“She has been aching to do this,” the clone straddling Fielder’s hips whispers, as he pulls and tugs to break free.
Glacier manages to open her eyes, just as the side of her head is slammed against the floor. She cries out, her head swarming with a splitting feeling, a powerful throb aching behind her eyes. She opens them a small margin, watching as her clone leans over Fielder, pulling his head back against the floor by the hair on top of his head. His jaw is clenched as he tries to move under the powerful, unearthly strength of the replicas.
The clone that straddles him sends a quick devilish smile in Glacier’s restrained direction before gazing down into Fielder’s open eyes. He seems momentarily stunned by her intense gaze, but he continues to try to break from their tough grips.
The clone slowly starts to move her hips over Fielders, pressing down as she grinds. Fielder grunts with surprise, clenches his eyes shut as his nostrils flare. The clone lowers her head to press a kiss against his neck, biting gently. She chuckles when Fielder tries to move away from her intimate touch.
Glacier watches with accelerating anger as her replica grinds against Fielder slowly, whilst the other two copies hold him down.
Her anger boils past the point of explosion. She deliberates different ways to break every glass copy of herself.
Gathering her strength, she whips her head back once more. The clone restraining her anticipates the manoeuvre. Neatly dodging the attack, it laughs callously in Glacier’s ear.
“Fielder, they are just mirrors. They break like glass,” Glacier cries out past her gritted teeth.
She feels the moment he understands her, as the air in the room grows warmer.
His eyes are feral, his teeth clenched tightly as he growls, “Get off me!”
A surge of strength rips from his chest as the small flask on his hip suddenly explodes. The fire surrounds him like a second skin, red hot with rage. The reflections of Glacier scream with pain as they slowly melt into puddles of shinning silver.
The air becomes hard to breathe as the clone holding Glacier’s arms quickly retreats back into the mirror, running down the corridor and around the corner from which they entered.
The flames continue to flicker like scorching waves around the two elementals until it slowly recedes into a small fire resting against Fielder’s hand like a ball. Glacier’s forehead is covered in perspiration, her eyes and skin burning from the blistering heat. She rolls over as the pain takes hold, her head burning as hot as her flesh. Her skull pounds as she tries to take deep and calming breaths.
“Glace, are you OK?” Fielder manages to whisper out, his energy depleted.
Glacier, get up. You need to finish the maze. You are close.
“Glace?” Fielder calls out again, his voice strained and breathy.
Glacier groans in response, the vibrations sending painful spasms through her head. The heat in the air starts to dissipate until she can manageably breathe past the thick humidity. Lying on her side, Glacier’s body slowly begins to thrum with numbness. She hears a fumbling sound from Fielder’s direction, followed by a strong pull on her ankle as he drags her towards his body. Fielder crawls closer until Glacier can feel his breath fan across her face in hot puffs.
“Glace?” His voice is barely above a whisper as his hand brushes her cheek softly. She moans quietly in acknowledgement, her cheek tingling with the heat from his skin.
Her head continues to pound as she leans into his warm touch, the air around them still thick and clammy. His hand brushes her hair soothingly, his hand coming back wet with dark red.
“Your head…”
Fielder sits up to put pressure on her open wound. Glacier cries out a shrill scream at the sudden painful compression, clenching her teeth together tightly with a whimper.
“I’m sorry. I need to stop the bleeding. I’m sorry.”
She suddenly feels his fingers around her shoulder and upper arm before there is an audible tear of fabric. Fielder pulls her now severed sleeve down her arm past her hand before bunching it around his fist, pressing hard against the back of her head once more. Biting her tongue as the pressure sends harsh pain through her skull, she groans out her plea of agony.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers once more, gently wiping the wetness from her below her lower lashes.
Keep moving Glacier. Your time is running out.
Glacier groans at the voice’s reminder. The thought of solving the Labyrinth being to alluring, Glacier tries to push herself up from the ground.
“We have to keep going Fielder…” she murmurs, her voice hoarse and scratchy. Seemingly surprised by her determination to solider on, Fielder helps her into a sitting position.
“Your head is bleeding, Glacier, really badly. Just wait for someone else to solve it, and then we are out—”
“No,” she snips, “I have to win. I need to win, Fielder…” The desperation in her eyes does not go unnoticed. Her Pyre companion watches her with empathy.
He studies her for a moment, his eyes sad before nodding his head in understanding. Fielder climbs to his feet as he picks Glacier up under her arm with one hand, the other still compressing against her head wound.
The jostling sends a painful spasm up her neck and across the back of her skull, causing a low hiss to escape between her teeth. When she is standing, Glacier gingerly lifts her sleeveless arm, a small ache taking over as she replaces Fielder’s hand with hers. Thick blood trails down the back of her neck in flowing streams, slowed by the makeshift compression held against the open gash.
Glacier feels her fingers wet with the dense liquid, and her mind becomes hazy with the loss of blood.
Now on her feet, Glacier sways with dizziness. Fielder catches her whimsy body, holding her gently against his side.
