by Tom Hansen
“Now that my two pets are here, it’s time for us to begin. I really wish things didn’t have to end this way, Ynya, but I will have to take your magic from you until I’m ready to perform the proper rituals.”
Ynya’s magic disappeared once again, just like it had done out on the frozen plains when they had first arrived.
“No!” Ynya yelled. Once again, the void in her chest was like a gaping wound in her soul when she didn’t have access to her magic.
Behind her, Synol gasped.
Hearing that gut-wrenching sound tore Ynya’s heart in two.
“Synol!” Ynya turned to run toward her sister, but the larger of the two monsters, Pain, growled and leapt on top of Ynya, knocking her to the floor. Thick talons scratched her back through the fabric of her dress, drawing blood.
Finny roared.
Half a second later, Finny barreled into Pain, knocking him off of Ynya.
Ynya rolled as the two snapped and growled at each other.
“Enough!” The Queen screamed, “I need her taken alive!”
The two beasts ignored the Queen, snapping and snarling at each other. They paced around in a circle, their eyes never leaving one another.
The Queen narrowed her eyes. “You will both obey me!”
Finny looked over at the Queen and spoke. Her voice was hoarse and scratchy, but it was definitely Finny. “You will not control me anymore, false Queen. You have no pull over my magic when I am in this form. You should have thought about that when you had them make me. You control him no better, like a dog, and dogs can turn on their masters.”
The Queen’s face scrunched up in a contorted rage, and she pulled in magic to release in a torrent of frost. But Finny launched herself at the Queen’s neck.
The Queen sidestepped, blasting Finny with a frost spell and sending her reeling against the wall.
Finny hit the stone with a grunted whine, crumpling to the ground in a heap.
Alarmed, Pain bounded over to her, whimpering.
Ynya’s face filled with tears over how fast things had escalated. She now no-longer had access to her magic, Synol was dying, and now Finny was hurt!
Fuck!
She should have used the bronze earring on the Queen, or she should have just tried to kill the Queen with fire magic while she still had time stopped.
Pain nudged Finny with his snout while he whined. It was a sweet gesture during a time of depravity and anguish.
“I said attack, or I will do the same to you!” The Queen snarled at the beasts.
Finny got up, holding up her back leg, and turned on the Queen, growling.
Pain joined his mate in growling. Together, they paced slowly toward the Queen.
The Queen never flinched. “Very well. It seems you two need more obedience training. No matter. There will be plenty of time when I can ensure your loyalty once I have my prize.” She raised her arms and cages of ice sprung up from the floor, trapping both beasts within them.
Finny and Pain threw themselves at the thick ice bars to no effect. Their bites tried but failed to grab onto the slick ice.
Ynya scrambled backwards, taking Synol in her arms.
Synol was near-death, her chest barely moving with labored breaths. Black lines wound under her skin, as the poison filled her veins.
“Synol! I’m sorry!”
“Enough!” The Queen yelled. “You will gift me your power now, or I will take it from you. If you do it now, before your sister dies, I will spare her life by removing the poison.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ynya looked across the room at her sisters. One was trapped in ice, another was in her arms, moments away from dying by poison, and the other had her magic inexorably linked to the Queen’s.
Ynya’s own magic had been taken from her, so she couldn’t stop time anymore. She was out of options.
Her heart ached at having to make a decision such as this, but she had no choice. She couldn’t allow any of her sisters to be harmed or killed, regardless of how it affected her, or however much power it gave the Queen.
She would always choose her sisters.
“Very well, but I want you to remove the poison from Synol first. I can’t have her dying while I do this.”
The Queen frowned. “You are in no position to demand anything from me, but since you came to a decision so quickly, I will reverse the progress.”
The Queen snapped her fingers, and Synol sat up more. Her eyes brightened, and she looked around the room with a new vigor. Her mottled skin regained most of her color, and the poisoned lines all but disappeared.
“She now has a couple minutes, so you better hurry.”
