Frost Burn

by K T Munson

  “Lady Aradel!” She heard her name called repeatedly.

  When they emerged out of the top, she observed the pile of snow surrounding her and called out, “We are here!”

  She waved an arm, and Tallus called, “I’m fine, Papa!”

  Yorten waved back, appearing relieved. He was surrounded by two packs of terrified wolves.

  Aradel beheld The Wall. There was very little damage. It would only put them behind a few hours. Relief flooded through her as she faced Tallus. She glanced down at their hands, embarrassed, before daring to look back up at him.

  “You are amazing,” he exclaimed as though he didn’t notice their joined hands. She felt her cheeks turn red. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  “Thank you,” she said, pushing stray hairs behind her ear as she tried to figure out how to get her hand back.

  His stare finally shifted, and then he pulled his hand away. “My apologies, Lady Aradel.”

  “Aradel,” she corrected, glancing up at him a moment. “Someone who tries to save my life does not require a formality such as Lady. You may call me Aradel.”

  “It seemed like you didn’t need much help,” he pointed out with a shrug and took a step forward. He instantly sunk up to his armpits in the snow pile.

  Aradel covered her mouth to keep from laughing and even had to press her lips together. He had forgotten that she was keeping the snow locked in place and needed to stay close to her side.

  He looked up at her, his face filled with surprise. “Don’t you dare laugh,” he said, but his voice betrayed his own amusement.

  She shook her head, but her body quivered with silent laughter. She had to put both hands over her mouth to try to contain it, but he started laughing himself. Her own laughter quickly joined his as she reached down and helped him up. She made steps in front of them so they could walk back down the mound to ground level. Reaching it, she suddenly felt a touch of warmth brush against her cheek cracking it a little, and her eyes widened.

  “What’s wrong?” Tallus asked.

  “Nothing,” she answered and quickly reinstated her shield of cold on her skin. She studied the crack in The Wall and realized then that the quake had done more than break their wall.

  Aradel suddenly grasped the gravity of the situation. The Wall had been damaged, but worse, the curtain of magical cold that extended up beyond The Wall had been damaged as well. It wasn’t that heat was just getting in through the crevice, it was getting through because of a tear in the fabric of the magic. With a shallow breath, she suddenly knew that spring was coming to more than just the Outlands, and this was its entry point.

  Fire: Chapter Ten

  “Coor, do you understand how hard I had to bite my tongue?” Thea said.

  “I know, sweetheart,” he replied, sounding exhausted as he threw more debris to the side. Coor knew these rants of Thea’s well enough, and understood he just had to let them rip. He wouldn’t be able to say anything to calm her down anyway.

  “I mean, that Frost Queen!” Thea bent down tossing more debris to the side. “Sure, she only had fifteen girls with her, but those were the fifteen most powerful girls in their entire freezing nation! They probably could have wiped out our entire force!”

  “Yes, sweetie. I know.”

  “And don’t get me started on that Frost Knight. What was he thinking, stepping up to our Queen like that? Our history with them could hardly warrant such bold behavior. Sun God almighty! My only regret is that I didn’t knock him on his ass!”

  “I know, honey.”

  “Coor?”

  “Yes, baby?”

  “Coor?”

  “I know, sweetie.”

  “Coor!” Thea yelled, finally getting his full attention. She placed her hands on her hips. “Were you even listening to me?”

  Coor sighed and came toward her. “Truthfully, not really.” Thea glared at him. “Listen, the meeting went well. Unexpectedly well. Let’s just be glad for that. Darha doesn’t need a war with the Frost Nation on top of this mess,” he said, indicating the ruined shoreline of the east coast.

  Thea deflated immediately and started picking away at the debris of a ruined house again. “I suppose so, but I still don’t like them or trust them by any means.”

  Coor bent down, getting back to work as well. “Who would?”

  “Darha would,” Thea said flatly.

  Coor gave a gentle chuckle. “That’s true.”

