Page 40 of A Storm of Fire and Ice

“Are you okay?” I knelt beside my brother, touching his shoulder.

“Yeah,” Fannar replied a little too quickly. “Just a bit . . . off today.”

“Maybe we should call it a day,” Brontes suggested sympathetically.

“No,” Fannar said firmly. “We can’t afford to take it easy.”

“Alright,” Brontes sighed, looking unconvinced.

“Let’s go again, then,” I said, trying to infuse confidence into my voice.

Fannar nodded, his eyes hardening with determination. He steadied himself, focusing his energy on a new target. But instead of a precise strike, the icicles veered off in all directions.

“Gwyneira, watch out!” Brontes shouted just in time for me to dodge an errant spike of ice from Fannar. “Focus, Fannar! You almost hit Gwyneira!” he admonished.

“I’m sorry, sister,” Fannar muttered, his eyes downcast. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

I know what’s wrong with you, brother, but I can’t fix it.

“Why don’t we try something different?” I suggested, hoping a change in direction would help us regain some semblance of synergy. “Let’s try combining our powers like we talked about earlier.”

“Fine,” Brontes agreed, looking at Fannar reluctantly.

Fannar nodded with clouded eyes, as if he wasn’t fully present.

We took our positions, preparing to summon a harmonious display of ice and storm. I took a deep breath, my ice and storm powers thrumming within me. But as we unleashed our powers, the result was far from what we had intended. Jagged shards of ice and stray lightning bolts flew in all directions, crackling with dangerous energy. I had to duck twice.

Instead of a beautiful dance of ice and storm, the gym floor was marred with scorches and frost patches. Our movements, choreographed to be so perfectly synchronized, was in reality disjointed and faltering. Fannar took another misstep that nearly caused Brontes to collide with him.

“Watch where you’re going!” Brontes growled, his frustration simmering dangerously beneath the surface.

“Maybe if you weren’t constantly in my way, I wouldn’t have to,” Fannar shot back, his voice tight with barely restrained anger.

“Guys, don’t,” I warned steadily but firmly, hoping to put an end to the hostilities. “We need to work together. We’re all here for the same reason.”

“Are we?” Brontes challenged, his piercing gaze pinned on Fannar. “Because it seems like someone’s head is stuck in the clouds.”

“Brontes,” I scolded, though I couldn’t deny my own growing concern for Fannar’s state of mind. “We need to work together.”

“Fine,” Brontes huffed, his displeasure crackling in the air like a gathering storm.

We tried again, and once more our powers clashed instead of melding seamlessly together. The once pristine gym now resembled a battlefield, littered with icy debris and the acrid scent of scorched wood. My chest tightened with anxiety and ached for Fannar, but Brontes’s patience evaporated.

“Damn it, Fannar!” Brontes snapped, finally losing his temper. “You need to get it together, or we’re never going to get anywhere!”

“Maybe if you’d shut up, I could concentrate!” Fannar bit back, his eyes flashing with hurt and defiance.

“This is stupid. We can’t keep doing this!” Brontes glared at me, waiting for me to step in.

“I’m trying my best!” Fannar’s icy demeanor crumbling under the weight of his emotions. “Maybe it’s not me! Maybe it’s you!”

“Me?!” Brontes roared, his storm powers surging in response to his anger. “I’m not the one screwing up every damn exercise!”

“We just need more practice,” I pleaded, hoping to diffuse the argument. “We need to do this together. Maybe it’s a good idea for us to stop for the day.”

My feeble attempt to quell the tension between Brontes and Fannar was in vain. Their voices continued to escalate into a shouting match, threatening to shatter the fragile bond that held us together. I finally had enough.

“Enough! Both of you, stop!” I cried out, my voice reverberating through the gym, drowning out the cacophony of their heated argument. “Headmaster Moira said we need to be united, not tearing each other apart. Remember why we’re here.”

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