Veins of Ice

by Melissa Kellogg

  ‘To those I leave behind, I love every one of you. I will see you again. I will be here, waiting. Think of it as a vacation. I have gone home earlier than you planned to, and you will soon come home too.”

  Throughout this, Sean’s shoulders shook as he stood before Ravena’s casket. His three brothers stood next to him, equally as distraught. The large crowd wept. Albert’s family were there too. His parents and one sister dabbed their eyes, missing Albert with all of their hearts.

  Selene pulled out of her trance, grabbed her cane, and was helped to her feet. She hobbled off. Earthly matters didn’t concern her as much as spiritual ones did. She didn’t see deaths as a loss. Given her psychic abilities to talk to the dead, it was understandable.

  After a while, the caskets were carried into the nearby mausoleum. Because only one could be housed on the center marble platform at a time, all four caskets were tucked into the recesses in the rounded walls of the building, leaving the center platform empty. They would remain there for slightly for than a week, and then be carried down and placed in the couch crypts below, to stay there forever.

  They formed a single line, with those closest to the Sandalwood family at the front to give their final goodbyes. When it was Karena’s turn to enter the mausoleum, she hesitated, feeling guilty for having willingly and eagerly associated with a Fire. She stepped in, and looked at the redwood coffins. She put her hand against them, and whispered a farewell to them. What had happened enraged and saddened her. With her finger, using ice as her ink, she traced heart shapes over the coffins. She left in order to allow others to pay their final respects too.

  Outside, she found Sean and gave his shoulder a squeeze. His eyes were red and puffy. His fists clenched and unclenched, and his eyebrows had furled over his eyes. Around his feet, grass grew at an unnatural speed. The earth fissured around him, and earthworms wiggled out of their homes. Mounds of soil piled up around his feet, and mushrooms popped into being across their damp surfaces. All of this came from Sean and his untethered emotional state.

  “Let’s get out of this wind and find something to eat. That’ll cheer you up,” Leo said, coming up alongside him.

  Sean shook his head. Muscles in his jaw quivered. His nostrils flared.

  “I’m going into the Fire district,” Sean said, and drew his sleeve across his watery eyes.

  They glanced at each other in fear. Karena took a step back away from Sean.

  “We can’t,” Wyatt blurted out.

  “We shouldn’t stoop as low as they,” Brandon said, backing him up. Just like Wyatt, he was one of Sean’s best friends. Brandon and Wyatt could’ve almost been twins with their lanky frames, and curly crowns of brown hair.

  Sean seethed, “They openly attacked us, and it’s about time we retaliated. They need to pay for what they did.”

  “I talked with Captain Valmar last night,” Karena said. “He questioned everyone who would be a likely suspect. He doesn’t know who caused the fires yet.”

  “I don’t care because I know it was the Fires who did it. They’re all to blame for my sister’s death. Who would kill children? They’re murderers.”

  “You would cause a severe rise in escalation,” Wyatt said.

  “Then stay behind!” Sean shouted. The ground trembled under their feet.

  He marched to his car.

  “He’s going to get himself killed,” Leo said, and shifted from foot to foot, clearly contemplating whether to follow him.

  Ever one for peace, Brandon said, “There’s nothing we can do. We can’t go with him. We can’t openly attack them. No matter what we’re going through, it goes against our teachings of nonviolence towards others.”

  Karena appreciated Brandon and Wyatt taking a peaceful stance. She felt like she couldn’t voice her own opinions, not after having been on a Fire’s team for two weeks and saving the team from a wyvern, which didn’t sit well with some, including Sean.

  As it was, the entire situation was emotionally charged. She was conflicted. The cherufe had come from a foundry that the Volcanis family owned. Was that enough evidence to convict them of wrongdoing? Her heart strings tugged one way, and then another.

  “Think of the consequences. We can’t take the law into our own hands,” Wyatt said. His eyes searched their faces, imploring them to see reason.

  Hot-headed, Claira spat, “You’re all pussies. I’m going with him. It’s time to kick some ass.”

  “I agree,” Aaron said.