  They dug through the debris for a few more minutes, Coor moving a very large five-foot section of clay, grunting as he pulled it aside and over. Suddenly, a stressed-sounding meow came from below.

  “There it is,” Thea said as she ducked into the small basement crawl space of the destroyed home. “Stupid cat. Hold my legs, Coor.” Coor took her legs and gently started to lower her down into the hole. He could just hear Thea’s voice echoing out, “If you bite me or scratch me, I will snap your neck, and we’ll tell Emma we found you dead.”

  Coor laughed soundlessly. Thea would never let him live it down if she heard him laughing at her. Thea pretended to be completely hard and callous, but it was mostly a show she put on for everyone else. Coor knew her soft side; he’d seen her vulnerability, and she only showed it to him. Growing up, that had confused him, but as an adult he realized how special those sensitive moments with Thea were. She was beautiful when she was tough and beautiful when she wasn’t. But what made it special was that she saved that vulnerable soft side just for him.

  “I got it,” Thea called, and Coor pulled her out of the crawl space, now holding a small black kitten. It was soaking wet and trembling, but it was very much alive and screaming bloody murder. “Hey, hey!” Thea said as it began to crawl up her neck. She sighed heavily, rolled her eyes, and gathered it in her hands firmly. Thea looked like she might snap its neck, but instead she ripped off a piece of her red cloak and wrapped the kitten up in it.

  Coor smiled at her. “Softy.”

  Thea gave him a warning look. “Don’t tell anybody.”

  Coor brought the corners of his mouth down and shook his head slowly. “Never.”

  “If anyone asks,” she said standing up, “this was your idea.”

  Coor stood and nodded once. “Naturally.”

  Thea smirked playfully and then headed back to a wide-eyed, curly haired, red-headed little girl waiting beside her mother on the beach. Her father had been killed in the hurricane that had slammed into the east coast while they were meeting with the Frost Nation. Darha had gotten word when they returned and immediately dispatched Coor and Thea in that direction, which meant no sleep for them last night. Darha also sent a messenger to the army that was still up north trying to clean up from the tidal wave disaster to come east to search for survivors. But because traveling to and from the Frost Nation took so much time, there was nothing left to do by the time everyone arrived except attempt to clean up.

  “Midnight!” the tearful girl exclaimed as Thea approached with the cat. Thea handed the bundle down to her, and after a quick snuggle, the girl handed it to her mother and then slammed her face into the front of Thea’s legs, hugging her and crying. “Thank you, Lady Thea. Thank you.” Her big brown eyes moved up to Coor, but she didn’t let go of Thea. “Thank you, my Prince.”

  Coor got down on one knee and smiled at her. “You’re welcome, Emma.”

  She pulled away from Thea and watched Coor nervously, wringing her hands and biting her lip. She wanted to hug him, but she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to hug the Prince. Coor’s heart melted and he gently took the little girl’s hand and pulled her against him. He even went so far as to pick her up in his arms, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

  Coor’s heart ached. He’d wanted a child his whole life, and he and Thea were trying; they’d been trying since they were married, but it just wasn’t happening. He knew it broke Thea’s heart as well. Thea may not have wanted a child as badly as Coor did, but she wanted to make him happy.

  Coor g
lanced in the direction of his wife. She had moved away closer to the sea and was staring out over the disaster area and the ocean in almost a daze.

  “You take care of Midnight, okay?” Coor said to Emma.

  Emma lifted her head off his shoulder and nodded, her red curls bouncing with the gesture. He kissed her cheek quickly, set her back down on her feet, and went to Thea’s side. By the expression on her face, Coor knew this was going to be one of those special, vulnerable moments he rarely got to see from his wife.

  “What is happening out here, Coor?” she said in a pleading tone.

  Coor sighed and rested his hand on her lower back. “I don’t know, sweetheart.”

  Without another word, Thea leaned against him. Coor wrapped her up tightly in his arms as she began to quietly sob on his chest. To anyone watching, it probably looked like they were just hugging and looking out over the water, and that’s how Thea and Coor both wanted it. Thea would never approve of the army, or anyone else, seeing her cry because it showed weakness. And Coor wanted these moments with her just for himself because this was a part of her no one else got to see.

