Phantom Frost

by Alfred Wurr

  “Nice guy,” Brad said. “So, what next?”

  I pulled my hat from my head and reached in for the Walkman. I held up the headphones. “Now, I call Olivia.”

  Olivia answered on the first ring, sounding more alert this time. I brought her up to speed. We were at the Shoshone Cemetery, as ordered. We now had the VW van. Kurt had taken the Buick Wildcat and left us Bear.

  “Good, that’s good,” Olivia said. “Bear’s going to be your guide. The Allfrost Chamber that I mentioned is a few miles to the west. It’s offline but still functional. You’ll need to restart it. You’re going to make a detour first, though.”

  “A detour to where?”

  “There’s an old settlement called Dublin Gulch, west of your position. It’s a ghost town now. Miners carved caves and tunnels into the sides of the cliffs there. You can hole up there until dark.”

  “Why not just stay in the van?”

  “The gang should get going for home, as soon as possible. The sooner they’re far away from the Bodhi Institute, the better.”

  “All right, but isn’t waiting dangerous for me too?”

  “Not as dangerous as travelling during the day,” Olivia said. “It’s called Death Valley for a reason. It’s the hottest, driest place on the planet. It’s got to be over forty-three degrees Celsius right now with relative humidity of ten percent. You don’t want to be out in that any longer than necessary, so get to the gulch, find a cave out of the sun and call me back as soon as it’s dark.”

  “What about these gems that Kurt gave me?”

  “Which ones?”

  “He gave me red ones and one larger white one.”

  “The white one is to activate an Allfrost power node,” Olivia replied. “The chamber you’re heading to doesn’t have enough power, so most of its functions are offline. We want to study the red ones. They’re all that’s left of the fire elementals. You’re the courier. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Sure, no problem.”

  “Okay, Shivurr, you should get going right away. Remember, call me back at dusk.”

  “I can keep the line open.”

  “That’ll burn through the batteries too quickly. You’ve still got the spares, right?”

  “Yep.”

  “Good. That should be enough, I think, but we should end the call now just to be safe. The gulch is about a half mile away from your position. There’s a dirt road leading there, so you should have no trouble finding it.”

  A sheriff’s car drove past down the highway as I pressed the stop button on the cassette player. I needed to move.

  Stowing the Walkman, I filled my companions in on Olivia’s side of the call.

  “We’re supposed to just leave you here?” Brad asked. “Not sure I like that.”

  “It’s the only way,” I replied. “You can’t use the tholos. Besides, you need to get home and stay safe.”

  “Okay, but we’re driving you to Dublin Gulch,” Brad insisted. “That’s non-negotiable.”

  Brad started the van and puttered us along the faint path over the dusty taupe-coloured terrain, taking us between the cliffs that miners had once called home.

  Staying within the comfort of the van, we said our goodbyes.

  “Try to get Caleb home soon,” Lucy said, kissing my cheek. “Or his parents will be asking questions.”

  “Not likely,” Brad muttered, looking doubtful.

  I hugged each of my new friends in turn, leaning awkwardly into the front seat to reach the two eldest members of the group. Bear got a pat from all, even a tentative one from Lucy. I grabbed the door handle and prepared to fling it wide.

  “Shivurr, wait,” Lilith said, causing me to turn. She held out the paperback that I’d seen her reading the day that we met. “Here, something to read when you’re bored.”

  Bored sounds good right now, I thought. “But you’re not finished,” I said, pointing to the bookmark.

  She waved a hand. “Silly. I’ve read it before. Besides, you can give it back when you visit us, when you bring Caleb home.”

  “Thanks, Lil,” I said, giving her a wink.

  Alan held out a flashlight and a refillable bottle of water. “Take this too. So you can read when it’s dark. And water, just in case.”

  “I’m touched, you guys. You’re the best. I wish I had something to give you.”

  “Don’t sweat it, dude,” Alan said. “Least we can do. Hang loose, brother.”

  I looked at each of them, memorizing their faces. “Drive careful, Brad. I’ll see you guys. Soon, I hope.”

