I can’t do this! They think I'm a freak!
Glacier backs away, terrified of where the steps lead.
Looking from side to side, she tries finding anyone that would notice her absence if she were to run back out of the stadium. When she turns back, one set of orange eyes grabs her attention immediately.
The boy watches her curiously, mostly wondering why she has not yet climbed the steps to the stage. He seems to realize her meltdown once she turns. He mouths something to her.
‘Breathe’
Glacier nods her head, trying to clear her nervous thoughts.
Just breathe.
“Glacier Wardgrave…” Karn’s confused voice repeats her name, spiking her anxieties once more. Glacier looks back to orange-eyes again, and finds him nodding his head with an encouraging smile.
He mouths the words, ‘Just breathe, it’s alright’.
Though he didn’t say the words aloud, they have a strangely calming effect on her. Glacier breathes slowly to calm her nerves, but before she can walk up the steps, a stagehand grabs her arm roughly and drags her onto the stage.
“Chamberman Karn is calling your name! Get on stage now!” Glacier’s arm aches where the woman’s talon-like fingers claw her. She stumbles up the steps, following the woman clumsily. All but throwing Glacier onto the stage, Glacier’s shoe once again catches on the hem of her dress, causing her to stumble ungracefully onto the stage.
“Ah, here she is. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Glacier Wardgrave!” Karn smiles warmly to the crowd, forgiving the young girl’s delay.
The audience completely captures her attention with its vastness. Glacier hears gasps and louder whispers generate through the onlookers, but many others simply watch her as she slowly scurries onto the stage to stand beside Neena.
When the camera floats in front of her, the audience gasps louder in shock. Glacier knows it is because of the colours of her eyes, so she uses her pale hair as a shield from the onlookers. She stands unmoving and unresponsive towards the audience.
“I have a strong feeling that this team of individuals will be the successors of this year’s tournament. Ladies and gentlemen, the Hydra team!” Karn raises his hands to rill the audience. Their momentary silence is forgotten completely as they erupt in cheer.
Glacier feels Neena grab her hand, and she welcomes the support. Looking down the line, she finds her entire team linked by hand. Glacier follows Neena as they are ushered off stage, until a guard she doesn’t recognize catches her upper arm.
His hand burns her skin sorely as he tugs her back in the opposite direction her team heads. His dark orange suit fits snug around his chest and biceps.
“What are you—?”
“You presence has been requested on stage after the introduction of the Pyre team. You must wait here until then.” His words are clipped as he pulls her back to the set of stairs Glacier had climbed before.
He drops her arm but hovers close as she waits patiently behind the Pyre team. They stand in line at the stairs like her team had, waiting to be summoned on stage. From where Glacier stands, she can’t see the High Chamber, so their voices surprise her when they boom over the speakers.
“Greetings everyone. Portia and I are delighted to introduce the real winning team of this year’s tournament, the Pyre team!”
Glacier doesn’t remember the name of the Third Seat, but his voice sounds snarky. It isn’t until she is watching the Pyre team start to jump from foot to foot that she notices the extra member who had been surrounded earlier was now free of any followers.
Glacier can only see the back of his head where only his medium length gelled black hair is visible. But he is tall.
Very tall.
He is nearly an entire head above the rest of his teammates, and his enormous build reminds her of tree trunks. The dark reddish-orange formal shirt hugs his stature snugly, with the collar slightly raised. Glacier can see orange-eyes from behind, his curly light hair groomed stylishly and his thick shoulders taut with nerves. She keeps her eyes on the back of his head, as she waits for the introductions.
It is Portia who introduces the really tall one, “Contender one, Brink.”
Tall-with-raven-hair steps up onto stage. He waves to the crowd with confidence as they cheer him on.
Brink? Just Brink? No last name?
Glacier is apparently the only one to notice, when no one else seems as confused as she is. When he turns to face forward, Glacier manages to catch a glimpse of half of his face. He jaw is sharp and wide, and the eye Glacier can see is a reddish-orange colour.