  “All hail the Queen!” one of the heralds from the army called.

  Coor heard Thea suck in a breath. She quickly wiped her eyes before they both turned and saw the royal carriage on the disastrous beach. It was halted at the edge of the small hill where the grass met the sand, and Darha was just stepping out. Coor could see her shaking from ten yards away.

  “What is she doing here?” Thea asked, and both went quickly toward her.

  “Darha?” Coor asked as they approached.

  “I, um.” Darha allowed tears to fall down her cheeks. “I wanted to”— she swallowed heavily — “to see it.”

  Coor sighed and panned the beach. “Unfortunately, there’s not much left to see.”

  Darha nodded and sniffed. “How many survivors?”

  That was just like Darha, to ask how many lived instead of how many died. Thea and Coor glanced at each other before Coor looked back at his sister. “Of the 31,000 people who lived in the disaster area, 1,033 survived.”

  It appeared that all the air rushed out of Darha at once, like she was physically punched in the chest, and she nearly collapsed. Thea took hold of her, keeping her on her feet. Darha’s eyes closed, and two large tears dripped down her cheeks. Coor couldn’t even bring himself to correct her on not letting the people see her like this. Perhaps they needed to. Maybe they needed to see that the Queen was affected by what was happening to the nation and that she cared about them.

  Darha met Thea’s eyes desperately. “Please, escort me to some of the people. I need to see them. I want to speak to some of them.”

  “Are you sure?” Thea asked.

  Darha nodded as another tear dripped down her cheek. Darha wiped her face with her sleeve as Thea took her first to Emma and her mother and her kitten. Coor heard the mother whisper some quick instructions on how to address the Queen properly.

  “No, no.” Darha said gently, holding her hands up. “She doesn’t need to do any of that.” Darha got down on a knee in front of Emma right in the sand. “Hello there,” she said with a forced smile.

  “Hello, your majesty,” Emma said shyly and did a quick curtsy even though she was in pants.

  The effort made Darha grin more genuinely through her tears. “That is a very pretty kitten you have.”

  The girl held the cat up under its arms in front of Darha’s face. “This is Midnight.”

  Darha gently petted the kitten. “Hello, Midnight,” she said in a stuffy voice and sniffed.

  Emma held Midnight to her chest again. “Prince Coor and Lady Thea rescued him from my broken house.”

  “They did?” Darha said with some brightness. “I’m glad for that.”

  “Me too,” Emma said. “My daddy died here and he gave me Midnight.”

  Coor saw his little sister swallow heavily. She bowed her head and tried to compose herself for a moment before looking back up at Emma. “I am so sorry, honey.” Darha said, resting her hand on Emma’s cheek.

  Darha stood up and met with a few other stranded families, giving them what little comfort she could offer them. It wasn’t very long, though, before Coor could see her becoming overwhelmed. He clenched his teeth and resisted the urge to pick her up, throw her into the carriage, and bring her home to keep her safe and away from all this pain and suffering. But it wasn’t his place to do so. Thankfully, Darha soon headed back toward the carriage on her own with instructions that everyone should head to Vlid for shelter and supplies.

  Darha paused next to the carriage and faced Coor and Thea. “Thea, I need you to come back to the palace with me, and Fitzu, and the rest of your scout team. Coor will you please stay with the army and escort these people to Vlid.”

  Coor nodded. “Of course.”

  Thea appeared confused. “I only have eight men left in my unit.”

  Darha nodded. “I know. I need them. I need the most powerful magic users.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” Thea asked.

  Darha wiped her sleeve over her face again and bowed her head before meeting Thea’s eyes. “The Derser Rects analyzed the water sample I sent them from the northern springs.” She swallowed heavily and nodded. “It’s sulfuric.” Both Thea and Coor deflated, bowing their heads in defeat. “So severely sulfuric that people shouldn’t even be breathing in the vapors from the natural springs.”