  Half of their group left to follow Sean into the Fire district. Wyatt threw up his hands. They were divided, half of them were for violence, and the other half were against it.

  “Hadrian, what do you think?” Brandon asked.

  Hadrian looked at those leaving and then at him. He said, “I want to see the Fires suffer as much as anyone else, but the violence will only worsen if this is allowed to happen. We’ve all had our bouts with the Fires and Airs. I feel like we’ve suffered more than they, but nevertheless, the law will catch who did it. The last death on our side was Karena’s uncle, eleven years ago. Unfortunately, these things happen. It’s a way of life now.”

  They looked at the ground.

  Karena said, “They never found out who killed my uncle.” She dug her toes into the grass.

  “We have to stop Sean or else this could spiral out of control,” Brandon said.

  Karena watched him, Wyatt, and several others of their group leave. She examined her injured arm. It was still sore, but the skin had at least grown back on it. Nevertheless, she wasn’t in any shape to get into a fight.

  “I’m going with them,” Hadrian said. He sprinted away, traveling fast over the ground like a gazelle in flight.

  Feelings nagged at her. An attack on the Fires wasn’t wise. Earths were at a disadvantage against Fires. Hadrian meant everything to her. If he got hurt, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself for not intervening.

  Rose came up behind her.

  “Where is he going?” Rose asked.

  “To the Fire district.”

  “What?! Why?”

  “To try to stop Sean and the others who want to make the Fires pay for what they supposedly did.”

  “No! He could be killed.”

  “I’ll stop them.”

  “How? You’ve been only out of the hospital for two days. Let’s call the police.”

  Karena turned to her, and looked her in the eyes. She said, “I won’t get into a fight. I’ll stall them until the police arrive, okay?”

  Rose nodded, and ran to find the nearest telephone.

  Entering the Fire district was stupid. They would be outnumbered. Karena jogged to the parking lot, and spied Captain Valmar’s motorcycle. She had seen him at the funeral ceremony, but he had disappeared. She looked around, but didn’t see him. His motorcycle was far larger than the ones at work, and with a lot more horsepower. His keys dangled from the ignition. She didn’t have a vehicle to use, and she needed to get into the Fire district fast.

  Karena hopped onto it, feeling dwarfed by it. She turned the key, and the engine rumbled and growled like a beast. The engine vibrated the entire frame of the motorcycle. She eased it onto the street, and twisted the throttle. Its rapid acceleration nearly unseated her. The front end lifted, and dropped back down. She threw it into one gear after another, and flicked on the sirens. Cars and trucks pulled over to the side to allow her to pass. She headed northwest, in a diagonal cut across the city to get to the Fire district.

  Despite her excessive speed, she didn’t see Sean’s group or Hadrian. She cursed herself. She should’ve stopped them before they had left. She wasn’t much into saving others from folly, but she made an exception when it came to Hadrian.

  The motorcycle heaved, not back and forth, but up and down. It was an earthquake, and it meant Sean was making his presence known. Ahead of her, the skyline swayed. Soon she would be under it. She entered the Fire district. Flames shot up into the sky.

  Overhead, winged shapeshifters
skimmed across the rooftops, and vanished from sight. Word had gotten out fast about Sean and his warring band of followers. The shapeshifters were making a beeline for where the conflict was taking place. Even their numbers were more than theirs. Sean hadn’t been thinking clearly at all. His rash decision could get someone killed, and most likely, it would be one of his friends. How would he feel then?

  Karena raced from one street to another in the Fire district, trying to find where Sean had gone. People were running out of buildings, grabbing children from the parks and schools, and heading back inside. It was mass chaos.

  Up ahead, cars lay on their sides and rested upside down. One had been thrown into a store, and another had been speared by a lamp post. Karena squeezed the brake handle. The motorcycle fishtailed. In the middle of an intersection, a fierce battle raged. She eased the motorcycle onto its kickstand and got off. She didn’t know what to do. She fought cryptids, not humans.