Glacier tries shifting to a position where she can see better, but the guard hovering nearby grabs her forearm and drags her back to her earlier position without a word.
She watches Brink intently, waiting for his reaction to the crowd, but he continues to smile smugly without concern.
“Contender two, Dolby Frisk.” Like the other High Chamber members, they alternate with the introductions. Glacier’s attention is drawn to Dolby, a stubby boy with a tough look as he swings his arms back and forth slightly away from his body, to magnify the attention to his defined biceps. When he reaches the centre of the crowd he winks at the camera. Glacier could imagine Aleena swooning at his shrewd smirk and flirty wink.
“Contender three, Fielder Vinson.”
‘Are you the third in the Pyre team?’
It’s him.
Fielder ascends the short staircase, confident in his walk, though visibly hesitant. His arms hang tightly at his sides as he strides across the stage to stand beside Dolby.
Dolby deliberately ignores him as he continues to flex his arms to the crowd. Brink stands motionless with the same smug look on his face, as he regards Fielder with interest.
The fourth’s name is Brogan Hemmer, a boy with the sides of his head shaved and the middle strip dark red. The fifth contender is a petite girl, Pae Hutton, and the last is a short but wide girl named Alue Puckett. The crowd cheers for them as they all walk off stage.
Brink stays.
He waits by the High Chamber representatives, with his hands hanging on either side of him. The guard that has lingered near Glacier for the entire introductions of the Pyre team suddenly brings her to the bottom of the stairs.
Glacier is confused, as an uneasy feeling settles in her stomach.
She notices that all of the High Chamber members have risen from their thrones, which only happens at the beginning and end of the ceremony.
A sick sensation churns in her stomach, telling her that this isn’t the end just yet.
SIX
BRINK
“Now, our esteemed audience,” Karn steps forward, away from his throne and walks closer to the centre of the stage, “we have a very special surprise to share with you all tonight. A surprise that will change the way this Tournament is held from here on.”
An unsettling air of smugness accompanies his speech as his hands come together to silent clasp behind his back.
“I would like to welcome back on stage Glacier Wardgrave, Contender six for the Hydra team.”
The crowds give a small cheer, but they are all equally as confused as Glacier. Nudged onto the stage by the lingering guard, Glacier walks towards the centre of the stage without stumbling this time.
She looks to the end of the stage, finding Fielder watching from the bottom of the stairwell. Confusion pulls his features into a slight frown.
Looking back to the audience, she stops at the edge of the stage where she is barely visible.
“Come closer, my dear.” It is Emilia whose words bring her towards them. Glacier walks achingly slow until she is standing close to Brink. His radiating body heat reaches out far enough to touch her skin, surprisingly soothing her nerves.
When she looks up to him for the first time, Glacier finds him already gazing down at her. His eyes stir a strangely uncomfortably feeling in the pit of her stomach. His orange of his right eye see
ms darker than the other.
He smirks at her boldly, whispering, “So you are the other one Hampton was telling me about?” His words are condescending, a tone Glacier does not appreciate. But instead she remains solely astonished by his dwarfing presence; she does not form any response.
“Now there is something, ladies and gentlemen, that you do not know about these contenders that I am excited to share with you all… Brink and Glacier are not like us…”
Her breath is lost as she hears Karn’s words. Glacier’s eyes snap to Fielder, waiting at the steps as he watches. His eyes are still on her, waiting until she looked before he could send her a small, reassuring smile. Glacier tries returning it, but she is sure it comes across like a grimace.
“You see they have a special talent, you could say. They both have different abilities, each unique. They are not fire or water elementals.” It is the Second Seat that speaks this time. Thanks to Brink, Glacier now remembers his name to be Hampton. “But it will be easier if they show you.”
He turns to the both of them, and beckons for Brink with his outstretched arm, “Brink, would you mind demonstrating your ability first?”