  Packing my gifts away, I pulled open the cargo door and drew the hood of my jacket over my head as hot dry wind bit into my face. Bear jumped out right after me and sat at my side as I drew the door shut with a thump.

  The van’s engine rumbled and Brad steered it back toward the highway. I watched it go, gave Bear a pat on the head and started walking south toward the cliffs, past a huge pile of rusty cans—garbage left behind by the former residents, I presumed.

  Just you and me now, bud, I thought.

  The cliffsides, composed of caliche clay—gravel, sand, clay and silt—were not tall, varying in height from ten to twenty feet. Holes had been carved at intervals into the sides, some of which were sealed with padlocked doors, denying entry. The walls sported a cladding of stone bricks pillaged from the surroundings and shaped to interlock with each other.

  I wandered up and down, searching for an opening as the desert wind sucked the moisture and coolness from my body. I was about to give up and head to the north when I found an unsealed entryway supported by thick wooden beams. I entered and followed a short hallway down a slight grade about fifteen feet to a single room, the floor of which sloped toward the back wall. A nook had been carved into the far wall, forming a rudimentary fireplace. I could see a hole cut into the ceiling over it to allow smoke to escape. Enough light from the exterior made its way into the space that I could see well enough after a moment, so I left my newly acquired flashlight off for the time being.

  I set up camp against a wall and pulled out the bottle of water that Alan had given to me. Taking a sip, I held the open end to Bear’s face. His long tongue licked drops from the nipple as I tilted it. Half of it fell to the parched earth and disappeared; the other half he swallowed. Satisfied, my faithful canine companion got comfortable next to me, seemingly welcoming the coolness radiating from me, while I drew out another can of ice-cold soda. It opened with a tantalizing crack and hiss. I smiled in anticipation for all of two seconds before slaking my thirst.

  The primitive domicile was considerably cooler than outside, though still warmer than my comfort zone, but out of the sun with a cold drink in hand, I felt almost content. Maybe, after days spent in these harshest conditions, I was getting used to it—toughened beyond what I would have imagined possible, beyond what I thought I could endure.

  I pulled out the potions that I’d recovered from the Institute and laid them on the ground in front of me. I counted twenty-two in total. I picked one up and fingered the stopper. Do I take another now? I shook my head. No, Olivia’s right. Wait until New Olympus. I put the potion back in my hat and did the same for the others before they got too warm.

  My treasures safely stowed, I dug out Lilith’s book and, holding Alan’s flashlight beneath my chin, began to read. Soon, Bear closed his eyes and slept. A few chapters into the book, tired from my adventures, I, too, drifted off to sleep.

  I dreamed, once again, of that terrible battle that I had witnessed after taking the first potion at Scott’s the other day, the one where I rode the frost disc, protected by a bubble of blue-white energy. It was the same as before: monstrous beings locked in combat; ambulatory trees, fifty feet tall, throwing boulders past my head at the onrushing enemy as giants and worse rushed toward us. Words came unbidden to mind as I dreamed.

  Scorched earth, ball of flame

  Old gods on fields of battle

  Allfrost over all

  Again and aga
in, the same scene ran through my head until, slowly, along with it came the realization that I knew how to do what I saw myself doing in that war of so long ago. I knew how to draw, manipulate and shape the Underfrost to create and propel the frost disc forward, how to draw frost energy around me to cloak myself in a protective bubble to shield myself from harm, and how to send it outward to pull snow and ice from dry ground and thin air. As with my other abilities, I knew all of this intuitively in an unconscious, visceral way.

  I marvelled in my dream state that I could ever have lost the memory of something that I knew so well—like realizing you’d forgotten how to breathe, only after having remembered how to do so.

  Since my time at the Bodhi Institute, I’d been only a ghost of my true self, I realized. I began to thrash and growl at the approaching fiends, and they gradually faded into blackness as I woke.

  Chapter 31

  Tiger by the Tail

  The room was pitch-black. I could just make out Bear as he stood next to me facing the exit, growling low and ominously.

