Ashes of a Black Frost

EIGHTEEN

Scolly fell to the tunnel floor, the sound of the musket stock striking his cheek still echoing off the walls.

“Stop it, you’ll kill him!” Visyna shouted, jumping up from the wall and running toward the fallen man. The same elf soldier that had threatened Visyna earlier stood over Scolly, his musket raised for another strike.

Hrem was only a second behind her. “Try that again and I will kill you!”

The elf looked between Visyna and Hrem then down at Scolly. “If he wanders off again, he dies,” the elf said, spitting at the soldier, then spinning on his heel and walking away.

Hrem reached down and lifted Scolly to his feet while Visyna came close and examined the bruise on his face without touching it. “How do you feel?”

Tears were running down Scolly’s cheeks. “I just wanted to know where we are going.”

Teeter came up to them and took Scolly by the elbow, but not before giving Visyna a cold stare. “If you don’t use your damn magic soon it’s going to be too late. C’mon, Scolly, let’s go sit down.”

Visyna tried to think of a response, but couldn’t. Teeter was right. If she didn’t do something then what good was she?

She sat back down against the wall. Hrem joined her a moment later. “Don’t worry about Teeter, he’s just upset.”

“He’s right though,” Visyna said. “I have to act. You see what these elves are like.”

Hrem looked down the tunnel then back at her. “So what did you have in mind?”

“How good is your command of the frost fire?”

“I’m one of the few in the regiment who seems to be able to control it, but I’m no Renwar,” he said, his voice a mixture of pity and relief. “What he did when we left Nazalla was way beyond anything I’d know how to do. I don’t even know exactly how I do control it. It’s sort of like breathing, I just do it.”

Visyna hid her disappointment. “But you can call it up when you want, right?”

For an answer Hrem held out a hand. Black frost covered his palm. As she watched the crystals grew and transformed into ugly, black flames before he closed his fist and doused them. “I could kill someone with it if I touched them, but I couldn’t throw it if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Could you make a wall? Some kind of barrier that you could place around Kritton and the elves?”

Hrem thought about that. “Never tried anything like that. Even if I could, though, how would that help? Flame won’t stop musket balls.”

“Not flame,” Visyna said, “but ice. If I could teach you to weave, maybe you could do it. It wouldn’t have to be for long, just enough time for Chayii, Jir, and me to do the rest.”

Hrem looked at his hands then at her. “Do you want to try now?”

“No, it’s too confined down here. We’ll have to wait until we get out of this tunnel.”

“Does that mean you’re able to weave down here?” he asked.

Visyna nodded. “My ability never left. The ancient power in the library was just too caustic to weave.” She tried to think of a way to explain it. “Think of nature as one giant fabric. Everything has a life force, an energy like a thread that weaves and bonds with everything else. I find these threads and weave them into something I can use, crafting a spell from the very life around me.”

Hrem’s eyes widened. “Do you mean you take some of our life when you cast a spell?”

Visyna smiled and held up her hands. “It doesn’t work that way. I take only what is free. It’s like the heat from a fire for warmth. All life gives off energy as it lives. I find that energy and use it.”

“What if you can’t find enough energy around you? Couldn’t you tap into someone?”

“That would be horrible,” she said, her voice rising before she remembered where they were. “It would be as if I plunged a knife into you and drained your blood. I weave the energy that lives all around us, but I do so with care. I seek to strengthen and help, not hurt. I only take what is available and will harm no living thing.”

“But could you do it if you had to, if there were no other way?”

Visyna thought she understood what he was getting at. “I wouldn’t be able to use your energy even if I wanted to. The oath is far too strong in all of you now.”

“These elves aren’t bound by the oath,” he said.

She understood his implication. She could weave their energy, killing them in the process. “Even if my weaving were strong enough, I couldn’t kill in that fashion.” The very thought of it made her skin crawl.

Hrem raised a hand and held his thumb and forefinger apart an inch. “Then don’t kill them-weaken them. Drain some of their energy, enough that we can get away when the opportunity presents itself.”