Brink nods respectively, striding forward with powerful footsteps to where Hampton stands, surrounded by the other High Chamber members.
A large steel bowl rises from the floor of the stage, with another larger bowl of concrete surrounding it. It looks like a fountain of some sort, lacking water.
The High Chamber members take a few steps back, away from Brink and the bowls. Unsure what to expect, Glacier take a few measured steps away as well.
Brink stands behind the bowls facing the audience, and takes a few deep breaths. The flying camera hovers in front of him once more, this time further back to get a wide shot of his physic. Glacier is still visible in the corner of the camera.
Suddenly, a flame lights in the middle of the bowl, and her muscles tense in surprise. Glacier can feel the heat from the flame where she stands, boiling her flesh. She itches at the hot skin, taking another step back. Without realizing she had left the stage, the same guard pushes her back out into view.
Glacier watches with curiosity as Brink’s muscles twitch. A few seconds pass with the audience in stone silence, waiting. Glacier looks to Fielder at the bottom of the stairs, and find his gaze flickering between her and Brink.
Her eyes back on Brink, she finds his shoulders tense and his body visibly vibrating. His thick arms suddenly lift in front of his chest, and his hands slowly clench into fists. His eyes concentrate solely on the bowl with a lone flame at the centre. As his hands clench tighter, they begin to glow a faint orange.
His hands glow?
Glacier’s eyes are drawn to the fire, as it slowly seems to melt.
Melting? How is the flame melting?
The flame grows in size despite its floppiness, a thick hot liquid gathering. The bowl crumples in a melted heap as the heavy, bright orange liquid devours it.
Lava.
The sluggish molten substance slowly gathers in the concrete bowl until Brink’s hands unclench, the glow fading to nothing. Immediately after, the magma hardens to rock, and the bowl is soon filled with a dark concrete look-alike. The entire crowd has sat in continued silence throughout the demonstration, all wide-eyed and mind-blown. Glacier’s hand rises to cover her slack jaw, her wide eyes absorbing the boy in front of her.
The different shades of his eyes are almost unnoticeable; he looks like every other fire elemental. From his tan skin and dark hair, to his thick stature and body heat. Unlike Glacier, with snow-white hair instead of brown, her ghostly pale skin is opposed to the naturally sun-kissed complexion. And her eyes…
Unlike me, he isn’t different until he uses his element.
Whispers break out across the audience, snapping Glacier from her haze. She catches the Pyre team now gathered at the bottom of the stairs, staring at their teammate with stunned expressions.
Drawn back to the front of the stage, the audience erupts in shouts and demands for explanations, for reasons answering how Brink is capable of doing what he did.
Maybe they would have a similar explanation for me…
“Citizens, please! Settle!” Sasis steps forward with his arms raised above the audience in a peaceful manner.
His arms slowly lower as the crowd’s noise starts to dim, and a small smile pulls his thin lips. His voice is soothing to the audience as they quiet down, but Glacier’s mind is still travelling a mile a minute.
A lava elemental… How is that possible!
“My children, we will explain everything.” Sasis considers what to say. Glacier stands in stunned silence.
“We are evolving. This is our evolutionary path.”
Evolution?
“These two individuals are just a glimpse at what we will become!”
This doesn’t make sense…
“What these two are capable of today is what we will soon be capable of ourselves!” His words carry on, but Glacier doesn’t hear them clearly.
I am simply evolved? But Thomes had labelled me a hybrid… This doesn’t make any sense? How is my power only now revealing itself, after all this time? And what about Brink? He can control his element! How can he control it and I can't? How long has he known about his ability?
There are so many more questions now than before.
“—Glacier Wardgrave.”
Her eyes snap to the voice, Sasis, after he says her name. Gathering her bearings, she steps forward. She looks to the side and realizes that Brink has moved to stand back from the front of the stage, looking out onto the audience with indifference. His eyes train to her as she steps up to the front of the stage, his blazing eyes drinking her in.
