Frost Burn

by K T Munson

  The water in front of her froze solid, and Thea looked up at Kirill as he stepped up to the edge. She raised her arm up as Kirill reached down, and they gripped each other’s wrists. With one hand, he lifted her out of the ocean until her feet were planted firmly on the ice he had made. He must have taken down his ice shield because it didn’t burn so much when he lifted her arm around his neck to help her walk. Then both of them slowly started back to the iceberg.

  “I knew you were insane. I knew it,” he grumbled before it could get awkward.

  Thea looked up at him and ended up grinning broadly despite herself. “Don’t pretend you aren’t impressed.”

  With that, Kirill smiled broadly at her in return. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  Thea laughed genuinely for the first time since the eruption of Tamon. “Certainly not.”

  Frost: Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The morning after the kraken attack, everyone had made a slow trek back to the southern edge of the iceberg. They were all exhausted. Kirill, Thea, and all the Fire Nation soldiers had arrived just as the sun was coming up and found an upsetting scene, one that Kirill now frowned down at. One of the boats had been severely damaged from the massive sloshing ice island and resulting waves. Lines had been snapped on a few other boats, and some had gone adrift, though luckily not too badly so.

  Thea had immediately began issuing orders and headed down to the ships that were left, while Kirill stood up above them all like a bump on an iceberg. Thankfully, they had been able to salvage most of the severely damaged ship before it sunk, but it wasn’t usable in its current condition. The other ships that had been retrieved had broken oars, and another was leaking.

  Kirill watched the bustling activity below and couldn’t help the concern he felt watching Thea. The woman had just chased off a massive sea beast, nearly drowned, and hadn’t slept. As the day waned on, she conducted her soldiers as professionally as ever. Several times, however, when she thought no one was looking, Kirill had caught her crouching down low on the ship deck, barely able to stand, and bowing her head in absolute fatigue. Kirill almost felt the need to go down and comfort her when he saw that, but she didn’t seem like the kind of woman who would take kindly to it. As soon as someone would arrive, usually Fitzu, she was on her feet and alert, as if nothing were amiss.

  Kirill had thought losing chunks of the iceberg to the north was bad, but this issue with the ships would slow them down quite a bit. The kraken attack had brought them to a dead halt, and they needed every ship to get them moving again. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t have the power to do it by himself. He was lucky he had been able to keep the iceberg together with only a few lost chunks. If it hadn’t been for Thea’s quick—or rather, insane—reaction, he was sure they would have had two icebergs to deal with now instead of one.

  Kirill glanced at the water barrels to his left. He hadn’t told anyone that some of his barrels had been lost in the attack as well. He didn’t think there would be any left for a return trip. It was likely a one-way journey for him. He thought of his mother and Aradel, realizing he might not see them again. But at least they would know he died trying to save them and their world.

  “Hey, frost flake!” Thea called up.

  He almost smiled at the name. He shook his head and sighed heavily before yelling down, “Don’t call me that.”

  “We’re going to head to the shore to repair this boat,” she called.

  Kirill glanced at the empty barrels again, and a thought came to him. Land meant the possibility of water. He could have the barrels refilled, and no one would ever be the wiser.

  “Is there drinkable water?” Kirill called down, hopeful.

  There was a long pause, and for a moment Kirill didn’t think she was going to answer. He inched forward and peered over the edge and nearly jumped when Thea’s face popped up over the side. He instantly came forward to help her up over the edge.

  When she was on her feet, she looked him straight in the eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Kirill lied. “I just thought we could take the opportunity to fill up empty barrels.” Her eyes narrowed and he stared back, unfazed.

  After a moment, she crossed her arms and gave him a flat bored expression. “You’re a good liar, but unfortunately for you, I grew up on the streets surrounded by liars. Your privileged, pedigreed ass can’t compete with the best scumbags in the Fire Nation, my dear,” she said with a playful smile. “So I’ll ask again—and how about the truth this time—what’s wrong?”

  He crossed his arms as well and leaned back on his heels. He hadn’t expected her to call him out on his lie, but he should have known better. She was too street smart to fall for that.

  He eventually sighed in defeat. “We lost some barrels.” Kirill admitted. “There isn’t just ship debris down there.”

  Her arms instantly uncrossed as she went to inspect his southern cluster of barrels. “How many?” she asked.

  “There are enough left for now,” Kirill insisted. That technically wasn’t a lie because making it to Rask was all that mattered. And he had enough water to make it to Rask.

  Thea raised both eyebrows as she faced him before tapping her fingers across one of the barrel’s rims. “Are you sure?” she pressed, clearly not satisfied.

  “I am sure.”

  She examined him silently for another moment before nodding once. “Good,” she replied, walking back to the edge. “There isn’t any drinkable water this far north because of the volcanos. But if you don’t have enough”—she faced him— “tell me and I’ll send men further inland to find some.”

  He hesitated. He needed the water, but there wasn’t time to lose able-bodied men on a wild goose chase. He’d known that sulfur from volcanos could get into the ground water; he just hadn’t realized it had come so far west. Thea stood waiting for him at the top of the rope ladder.

  Kirill shook his head. “If I need more water, I’ll just take it from the iceberg.”