  Another earthquake shook the area. Fire blasts and sweltering heat waves ripped through the area. Shouts, animal roars and screeches, and sounds of impact deafened her. Shapeshifters swooped down, talons bared, and slashed and tore at whatever they could of their enemies. Claira, now an earthen warrior, heaved pieces of the road and whatever else lay nearby at her winged attackers.

  People screamed as blood poured from wounds. Light flashed as witches and wizards fought with spells. Thunder boomed and lightning zigzagged through the sky before striking the ground. Most of the lightning attacks were aimed at Water elementals. Violet, who was enveloped in purple light, threw curved energy blades at Charissa and other Fire elementals. She was fighting three people at once, and was struggling.

  Hadrian was equally at a disadvantage. The Fire district wasn’t as lush as the Earth district, and consequently, there were few plants for him to animate and utilize. Locked in battle, Sean upheaved the earth and parted it in an attempt to swallow whomever he could into it. More flying Air elementals flew in from above. Every Water and Earth elemental was outnumbered five to one, and it would only get worse.

  It didn’t take long for her to be spotted. Fires and Airs shouted and pointed at her, but didn’t retreat. As a Chaos elemental, she could turn the tide. Such power though had to be used wisely, and she didn’t know how to use it at that moment. Who was in the right and who was in the wrong?

  An explosion of smoke rolled through the intersection. Like everyone else, she coughed. Though it thinned, it didn’t completely dissipate. Veins of fire snaked across the road and sidewalks. From around a building, behind the defensive line of Fires and Airs, who were a mix of elementals, shapeshifters, and magically inclined people, Asher strode onto the battlefield. His eyes glowed gold, and fire erupted from his hands. He was staring right at her. All of the fighting stopped, and both sides withdrew to watch the confrontation take place. Was he there for a rematch? He was coming straight towards her.

  Karena shook inside. She had to declare her loyalty to her side. Asher was a Fire, and someone from his family had set the cherufe loose in the Earth district, and caused the murder of the Sandalwood family. He had deceived her before at her birthday party. Surely, it was in his blood to be that way. He couldn’t be trusted. She couldn’t betray her side of the feud any longer.

  “Kill him, Karena! Kill him!” Sean shouted.

  “Get him! Kill him! Bring him down!” her side yelled at her. Asher was receiving the same kind of chanting on his side to do the same to her.

  She stepped forward. The fire from Asher’s hands flashed, and it consumed the rest of his body. He came to a halt in the middle of the intersection. Sean, Claira, Hadrian, Aaron, and everyone else retreated even further back. Now it was just her and Asher. She hadn’t talked to him yet about the cherufe, and there he was, ready to fight. She hadn’t agreed to this.

  But Karena remembered the steamy intimacy they had shared that one evening, the way he had kissed, and how he had looked at her as they talked. He had made her feel special, but had it all been an act in order to seduce her? She was conflicted inside.

  The shouting increased. They wanted her to fight. The tension was building to a breaking point. But one less Fire elemental, especially a Chaos one, would do everyone a favor. Her uncle had been killed by a Fire elemental, and the loss had nearly destroyed her dad and torn apart the family. She had heard over and over again how untrustworthy and aggressive Fires were.

  Asher waited. Why was he waiting? It was then that she realized that he wasn’t going to make the first move. Though pumped and ready to destroy her, he was hesitating. The ball was in her court. Perhaps his feelings for her were genuine. But shouldn’t she crush them before he had a chance to do that to her?

  “Why are you standing there like an idiot?” Sean yelled at her. “If you were anything close to what you pretend to be, you would kill him. You defeated him in the duel. Now do it again.”

  She studied Sean, but couldn’t for too long, lest Asher attack in that moment. He looked ready to kill her if she didn’t fight Asher. He wasn’t in his right mind. The loss of Ravena had broken him.

  An icy mist formed around her. It battered up against Asher’s smoke on his half of the intersection. Karena felt as though she was being watched, but not just from on the ground, but from above as well. She looked up to where she perceived the stares to be coming from.