Once Glacier stands where Brink had been, she notices the cement bowl is now gone. She looks over to where Karn and Emilia are standing nearest to her. Emilia watches her with curiously kind eyes, with a sliver of sadness turning her smile down at the corners.
“Glacier’s ability is equally as extraordinary, but we have been advised that for our protection, we must encase her.”
Encase me? What does he mean ‘encase me’?
Suddenly, a large clear box with a long tube at the top is lowered from above the stage, much too quick for her to move away. Within seconds, Glacier is trapped in the transparent square container, with small grouped holes for air to flow through the glass. Glacier rushes forward, hitting the glass with her palm as heavy panic begins to settle in her chest, but she is zapped. Gazing down at her hand, she is surprised by brief numbness lingering across her fingers. It was only a small shock, echoing for a few seconds longer in her fingertips before it disappears.
Shaking her hand to rid herself off the uncomfortable feeling, she then looks back through the clear glass to the stunned audience. Glacier notices that where her hand had touched the glass, now has a small handprint surrounded by a thin layer of ice, like a splash. The glass muffles the gasps from the audience, as the camera zooms in on the ice handprint.
Glacier gazes around the box curiously, interested by what the tube will be used for before looking back out to where the Pyre team stands at the bottom of the stairs.
She finds four of them staring at her with their jaws slack; the one on stage with her has a disinterested curve to his brow, and the last with eyes unforgettable and fearful. His hand is in his hair, tugging it from its groomed form with worry.
Please don’t be scared of me…
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Glacier looks at Karn; he gestures to her with his extended arm, his eyes on the anticipating audience, “Glacier Wardgrave.”
The audience is silent as she stares back, waiting for something to happen. A few more seconds pass, and Glacier is still standing at the centre of the box with her fingers thrumming against her thigh in anticipation. A sick, heavy fog hangs in her chest as she fears the worst.
A sudden bolt of thunderous pain shivers up her spine like a to
rturous spasm. Glacier screams out in agony, before the white cloth cloaks her. The same cloth Glacier had felt at Mr Michaels' house.
The veil shields her for a moment, her silent ears blocking her cries, before it is abruptly ripped away, replaced by immense pain. She can smell burning flesh before she feels it, as her back blisters where the chip sits buried in her skin. Glacier can feel the pulses of electricity though her muscles; seizures shake her body as she hears a series of loud cracking and snapping, followed by a strong whoosh of air.
The memory of Mr Michaels suspended in the air, impaled on an enormous ice shard has her terrified to open her eyes.
I killed him! I killed him!
Another scream rips though her throat, this time from fear.
I killed him!
Glacier thrashes around on the ground as the currents slowly dull to a lingering throb.
Where is Castor? I need to protect him…
The grain of the hard wood beneath her cheek draws her away from her memory and back to the stadium. Her skin feels tight, her mind foggy. All she can think about is the aching pain in her limbs and her burning skin on her lower back. Glacier can barely hear the loud roaring of the crowd.
They all shout more questions. ‘How can she do it? Is she dangerous? Isn’t she an unfair advantage?’
No one asks about why she is quivering on the ground uncontrollably. No one asks about her screams. No one asks if she is all right.
Glacier’s fingers try to find purchase on the stage floor; her now frazzled curls hang past her shoulders, covering her view of her surroundings.
The still-fresh wound on her forehead burns from the heat her body is flushed with, and her nose aches sorely. Glacier tries to push herself up with the palms of her hands.
She glances around the once empty glass box, finding thick shards of ice sprouted from various entry points of the stage flooring. The glass walls coated with a misty film of ice, still thick enough to shield her from the audience. The air is frosty enough to stiffen the soft material of her dress. But as usual, Glacier doesn’t feel the icy air, or the rawness of the frozen water shards.
The Frozen Beginning (Elemental Diamond Book 1) Page 7