  “Easy, buddy,” I said in soothing tones. “Probably just another turkey vulture…” I stroked his back, and he settled down, still rumbling a warning and staring at the way out.

  I cocked my head, hearing a faint scurrying sound somewhere in the dark. I fumbled around, knocking the flashlight with my hand. I held it before me and thumbed the switch, but the button didn’t move, and the room stayed dark.

  Well, just freaking great, I thought, realizing that I’d left the hand torch on, and the batteries were now dead.

  I stood and illuminated myself, squinting at the sudden glare, then backpedalled as a rattlesnake slid from view down the tunnel. Bear barked like a lunatic but stayed at my side.

  The Schmidts trained you well, I thought, or you’re smart enough to know better.

  “Okay, boy, excitement’s over,” I said. “Time to call Olivia.” I pulled out the Walkman and made the call.

  “Shivurr? Where have you been?” she said, sounding worried. “Sunset was an hour ago.”

  “Sorry, Liv, I fell asleep; guess I slept in,” I said, looking down the tunnel. “Bear just woke me up. Saved me from a rattlesnake bite. I thought he was going to chase it like the turkey vulture.”

  “What? Bear chased a turkey vulture? When was—” Her voice cut out without warning.

  “Hello?” I studied the Walkman and gave it a light smack. “Hello?”

  More dead batteries, I realized. Crouching, I doffed my cap, grabbed the spares and snapped them into place.

  A minute later, Olivia answered again. “There you are.”

  “Sorry, the batteries died.”

  “Glad I gave you spares,” she said. “What was that about a turkey vulture?” I filled her in briefly. “Oh, that’s concerning.”

  “It’s no big deal,” I said, walking around the room. “He didn’t even get close.”

  “That’s not it,” she said. “He doesn’t chase things, unless they’re a threat. He’s an exceptionally smart dog.”

  “I don’t know. It’s a turkey vulture. How much of a threat could it be? Maybe he’s a bit on edge after the fire the other day.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Olivia said, but she didn’t sound convinced. “It could also be a Faction creature. You’d better get moving either way. Put the headphones over Bear’s ears. I need to speak to him.”

  “Beg your pardon?”

  She chuckled. “You heard me.”

  “All right,” I said, kneeling. Bear sat calmly as I held the headphone pads near his ears. Half a minute later, the Alaskan shepherd wiped them off with a paw and I returned them to my head. “Olivia, you there?”

  “Yes, I’m here. Okay, Bear will lead you to the Allfrost Chamber. You’ll need to find and activate at least one nearby power node. You’ll need to bring the temperature in the area below freezing; that’s another reason I wanted you to wait until nightfall. Burying it in snow should do it. Can you manage that?”

  I thought of my recent dream. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Good. If you couldn’t, you were going to have to drink those other potions until you could. Once the node is cold enough, that should bring the dais across and raise the sphere. Place the white gem into the sphere to activate it and keep it from reverting back into the Underfrost.”

  “Is that the glowing ball of white light?”

  “That’s the one,” Olivia said. She hesitated before continuing. “You should know, the Allfrost Chamber might be guarded. Don’t worry. It might not be, but the Faction has a habit of tracking them down and leaving their monsters behind. I guess they’re hoping to catch any Allfrost Sentinels that might return.”

  “I thought I was the last Allfrost Sentinel.”

  “Yeah, but they may not know that, or they do and they’re still trying to get you too.”

  “Is that why we’re all missing?”

  “I don’t know…maybe.”

  “Okay, so what kind of monster are we talking about?” I asked.

  “I don’t know that either. It could be one of many or something that I’ve never seen before. Something new.”

  “Like that troll that attacked me?” I asked, thinking of the fight after Hanale dropped me off on my way back to Nevada.

  “Probably something worse,” Olivia said. “And he wasn’t supposed to be there. He’s been recaptured, by the way.”

  “Got it, something worse,” I replied, frowning at the Walkman. “Are you sure this is the best way back?”

