When Porter’s eyes meet Glacier’s briefly, they show malice and excitement, an alarming mixture.
She looks away in time to see the approach of the Pyre team. They all take their seats, their eyes equally as shifty as those in the Terra team.
Glacier watches one of the girls as she sits quietly, keeping to herself. Her pudgy arms are tucked against his sides, a concerned frown adorning her small features. She is possibly the only girl Glacier truly envies in this competition.
She has been so incredibly silent over the past few days that she has easily blended into the background. No one is looking at her. Despite her current gaze, Glacier can tell she is a girl that people look straight through.
Her name was like a colour… I don’t even remember her name…
Looking up to the same spot Glacier had seen Thomes sitting yesterday, she finds him already watching her. His usual evil grin marks his face like a permanent feature, never changing. His face only resurfaces the memory of her father’s blood bursting through the small hole in his chest.
Scowling in return, she sends her darkest thoughts in his direction. The strongest hatred that Glacier has ever felt blooms in her chest like an evil flower, with thorns of mass loathing.
Her skin vibrates like a violent earthquake, originating from her core. An impure hatred quickly consumes her.
Her fingers tingle strangely, her cheeks reddening with rage.
I don’t think I have ever despised someone so much…
Sasis steps out over the glass, obstructing her view of Thomes.
Suddenly released from the hateful spell that had her spiralling, Glacier rolls her shoulders. She focuses her eyes on her twisting fingers.
Don’t let it consume you, Glacier. He’s not worth it…
Her mind finally catches up with her last thoughts.
Why am I thinking these thoughts? Dad wouldn’t want me thinking this way…
Glacier straightens her spine, hardening her heart.
Don’t be like them.
“Another day has past,” Sasis’ voice startles Glacier from her thoughts, “and it is only just the beginning. Today marks the second day for the Seeding.
“Following tomorrow’s battles, we move onto the first program, then the Harvest battles. There is much to look forward to, my children.”
The crowd cheers their usual praise, clapping their loud applause.
Sasis raises his hands with gusto, “Let the battles continue!”
Once he has the crowd eager, Sasis steps off the glass.
Glacier’s eyes train to the glass that has her team members names. Tric and Keena’s names are faded, the others still bright with a halo around them.
Glacier watches her name intently, a constricting vice gripping her heart, troubling her breath.
“Our first contender for today’s battles, is…”
It is in that moment that her worst nightmare comes true.
“—Glacier Wardgrave, from the Hydra team.”
The air leaves her lungs like a heavy gust of wind.
Please tell me I'm dreaming.
Her entire body dulls and her eyes feel heavy.
Just a dream; it’s just a dream.
“Glacier, it’s your turn.” Neena’s soft voice sounds from beside her. Glacier’s head whips in her direction. What she find stills her mind.
Neena’s eyes are squint, sympathetic. Her mouth twisted with an uncomfortable, barely-there smile.
Not a dream…
Staring at the friendly twin, Glacier slowly remembers her name being selected. Looking up to the glass, she finds her name lit, blinking with impatience.
Slowly, Glacier rises to her feet and stumbles out into the ring, Tanner accompanying her.
Head lowered, fear grips her like a powerful splint. Glacier walks past the flames and leisurely splashing water, until she stands at the centre of the dirt arena.
Once there, Tanner holds his hands out to her. Glacier stares at him with confusion before he mutters, “Your jacket.”
Nodding her head lazily, Glacier strips the jacket and hands it to him. Standing in tight blue trousers and a snug camisole, the same uncomfortable feeling she felt last night in her gala dress returns.
Her eyes quickly glance around above her, absorbing every eye that watches her.
Everyone is looking at me.
A loud whistle echoes from the box where the Terra team sit. Glacier looks up to see Gamble and Porter smiling like naughty children being caught doing something bad.
Swallowing the thick feeling of embarrassment and looking back to the floor, she pins her arms pin straight at her sides.