It was an intriguing idea, but already she saw a flaw. “Even if I could do it, and I’m not saying I could, I wouldn’t be able to affect Kritton. He is oath-bound like you. The Shadow Monarch’s power makes it too difficult for me to work with it.”

Hrem smiled. “I’ll take care of Kritton.”

She sat back against the tunnel wall. Choices whirled about inside her head, each one dark and filled with unforeseen dangers. A dull pain settled in her breast bone. Is this what it felt like for Konowa? Faced with nothing but terrible choices? A sudden longing for him filled her. Her heart went out to him as she understood in a way she hadn’t before the constant nightmare of choosing the lesser of two evils.

“You say it so easily,” she said.

“For that piece of filth, killing him will be easy. Doesn’t mean I like it, but it’s something that has to be done. In the end, it’s going to come down to him or us, and I’d rather it be us.”

“It’s just that it seems so barbaric, all this killing. There should be another way.” She knew she sounded naive, but didn’t care.

Hrem’s voice grew stern and leaned toward her as he spoke. “Begging your pardon, but have you tried talking to a rakke? The only thing they understand is brute force. And as for Kritton and the rest of these elves, we tried talking to them back in the library and you saw what happened. No, the time for talking is long past. Kritton has to die, and if the other elves get in the way, they will, too. Maybe you don’t like it, but it won’t be the first time you’ve killed.”

“Actually, it will.”

Hrem sat back in surprise. “You’ve been in the thick of the fighting since we set out. .”

Visyna shook her head. “I’ve done what I could to aid the regiment with my weaving, but I’ve never directly taken a life.” In her months with the Iron Elves, her weaving had certainly made it easier for the regiment to kill its enemies, but they had been monsters, creatures spawned by wickedness. What Hrem suggested was something new. It was a line she had never crossed.

Could she drain just a little energy? And at what cost?

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“I would remember.”

A brown carapaced beetle no bigger than a fly crawled across the sand on the tunnel floor near her foot. She stared at it. Without meaning to she sought out its life presence in the web of energy around her. She glanced up at Hrem and saw that he had seen it, too. He looked at her and shrugged his shoulders a fraction.

It’s only an insect, she told herself, forcing her attention back on the beetle, but in her heart she didn’t believe it. It was a living creature, part of the natural order.

“They’re living, breathing men with families. They deserve a chance,” Hrem said.

And there it was. She knew what he was saying was true, and that she was being overly sensitive, but she also understood this is how it begins. Once she began weaving the living energy of another life she would lose a part of herself forever. It dawned on her then that if she were ever to see Konowa again, this was a sacrifice she would have to make.

“Keep watch,” she whispered, leaning forward to concentrate on the beetle. She brought her hands in front of her and concentrated on the energy coursing around her. The men of the squad were easy to pick out, their energy laced with the darkness of the oath. She quickly found the slender thread of the beetle’s energy and with soft, smooth strokes began to tease it apart, looking only to weave a single strand of it in the hopes of slowing it down.

The beetle continued to crawl across the floor, unaffected by her efforts. Her face flushed and she flexed her fingers and started again. She found its thread and gave a gentle pull.

Crack. The beetle’s energy unspooled like a dropped ball of yarn. She looked past her fingers to see the insect dead on the floor, its tiny body broken in two.

“Impressive,” Hrem said, reaching out and picking up the bug with his huge hand. He studied it for a few seconds then incinerated it with frost fire.

Visyna couldn’t breathe. “I was. . I was only trying to slow it down,” Visyna said, dropping her hands in her lap. “Its energy was too thin.” It was a bug, and she knew Hrem would think she was foolish, but she didn’t care. She had just killed a living creature. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Hrem nodded. “Then slowing down a bunch of elves should be easy.”

Visyna looked at him in shock. “It’s murder.”

He returned her stare. “Then so be it.”

The sound of footsteps echoed off the tunnel walls.

“On your feet,” Private Kritton ordered, coming to stand in front of Visyna’s small group. A makeshift bandage of torn blue cloth covered his left shoulder. A dark, wet stain in the center of the cloth attested to the wound from Chayii’s thrown dagger back at the library. Even now, Visyna felt an urge to want to help the elf. She chided herself for the thought. Let him suffer, he deserves it. He’d shot Yimt in cold blood. He’d poisoned the elves with his mad need for redemption. It was clear he would never stop until something, or someone, stopped him.

