Page 38 of Frostforge: Passage Two

She flexed her fingers, watching the last ice crystals fall like snow to the stone floor.Her mind wasn't on romance, though.It kept circling back to the secret room she and Luna had discovered, where someone — almost certainly Senna — had been creating inferior alloys.Alloys that had replaced the high-quality materials throughout the academy caused golems to malfunction, putting students at risk.

And Maven had dismissed her concerns entirely.Every time Thalia closed her eyes, she saw that curl of Maven’s lip that suggested Thalia's very presence was an inconvenience.As if the ruined projects and rampaging golems were somehow a figment of her imagination, not hard evidence.Instructor Wolfe was no help, either; Thalia wondered if she refused to admit the truth out of wounded pride, an unwillingness to recognize that a student had noticed something that had escaped her.

The corridor was emptying now, students dispersing toward the dining hall or their next classes.Thalia pulled her cloak tighter, its blue trim marking her as a second-year, and stepped around a group of first-years who stared at her with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.Her reputation preceded her — the Southern girl who could animate a golem's heart on her first try.

"Thalia."

The voice came from an alcove to her left, low and urgent.She turned to find Kaine leaning against the stone wall, his broad shoulders silhouetted against a stained glass window depicting ancient forge masters.The colored light played across his face, turning his pale skin into a canvas of blues and reds.

"Kaine?What are you —"

He jerked his head toward a narrower passageway."Not here.Too many ears."

Thalia glanced around — the corridor was now nearly empty, but a pair of instructors had emerged from another classroom, deep in conversation.She nodded and followed Kaine into the smaller corridor, their footsteps echoing against the stone.This passage was older, the walls rough-hewn and lacking the polish of the main corridors.It smelled of dust and disuse.

Kaine stopped when they reached a curved section where the passage bent away from the main hall.No one could see them here or overhear their conversation.He turned to face her, eyes intense.

"It's happening again," he said without preamble."More weapons missing from the forge.The axe I was working on is gone."

Thalia's stomach tightened."When?"

"Last night.And that's not all."Kaine ran a hand through his dark hair, a rare gesture of frustration."I heard from one of the fourth-years that a set of daggers went missing from the armory.Weapons are vanishing from all over Frostforge."

"And no one's caught anything?No suspects?"Thalia asked, though she already suspected the answer.

Kaine's expression darkened."The instructors are on the hunt, but no one’s found so far.I heard Virek pinned the crimes on ‘record-keeping errors.’As if the most meticulous forge in the Reaches would misplace its weapons."

Thalia leaned against the wall opposite him, processing this."And the inferior metals?Any more incidents?"

"Two more golems malfunctioned yesterday in the third-year class.One nearly took off a student's arm."Kaine's voice had dropped even lower."No one's connecting the thefts to the metal substitutions.Not officially."

"But you are."

"So are you."It wasn't a question.Kaine's ice-blue eyes met hers."I've been thinking about this for days, and I have an idea.But I need your help."

"My help?"

"Your particular talents."Kaine stepped closer, lowering his voice further."Your sensitivity to the metal, Thalia.The way you can sense the magic in materials."

She blinked, surprised."But you can do the same.You sensed the magic in the ancient symbols when we found them last year."

A flicker of hesitation, or possibly embarrassment, crossed Kaine's face.

"Not like you can," he admitted."I didn't even notice the difference in the alloys until you pointed it out.Even now..."He shook his head."To me, the differences seem minor, subtle.But you identified them immediately."

Thalia stared at him, startled by the admission.Kaine never acknowledged weakness and never admitted limitations.Yet here he was, openly telling her she possessed a skill he didn't.

"I trust your intuition," he continued when she remained silent."I've seen what these inferior metals do when they're put to use.The failures, the accidents."His jaw tightened."Someone's going to get killed."

"What's your plan?"she asked, still processing his unexpected praise.

Kaine's eyes lit with the intensity she'd come to associate with his most determined moments."We forge a decoy.Something valuable enough to attract the thieves, but secretly imbued with a magical trace metal that you can track."

Thalia considered this."A tracking spell?Those are advanced magic — beyond Frostforge curriculum."

"Not a spell."Kaine shook his head."Something more subtle.A metal signature that only someone with your sensitivity could detect.Something that would lead us right to whoever's taking these weapons."

It was a bold plan — and a dangerous one.Thalia chewed her lower lip, thinking it through.

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