“The opposing contender, battling against our city’s Elemental Diamond, is Isaac Loid from the Terra team.” Sasis speaks out again. His words anger her.
I am not this city’s elemental!
The Terra team howl for their comrade, the boys each giving him a clap on the back for encouragement. Isaac walks towards the arena, with his escort in tow.
Isaac’s sandy hair is unmoving as he walks. The dimple Glacier remembers spotting the night of the introductions is nowhere to be seen, as he walks onto the arena floor with blank countenance. His large, imposing figure seems to be the most frightening element of him.
To Glacier, Isaac seems like he would be a really friendly, harmless elemental.
But this is not the place for friendly or harmless. This is a place for pride, and skill, and fear.
Isaac strips his jacket as he approaches, handing it carefully to his escort. When he is close enough, the two elementals meet to shake hands.
I need to warn him.
“Please be careful.” Glacier whispers. Isaac gives her a puzzling look, “What?”
She reaches to shake his outstretched hand. “I can’t control it…”
Isaac seems confused by her words, but nods his head slightly in return.
When their hands drop, a painful terror blooms quickly inside her. Turning their backs and walking to the outskirts of the ring,
Tanner and the other escort return back to the box. Once they are safely in the glass box, doors that Glacier hadn’t realized had been there, seal them inside.
“For the safety of the teams, we must seal them inside their team box where they will not be harmed.”
Glacier looks above to see Sasis now walking back to his seat. Her eyes find Thomes once more. His grin seems more sinister than before. It is a gaping fear that consumes her this time.
“Let the battle begin.” The horn blasts through the arena, indicating the beginning of the fourth Seeding battle.
Her heart thuds painfully as Glacier anticipates the electricity that is about to zap through to her bones. She is surprised when she doesn’t feel anything. No jolts. No shocks.
Not yet…
After the doors closed the teams into a safe haven, Isaac became increasingly nervous. He waits for Glacier to make the first move, but still, she can do nothing but stand with her arms at her sides.
Once he has become frustrated with waiting, Isaac raises his hand. The ground rumbles dangerously beneath her, before Glacier suddenly shoots into the air.
The earth beneath her launches her up into the air. As quickly as it had appeared, it disappears. It is the same move that Bronze had used on Tric.
Only unlike Tric, Glacier has nothing to catch her.
Glacier hits the ground with a loud bang. Pain explodes in her wrist, followed by a sickly click. Her head hits the ground hard, a splitting pain shooting through her skull, behind her eyes.
Glacier calls out her pain in a single wail. Groaning as she scrambles to her feet, the floor moves beneath her once more. Flying across the ring, she lands on her sore wrist again, causing another loud click. Glacier cries out, quieter this time, rolling onto her stomach.
Why the hell isn’t Thomes using that damn remote!
Tucking her arm against her chest, she
pushes herself up with her other hand. Glacier’s good arm wobbles beneath her weight. She pushes harder.
Glacier glances up, catching the Pyre team all watching her with confusion.
They’re probably wondering why I'm letting myself get knocked around.
Fielder stands by the glass board watching her with a concerned anger. He looks to be shouting to her through the glass, but she hears nothing.
Get up, Glacier. Fight back. You are here for a reason.
Sluggishly pushing herself onto her knees, her body aches with bruises.
“Why aren’t you fighting back?”
Glacier looks over her shoulder to find Isaac watching her, confused.
“I can’t. I can't control it–”
Sudden powerful waves of electricity courses through her body like poisonous water.
Tensing her muscles, she starts to convulse. Her back is hunched, her chin tucked against her collarbone.
“Get back!” She screeches past her clenched jaw.
She tries to resist the white sheet that covers her. She tries to push it away from her, knowing what follows.
Glacier’s fists scrunch and her teeth grind painfully.
Control! Control it! Don’t hurt anyone!
When Glacier feels she is in control of it, another powerful surge electrocutes her to her bone. Screaming in pain, the skin on her back itches like a bug is trying to crawl through her flesh.
