Frost Fire (Frost Series #6)

by Kailin Gow

  The suns rose high in the sky, and the light was blinding as a wave of magic swept through all the Fey and Wolves alike, causing them to shake to the core. In an instant, the light swept over the earth, and the Dark Hordes vanished, extinguished by the sun's glorious shadow.

  All was silence. Those who survived were shaking with exhaustion, as their magic at last gave out. Shasta and Rodney fell to their knees; Breena and Kian fell into each other's arms. Alistair was on the ground, his eyes closed, his skin whiter than wax...

  “Rose!” Breena ran forth. “What's happened to you?”

  Rose looked down in surprise. Something in her – no, her very body itself – was glowing – her auburn hair had grown long and glimmered with a shining white light; her skin was white and shining with some strange power. Breena was looking over at Alistair. “Alistair – what's happened to him?”

  The voice with which Rose spoke was not her own. “He couldn't handle the magic,” she said, in an ethereal voice. “The magic was too much for him. The Sorceress' shadow was able to overtake him earlier – now he is exhausted.”

  “Your voice...” Breena looked up in confusion. “I remember that voice. The Enchantress – from the mountains...” She looked Rose in the eye, and recognized the glimmer there that she had seen in that ancient but ageless woman who had once offered her Kian's life in exchange for her own. “You're back.”

  The Enchantress touched her heart. “Your friend is alive, fear not. She is in here. But the time of the Sorceress is approaching. This defeat is but one battle, not the war. She does not take kindly to this defeat. But Feyland is in need of ancient magic to protect it. More ancient than even you can provide, Queen. Feyland needed a saviour to protect it. If the Sorceress can harbour her magic in another, so can I. She chooses the weak, but I choose the worthy. Rose had potential – her goodness, her strength, her innocence and power alike made her a fitting vessel for the ancient powers from the dawn of Feyland. She had a destiny. That is why she could read the Book of Gwenhyfar without fear. I was with her in those times. I absorbed the darkness that was in that book.”

  “So that's why it worked for her and not for Alistair...” Shasta approached.

  “But what about Alistair?” Rodney knelt at his friends side. “He's in a coma...or something?”

  “He will recover,” said the Enchantress. “His energy and magic are spent, and he will require much rest. The Sorceress took much of his strength; this magic he performed took strength as well. But if you give him peace and rest, he will recover.”

  Breena surveyed the battle. She was too much a Queen now to be able to show much emotion for the fallen soldiers – to do so was, she knew, a sign of weakness, but she bowed at the corpses: an ancient Feyland sign of respect. She would not cry, she knew, but yet her heart was heavy at the sight of so many dead Wolves, sacrificed to save the Fey. Was that always the way of the world, she wondered? That the Wolves – would give their noble lives to save the Fey?

  Yet among the lupine corpses one was missing – an absence that made her deeply afraid. Where was Logan?

  Chapter 20

  Breena combed the area, hurriedly searching the piles of corpses for that one familiar face. Her face was pale; she was breathless. “Logan?” she cried, her voice echoing across the mountains. “Logan?” The Twin Suns shone at last on her face – but their light only illuminated the darkness in her expression.

  “Wait!” Rodney called. “I think I see something further down the mountain.” He pointed to what looked like a black shadow a few paces downhill. Without hesitating, Breena rushed to it, panting with exhaustion, her hair falling down over her eyes. Rodney and Kian rushed forth, too, outstripping Breena with their long legs, and it was only when she arrived and saw the pain in Kian's face that she knew what they had seen.

  “I'm sorry,” Kian whispered, holding Breena in his arms. “I'm so sorry.” Breena crumpled within his arms, falling to the floor, wetting the ground with her long-pent-up tears.

  “No,” she whispered. “No, it cannot be...” But Logan's body remained splayed out before her, lifeless and cold. Breena looked up and saw another figure through her tears. It was Rose, cradling Logan's body, shaking as she whispered to him soft and caressing words that Breena could only just make out. Was it Rose – or the Enchantress? But the face of the figure that appeared before her was young, girlish, even innocent.

  “Rose?” Breena reached out. “It is Rose, isn't it?”

  Rose looked up, the tears streaming down her cheek. It must have been obvious, she thought – how much she loved Logan; now her tears were falling fast for everyone to see. But before her was Breena, the woman Logan truly loved, the woman for whom he would have died – and she too was weeping, her tears mingling with Rose's own. How Rose would have loved him – would have cared for him! But instead he lay dead before her, his life sacrificed for the life of Feyland.

  “Yes,” Rose said with large, sad eyes. “It's me.”

  In an instant Breena was at Logan's side, cradling him in her arms, covering his still and rigid body with kisses. “Listen to me, Logan,” she was saying, her breath becoming hysterical, “you can't die on me. I won't let you. You need to breathe – you need to live – I can't do it, Logan. I can't go on – not without you. You know how I care for you – you know how I...if it were another time, another place. Without Feyland. Without this magic. If it were another world...” Breena's sobs were audible now, and Rose backed away quietly. So the Fairy Queen did love the Wolf Prince, after all! She was marrying Kian, pledging her heart and soul to the Winter King – and yet her love for Logan was clearer now than ever. Then why had she refused him? Rose rose to her feet, turning her face away. It was too painful to see this love – a love she would never be part of. And you thought you had a chance, Rose. Kian, too, seemed to notice this pain – he backed away, returning to the top of the mountain to watch from a distance, unable to bear the force of her love for Logan.

