Page 63 of From Frost to Flame

Countless tentacles sprouted from her back and shot out after them. One by one, she plucked them off the ground and held them high over the rooftops. Some tried to brandish swords, some bared teeth in their wolf form. Some fled into shops in desperation. The tentacles spared no one. Weapons were shattered, wolves ensnared, and tentacles smashed through doors, dragging cowards out before her.

Lex had read a hundred stories about the great war waged against The Ravenous One, but to watch her in action filled him with dread. A village of warriors, considered the best fighters of all nonhumans, were brought to their knees in a matter of minutes by even her weakened form.

In a flash, her sweet smile was a snarl. “Monsters. You don’t deserve your children.”

Ice shot out from under her feet, thick and fast. Every building and every home was coated in layers of jagged white. The homes buckled and groaned under the ever-growing weight.

Children screamed and banged on doors and windows, but it was too late. They were sealed into frozen tombs.

The older wolves broke out into a chorus of pleas and placed blame for their actions on Silas's parents.

“Stop!”

“Please!”

“It was all them!”

Silas's parents never faltered or begged. Their faces stayed stoic and cold as they glared up at The Ravenous One.

The pleas fell on unsympathetic ears. With a dismissive wave of The Ravenous One’s hand, all the buildings collapsed onto themselves. The screams of the children were snuffed out in an instant, filling the night air with a heavy silence.

The quiet only lasted a moment before grief-stricken wails filled the air. All the warriors fought against The Ravenous One’s inescapable grip.

Lex’s heart shattered at the display of senseless cruelty. Worst of all, he could tell The Ravenous One relished in it. True to her name, the heartbreak fueled her. The ink in her eye sockets glimmered, and as she grew taller, the world grew even colder. Lex was thankful he never had to witness her during war times. The hopelessness everyone wrote about made more sense now.

Well fed, she slaughtered the adults with an efficiency only a well-practiced mass murderer could. She electrocuted and crushed them one by one, filling the air with a grotesque cacophony of death, until Silas's parents were the last two left. All the corpses turned white as frost, and ice blanketed their bloody bodies.

Lex watched, unable to look away from the ferocity that passed between the three of them. Silas's features were spread out among their faces. His werewolf mother’s silver eyes, his father’s jawline, and The Ravenous One’s intimidating stare all reflected Silas. The village beneath their feet had become an arctic wasteland.

“How dare you try to hurt our son!” The Ravenous One hissed as she protectively pulled Silas closer to her chest and glowered at his werewolf parents.

“What I did with you was a mistake!” his father choked out as she squeezed him tighter. “I never would have asked you for a child if I knew it would lead to thatthing.”

“Pathetic little creatures,” she hissed, seething as she looked at the two of them dangling in the air. “You asked for a child that was great. ‘A legend’ were your exact words. I gave you one! All I asked was that you raise him. Instead, you nearly extinguished him.”

As the three of them argued, none of them noticed that Silas's unblinking eyes were locked on the graveyard below. He barely breathed or moved as shock swallowed him.

“You know he is not what I wanted,” his father spat. “He’s an abomination. Not a legend. He will never be anything but a monster.”

“He’s our child!” The trees shook with her booming voice.

“He’s a parasite you both infected me with!” his werewolf mother yelled back. “My only regret is I didn’t kill him sooner. I should have killed him in my womb.”

The Ravenous One’s brows furrowed, and a crackle of electricity ran through her tentacles. In an instant, both were dead. She dropped them to the earth like insignificant pebbles in the sea.

Silas broke out of his trance when their bones cracked against the earth. He reached down for his parents’ corpses and let out an ear-splitting scream that forced Lex to cover his ears.

“Aren’t you a sensitive little thing?” she cooed again, pulling his hands away. “Must be a werewolf trait. Don’t worry, I’m here now. You don’t need them.” She stroked Silas's face with the same tentacle that electrocuted his other parents.

Lex remembered Silas's pained face when he crushed the first piece of her soul and the reality of their journey clicked into place.

His own mother. He’s trying to kill his own mother to save me.

“I shouldn’t have trusted them with your care. They were never worthy. None of them are,” she said as she walked through the piles of bodies in the square. “They are beneath you. As your mother, I’m going to make sure you are cherished like the gift you are.”

“My mother?” Little Silas lookedat her with wide eyes. “But—”

“But nothing!” He recoiled from her rage. “We’re going to be a family now like we should have been all along. I never should’ve left you with those worthless wolves. Ihad hoped they could teach you about your other traits. I’m not well versed in dogs, I’m afraid. But I’ll make do.”

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