“What do I need to do? Can I even gift it with my magic taken from me?”
The Queen nodded. “Your magic is still there, you are just prevented from using it yourself. I left just enough of an opening for you to gift it. Look inside yourself, feel for your magic, then look behind it, look for a link to the Concordance deep in the back. Follow that thread as far as you can. There, you will be able to detach your magic thread and gift it to me.”
The Queen knelt down. “You must use both of your hands to hold my head in order to gift it, but you must do so willingly. If you do not, if you do not mean to gift me your magic, then it will fail. If you fail, your sister dies and I will be forced to take it from you.”
“Take it?” Ynya’s jaw trembled at the thought.
“Yes, I can take your magic from you, but the process damages the magic in the transfer. It will never be as powerful or as pure as if it was gifted. So, you can see I would prefer you gift it. Are you ready for this?”
Of course Ynya wasn’t ready for this, but did she have a choice? She couldn’t do anything that would put Synol’s life at risk. Even now, Synol’s seconds ticked by and there was no guarantee that the Queen would actually save her life.
Ynya looked inside her, at the place where her magic lived. Sure enough, her magics were there, but not powered. Touching them, she felt the distant hum of her fire, and beside it, Talia’s time magic slowly drummed to her heartbeat.
“Very well.”
“Your Highness.” Nora spoke up. “She still has a bronze earring on her and could use it against you.”
The Queen turned slightly sideways toward Nora. “Very keen observation. I knew there was a reason I kept you around. Ynya, hand those earrings to the Captain so they can be destroyed.”
Ynya reached into her pocket and handed the earrings to her aunt, who took them without meeting her gaze. Nora seemed to know exactly what she was planning, and not for the first time this morning, Ynya wondered exactly where Nora’s loyalties were.
She had seemed amiable and almost lovable the night before, giving her all sorts of information, but Ynya wondered if that was all part of the plan. Perhaps the Queen had told her to allow Ynya to entertain her thoughts of escape.
This must have been why the Queen showed up with the dogs this morning. Nora must have told her about the questions Ynya had been asking.
It made sense. Ynya scowled at her retreating aunt. She would deal with her later. Right now, she had to save Synol.
Ynya reached inside of her once again, feeling for her magic, then stepped over to the Queen.
The Queen smiled at her, an almost-genuine smile this time. “You are making the right decision here, Ynya. Your mother would be proud.”
Ynya hesitated.
Would she?
Talia Oblique had entrusted Ynya to rescue her sisters from the Frost Queen, and here was Ynya doing exactly opposite of what she had promised her mother.
“No!” Ynya yelled, balling her fists up and putting them down by her sides. “My mother would NOT be proud if she could see me now. She would be angry. She entrusted me with her magic and told me to rescue my sisters.”
The Queen frowned. “That is too bad. I guess I will restart the poison in your sister once again.”
Ynya turned to Synol. “I’m sorry, big sis, but givi
ng the magic to her isn’t going to help us escape. She’ll just have more power over us.”
Synol, weak, but seemingly happy, smiled back. “It’s okay, Ynya. I’m proud of you. Mother would be proud of you for standing up to her.”
The Queen raised her hand, but as she did, her eyes went wide with alarm, and her body jerked three times in rapid succession.
“I cannot allow that.” Nora said, wielding her silver blade next to the Queen’s throat. Black lines just like the poison in Synol wormed from her hand up her forearm. “It is time that I do something noble for my family.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“You idiot!” The Queen whirled on Nora. “You know those don’t work on me!”
“Not fully, but it weakens your magic and makes it easier to fight you. Now Ynya can use part of her magic to save Synol.”
Inside her, Ynya felt the stirrings of her heat. The stabbing of the Queen had indeed given her back a tiny thread of magic. She turned to face Synol, who struggled to breathe as the poison took hold of her once again. “I will save you Synol, I promise.”
Ynya touched her sister, using the entirety of her small thread of magic to stop Synol’s heartbeat again.
