The Frost Fervor Concordance Box Set

by Tom Hansen

  Joanne sighed and took a deep break before launching into her explanation.

  “Reyoarfjell has been around for a long time. It’s a re-education camp, or at least that’s what I keep hearing them call it.” She pointed to the north, at the brown buildings. “You are going to get tested first, to find out how many abilities you have, that’s when you get more ordinals on your skin depending on how many abilities you have and how powerful you are.”

  She pointed at the additional figured on her arm that stopped just past her elbow. “Anyone with more abilities or incredibly powerful abilities is taken for further processing.”

  “And what about these?” Synol jiggled the earring they all wore in their ears.

  “It’s like the daggers used by the Skarmyord. It blocks your magic. They have to take it out when they test you, but you’re going to be strapped down.” She paused, her face taking on a somber look. “The testing is very painful.”

  Synol nodded, rubbing Joanne’s arm. “I’m sorry.”

  Joanne nodded. “Firtze came back with numbers past his shoulder.” She pointed at a spot on her upper chest, just below her clavicle. “He wasn’t back here long before they took him to the Enlightenments.”

  “Enlightenments?” Ynya and Synol asked together. They looked at each other, sharing a stricken look between them.

  Ynya spoke first. “We’ve heard that term before. What is it?”

  “That’s the re-education part of it. I personally haven’t gone through any of them yet. Like many of the ones huddled here, we are tested, then just left alone. Anyone with higher abilities is taken first, so many people just live their lives here until one day you are picked for something and taken away. The only thing I do know, is that the Skarmyord, the Queen’s elite guards, are trained here too. Rumor is that the better your abilities, the faster you are put to training and sent out into the field, but there is something else going on here that no one seems to talk about.”

  “What’s that?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I see it in everyone’s eyes though. Some big secret no one talks about with anyone. Everyone knows, but no one will talk about it. Next time someone is dragged out of the white buildings bloodied and limp, I want you to watch everyone’s reactions.”

  Synol asked, “So, have you seen anyone here that matches our description? We’re here looking for our sisters. Have you seen them?”

  Both Joanne and Tyrain shook their heads. “Sorry, we haven’t seen anyone with red hair.”

  Around them, the bells chimed once again.

  Ynya growled. “I hate those things.”

  Joanne nodded. “They are annoying, but that’s nothing compared to what they put you through here. You will get used to them pretty soon. They have different melodies to tell you when it’s time to wake up, go to bed, time for breaks, and food.”

  Joanne pointed to the large tower in the northeast corner of the pen. “That’s where the chimes are. I actually know the guy who rings them.”

  “Rings them?”

  “We all have jobs here, or at least most of us do. You’ll probably be assigned to work in the kitchen or something, we basically do all the work the soldiers don’t want to do, but if you’re a good prisoner they give you the easier jobs. Ringing the bells is one of them. Gustav got himself a nice job there.”

  She pointed off to the north west corner. “I have a friend that works one of the gates, as well. He stays in the barracks with the rest of the soldiers. I’ll show him once he comes out. You’re going to love him. He’s got this incredible skin that you don’t find on anyone up this far north.”

  Synol sighed.

  “What’s wrong?” Ynya asked.

  Synol frowned. “It’s just that we’re in here, and Finny and Meki aren’t. I also can’t stop thinking about what The Warden said to us.”

  Emotions flooded Ynya at the mention of that. She’d been trying to forget she ever met that man.

  “Don’t think about it.”

  Synol shook her head. “I can’t stop thinking about it. What did he mean by that?”

  Ynya grabbed Synol around the neck and touched their foreheads together. “Synol. Listen to me. Focusing on what he said isn’t going to do any good for any of us. Focus on the positive. We know one of them is in here, so our mission is to find her and get her out. We can’t change the past, we can only keep moving forward.”

  Synol nodded, pained grooves in her forehead betrayed the stress behind her bloodshot eyes. “I know. It’s just that we’re now in here and we not only need to find them, but we have to escape now, too.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning, Joanne took the sisters around the entire perimeter. She explained that everyone called it the Pit, even though it wasn’t deeper than the rest of the complex.

  The four sides to Reyoarfjell were laid out in a mostly logical manner.

  Prisoners were housed to the east, while soldiers and other staff lived on the west.

  The north was mostly administration and Enlightenment buildings. All the testing was performed in those buildings. It was where Ynya and Synol had found the Hall of Records and where they had received their ordinals.

  The south was where the Skarmyord trained.

  Ynya watched as two soldiers carried a naked woman covered in blood out of one of the white-roofed buildings. No one spoke while they dragged her body through the road. In fact, everyone, prisoners and guards alike, seemed serene, almost reverent about the whole event.

  To Ynya, it was strikingly clear just how trivial their lives were when it came to the service of the Frost Queen.

  If you die, there will always be another mage to test and push and train. There will always been another mage to torture until they either break, or live long enough to become a Skarmyord.

  Ynya tried her hardest to ignore the constant reminder of the final words of the Warden.

  Seems she didn’t have what it takes for her Majesty’s Army, so we disposed of her.