No one moved. Kritton’s eyes narrowed as he looked them over, then without warning he lashed out with his boot, kicking Scolly hard in the ribs. The soldier yelped in pain and curled up in a ball clutching his rib cage. “I said on your feet, now.”

Hrem was up in an instant, moving far faster than a man of his bulk should move. Frost fire burned in his hands. Several elves appeared with muskets cocked and ready to fire. Each muzzle was aimed at a different member of Yimt’s old squad. There was no way they’d miss.

“Easy, Hrem, he’s not worth it,” Visyna said, gently laying a hand on his arm. Frost fire arced from his sleeve to her skin. The shock of the magic stung her hand, but she kept it there for several seconds, wincing at the pain.

Teeter helped up a whimpering Scolly, while Zwitty and Inkermon rose to their feet on their own. They grouped close together, each one’s fists clenched. Their bravery was all the more impressive because even as they prepared to fight they swayed on their feet. Chayii remained crouched by Jir, her hands buried deep in the fur on the back of his neck. A deep, rumbling growl echoed throughout the tunnel.

“You have something to say, big man?” Kritton asked, wincing as he clutched his left arm to his side.

“Don’t touch him again. Don’t touch any of us again, ever.”

Kritton sneered. “Or what? Your precious major isn’t here to save you now. All I see are a bunch of misguided fools doing the bidding of a bastard in league with Her.”

“Funny,” Hrem said, his voice low and steady, “I was going to say the same about you lot.”

“It’ll be the last thing you say,” Kritton said, his right hand falling to rest on the hilt of Yimt’s drukar.

Seeing it worn by Kritton angered Visyna, but she knew she couldn’t afford to indulge that emotion, not here, and not now. A few growls from the rest of Yimt’s squad suggested they were not as likely to hold their feelings in check. If Visyna didn’t do something soon things would spin out of control.

“It would help if you told us where we are going,” she said, surprised that her voice sounded calm.

Kritton and Hrem continued to glare at each other.

Scolly coughed and doubled over gasping. Teeter kept him from falling and helped him stand up again. When he did they all saw blood trickling from his mouth.

“You pathetic bastard,” Teeter said, letting go of Scolly and taking a step forward. He pointed a finger at the elf. “You don’t know where you’re going, do you? All you know is you fouled it all up and now you’re taking these elves with you.”

Kritton broke his stare with Hrem and turned on Teeter. The elf’s jaw was clenched. “Shut your mouth.”

Teeter took another step. “You’re a coward and a liar, Kritton. All you’re doing is running. That’s all you’ve ever done. There’s a noose waiting for you now so you’re running and you’re taking these elves with you to the gibbet. Yes, that’s right,” Teeter said, turning to look at the elves. “Desertion, murder, and looting are all hanging offenses, or do you think they’ll pardon your crimes for some long-lost baubles and beads?”

No, no, no, Visyna thought, please don’t provoke him.

“Our honor will be restored!” Kritton shouted, his voice trembling. “Everything we’ve done has been necessary. We’ve destroyed Her forces wherever we found them. The rakkes. . the rakkes paid for the humiliation we’ve endured.”

The elf soldiers looked uncomfortable at Kritton’s mention of the rakkes, though Visyna couldn’t understand why. The tension in the tunnel was growing. Hrem turned his head slightly and looked at her. She felt trapped. She had to try to weave some magic now.

Teeter refused to back down, continuing to shout insult after insult at the increasingly agitated elf. Visyna took in a slow breath and held it. With her hands down by her side, she sought out the life energy around her. She found the elves easily.

Avoiding Kritton’s aura, she began to weave, careful to keep her movements as small as possible. Sweat broke out on her forehead and her neck grew warm as she focused. The wrongness of what she was doing filled her with dread.

She had just begun to tease apart the strands when the oath magic flared and caused her to lose focus. Teeter’s clenched fists were wreathed in black frost. He was still yelling at Kritton and didn’t appear to notice.