The Queen thrust her hand out, grabbing Nora by the throat. “And here I thought you had finally seen the error of your ways. That is fine, I meant to take some of the people down off the wall, so clearly it is time for you to take their place.”
The Queen poured magic into the Skarmyord, freezing her from the outside in.
“Leave her alone!”
Meki jumped on top of the table, a fierce look in her eyes.
The Queen whirled, Nora’s neck in her hand. “What do you think you’re doing, girl? Don’t forget that I control your magic.”
“Maybe so, but you also forgot to teach me the simple fact that a magical link goes two ways. Maybe you thought I was too young to understand, or maybe you just wanted my more powerful frost magic. It’s a good thing my aunt taught me the true extent of how bonds work!”
Meki pulled in a huge amount of magic, sucking it away from the Frost Queen.
The Queen dropped Nora, whose frost-covered face had turned purple. Black lines snaked up the Captain’s arm now. Clearly the Queen hadn’t been lying about the protective magic in her bloodline.
Nora hit the stone floor with a thud. Her body stiffened and her eyes glazed over. Ynya needed heat to thaw out her Aunt, but before she could summon enough, a blast of cold from Meki threw the Queen into the cage containing Finny and Pain. Ynya jumped back from the blast.
The cage shattered as the Queen’s limp body smashed through it.
Both beasts leapt out, snarling and hissing, snapping and clawing at the Queen as she sailed over their heads and hit the wall.
The Queen slid across the floor, but recovered quickly. She rolled to her knees and thrust out her hands, throwing a dozen spikes at Meki.
Meki guarded by crossing her arms in front of her. Ice grew across her arms in an instant, and the spikes crashed into the makeshift shield, shattering into hundreds of pieces.
One, however, missed the shield and dug into her shoulder.
Meki grunted and fell down. She grabbed the spike and ripped it from her shoulder. “You will leave my sisters alone!”
Meki pulled in an immense amount of magic once again.
Ynya felt the surge in magic flow from the Queen to Meki, showing that yes, the link between the two went both ways.
Both beasts leapt at the Queen from two different angles, but the Queen shot spikes at them. This time, however, the spikes were smaller, with less force. Each one bounced off the beasts, slowing them down, but not harming them.
Whatever Meki was doing seemed to be working.
Ynya felt more of her magic return with every massive pull Meki did.
Meki threw spikes of her own, but instead of hitting the Queen directly, they slammed around her, encasing her in an icy prison.
The Queen blasted the ice away, throwing her arms out and screaming as she did so. “You are all going to regret what you have done to me this day!”
All the action between Meki and the Queen had weakened the hold the Queen had on Ynya’s magic, and she now was able to fully maintain the time freeze on Synol while also having access to some heat. It wasn’t enough to incapacitate someone, but it should be enough to help her aunt.
Ynya rushed over to Nora’s half-frozen body, dragging her back out of harm’s way. As she did so, she poured what heat she could afford into her Aunt’s body, trying to warm up the woman from the Queen’s prior attacks.
The dark lines crossing her skin were bad, the poison had seeped into every bit of her body. If Ynya could freeze time on her aunt, she might be able to keep her alive and get her healed with Synol.
Meki blasted the Queen once again with a massive gust of icy wind. Two large ice sheets surged up from the floor, pushing both beasts out of the way.
Huge hunks of ice slammed into the wall where the Queen stood, pelting her body with an overwhelming barrage of magic. Over and over, Meki threw whatever hunks of ice she could summon at the Queen, pinning her to the wall and preventing her from moving.
The Queen blocked and dodged, but every barrage took its toll. With every attack, the Queen’s magic grew weaker, while Meki’s grew stronger.
The sheer volume of magic thrown between the two was beyond astonishing. Meki was determined to use up all of her and the Queen’s magic in one massive blizzard.
The entire room was covered in a thick layer of ice, and an icy fog filled the air, making it difficult to breathe.