“Glace, I don’t think it’s a good idea. If we run into anyone from the Terra team—…” Glacier hushes him with the same frantic look, her desperation incredibly evident. Fielder sighs deeply before he starts to stride forward with Glacier tucked into his side safely.
“How did you do that before, Fielder?” Glacier manages to rasp out, her head pounding as blood slowly continues to pulse from the back of her head. The sticky substance continues to spill between her fingers as it seeps steadily through the material of her severed sleeve.
Fielder understands what she is referring to. He shrugs his tense shoulders, tightening his arm around her.
“I have no idea. I had thought this place was a Dead Zone…”
The two contrasting elementals follow the mirrored corridors, their eyes following their reflections, searching for any flicker of danger.
They come to the end of the corridor, stopped by a large mirror reflecting their baffled expressions. Fielder looks to Glacier, for the OK that she will be fine without him supporting her. She gives a small, almost unnoticeable nod, planting her feet firmly against the floor as Fielder slowly relinquishes his hold on her. She tenses her midsection as she tries her hardest to stand upright.
Fielder approaches the mirror at the end of the “Dead Zone”, a few metres ahead of where Glacier stands weakly. His reflection follows his movements trustingly, as he reaches for the echoing glass. As soon as his testing fingers press against the mirror, Glacier’s reflection breaks out in a sprint towards him.
Suddenly panicked, she shouts out to him, “Fielder, that’s not me!”
Her ears prickle, and her skull thumps loudly in her ears. Fielder spins to Glacier, proving her statement. When he turns back to the mirror, he quickly raises his clenched fist, launching it into the glass.
Almost like slow motion, every mirror shatters around them from the one punch. Their surroundings collapse around them, falling down in splinters before disappearing into the concrete floor beneath them.
As the mirrors fall, they reveal a large, black space with minimal lighting.
The other contestants stand spread around the room in various positions and location
s in a circular formation. The distance between them all is similar to the size of a field. They all face inward, towards the centre of the room.
Turning her head from side to side, Glacier recognizes every face around her despite the distance. Gamble and Porter are the closest to her and Fielder, standing roughly fifty metres off to their left. Branch and Keena stand at opposite ends of the room. Bronze stands close to Brogan, with enough distance between them that shows they are not an alliance.
Brink stands across the room from Fielder and Glacier. His annoyed glare still visible from the vast distance between them.
Everyone gazes around guarded, trying to identify where their teammates are, and how close their enemies stand.
Glacier’s eyes meet briefly with Keena. The lonely twin’s eyes show her feeling of betrayal, as she recognizes Glacier’s companion. Glacier sends Keena a guilt-ridden look, her arm aching from being held above her shoulder for so long.
Everyone is silent for a moment before there is a loud clack. A sudden light illuminates a small podium in the centre of their formation, like a beacon. Glacier immediately recognizes it as the finish point.
“Fielder, run!” Glacier calls out to him before pressing all her surviving strength into her legs. She pumps forward with all the energy she has, everything protesting against her will.
I have to win. I have to win.
Fielder takes off ahead of her, gaining momentum quickly. It is in that moment, that everything around them erupts into elemental chaos.
Every contestant sprints toward the beacon like a group of hungry animals chasing their prey. Flames and dirt are thrown far distances, intended to slow or injure any contestant that cross the other’s path. The water sloshing in the air, and the sizzling of the fire is almost inaudible over the loud pumping of blood through Glacier's ears. The blood-soaked sleeve is forgotten, dropped to the concrete floor as Glacier races forward towards the beacon, desperate to win.
Run faster, Glacier.
The voice is there again, unhelpful in this situation.
I’m running as fast as I can!
She almost shouts her thoughts out loud.
Glacier’s body numbs as her blood continues to drain from her head. She can feel it trailing down her neck in thick streams, soaking the back of her uniform shirt. Her vision doubles, becoming dizzy as she starts to lose her footing.
A large pile of hard clay hits her suddenly, propelling her sideways onto the solid floor. She hits the concrete hard, her sleeveless arm scraping across the harsh flooring as her head knocks against the cement. She groans out in pain, her remaining vigour leaving her body without a trace.
Her body is covered with one much larger and stronger. Her hair is pulled back, jutting her chin. She manages to peep her eyes open to her attacker, finding Porter hovering above her with a malicious, insensibly dark look.
“Found you,” he chants in a sing-song voice, his eyes glazed with evil intentions.
Glacier’s chest heaves with fear as he stares down at her near lifeless body with angry eyes. Her stomach clenches with terror as his powerful fingers wrap around her throat, pressing against her oesophagus.
The air around her is immediately cut from her lungs, her already exhausted body quickly shutting down. Her hands rise to Porter’s wrists as she weakly attempts to knock away his tight grip. The blood continues to seep through her white hair, staining everything a deathly red.
Fight back, Glacier.
Even the voice in her head is muffled by her looming death. Glacier moves her hands, reaching up to scratch at Porter’s face. He laughs at her attempt, pressing down tighter.
“Glace!” The voice sounds far away, as the thumping of her remaining blood muffles all other sounds.
“Branch, get to the damn beacon! Glace!”