“Teeter, let it go!” Hrem said, recognizing this new danger. Zwitty gasped.

The elves shuffled back a couple of steps before Kritton barked at them to stay where they were. His eyes narrowed. “Do you see? This is the curse Swift Dragon brought down on the regiment, and if he has his way, it will be your fate, too.”

Teeter was no longer yelling, but his anger remained. “Get out of here and take your kind with you,” he said, his voice low and menacing.

“You don’t frighten me,” Kritton said, “or do you forget that I’m just as cursed as you?”

The frost fire blossomed into ice-black flame and began crawling up Teeter’s arms. His jacket shimmered and the buttons gleamed as the fire took hold. The ground beneath his feet sparkled as if he stood on broken glass.

“Put it out, Teeter-you know what happened to Zwitty,” Hrem said.

“I had it under control just fine,” Zwitty said.

“I’m not doing anything. Not until they leave,” Teeter said. His face was cast in a flickering light of sharp shadows as the black frost fire reached his shoulders and covered his chest. He wavered where he stood.

Visyna stifled a cry as she sought out his energy in the web around her. The oath magic was spiraling out of control.

“Hrem, do something,” she said.

He held out his hands and shrugged. “I can’t do what Renwar did. None of us can.”

She looked over at Chayii, but she shook her head.

Teeter took a step toward Kritton. “Run. . now.” He was completely wreathed in black flame. The temperature of the air plummeted and the tunnel filled with white mist from their breath. The fire grew in intensity, feeding off Teeter as it did. Kritton backed up several steps.

“This would have been your fate!” he shouted, turning to look at the elves. “This is what I am trying to save you from. This is why everything we did was necessary!”

“Put out the fire now!” Hrem shouted.

Teeter turned to look at him, then at the others. Even through the flame Visyna could see he was trying to smile. “I plan to.”

He spun, and opening his arms wide, lunged at Kritton.

Smoke and flame filled the tunnel as several muskets fired at once. Visyna screamed and covered her ears too late as the blast assaulted her senses. Hot, acrid smoke and burning embers slapped her face. She reeled backward and would have fallen if not for slamming into the tunnel wall.

There was yelling, screaming. Inkermon crashed to the floor with two elves on top of him. Scolly dove on top of them, his fists a blur as he pummeled the back of an elf’s head. More elves charged past her knocking her off her feet in the process. She slid down the wall scraping her back and landing sharply on her tailbone bringing tears to her eyes.

“You bastards! You bastards!” Hrem shouted, tearing into the elves and scattering bodies everywhere. His fists swung like massive sledgehammers, dropping elves into crumpled heaps. Black frost sparkled on several of their uniforms, but did not burst into flame. Visyna struggled to her feet determined to help, but a body fell on her legs pinning her in place. Frost fire crackled and sparkled on her legs and she screamed, pushing the body off. It was Zwitty. Blood trickled from a long gash above his right eye.

This time she did get to her feet, but the fight was over. Elves had them penned in from both sides, their muskets ready to shoot them all down. She rubbed her eyes, blinking and shaking her head as her vision slowly readjusted.

Teeter’s body lay sprawled on the tunnel floor, the frost fire consuming it rapidly. In a matter of seconds it was gone. The air started to warm, and her breath no longer misted in front of her face. More tears filled her eyes as Teeter’s shade materialized briefly and then faded, leaving only a cold, empty space.

“We go, now!” Kritton shouted, his eyes wide with fear and anger. He kicked at elves to get them moving, motioning them to haul the human soldiers to their feet. Visyna willed herself to move. Scolly and Inkermon helped Zwitty up as she fell into step with Hrem.

“There was nothing you could do,” Hrem said. His knuckles were bloody and the left sleeve of his uniform was ripped from shoulder to cuff.

She knew it was true that there was nothing she could have done, but hearing him say it made her feel guilty all the same. She began to trace a tiny pattern in the air with her hands, seeking out the threads of the elves around them. Hrem looked over and tilted his head in question.

“No more of us die,” she whispered.

He nodded, and they kept walking.