Her cheeks are wet and her brain feels like a scrambled pool of sludge.
The cold white sheet encompasses her entirely, blocking away any pain.
Once what feels like centuries have passed, the blanket is ripped away, the hurt returning with vengeance.
“Stop!” Glacier’s voice is rough from shouting. The current suddenly stop. Her body spasms with fright, finally collapsing on the floor.
The sound of splintering ice surrounds the air. Glacier’s breath labours, her entire body aching with an incomparable burn.
Dad, help me…
The small area of her back blisters painfully, her head pounding in rhythm with her frantic heart. Trying with her fingertips to find purchase on the dirt floor beneath her, Glacier’s eyes creep open.
She finds herself surrounded in a nirvana of ice. Every inch of the arena is coated in thick whites and blues. The glass boxes where the teams are now trapped are covered in an unbroken seal of ice. The ground is coated with either slippery ice or giant shards. The glass dome ceiling above the ring is frosted heavily, so no one can see into or out of the arena.
Glacier glances around sorely, finding Isaac off to the side of the arena, completely outside of the ring. He is flat against the icy wall, rubbing his arms to keep warm.
Groaning as she slowly climbs to her feet, Glacier’s limbs ache from aftershock, causing her body to spasm occasionally.
“Isaac, are you alright?” Her voice is raspy, barely recognizable to her own ears.
Once she is on her feet, Glacier has a better view of the damage.
Surrounding her like a protective barrier are thick ice spikes of varying widths and lengths. Glacier’s mind races with the reality that had Isaac been standing as close to her as he had earlier, he wouldn’t be alive right now.
“Yeah, I’m alright; just cold.” Isaac seems timid to approach her, but he does so anyway. Manoeuvring through the shards, he tries hard not to slip.
Suddenly Glacier can feel the currents again. Not as powerful this time, but still enough to rattle to frame
“No, stop!”
But it is too late for her to try and stop it. The white cloth covers her once more.
Glacier collapses to the ground. The cracking and splintering that echoes around the frozen room sharpens her senses. A loud snap shadows the sounds of forming ice.
The blood thumping in her ears does not dull the distinct thud that follows, the sound of something heavy collapsing. Hot tears burn trails down her cheeks, her throat burning like a sweltering fire.
“Glacier!”
She can hear someone shout her name, but her only able response is a pain-filled groan.
Attempting to roll onto her side, something obstructs her. Something slippery and wet.
Glacier’s eyes crack open, finding orange flames dancing around her vision. An unknown figure approaches where she lays, their shape blurry.
“Glace…”
There is only one elemental that calls me Glace.
After a few minutes of her body throbbing in agonizing pain, Fielder’s warm hands circle around her, handling her sore arm with care.
Glacier cries out as her body aches. The warmth emitting from his chest works quickly to soothe her agony.
Curling against his chest, her limbs seem paralysed with soreness. Glacier blinks to clear her vision, noticing the other Pyre team members standing in various sections of the arena, large fireballs resting in their palms as they worked to thaw the ice encasing the arena.
“We need a medic!” Fielder’s loud shout rattles her.
“The doorway is blocked off! Just hold on a second, would you?”
Glacier doesn’t remember or recognize the voice that answers Fielder.
The pain becomes near unbearable as her limbs slacken. Her teeth bury deep in her lower lip, muffling her moaning cries.
The sound of splashing and constant dripping is heard before someone else speaks, “Someone check on Isaac; his head is bleeding.”
Isaac? Oh no…
“Fielder,” Glacier’s throat feels as though it has been grated against gravel. Her body is jostled slightly as Fielder lowers his ear to her lips to hear her tired words.
“Go check… Isaac…” It exhausts her to speak.
Fielder shakes his head, his eyes swimming, “Glace, you’re–”
She pushes against his chest weakly, “Go.”
He sighs before gently laying her back to the ground. Glacier groans quietly as she is returned to the hard floor.
