the middle of the mountain path. In the far distance, near their supposed village and right before the lake of fire, I could make out more and more clusters of eerie-looking men with cool-toned skin, ebony-black hair, and gleaming silver armor. They were chanting some kind of war melody as they raised their own wands in the air, and when their eyes focused intently on us, their cries and growls grew louder and louder.
“Remember to use the most powerful spells you can think of to destroy these sons of bitches!” Vanessa cried out as Isobel ran by her side, and her familiar’s fangs were bared. “We need to be able to tear into their icy skin and thick skulls. Blow them off the mountain, too, if you can! Even they won’t survive the fall. Then we’ll kill the rest once we reach the bottom of the mountain!”
“Yes, professor!” Morgana shouted with her wand aimed and at the ready. “We’ll do whatever it takes to kill each and every one of them! I want to see their dark, thick holy blood splattered over the ice and snow!”
“I like to hear that coming from you, nerd!” Akira playfully remarked as we ran with our light furs on our shoulders and our familiars by our sides. “I knew deep down you were more bloodthirsty than you let on.”
“You bet your ass I am!” Morgana panted as we moved faster and faster, and now, we were nearly close enough to smell the ice warriors. They reeked like decaying, frozen meat, and their skin was cracked like thick icy marble.
As I looked closer at them, I saw that their faces resembled a hybrid between a rotting pig and a skeletal elder. Their frozen snot-covered snouts released puffs of mist, and their eyes glowed with venom as they charged toward us with their wands pointed at the ready.
We bolted toward our enemy with full force even as they rushed at us, and as soon as we were close enough, I pointed my wand at the first ice soldier I saw.
“Dissulto!” I shouted.
Before the ghoulish soldier could react or even raise his wand any higher, a sudden blast of fierce red light shot from the end of my wand and hit the creature right in the middle of his chest. The blue-skinned soldier went flying back and hit his skull against a nearby jagged and towering rock, and then he slumped down as his yellow-tinted brains and bits of white bone left their marks on the silver stone.
“Well done, Cole!” Revna shouted with joy before she narrowed her bright eyes at another group of soldiers. “Conflo!”
Suddenly, the cluster of ice-skinned men burst into flames and screamed as loud as their cold lungs would allow. Then they waved their icy hands around in circles as their light-blue skin suddenly grew black and raw, and the smell of death and decay wafted through the winter air.
As the dying, burning men crumbled into the snow, I met the eyes of one soldier with black hair, broken skin, and glowing yellow eyes that were filled with contempt as he stared me down. He then averted his eyes away from me and aimed his black wand at Revna, and I knew by his stare that he was ready to take her down in the most brutal way possible.
Before I could react, Faye must have seen what I saw because in the next moment, she shoved the wild, dark-blonde witch out of the way. Then a vivid yellow light, as bright as the sun, pierced the redhead right in between her beautiful green eyes. Faye instantly flew back and screamed before she hit the ground with a thud, and then a burning black hole smoldered right through her forehead. She pressed her freckled hands against her gaping wound, and the rest of us quickly formed a protective circle around her as the elder created men continued to attack.
“Faye!” Akira screamed like a wild animal before she turned her dark eyes toward the bastard who had tried to kill Revna but hurt Faye instead. Her purple lips trembled with fury as she lifted her hand and then shouted. “Volant!”
A sudden, brilliant light blasted from the tip of her wand and hit the icy warrior right in the middle of his throat, and his glowing eyes widened right before he flew backward and tumbled over a nearby cliff.
Then, as the other men attempted to charge at us, Isobel, Alexander, Silvia, and the other familiars attacked without mercy. They quickly tore into the soldiers’ icy limbs, and I noticed our foes’ blood was black and coagulated as it spilled to the ground like dark ink and stained the ice. The ice warriors sounded like dying, squealing pigs as their bodies were torn apart, and satisfaction flowed through my body as they dropped into the snow like icy, ripped up rag dolls.