  She seemed satisfied with that answer. After a final nod of her head, she started back down the rope. He watched her go before he grabbed the empty barrels and tossed them over the side.

  “Are you crazy?” Thea yelled from her position halfway down the ladder.

  He watched them bob on the surface of the ocean. “Use them to mend the boats!” he insisted before tossing over another. He smiled when he heard her grumbling.

  They were more alike than either was willing to admit. They might not be friends, but he no longer hated and distrusted her. She was actually a remarkable woman.

  Kirill turned and started walking to the east side of the iceberg. He wanted to be able to watch them reach the shoreline. He was nearly there when he felt something hit his arm. Startled, he looked up, and a piece of hail bounced off his forehead.

  His eyes went wide. That couldn’t be good.

  Kirill jogged the last of the distance to the eastern side of the iceberg. In the boat heading toward shore for repairs, he saw the Fire Nation had already pulled out tarps, and were huddled under them. He was thankful they’d had the foresight to bring them.

  He sat down, keeping the iceberg cold two miles off the coast, and watched as they landed and started to mend the ravaged boat. He pulled an apple from his pocket and bit into it. The nice thing about being on an iceberg was everything lasted longer. They still had apples and other foods that lasted longer than they should. The meat had been eaten quickly, so only the salted lamb and beef was left, but many fruit and vegetables remained. They hadn’t started in on the tasteless reserves yet. Kirill shuddered at the thought of beans. The Fire Nation seemed to like the tasteless morsels, but he found them bland. They had a strange texture, too. He glanced down at his apple with a smile. Thank the goddess for the food supplies he had brought from home. Their apples grew in colder temperatures along The Wall, and the cold of the iceberg preserved them.

  He was about to take another bite when he saw something appear on the land’
s horizon. A small black shadow crested a hill in the distance just past where the Fire Nation was working. His eyes narrowed as he tried to make it out. Suddenly the black silhouettes expanded to the sides, and the horizon was slowly taken over by the slow-moving figures.

  Realization dawned on him. His apple rolled from his fingers and off the iceberg. “By the goddess,” he whispered, astonished.

  He was slack jawed as he stood up. An army was heading their way, and Kirill didn’t think they were friendly.

  He lifted his arm to send a signal but then realized they didn’t have one for “massive attacking army from the east.” This was unfortunate because it would have come in handy right that second.

  He had to warn them. He faced the iceberg and lifted his arms into the air, breaking off a few lengthy pieces. He shot them high into the air and, hoping they would understand, wrote only one word against the dark gray sky: “East.”

  He kept them aloft until the Fire Nation was on their feet and studying the horizon to the east. Kirill sighed in relief and let the ice pieces drop back down. He worried, though, that he hadn’t warned them in time. Kirill bolted to the back of the iceberg, where the ships still waited. It took him far too long to get there. When he did, he had to take a minute to catch his breath. The men down below were talking and working slowly, unaware of what was happening at shore.

  “They’re under attack,” Kirill finally managed to yell.

  Some of the men looked up at him. “Where?” Fitzu called up,

  “They’re on the shore, and there’s an army descending,” he said, moving toward the ladder.

  Fitzu put a hand up as though to hold him back. “You need to stay here. We will deal with it.”

  “No way,” Kirill responded more loudly than he should have. “You are going to need me.”

  “The iceberg needs you,” Fitzu replied as started giving the orders to head to the shore.

  Kirill wanted to force them to take him. He was not one to be left out of a battle. Yet he knew the man was right. He couldn’t leave the iceberg, for even a minute away would result in lost ice. They had lost enough as it was, and he couldn’t risk losing more.

  “Hurry!” he yelled before running back toward the eastern edge.

  It was with agony that he knew Thea was sorely outnumbered on the shore. If Fitzu and the remaining troops got to her, they stood a chance, but she had only taken fifty men for the repairs. Kirill’s fists clenched at the thought. They needed him but he couldn’t leave their mission unattended. The iceberg mattered more than his desire to protect and defend.

  Fire: Chapter Twenty-Eight

  When Thea saw Kirill’s “East” spelled in the sky, she spun around to see an army paused at the bottom of the nearest hill. “No,” she gasped in astonishment, coming out from under the tarp where she’d sought shelter. Hail pegged her body with little sparks of pain where it touched her exposed skin, leaving gray stone spots in their wake. This could not be happening. “You can’t be serious, Ekil!” she screamed in rage. She didn’t have to see his face in the waiting mob to know he was there. “The planet is dying, and you’re going to attack us like this!”

  “When you magic users die,” she heard his voice echo over the distance, “the Sun God will be satisfied and allow the planet to live!” Her eyes followed the sound until she found his scarred, aged face to the left of the army.

  Her fists clenched. “You petty, ridiculous fool!”

  He pointed his sword at her. “Time to meet your end, fire wielder,” he replied calmly as his army slowly advanced.

  She panted through clenched teeth as she turned to look out over the ocean. She saw Fitzu and her other two hundred soldiers already sailing for the shore to come to her aid. Time. She needed to buy some time to allow them to reach her. She only had fifty men on shore, while Ekil had an army of over a thousand.

