Page 56 of Frostforge: Passage Two

Kaine's expression didn't change, but Thalia felt the air around him grow charged."Shut your mouth," he said, each word precise and controlled.

Thalia turned away from them, her eyes finding the traced blade she'd come here seeking.It lay among the other stolen weapons, its hilt wrapped in dark leather, its metal calling to her.Without a word, she crossed the room and picked it up, testing its weight.The blade was perfectly balanced, just as she and Kaine had intended.High-quality metal, expertly forged.

She turned back to face Nash and his companions, the blade comfortable in her hand.There was no point in further conversation.The lines had been drawn.

Nash sighed theatrically."I was hoping we could resolve this peacefully.Obviously, we can't let you leave this chamber with what you know.But it doesn't have to end violently."He gestured to the sealed door."Stand down.Surrender your weapons."

The implication was clear.Surrender or die.

Senna stepped forward, her silver eyes glittering like the sun on ice."You want us to surrender?After what you've done?"She drew her own blade — a Northern two-hander reinforced with ice steel."Let's settle this the true Northern way.By blood and battle."

Thalia moved to stand beside her, the traced blade held ready.She'd never thought she'd find herself fighting alongside Senna, but in this moment, their shared disgust at Nash's betrayal forged an unlikely alliance.

"The weapons you've been replacing," Thalia said, her voice steady despite her racing pulse, "they're causing golems to malfunction.Students could have died in the Gauntlet.Some still might."She leveled the blade at Nash."Did you even consider that?"

Nash shrugged, unconcerned."Collateral damage.Nothing personal, just profit."

"Nothing personal," Thalia repeated, feeling a cold clarity settling over her."Well, this is."

Kaine moved to flank Thalia's other side, grabbing a weapon of his own off the rack — a short battleaxe that gleamed even in the dim light."Last chance," he said to Nash, his voice frighteningly calm."Surrender."

For half a heartbeat, the chamber was utterly still.Thalia could feel the pulse of ancient magic beneath her feet, the whisper of metal all around her, the steady rhythm of her own heart.She adjusted her grip on the traced blade, bracing herself.

Then Nash's companions drew their weapons.The broad-shouldered boy hefted a Warhammer that hummed with ice magic.The white-haired girl produced twin daggers that seemed to bend the light around their edges.Nash himself unsheathed a long sword that Thalia immediately recognized as one of the military-grade weapons from the Howling Forge—the kind meant for seasoned warriors, not students.

The chamber filled with the hum of steel and magic as both sides prepared to clash in the ancient darkness beneath Frostforge Academy.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Nash's face twisted into a cruel smile as he lunged forward, the blade in his hand catching the dim light of the cavern.Thalia barely had time to register the movement before the three smugglers descended upon them like wolves, the confined space of the weapon-filled chamber suddenly alive with the screech of metal against metal.Her muscles tensed instinctively, her body remembering the countless drills from her training, but there was something different in the way Nash moved — something calculated and vicious that told her this wasn't just about stolen weapons anymore.

"You should have stayed at the tournament," Nash snarled as he advanced, his white-haired female accomplice flanking to the right while the broad-shouldered boy circled left."Playing with your little toy golem instead of meddling in affairs beyond your understanding."

Kaine stepped forward; his forge hammer raised defensively."Three against three seems fair to me," he said, his voice steady despite the dangerous glint in Nash's eyes.

"Fair?"Nash barked a laugh that echoed against the stone walls."Nothing about Frostforge has ever been fair.Isn't that right, Southerner?"

The question hung in the air for only a heartbeat before Nash suddenly feinted toward Thalia.She raised her blade to block, anticipating the strike — but it never came.Instead, Nash pivoted with terrifying speed, reversing his grip and driving the heavy hilt of his sword directly into Kaine's exposed ribs.

The sound that followed would haunt Thalia for days to come: the sickening crunch of bone giving way beneath brutal force.Kaine's eyes widened in shock, his breath escaping in a strangled gasp as his knees buckled beneath him.

"Kaine!"Thalia lunged toward him, but the white-haired girl intercepted, slashing a curved blade that missed Thalia's throat by mere inches.

Kaine collapsed to the stone floor, one arm wrapped protectively around his torso, his face contorted in agony as he struggled to draw breath.Each labored inhale seemed to cause him fresh pain, his normally rigid posture crumpled like discarded parchment.

"One down," Nash said with smug satisfaction, turning his attention to Thalia and Senna."Two to go."

Thalia's mind raced.With Kaine incapacitated, they were now outnumbered.Her eyes met Senna's across the chamber — the same Senna who had tormented her since her arrival at Frostforge, the same Senna who viewed her as a rival for Kaine's affections.Yet, in that moment, something unspoken passed between them: a grudging recognition that their survival depended on cooperation.

Instinctively, Thalia backed toward Senna until they stood shoulder to shoulder, their weapons raised outward to form a defensive perimeter.

"Never thought I'd fight beside a Southerner," Senna muttered, her breath hot against Thalia's ear.

"Never thought I'd trust my back to you," Thalia returned, adjusting her grip on her blade."But here we are."

Nash and his companions circled them like sharks, testing their defenses with quick, probing strikes.The broad-shouldered boy wielded a massive war hammer that whistled through the air with each swing, forcing Thalia to duck and weave to avoid being crushed.The white-haired girl was more precise, her twin daggers flashing in complex patterns designed to confuse and disorient.

The chamber filled with a symphony of battle: steel striking steel, the scrape of boots against stone, the harsh breathing of the combatants.Somewhere behind them, Kaine's pained gasps provided a grim counterpoint to the chaos.

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