The dark look in Porter’s eyes sparks dangerously as he watches her life quickly slip between his fingers. Glacier’s face purples with lack of oxygen, and her eyes dye red as her blood vessels burst from the pressure.
With her bloodied eyes, she pleads the elemental above her to spare her life, to understand that she is here fighting for someone who needs saving. But his eyes register no sympathy or compassion, only malice.
Glacier, get up!
“No! Glace!”
TWENTY-TWO
FIRST DANCE
Glacier springs forward in her chair, gasping desperately for air as her eyes readjust to her surroundings. She finds herself once again sitting in the arena, a presentation to the audience of Alluvium.
The sudden reminder has her shrinking back into her seat. The stench of blood and other bodily fluids has Glacier on high alert.
Quickly reaching around to the back of her head, she doesn’t find the wound she had in the labyrinth. There is no sticky blood matting her hair. There is no trace of the thick red substance. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, she closes her eyes in silent thanks.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have our winning team!” The sudden sound of Karn’s voice sounding over the speakers has Glacier jumping slightly. She tries to turn in her seat, but her neighbour quickly seizes her attention.
Pae sits in her seat, a large shard of ice impaling her side. Her eyes are wide with fright as blood leaves her body from different openings. Small red streams trail from her nose and the corner of her mouth, whilst a larger sum of blood flows down the splinter of ice, pooling on the ground in a thick messy ring. As her gaze follows the blood, she notices piles of ice surrounding her chair, various ice shards littering the area like a protective barrier.
Glacier’s stomach rolls at the sight of Pae’s vacant stare, her chest constricting suddenly. Her hand rises to her mouth, capturing her shock.
I killed her. I killed Pae…
The image of her pinned by a large spear of ice jolts the memories of Mr Michaels. The red, and the emptiness, and the stone-heavy guilt. Death hangs around her like heavy rocks, weighing her down, submerging her in the depths of fault and depression.
Pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes harshly, she forces the tears back.
This isn’t like last time, dad. This wasn’t self-defence. I’m sorry dad. I’m so sorry.
Hiccups bloom in her chest, but still she doesn’t cry out like she wishes to. Like her body begs her to. Her eyes sting and her nostrils burn hot. Turning her head to the side, she unintentionally glances over to Porter. She finds him already staring at her, amused. His attractive face is soured by his dark intentions, as Glacier remembers her final moments in the Program.
He tried to kill me… He almost did killed me…
Porter’s smirk widens, and his eyes gleam with excitement.
“Next time, princess,” he winks, his thin threat sending violent shivers down Glacier’s spine.
Scrambling out of her seat, she collapses onto the bloodied floor. Her pants soak in the red blood beneath her. Glacier’s hands stick to the thick fluid as she tries to clamber away from the boy who had strangled her to the brink of death. He doesn’t make any advancement as he waggles his eyebrows tauntingly in her direction.
A quick and sudden fist is launched into the side of Porter’s jaw, throwing his head back against the chair sharply. He groans out again, before another swift punch is landed.
Gathering his bearings, Porter turns in his seat quickly, launching his body against his attacker.
Glancing over to the striker, she identifies Fielder’s hate-filled glare as he hits the ground from Porter’s full-body assault.
Fielder’s jaw is struck next, throwing his head to the side. The sickening sound of knuckles hitting bone vibrates the air. Each hit is muted by both their muscle and blocking. Both boys are evenly matched, with muscled arms and athletic bodies.
Their grunts and anger-filled growls are barely heard as security bursts in, pulling the two rolling bodies from one another. The two security guards have largely muscular bodies that easily pry the two hostile boys apart.
Fielder’s lip bleeds slowly, along with his now slightly crooked nose. His jaw is already starting to swell against its usual sharp edge, and under his eye blooms a dark pink. His chest heaves harshly as he fights to slow his breathing, his fiery eyes locked on Porter’s battered form.
The guard holds Fielder’s arms behind his back, making it impossible to make another move against Porter.
The earth elemental is badly bruised. Spots on his face start to purple, blood drips from his hairline, and his teeth are stained with liquid red as he snarls at his attacker.
The security guards drag the two raging elementals apart, pulling them in separate directions towards different exits. The two continue to glare at one another, their stares unflinching until they are both out of sight. Glacier continues to sit, motionless and uncomfortable in the growing puddle of Pae’s blood.
“Calm, my children. Everything is alright. They are only disorientated from the Program. That’s all.”
Glacier hadn’t taken any notice to the rise of the audience. Some now stand from their seats, worried about their favoured elemental’s safety.
Climbing to her feet, the back of Glacier’s pants shift uncomfortably, coated in a thick seal of Pae’s life essence. Goose bumps spread across her skin like a plague, as a dark seeded depression settles in her chest.
Unsure how to get up from the blood puddle beneath her, Glacier glances around to the other contestants with pleading eyes. Those who have risen from their seats just stare back, unmoved by her desperation. Her body shakes vigorously, her mind settling with the blood.
Blood. Blood. It’s on my clothes. On my skin. Everywhere. Blood.
The Frozen Beginning (Elemental Diamond Book 1) Page 26