  Ynya balled her fists as she noticed the silver tattoos on the woman. It was difficult to see through the blood, but her ordinals went from her wrist to past her shoulder.

  Synol came up behind Ynya and put her hand on Ynya’s shoulder. “We need a plan.”

  Ynya nodded, but kept her gaze as the soldiers disappeared into another building at the far edge of the complex.

  “I want to burn it down. Every bit of this place.”

  “I know, but we can’t use magic.”

  That familiar rage built under her skin once again. “I know that!”

  Synol took a step back. “Ynya.”

  “No!” Ynya whirled on her sister. “Don’t placate me. I want to be mad and I’m going to be mad. I have every right to be pissed off about what they are doing to me here.”

  Synol looked at the ground.

  “No retort? No snappy comeback?”

  Synol looked up at Ynya. She wore the most pointed, angry face Ynya had seen in a long time. Synol slapped Ynya across the face, then grabbed her by the throat and shoved her into the fence.

  “Doing to you? Doing to you? Have you looked around? It’s not just you who is in pain, Ynya. I’m sorry that things aren’t going perfectly for you, but we’re here now and we have to deal with it. There are other people in pain here and I want to try to figure out a way to get our sisters back and try to help these people. They all deserve it. Look around and notice that there are more people in here than just you.”

  Ynya stood still, shocked mostly. The slap hurt, but Synol’s righteous outburst pained her the most. Every now and again, the rage she felt came out in Synol, and every time it was such a poignant fury.

  She relaxed, looking away from her sister. “I know, Synol. I do.”

  Synol released her and stormed off.

  Joanne cleared her throat. “Sorry.”

  Ynya rubbed at her jaw. “It’s not her fault. I can’t keep my thoughts to myself and she can’t open up about what’s goin
g on in her head.”

  Joanne smirked. “You two are a lot alike. Both fiery and angry.”

  Ynya nodded. “Yeah, I suppose we are. So, what do I need to know about these Enlightenments?”

  Joanne pointed to the north. “I just know the first two are up there.” She turned and pointed back at the building to the south, from which the soldiers had dragged the broken body. “Third happens here.”

  “You said that’s where the Skarmyord are trained?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Though as you can see, not everyone survives the training, whatever it is.”

  “And no one here knows what goes on behind those doors?”

  “Some do, but they don’t talk about it. A lot of the people here who go through the First and Second Enlightenment come back spouting about how amazing the Frost Queen is. They talk about how she’s a great leader, and how life here is better because she’s guiding everything for us.”

  “Seriously? They like being here?”

  Joanne shrugged. “I guess. I don’t know how someone can come out of there with cuts and bruises all over their body and smile about how the Frost Queen is somehow taking care of them. I just don’t get it.”

  Ynya balled her fists again. “I don’t either.”

  “1267071301 and 1267071302!” Two guards stood at one of the entrances to the inner compound shouting numbers.

  “What’s his problem?”

  Joanne grabbed Ynya’s wrist and turned her hand over. Ynya winced at the pain that shot up her arm once again.

  “Hey!”

  “That’s yesterday’s date, isn’t it?” Joanne studied the numbers on Ynya’s arm. “They’re calling you and Synol.”

  “Ynya pulled her hand back, cradling it to keep the raw newly-tattooed flesh safe. “Let them call all they want, what are they going to do, search every one of us?”

  Joanne’s eyes went wide. “No, but you don’t want to be here if they do. Synol!” Joanne called into the crowd in the direction Synol had left. Ynya’s sister came back looking eerily calm.

  Joanne grabbed Synol by the hand and spun Ynya around to face the guards. “You and Ynya need to go!”

  “1267071301 and 1267071302! Final warning!”

  “We are here,” Synol announced. “No need to get anyone in trouble. What is it?”

  Ynya grumbled, but kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t happy about Synol taking charge of their situation. But I suppose now isn’t the time to get pissy about it.

  One of the guards looked at a board he held in his hands. “Pre-Enlightenment testing, come on.”

  Synol took a step forward. “I’m coming.”

  Ynya didn’t move.

  After a second, Synol stopped and whirled on her. “Ynya, we don’t have time for one of your fits. Come on.”

  Ynya shook her head. “I’m not throwing a fit, I’m resisting. They have me here without my permission, they captured us, and you’re just going along with them?”

  “Zero-two, if you do not comply I will force you to comply.” The guard removed a small metal rod from his belt, and, with a throwing motion, the rod grew to about four times the length. He held it out in front of him.

  “Ynya, please. We can fight another day.”

  Ynya smiled. “They will have to force me, because I’m not coming.” She turned on the whole place, raising her voice. “You hear that everyone? I’m not going with them!”

  “Ynya,” Synol pleaded.

  “No! Not today, Synol. Today you don’t tell me what I can and cannot do. I will fight them with every breath I have. I will fight for our freedom, I will fight to get my magic back. I’ll kick and scream and claw and–”

  The guard touched her stomach with the pole.

  An incredible surge of lighting shot through her body, starting from her stomach and ending in each extremity.

  She fell to the ground. Her shout stopped mid-word as her throat closed up. nothing but a gargling sound made it out.