  From the windows of the nearby buildings, frightened faces stared at her. She didn’t know who they were or what they were thinking, but she knew that look, the look of an uncertain future. As a Chaos elemental, she was there to protect people, not to play god. It was in that moment that she knew what she had to do. No longer was the fight about her side or their side, or about her and Asher. What mattered was to terminate it before anyone else got hurt.

  A stripe of ice raced across the intersection. It made a line between Asher and herself. Fire ran alongside of it, but didn’t interfere. Her ice trail traveled back to her side, and it encircled Sean and the others, who were clustered on the sidelines. She knelt down, and put her hands against the sweating road. She closed her eyes, and connected with the line of ice on the pavement, which she had power over due to her affinity.

  Her blood chanted a wordless tune. Raw, elemental power surged through her. She concentrated on the wandering line she had made. From the ground, a wall of pikes made from ice thrust upwards. Six feet in height, they corralled Sean and the others, and formed a spiked barrier between both sides in the intersection. She opened her eyes. No one moved from the Fire’s and Air’s side or tried to break through so as to continue the fight. The thick spears of ice gleamed like semi-transparent glass.

  Through a gap in the defensive line her ice powers had formed, she could see Asher. Asher’s eyes lost their luminescence, signaling that he understood. She had declared neutrality by creating a barrier. But at the same time, she had shown who was at fault for the fight and that she wasn’t as loyal to her side as she should’ve been.

  As she stood up from her crouched position, her muscles strained. Fatigue caused her to sway. Using her powers, which were still recovering, had almost been too much for her.

  “How dare you, Karena! You’re a traitor!” Sean shouted from inside the enclosure she had made around him and the others, including Hadrian unfortunately.

  “What are you thinking?” Claira said, and began to punch and kick the icicle prison with her earthen warrior’s superhuman strength in order to escape and continue the fight.

  But none of them would be able to break free in time. Sirens wailed in the distance, drawing closer.

  Saddened by the hard choice she had been forced to make, Karena walked away. She left Captain Valmar’s motorcycle behind. Her feet padded the sidewalk. She headed south to get out of the Fire district. The streets were empty, and the shops had been hastily abandoned until peace could be restored. Had she made the right decision? What if Asher was to blame for the murders of all four members of the Sandalwood family? As it was, she had nearly died from that c
herufe.

  A truck pulled up alongside her, and a window rolled down.

  “Karena, we need to talk,” Asher said.

  “I know we do,” she said, and kept walking.

  She hated herself for not attacking him. She should’ve. Was he going to lie to her again? When they had first met, he had lied about his name. Though it was understandable given the circumstance, she was quickly losing her ability to understand. Fear and anger were gaining ground. The cherufe had come from one of the foundries his family owned. She braced herself for sweet-talks to cover up his involvement.

  He parked his truck behind her, got out, and caught up to her.

  Asher placed a hand on her back. With his other hand, he motioned to an alleyway they had come across, and he said, “Let’s go through here. I know of a place where we can be alone and talk.”

  Karena fought between two opposing forces in her head. She could kill him right then and there, and redeem herself in the eyes of her friends. He wouldn’t have time to react. There wasn’t anyone to witness the murder. She could avenge the Sandalwood family, particularly Ravena, the mother. If the Volcanis family hadn’t done it with their bare hands, the fires they had started had killed an Earth Chaos elemental.

  But Karena withheld from acting. She allowed his hand on her back to guide her. They walked down the alleyway in silence, and through the dingy backyard of a commercial building.

  When they came to a small path that cut through an overgrown, empty lot, she said, “After you.”

  Asher obliged and went before her. His back was to her now. The execution would be swift. Yet, he didn’t harbor a trace of fear or nervousness inside of him. He didn’t look back, or engage in meaningless chitchat. He kept walking in silence.

  They came to a small playground tucked away inside a ring of pillar-like rocks. Though it was designed for small children, Asher climbed up into the playground’s fort-like structure. Its landings rose, level by level, to a metal slide. Just before the slide at the top, he sat down on the landing and put his back against one of the wood walls that enclosed the area. She sat across from him, appreciating the seclusion. The walls of the playground structure were waist high for them, but now that they were sitting down, they were concealed from view should anyone walk by.