Ynya, pouring all of her heat into her Aunt, shivered in the cold. Her fingers and toes were blue, and the tingling sensation in her extremities had turned into a throbbing warmth.
Winds whipped in a cyclone of terror as the seemingly boundless well of magic drained into the room from both Meki and the Queen as they battled one another.
With each spell cast, the Queen grew weaker, but so did Meki.
Ynya poured more heat into her Aunt, laying across her to try to keep her mother’s sister from dying after her heroic betrayal to the Queen.
Finally, the winds stopped.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“Ynya!” Meki called. “I need the silver earring!”
Nora, barely alive at this point, opened her hand slowly, revealing both earrings. The pain from her injuries was palpable on her frigid face. “Give it to her. She is going to lock the Queen away from her magic, but she needs the earring to do so.”
Ynya looked between the earrings, her Aunt’s face, and Meki.
Meki held her hand out. “Just give it to me! I have nearly all of our power drained, so I need to stop my magic. I can’t let her pull the rest from me!”
Ynya thought she understood, but was still confused how her eight-year-old sister had come up with such a plan.
Ynya remembered back to when she was eight, fighting the frost bear known as Yolphinir. She had been pretty clever back then, hadn’t she? Meki was just finally able to show her own strength for once, rather than being known as the baby of the family.
Or worse yet, a slave to the Queen.
Ynya looked at the earrings in Nora’s hand. She couldn’t give Meki the bronze one. It couldn’t be taken back out, but the silver one could always be removed later so Meki had her magic once again.
Ynya grabbed the silver earring from her Aunt’s hand, and tossed it to Meki.
Meki grabbed the earring, opened it, and shoved it through her ear. She crumpled to the table, exhausted from the battle.
Ynya surveyed the room.
Everything and everyone was covered in a thick layer of ice and snow. The vast majority covered the wall, trapping the Frost Queen.
Both hounds were once again trapped in an icy cage, but they were busy burrowing themselves out.
Synol was covered in a thick layer of frost and ice.
Behind her, the Frost Queen struggled to pull in mag
ic to lash out. If left alone, she would escape her icy prison in a matter of minutes and the fight would start all over again.
With the Queen incapacitated, Ynya’s magic flooded her body with a vengeance. She had enough to thaw out her sisters, melt through the ice, and hopefully enough to keep the Queen frozen in time to escape.
“I can kill the Queen right now. I have the magic to stop time.”
Nora shook her head. Her voice was weak and strained. “No, you can’t. Her magic will protect her. The same magic that she used to poison Synol will never go away, and any attempt on her life will just end yours.
“See what it did to me? There is no tricking it, if you try to take her life, it will only end in your sacrifice. The only one who can kill her is a member of her family. You need to run, Ynya. Run with your sisters and get to safety.”
“But–”
“No!” Nora bit back sharply. “You don’t have any time left. You must thaw out the exit, and get your sisters out of here. You don’t have time to do anything else. You have a narrow window, now act!”
Ynya nodded, hot tears streaming down her cheeks.
Ynya used her time magic to freeze the Queen in time, along with maintaining her sister Synol. The more she used her mother’s magic, the more comfortable she was, able to target specific spots to freeze in time. She was improving, and she had enough power built up inside her that she should be able to easily fend off the army to help them escape.
“Take my dagger. You might need it.”
Ynya wordlessly took her Aunt’s dagger and its sheath, then grabbed the bronze earring from Nora’s hand and laid a warm hand on her Aunt’s face.
“I’m sorry it came to this. I’m sorry we didn’t have enough time to spend together.”
Nora smiled, a weak, strained action. “I love you, Ynya. I love all of you, and I’m proud to be your aunt. I’m sorry it took Synol nearly dying for me to realize how much I care for you.”
The Skarmyord closed her eyes, reopening them with the void just like her sister had done a couple months prior. “I suppose it makes some sense to keep the magic of the Obliques living. Take my magic. It should help you survive.”