  Every part of her hurt. Her muscles twitched uncontrollably and she could no longer control any part of herself. The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was peeing herself while hundreds of sorrowful faces looked on.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ynya woke with a bucket full of frigid water splashed onto her.

  She sat up spitting water from her mouth when someone threw another two buckets, one after the other.

  Light shone in front of her, but she was blinded by the water in her eyes.

  Water went up her nose, and she coughed and sputtered to get it out of there. She breathed in more and her lungs burned from the intrusion.

  “What the hell is going on?” Ynya coughed again, wiping water from her eyes.

  A man’s voice responded. “Next time, obey instructions and we won’t have to clean you up when you shit yourself.”

  A woman’s voice laughed, and Ynya heard the sound of footsteps as the two guards retreated. The light went with them, but just before everything went pitch black, she saw enough to know that she was in a cell.

  She reached out to judge the cell’s size. It was small, just barely enough for her to sit up in with two inches overhead. Her hands found the bars, thick and coated in a fine powder, probably rust.

  “When are you going to learn, Ynya?” Synol finally spoke up in the darkness.

  Ynya spat, then swore repeatedly.

  Synol didn’t say anything for a long time. Then finally, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  Ynya didn’t feel like talking, but she was curious. “Did I really shit myself?”

  “Yes. It wasn’t very ladylike.”

  Ynya laughed. “Fuck ladylike. I can do this all day.”

  Synol sighed.

  Ynya did feel a little bad about how she had acted, but she’d been using her magic for so long that she didn’t know how to function without it anymore. That familiar burn in her breast guided her actions and spurred her to anger when she needed it most.

  Synol wouldn’t understand—

  Actually, that wasn’t correct. Synol did understand. Just because she didn’t publicly use her magic, didn’t mean that she didn’t have it.

  Ynya still wasn’t used to the idea that she wasn’t the only one of her siblings to have magic. She’d always been the outgoing one, the one flaunting her ability to her siblings, and using it with a recklessness that had driven a wedge between her and her older sister.

  Ynya wondered how her actions affected her mother, Talia.

  Talia Oblique had magic. That was never at question, but she’d always been a restrained woman. She was the type to always put duty before personal comfort. Even up to her last breath, lying there in the frozen tundra of their burned-down home, she had put duty to her family before herself.

  For a moment, Ynya reached inside herself to touch the magic that thrummed alongside her heart. Then she remembered, she didn’t have the magic anymore. The magic that my mother died to give me, after enduring atrocities and violations that no woman should ever have to endure, and for what?

  Ynya was without any of her magics now. She couldn’t touch anything – her own fire, her mother’s unending beat. None of it was there anymore.

  Despite the lack of inner heat, anger flared once again in her breast. Not fueled by magic, but lacking none of the vitriol and fury of one wronged, she knew what she needed to do.

  Before allowing herself to second guess the thought, Ynya grabbed the earring in her right ear. She fought past the strong magic keeping it there and ripped it from it’s resting place.

  Pain shot through her head, reaching her vocal cords and escaping from her mouth in a torrential scream.

  But the scream was not just for the pain, for, just as the earring exited her body, her magic rushed back with a vengeance.

  Heat flooded in her chest, filling every inch of her small frame with fervor unfettered.

  The cold beat returned too, stoic and unwavering. It was almost like her mother was back in her life, sta
nding right next to her.

  And she wouldn’t waste a second of it.

  Synol gasped.

  Ynya realized that her hair had fired to life.

  Every strand of her long red hair was ablaze with vibrant white hot light. She looked at her sister, who sat in her own cage right next to hers. The brilliant light completely washed out Synol’s pale face.

  “I will not be contained!” Ynya screamed. It felt so good to have her magic back, and now she needed to use the newfound power.

  Grabbing the bars of her cage, Ynya poured immense heat into the iron. In a few seconds, the metal was soft, able to be pulled apart. She did just that, widening the gap between them until her body fit.

  A mere heartbeat later, she stood outside her cage.

  Ynya looked around. More than a dozen cages filled the stone-walled room, each one set on top of a slab of rock to keep them elevated off the floor. Each cage was just large enough to contain one person, but not enough for comfort, or to stretch out in any one direction.

  They were clearly designed to drive the prisoner mad. Each one was just far enough away from the other that no prisoner could touch another.

  Close enough to see, but far enough away to prevent human contact.

  Her blood boiled as she took in the sight.

  Synol and her were the only two prisoners in this place.

  In another heartbeat, Ynya stood outside her sister’s cage. Synol still stared with rapt amazement at her hair.

  “It’s okay, Synol, I’m going to get us out of here. Scoot back so I don’t burn you.”

  She grabbed the bars and poured heat into them, but Synol refused to move.

  No matter, she was probably in shock.

  Ynya’s heart thundered in her chest. Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub.

  She bent the bars, her vision pure red as she parted them.

  “Ynya!” Synol finally yelled, her face still struggling to process the actions of her younger sister.

  “Synol, come! We don’t have much time.”

  Dumbly, Synol stared at her sister.

  Ynya turned to look for an exit. She wondered how much longer they had until the guards arrived.