Vanessa cackled with joy as her beautiful but deadly Isobel continued to rip into each enemy, and more and more black blood spurted from their open wounds to stain the snow and ice. Together, we cast spell after spell at each incoming soldier, but still, more seemed to emerge from their small village like ants spilling from a deep opening in the earth.
“There’s too many of them,” Vanessa shouted as she aimed her wand at the incoming ice soldiers. “We need to find a way to kill all of them at once before that psycho bitch sends a flood of fire our way and destroys the entire palace!”
“Well, we already know ice won’t kill the stubborn bastards,” Penelope screamed before she blasted one soldier in between his glowing eyes. “There’s no point using the glacio curse, and we’ve been using every other spell to send them over the edge.”
As the words left the orange-haired Wicca’s lips, I looked down at my feet and could see deep cracks growing in the ice and snow, and they were slowly spreading beneath the soldiers’ feet.
“Hey, I think I have an idea,” I said while the others continued to keep the elder enemies at bay.
“Well, whatever it is,” Vanessa screamed in a feral fury. “It better be quick!”
“Everyone keep the soldiers back,” I ordered. “Make sure they’re as far away from us as possible and summon your familiars back here! Quick!”
“What do you have in mind, Cole?” Revna questioned.
“Just trust our master!” Akira screamed before she cast a stern look in the wild woman’s direction. “And do as he says!”
“Well, I’ll do my best,” Revna called back before she aimed her wand at a cluster of frozen men and sent them flying backward.
The women did as I commanded, and I glanced up at the sky and saw Alexander as he swooped down and tore into every single icy soldier he could puncture with his bladed wings.
“Alex!” I called out. “Stay high above the ground!”
Yes, sir! Alex’s voice resounded in my head. But just what do you have planned?
“Oh, you’ll see,” I whispered.
While the witches kept the blue-skinned men as far away from us as possible, I took a deep, steady breath and regarded the gathering of cold boned men, and an unholy fury coursed through my body as I planted my feet firmly on the ground. Then I quickly and silently prayed to Satan for strength before looking at the cracked ice beneath their feet. I wil
led the unholy spirits to take over my mind and soul, and when I felt like I was ready to defeat these elder created beings, I raised my wand in their direction and summoned all the evil in my heart.
“Modus antiquorum!” I cried out as I stared at the ice beneath their feet.
Suddenly, a tremendous and thunderous noise erupted from the sky and beneath the ice, and the ice-men stopped what they were doing and stared at one another in utter confusion and fear.
As my body trembled and my head felt like it would split open, the ice broke and split wide open like a dragon’s mouth. Then the openings grew wider, and the soldiers tumbled through the gaps. Their screams died out as they fell deep into the pits of the earth, and when they tried to run away, I used all my unholy will to ensure they never made it back to their guarded village made of bones and broken wood.
I looked down into the cracks of the ice, and I could see several men attempting to climb out of the frozen hell I’d just created. So, once again, I used my powers of premonition to close them back up and ensure they would never escape or see the pale light of day.
“Motus!” I yelled with my wand pointed at the vast, broken floor of pure ice.
Soon, the vast and open cracks closed up while the soldiers feebly attempted to crawl out. Those who had been close to the surface screamed right before the entire ground closed back up and crushed them into oblivion, and then all was silent and still once more.
“Unholy hell,” Revna chuckled once everything grew quiet, and all we could see was their empty village and the damn lake of fire.
My body ached and trembled from the immense effort I’d spent destroying the army, and I could feel the cold, snowy, and icy world diminishing from view as I entered an entirely different realm of creation.
All was black for a moment, but then a silver sky slowly appeared with dark red clouds. I could smell the salty sea air and feel the soft sand beneath my boots. I was no longer freezing cold, but instead, I was warm and dazed, like I had just downed a generous helping of spiced wine. As I looked around this mysterious universe, I noticed the sand was as black as night, and it stretched for acres and as far as the naked eye could see.