Page 33 of Frostforge: Passage Four
"Greenspire!"The shout came from across the water, barely audible over the wind and rain.
Thalia turned toward the sound and spotted a figure on the opposite shore — tall, copper-haired, unmistakable even through the downpour.Sigrid stood on a rocky outcropping, soaked but whole, one arm raised.She had made it to safety on her own.
The final knot of tension in Thalia's chest loosened as she raised her hand to return Sigrid’s acknowledgement.Her entire team was accounted for, all alive, if not entirely well.She sagged backwards, suddenly aware of her own exhaustion, the ache in her limbs, the cold that seeped into her very bones.
Strong arms caught her, and she found herself leaning against Roran's chest, his warmth a stark contrast to the chill that pervaded everything else.She should move away, maintain a cautious distance, both emotionally and physically — but she couldn't summon the strength to pull back.
"You saved us," she murmured, turning her face up to his.Rain streamed down his features, plastering those wild curls to his skin, but his eyes burned with an intensity that had nothing to do with the storm around them.
"Of course," he answered simply, his arms tightening around her.
Around them, the unnatural storm continued to rage, lashing the fjord with a fury that could only be magical in origin.Skiffs lay capsized across the water, students struggled to reach shore, instructors launched rescue boats from the distant academy dock.But in that moment, sheltered in Roran's embrace, Thalia found herself anchored against the chaos — safe, if only temporarily, in the arms of someone who commanded the very elements that threatened to destroy them.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The soft, regular breathing of Rasmus on the infirmary cot before her should have been a comfort, but Thalia found no relief in it.Her sodden clothes clung to her skin like a second, unwelcome layer, and the chill that had seeped into her bones when they'd plunged into the fjord's icy embrace showed no signs of releasing her.Numbness crept through her limbs, though whether from the cold or from witnessing one of her first-years nearly drown, she couldn't say.She watched Rasmus's chest rise and fall, rise and fall, the rhythm a fragile reminder that death had been cheated today.The cost of that victory had yet to be tallied.
The academy healer had assured her that Rasmus would recover — "thanks to that Southern boy's quick thinking," she'd added with a rare note of approval in her voice.Roran's quick thinking.And his magic.Thalia's throat tightened.
Across the room, Daniel and Felah huddled together on another cot, wrapped in thick woolen blankets, their faces ashen and drawn.They hadn't spoken since being pulled from the water, not even to each other.Shock had claimed their voices, leaving behind only wide eyes that darted nervously around the infirmary as if expecting the waves to reach them even here.
The room smelled of drying seaweed, medicinal herbs, and the sharp tang of healing salves.Normally bustling with healers attending to training injuries, the infirmary had fallen into an unusual hush, as if the very air respected the gravity of what had almost happened.The only sounds were the soft clink of glass vials as the healer prepared another tonic at her workbench and the occasional drip of water from Thalia's hair onto the stone floor.
Sigrid hadn't come.
As soon as they'd returned to the docks, the Northern girl had stalked off, refusing any offer of help or medical attention."Northerners don't fear the cold," she'd spat, though her lips had been blue and her entire body shaking.Pride, Thalia had learned, could be as deadly as any storm.She'd let Sigrid go, too consumed with getting Rasmus to the infirmary to argue.
A slight movement at the doorway drew Thalia's attention.Luna stood there, silent as a ghost, her eyes taking in the scene with calculated precision that belied her habitually distracted demeanor.When her gaze met Thalia's, she gave a brief, tight nod — a signal so subtle that anyone watching would have missed it entirely.
Time to go.
Thalia rose from her seat beside Rasmus's bed, her waterlogged boots squelching on the stone floor.Her muscles protested the movement after sitting still for so long, sending sharp pains shooting up her calves and thighs.
"I'll be back later," she told the healer, who acknowledged her with a distracted wave.
To Daniel and Felah, she said, "Rest.That's an order."A weak attempt at normalcy that earned her nothing but blank stares.
Luna had already disappeared from the doorway by the time Thalia stepped into the corridor.She spotted her friend's slight figure turning a corner farther down the hall and quickened her pace to catch up, each step a leaden effort.Her body felt distant, as if she were moving someone else's limbs by pulling invisible strings.
They walked in silence, past closed doors and narrow windows that framed slices of the gray afternoon sky.The corridors of Frostforge were emptier than usual — everyone would be discussing the disaster at the fjord, huddled in common rooms and training halls, whispering theories and spreading rumors that would grow more outlandish with each retelling.
Luna led her to a small alcove tucked between two rarely-used storage rooms, where a narrow window overlooked the sheer drop to the fjord below.The perfect spot for a conversation meant for no other ears.They'd discovered it during their first year, when Luna had been mapping the academy's hidden corners with meticulous care that she disguised as aimless wandering.
"You look terrible," Luna said as soon as they were alone, the blunt assessment delivered in her characteristically soft voice.
Thalia leaned against the cold stone wall, suddenly aware of how heavily she was breathing just from the short walk."I feel even worse, if you can believe it."
"You should change.Get warm."
"This can't wait."Thalia crossed her arms over her chest, partly to ward off the chill, partly to steady herself.Water dripped from her sleeves, forming a small puddle at her feet."Tell me what you know."
Luna's eyes narrowed slightly — the shift so subtle that only someone who knew her well would catch it."I know what you know.That wasn't natural weather."
Thalia nodded."Isle Wardens."
"That's what everyone's saying."Luna glanced toward the window, where fog was rolling in from the sea, obscuring the view."It's the obvious conclusion."
"I didn't see anyone," Thalia said, her voice hardening."No ships, no sharks.No Isle Warden banners.They don't tend to operate in silence."