  Coor ran his hand through his hair. Sulfuric water was the result of volcanic gasses near a natural spring, above and often beneath the surface. When sulfur content reached high levels due to higher volcanic activity, the water became poisonous to drink. It was the only real concern of nature the Fire Nation ever had, due to the large chain of volcanic islands in the north. There were eruptions every now and then, but that was normal. As a precaution, however, the Derser Rects did routine checks, twice a year, on the sulfur levels of all the natural springs. Thea and her scout unit always accompanied them on these routine checks for protection from animals or the magic hating tribes in the Versis Mountains. The sulfuric levels in the Fire Nation’s entire history had never been high enough to affect their drinking water. Worse still, severely sulfuric water meant acid rain. With the increase of hot days evaporating more water, and the increase in the rain storms and hurricanes, this was the worst thing that could happen to the Fire Nation at this point. It didn’t get any worse than acid rain.

  “But,” Darha said sniffing, “the Frost Nation has sent boats over. From the watch towers, it looks like there are over thirty of them filled with snow and ice for us to melt down into drinking water.”

  Coor could see Thea didn’t even have the fight left to make a snide remark about the Frost Nation. She just shook her head and hopped into the royal carriage. “Let’s go.” Darha watched Coor and gave him a forced, sad smile before climbing into the carriage with Thea.

  Coor stepped up, rested his hands on the sill, and looked in at his wife and sister. “Be careful.”

  Thea glanced at him and then practically leapt across the carriage to press her lips to his out the window. She kissed him deeply before gazing into his eyes. “I love you.”

  Coor gently caressed her cheek with his knuckles. “I love you, too. Get some rest on the way home.”

  Thea nodded, gently running her thumb over his lips. “You too.”

  They kissed one more time, and the carriage driver pulled off. Thea watched Coor out the window until she was over the hill and out of sight. Coor then shook his head and faced the disaster area before him. He and his wife were long overdue for some alone time to fall apart together. Both felt their strength waning in the face of their nation’s massive losses.

  Frost: Chapter Eleven

  The ice and snow crunched under the hunter’s boot as he moved across the frozen wasteland. Behind him were two more men with long metal spears. The spears had a thick, coiled spring that, once inserted into the ice, shot the harpoon deep into the water then
through the whale. Usually the body of the whale surfacing partially broke apart the ice, which allowed ease of harvesting.

  Occasionally, a hunter went swimming in the blissfully frigid waters. They wore little else but a simple leather tunic and pants made from seal skin. Most hunters didn’t mind swimming in the waters, but few liked to stay wet. These outfits shed water and kept them reasonably dry. The quake the day before had broken parts of the oceanic ice, but most of it had remained unmoved, so in the early morning they had resumed their hunt.

  The hunters were part of a group that migrated with the whales during certain parts of the year from the western coast of the Frost Nation to the colder waters of the south. When winter began again, they would migrate back north toward the Isle of Ice. There were also small pods of whales that came from the gulf, but those were smaller with less to offer.

  In a way, the hunters had become like family to the whales. If a young whale got separated, they would herd it back to the rest of the pod. If they got themselves stuck in ice or beached, the hunters would work together to get them back where they belonged. They tried to only take the old and the injured, but since the quake, word had spread that more from the whales would be needed. Food that had been plentiful in the farmlands was wilting because many people were afraid of the early spring and weren’t tending the farms or harvesting what had grown this season.

  One of the men suddenly called out and waved an arm to the others. It meant there was a whale and he was moving toward it. Before the other hunters could respond, the man was thrown backwards as the body of a whale broke the surface of the ice. The hunter gave a cry as the ice shook once more and another massive body burst through not far off. He dug his spear into the ice to keep himself steady as it shook under him.

  He heard a great snap as the surface broke yet again behind him. He turned in time to see another hunter vanish beneath the ice. The first hunter ran toward his comrade. Should the ice turn over, he would drown. The hunters may not fear the cold, but they needed air as much as any man.