Why does he have to be so soft and warm, and the ground so… not soft and warm?
“I’ll be right back, ok? Right back.” Glacier can feel his warm breath on her cheek, before he presses his forehead against the side of her face for a moment. The show of affection has her heart bubbling with warmth and content.
“Please don’t move. I will be back real soon.” With those words, something forms deep within her chest, a strong attachment to this caring, gentle boy. An attachment that quickens her breath and nearly stills her pounding heart.
His warmth leaves with him. Glacier peeps her eyes open to see him manoeuvring around the large spikes of ice, surrounding her like a fortress. She can see the blurry outlines of the other two teams, banging their fists against the frozen glass box, still trapped inside.
The Pyre team defrost the ice across the dome above them, providing a hazy view of the curious audience openly gawking from the stands.
The speakers sound crackly as Sasis’ familiar voice hums from them, “Good gracious! Looks like a winter nirvana in the arena today!”
His cheesy words create a dip between Glacier’s brows. Placing her hands beneath her body once more, she pushes her torso up from the slowly thawing ground.
“It seems our Elemental Diamond is the last one standing! My patient audience, the winner of today’s first Seeding battle is Glacier Wardgrave from the Hydra team!”
The crowd erupts in thunderous cheer, shaking the ice like a quake.
A loud crack sounds from behind me, and soon Glacier feels a different set of hands assessing her body.
These hands are not warm, simply neutral. Turning her head slightly, she is greeted by dark skin and a worried frown.
“Where do you hurt, Glacier?”
Branch’s concern surprises her. Turning her head in his direction, a painful spasm shoots up from the bottom of her spine to the centre of her skull.
Sighing heavily, she rasps, “Everywhere.”
&n
bsp; From the corner of her eye Glacier can see him nod his head in understanding before he gingerly scoops her into his arms.
She groans in pain, apologizing shortly after. He laughs humourlessly at her apology, muttering something Glacier doesn’t hear. He pulls her close to his chest, ensuring a loose grip but tight stance, holding her like a delicate flower.
“Get that corridor open; she needs a medic!” Branch’s chest rumbles with his order, unintentionally jostling her in his arms. Glacier holds her breath to refrain from making any sound.
“We are thawing it as fast as we can. It’s not our fault the freak froze the entire bloody arena!”
Glacier recognizes the sound of Dolby’s annoyed voice. The word ‘freak’ seemingly has no effect on her, as she focuses solely on the immense pain coursing through her limbs.
“Dolby,” a dark voice bellows from the side. Branch whips his head, turning his body in the direction of the loud voice.
With her still blurred vision Glacier identifies a thick build and dark black hair. His voice was distant, but recognized.
Brink walks closer to Dolby, a trail of lava slithering behind him like a deadly snake, leaving a dark trail of thick molten ash. The ice within a metre of the lava melts instantly.
Dolby’s eyes cloud with nervousness, but he masks it faster than anyone can blink. “What? She’s an unpredictable bomb! Look around. She sealed the blimmin’ arena with ice!”
Brink seems undeterred by Dolby’s reasoning.
“Don’t call her a freak.”
Branch shifts Glacier’s weight in his arms. Had Glacier not been distracted by what Brink had just said, she would have told Branch to just put her down.
Dolby says nothing. He simply watches Brink with an irritated expression. Seeming to know when to pick his battles, Dolby leaves it and continues to thaw the thick ice coating one of the entries.
Brink turns to Glacier, a small smile on his lips. She tries to return the smile, but everything hurts.
“Cool thing with the ice, Glacier.” The way he says her name, stirs something in her chest. Something odd.
Brink walks over to another entrance that is blocked off, and flicks his hand, throwing the boiling lava in its direction. The moment she closes her eyes, sighing heavily from exhaustion, Neena and Keena rush over to where Glacier lies in Branch’s arms.
The Frozen Beginning (Elemental Diamond Book 1) Page 15
