Page 47 of Frostforge: Passage Four
She slowed, signaling the others to do the same.Through the trees, she glimpsed figures moving parallel to their course — three students in Northern furs.Einar's team had cut across to intercept them.
"Form up," Thalia whispered.Her squad immediately shifted, spreading out in a practiced defensive arrangement."Try to avoid engagement if possible.We lose time in a prolonged fight."
They continued forward more cautiously, but it soon became clear that Einar had chosen them as specific targets.His team adjusted course each time Thalia attempted to evade, herding them toward a small clearing.
"They've got us," Rasmus muttered."Fight or run?"
Thalia assessed their options quickly."Split and circle.Felah, Daniel — left.Rasmus, Sigrid — right.I'll draw their attention center."
Her team nodded and divided smoothly.Thalia stepped into the clearing alone, her hand resting on the ice-steel dagger at her hip.
Einar emerged from the trees opposite her, flanked by his three Northern recruits.The Southern girl who had been on his team was nowhere to be seen, and Thalia gritted her teeth in anger at the thought that she’d been left behind.Einar’s pale face was set in a contemptuous sneer, eyes hard as the ice he manipulated so effortlessly.
"Greenspire," he called, his voice carrying in the still forest air."Running scared already?"
"Just choosing my battles wisely," Thalia replied evenly."We don't need to do this, Einar.There's plenty of mountain for everyone."
The Northern boy's laugh was harsh."Typical Southern attitude.You’d rather laze around than actually do what we came here to do.”
He lunged forward without warning, his three recruits spreading out to flank Thalia.She sidestepped Einar's first strike, drawing her own weapon in a fluid motion.
Their blades met with a crystalline ring.Ice-steel against ice-steel, the metals vibrating with stored magical energy that Thalia could sense through her fingertips.She pushed back, breaking contact and circling to maintain distance.
"Now!"she shouted.
Her team burst from the trees on both sides, catching Einar's squad in a perfect pincer movement.Daniel and Felah engaged one recruit while Rasmus and Sigrid took on the other two.The clearing erupted into controlled chaos.
Thalia kept her focus on Einar, blocking his aggressive strikes while looking for an opening.He was skilled — she had to give him that — but his anger made him predictable.He overcommitted to a powerful downward strike, and Thalia pivoted inside his guard.
Their proximity nullified his longer reach.She struck his wrist with the pommel of her dagger, sending his weapon spinning from suddenly nerveless fingers.Before he could recover, Thalia hooked her foot behind his ankle and shoved hard against his chest.
Einar tumbled backward, arms windmilling, and rolled down the slope until a pine bush halted his descent.He struggled to his feet, face flushed with rage and embarrassment.
Around the clearing, Thalia's team had gained the upper hand.Sigrid kept a recruit off-balance with quick, unpredictable movements.Felah had disarmed her opponent using a technique Thalia had taught her weeks ago.Even more surprisingly, Rasmus and Daniel fought in perfect tandem, covering each other's vulnerabilities without a word exchanged between them.
"Fall back!"Einar commanded his team, retrieving his dropped weapon."This isn't over, Greenspire."
"It is for now," Thalia replied calmly."Good luck with the rest of the climb."
Einar's team retreated down the slope, regrouping for another approach.Thalia turned to her first-years, scanning for injuries.Finding none, she nodded in approval.
"Well done.Especially you two," she said to Rasmus and Daniel."I didn't know you'd developed that level of coordination."
Rasmus looked away, uncomfortable with the praise.Daniel merely shrugged."We practiced."
"We should keep moving," Felah suggested, glancing upward."That storm's almost on us."
Thalia nodded."Back to formation.Let's make up the time we lost."
They resumed their ascent, pushing harder now.Sweat beaded on Thalia's forehead despite the cooling air.The wind had picked up, bending the tops of the taller pines and carrying the distant rumble of thunder.
Their boots crunched over pine needles and loose rocks, finding purchase on exposed roots and the occasional natural stair formed by erosion.Other teams were visible at times through gaps in the vegetation — some ahead, some behind, all racing toward the summit.
A sonorous sound cut through her thoughts, reverberating across the mountainside.A bell — deep, resonant, unmistakable.
Thalia stumbled, her rhythm broken by shock.She'd heard that bell before, the previous year, when Isle Wardens had directly attacked the academy.It was Frostforge's alarm, signaling imminent danger.
The bell tolled again, its mournful note rising above the whisper of wind through pine needles.A flock of birds exploded from the canopy above them, wings beating frantically as they fled.