  Breena rose and went over to Rose, the tears shining on her face. “You can save him,” she squeezed Rose's hand. “Only you can save him. You're the Enchantress. You once saved Kian, brought him back to life, gave him his immortality back. You did it once when I came to you. You can do it again – for him.”

  Rose's eyes went wide as she shook her head. Whatever power had taken hold of her – whatever the Enchantress could do – Rose was reasonably sure that she didn't have the same powers. “I can't,” she said.

  “No,” said Breena. “No, you're the Enchantress. Name your price and I will pay it. I will be willing. I will not be afraid.”

  Slowly, Rose began to become aware of a voice within her, a voice that willed her to speak in another voice. “Yes, I remember.” It was the ethereal voice of the Enchantress. “You saved Kian with your life. Are you willing to do the same for Logan?”

  Breena went silent for a moment. She looked down at Logan's prone body, and then up at Kian, who stood silently at the top of the mountain pain and worry on his face. “I love my betrothed,” she said. “I love him too much to hurt him. But I owe Logan. I owe him my life many times over. I told you once, Kian, that if Logan were dying, I would die to save him as I saved you. It doesn't mean I love you any less. But it means that the time has come to make that sacrifice.”

  Are you all right? Kian's voice was coming telepathically down to Breena. Can you bear it? Breena – I'm worried about you – I'm coming to get you.

  Kian, Breena was down on her knees. I love you with all of my heart and I want to be with you, but I made that promise – to Logan. That if he ever lay dead before me, I would do it for him too...

  What are you saying? Rose could see Kian rushing down the mountainside after his beloved. What are you talking about?

  Breena looked firmly at the Enchantress “I'll do it,” she said.

  “Breena, no!” Kian was shouting aloud, rushing towards her. “You can't – you can't choose him. I can't lose you again! Not after how much we've been through.�
��

  Breena stroked Logan's still, dead cheek. She bent down, kissing his icy lips. “This much, at least, I can do.”

  “No!” Another cry burst forth from Rose, this time in her own voice.

  “The Enchantress?” Breena looked up. “Or Rose?”

  “Rose,” she said, her voice trembling. “I can't control it – I don't know when she'll speak through me – but it's me now. You love him – I know you do. You have such a capacity for love, Breena. But you can't die now. You have a fiance, a family, obligations, people who love you, a kingdom. I'll take your place, Breena. I'll jump instead of you – for Logan.” The moment she said it she knew she meant it – her love for Logan was strong.

  “But why?” Breena looked confused.

  “Because Feyland needs its Queen,” said Rose. “And because....” she blushed, “because I don't want to live in a world without him in it.”

  Kian was getting closer; Breena blanched. “I can't let you do this,” she said. “It's not your responsibility – it was mine. Always mine. Please – this much you can do. Tell Kian I fell – tell him I turned back, decided to stop, and that I lost my footing and fell. Tell Logan...tell him I've gone back to Gregory, to simpler times, that I couldn't deal with Feyland. Tell him...”

  But as she rose and turned to go to the cliff, strong arms stopped her and held her fast. They were Kian's. “What are you doing?” His eyes were savage and wild.

  “I'm sorry,” Breena said through her tears. “I must fulfill my promise. I must make things right...”

  Kian's eyes opened wide in shock. He looked as though he had been slapped across the face. “Of course,” he said darkly. “You’ve always loved him. I just didn't dare to think...how much.”

  “It's not that,” Breena insisted. “Please, Kian, it isn't that. But I can't see him like that, knowing how much he's sacrificed, what he's given up. It's not fair for him, Kian. He deserved to live.”

  “And you don't?” Kian snapped. “And me? Have you thought of how I'd feel – losing you? Did you even think of that?”

  “Yes,” Breena said slowly. “I did.”

  “But you choose to go through with it anyway? For him.”

  “I want to be with you,” Breena began in a coaxing voice. “To stay with you, to marry you and be by your side...”

  “But it won't happen!” Kian cried. “Not if you choose to do this. You've cheated death once before – you won't get any second chances.”

  Breena opened her mouth to speak, her voice trembling as she started to form the words. But she was interrupted by a cry of joy.

  They turned to see Rose embracing Logan, tears of joy running down her face as she kissed his lips, holding him tight.

  “What the...” Kian and Breena approached, only to see that Logan was sitting upright, his eyes open and twinkling, his muscles taut and strong. Logan was alive.

  Epilogue

  As Logan's eyes flew open, he felt a pair of lips on his – glorious and sweet, kissing him with more passion, with purer love, than he had ever known. Breena? He thought sleepily. But the kisses were more intense, more desperate – filled with a love far more undiluted than Breena's divided sympathies. Breena loved him- but she loved Kian too. This creature, whoever she was, seemed to love him alone.