  “Definitely. The Bodhi Group and the Faction are both actively searching for you, we must assume, so we’ve got to get you out of there right now. Try not to worry about it. There might not be anything there anyway. They haven’t located all the chambers yet; far from it. You’ve got just one last desert trek, then you’ll be safe, back here.”

  “What about Bear? He can’t make the trip. Can he?”

  “Bear can take care of himself,” Olivia said. “Powerful foes aren’t hunting for him. He’ll be fine.”

  “Okay, let’s get this over with. Thanks, Olivia. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Frostspeed, Shivurr,” Olivia replied before cutting the connection.

  I packed away the book and flashlight, keeping the headphones on in case I needed to call Olivia again in a rush. Then I shotgunned five cans of soda, hyper-hydrating.

  I guess it’ll be mainly Sprite and Mountain Dew for me back on the islands, I thought.

  I drew the visor of my cap low over my eyes and pulled the hood of my jacket forward to protect my face as the sugar rushed to my head. “Okay, Bear, let’s rock.”

  The strong afternoon wind had calmed to a light breeze, and the dry air had cooled enough that I didn’t want to immediately run back into the cliffside. I tilted my head skyward, gaping at the beauty of the clear night sky that shone brightly overhead, lit by the dazzling stars of the Milky Way.

  I guess I won’t need the flashlight after all, I thought, smiling. Good thing, since I don’t have batteries for it.

  “All right, Bear. Which way?”

  Bear glanced at me, then started walking, turning left to the west, and I followed.

  A few steps later, a skittering sound came from the cliffs above us. Bear’s ears flattened and his lips pulled back, but he made no sound.

  I turned my head to look and saw the shadowy silhouette of something big moving along the ridge, heading southwest, perhaps twenty feet back from the edge. As it turned, starlight reflected off of it and I could see it better. From where I stood, it looked like the middle finger of a giant hand curling back on itself, with a long, thorny nail at the tip that pointed to the earth. Whatever was moving up there was bigger than anything that should be walking around the desert.

  I raced over to hug the wall on tiptoe, holding my breath. My furry companion joined me a moment later, looking upward, hackles still raised. My head swivelled right as metal clattered to the east. A second silhouette, this one closer than the first, scuttled
across the pile of rusty cans that I’d passed earlier in the day. It was a scorpion, but too large—larger even than Brad’s van. A segmented tail with a vicious-looking stinger rocked like a cradle above its back as it moved toward the first hole in the clay wall, clacking massive pincers. Glancing to my left, I could see another large arachnid moving along the north wall, as if searching for something.

  I shuffled along the edge of the wall, heading west, quiet as an ice ninja. I took shelter behind a nearby freestanding outhouse, then peered around the corner. The scorpion on the south side, my side, was systematically moving along the wall, peering into doorways, feeling with whatever senses these arachnids had at their disposal. An air horn sounded to the east, beyond the gulch, where several large semi-trailers were idling in front of the cemetery where we’d waited for Kurt earlier in the day. Squinting, I could see that the trailer doors that faced me were gaping wide, and the engines faced east as if they’d been backed in. The silhouettes of a few people were visible moving nearby, but the scorpions ignored them as they prowled the area.

  I scanned the desert to the west and let out a breath.

  No giant scorpions, I thought. Good.

  Unfortunately, while apparently clear of monsters, it looked like two miles of open ground with nowhere to hide until I reached the hills. The peaks to the northwest were a bit out of the way but lay closer and would provide more cover, if I could cross the dirt road that bisected the gulch without being seen.

  My recent dream flashed through my mind, giving me an idea. Slinking back behind the outhouse, I swirled my hands like I was rubbing an invisible ball, conjuring a ball of white-cold frost energy. When it was the size of a basketball, I tossed it lightly into the air, moved my hands like a pizza maker twirling dough to give it some spin, and let it drop to the ground. Stopping mere inches from the dirt, it spread outward like quicksilver, forming a disc of ice and snow. Still linked to it in a way that I didn’t consciously understand, I sculpted and spun it until it was four feet wide and six inches thick. It floated there, waiting, steaming like dry ice, just like in my dreams.