  She turned to face the coming mob again. Examining the land and the situation, Thea got an idea. She blazed her core so she could ignore the hail burns and stalked up to two huge rocky stone pillars. They stood to each side of her between her and Ekil’s descending army. She held both of her hands out toward the rocks, palms up and fingers bent, and summoned her magic. She heated the rock up to a temperature that instantly began to melt it. Molten rock dripped to the ground like candle wax. When the pillars were flattened, she ran her hands horizontally across her body, which dragged the lava over the land in front of her. Raising both of her arms, she lifted the lava up, forming a tall wall between her and them. She pulled the heat out of the stone and released it into the air, allowing the lava to cool into solid rock once again.

  That should hold them.

  Thea was about to turn away when suddenly her creation began to melt once again. Her eyes grew wide as the wall became lava before her. She didn’t understand. She couldn’t comprehend what was happening! The lava parted like stage curtains, and she instantly found the cause across the landscape.

  “Askari,” she gasped. He was the Northern Regional Overlord of the Fire Nation! A magic user!

  Thea’s eyes scanned over Ekil’s army, and she was horrified to find numerous familiar faces among the mob—people she was friends with and had worked closely with for years. Porva the Eastern Overlady of the Fire Nation was also among them. Seeing some silver-and-blue clad strangers in the pack, she could suddenly feel her heartbeat in her ears. They were from the Frost Nation.

  “Haven’t you heard, Thea?” Ekil called as his army continued to close the distance over the landscape. “Even some of your fellow magic users have abandoned hope in the royal families and joined my cause.”

  Thea’s mouth went dry.

  “By the way,” he continued, “you’d probably like to know that another, much larger pack of us is waiting for your precious Prince and senseless Queen on the Frost Nation shores.” Thea’s eyes went wide again. “Oh yes, they evacuated after Tamon’s eruption.” She could see his drippy, evil smug smile as he said the next words. “But they aren’t counting on us showing up.”

  Rage exploded in her head and heart. She screamed at the top of her lungs and sent a column of fire as tall as she was toward them. She split it off in several directions at the last second and burned lava canals into the stone under their feet. She was fast enough that some didn’t see that coming, and a few, mostly the Frost Nation natives who would be most susceptible to it, fell into the streams of lava she created beneath them. They screamed horribly before they were burned alive.

  “I’m going to kill you!” she screamed.

  Trembling from fear that Coor and Darha might be harmed, she raised her hands up, making the canals she had just created erupt like volcanos. Most jumped out of the way of the spewing lava, but some caught fire and burned. Clenching her teeth, she picked up the lava streams from the ground and manipulated them through the air like massive fiery whips. They licked and flicked at the air like the trashing tentacles of the kraken.

  It was difficult to control, and sweat instantly started to drip down her temples, but she managed to catch a few dozen more on fire before another magic user took control of them. The lava whips hovered frozen in the air in several crazy directions. Scanning the army that was only fifty yards away, she realized it was Porva. Thea was trying to move the whips and Porva was trying to turn them on Thea. Thea slammed her hands downward so the lava splashed to the ground, releasing both of their holds on it.

  She was about to pick them up again, but the army was too close. She was dead. As were the soldiers on shore with her. As long as Kirill was alive to hold that iceberg together, though, Fitzu could finish escorting him north. Thea drew her sword with one hand, lit up her fire magic in the other, and glared at the army; she just had to kill enough of them to make sure they weren’t a threat to Fitzu or Kirill.

  Thea and her fifty soldiers bravely took a fighting stance in front of the approaching army; every one of them armed and lit up like she was. Not one of them even blanched. She was proud of her people. S
he was proud of the Fire Nation, and she was proud of her soldiers.

  Abruptly, the hail balls that had accumulated on the ground all rose into the sky at once. The shocking sight of it made the oncoming army stop and stare in wonder. Thea and her soldiers couldn’t help looking around at the unanticipated spectacle, too.

  “No way,” Thea whispered and spun to face the ocean. “Drecher,” she said, not taking her eyes off the iceberg, “give me your long glass.”

  “Is that who I think it is?” she asked and handed Thea the telescope.

  Thea immediately snapped it open and brought it up to her eye. She spotted Kirill on the southeastern edge of the iceberg. He was on his knees with his hands raised in front of him, and even in this little lens, she could see him trembling violently. His eyes were locked on the shore, and he was pissed.

  Thea lowered the long glass and her jaw was hanging open. “Sure is.”

  Suddenly the hail, controlled by Kirill, reared back a few feet before it shot out toward the enemy army with the speed of hundreds of thousands of tiny arrows. Each little ball of ice became a deadly projectile. Thea saw tiny holes erupt all over the enemies’ bodies. In an instant, the army looked like the targets of an archery range after clean up. Numerous holes littered their bodies, and every single person was down, if not dead.

  The next moment, the hail that remained dropped and bounced lifelessly to the ground. Thea’s breath caught, and she instantly returned her attention to the iceberg, looking through the long glass. She focused on Kirill just in time to see him collapse out of sight.

  “No!” she cried. She dropped the long glass and ran to the edge of the ocean.