  Logan looked up in surprise. “Rose?”

  Rose pulled back immediately, her face turning scarlet and crimson. Logan gaped in astonishment. Did Rose really feel that way about him? Her kisses had been so soft, so loving, so passionate...? But out of the corner of his eye Logan caught a glimpse of Breena rushing to him, joy beaming from every one of her beautiful features, and immediately he forgot his questions. There was nothing in the world that he wouldn't give to see that smile again, even his life.

  Breena's arms were wrapped tightly around him. She was kissing his forehead, his cheeks, his hands, her lips resisting the temptation to find his. He wanted to kiss her, to pull her into him, but in the distance he could spy Kian glowering at them, his face troubled and full of grief.

  “The suns...” Logan looked up dizzily, his eyes falling upon the beams of light exuding from the suns. “They're back...” The daylight was bright, gloriously bright, and the beauty of it almost blinded him. “But where's Josephine? The Wolves?” He looked around, but could glimpse no sight of his comrades.

  Kian walked over stiffly, patting Logan's shoulders with a formality Logan had not seen in him for ages. “They died a good death,” he said. “For Feyland. They helped save us. You should be proud to have led such brave men and women.”

  “What's going on down there?” Delano and Rodney were looking down the mountain at him.

  “Logan's made it!” Breena crowed with joy. “He's alive.”

  But Logan's joy did not match her own. He was thinking of Josephine, of his friends – now fallen in the service of Feyland. “I came on this quest,” he began, his voice shaking, “to restore the magic of the Wolf Fey. Instead I have led them to slaughter.” His voice was heavy.

  “Not quite,” Rose's hair had started to shimmer once more; her skin was glowing. She spoke as the Enchantress once again. Logan looked up in surprise. What had happened to Rose? He had never seen her look so beautiful, so alluring, as if a strange and potent magic were being channelled through her.

  She held something in her hand. Logan looked closer to see what it was.

  It was the Wolfstone, burning bright red in her palms, light swirling within the stone. “I used this to restore Logan's life,” she said, in a voice Logan did not recognize. “Logan's Wolfstone allowed him to cheat death once. The other Wolves had no such stone. But that may change. There are still wolves left who can regain their immortality.”

  Logan looked up at Rose in confusion. “Who are you?” He clapped a hand to his mouth. “The Sorceress?”

  “The Enchantress,” Rose put out a hand to comfort him. “Once the same source created the greatest magic. Darkness and light dwelt together. But the darkness pulled away from the light, and so two were born instead of one. The Enchantress and the Sorceress. They say that the Sorceress gave the Wolves their nature. But what one of us can do, then so can the other. My fairy magic will counteract her evil.”

  Logan looked up, realization coming over his features. “Marry a fairy woman...” he muttered, as if remembering something. “Grandfather...restore the magic of the Fey....” He started. “Could it be?”

  “Could it be what?” Breena asked him.

  He shook his head. Is it Rose? Was Rose the fairy woman whose destiny was his own? Was she the fairy woman who could restore the Wolf Fey once and for all? He had always been so sure it was Breena – dreamed of melding his destiny to hers. But now he wasn't so sure... He looked over at Breena, love and devotion shining in her eyes. Could it be that he had been wrong all along? His bond with Breena was great, but not magical – but was there a magical bond he was destined to forge?

  Breena and Kian turned to one another. “We must return to the castle,” said Kian. “Begin preparations for the wedding.” But his voice was hoarse and grave. He knew, now, that Breena had been willing to leave him in order to save Logan. Would he ever be able to forget the look on her face?

  “Yes,” said Breena. “The wedding.” She, too, felt Kian's pain.

  “There isn't going to be a wedding, fools!” A high-pitched, eerie voice. A familiar voice.

  The voice of the Sorceress.

  “Who's that?” Delano looked closely at the approaching figure. “She's not a Fey, whoever she is...”

  But the girl who stood before them was not Fey at all. Immaculately dressed in mortal clothes, with perfectly coiffed hair and precise, sultry makeup, was a woman, wearing a smirk upon her lovely face. Logan and Breena looked at each other.

  “Is that...”

  Breena gasped with realization. “Clariss?”

  Not a Fey but a girl all too human – a girl Breena remembered from her days at Gregory High School, when the cheerleader Clariss had torm
ented her mercilessly all through her teenage years. Could Clariss be the Sorceress?

  “Nice to see you again, Logan,” Clariss smiled. “Still as handsome as ever. And Breena – is that a crown I see?” Her eyes narrowed into slits and her smile turned into something of a snarl. “You won't be wearing that for long, I wager. Now that I'm back. You couldn't knock it in High School, Breena, and you won't knock it here. Feyland's mine, now. And if you think you can hack being the Feyland Queen, well, then, you'll be the first to die.”

  Kian stepped forward, his sword in hand. “How dare you speak that way to my betrothed?” he cried. “and to the Queen? Who do you think you are?”