Page 49 of Frostforge: Passage Four
"Luna!Ashe!"Her calls ripped from her throat, raw and frantic."Roran!"
The sound of his name had barely left her lips when an answering shout cut through the storm's growl.
"Thalia!Over here!"
She pivoted toward the sound, her heart leaping.Pine branches lashed her face as she changed direction, carving a path through the undergrowth with her blade.Behind her, her squad followed, their footsteps an urgent drum against the forest floor.
The rain intensified, sheets of it now, stinging her eyes and plastering her clothes to her skin.Lightning forked across the sky, illuminating the scene before her in stark, frozen detail.
Roran stood at the center of a small clearing, one arm outstretched, his sleeves rolled up despite the cold.His black curls were flattened against his head, water streaming down his face like tears.Behind him huddled a cluster of first-years, their eyes wide with terror.
And advancing on them, emerging from the trees like ghosts, were five Isle Wardens.Their armor gleamed dully in the storm light — sea-forged steel, inlaid with patterns that seemed to shift and writhe with each flash of lightning.Their movements were synchronized, predatory, each step bringing them closer to the trapped students.
Thalia opened her mouth to shout a warning, but it was too late.One of the Wardens drew back his arm and hurled a javelin, its tip crackling with electricity, aimed directly at a first-year cowering behind Roran.
Time seemed to slow.Thalia was too far away, her warning still trapped in her throat.But Roran—
Roran thrust his hand forward, his face contorted with effort and fury.Stormlight crackled up his arm, blue-white and terrible, before leaping from his fingertips.A whip of lightning lashed out, connecting with the javelin mid-flight and blasting it into ash that rained down, mixing with the storm's downpour.
For one heartbeat, the clearing was utterly still.The first-years stared at Roran, seven faces frozen in shock.He had just used storm magic — Isle Warden magic — openly, in front of them all.The secret he'd guarded so carefully was revealed in an instant of desperate necessity.
"They're picking off the squads one by one!"Roran shouted, breaking the trance.His eyes locked with Thalia's, filled with a mixture of resolve and something like resignation."We need to get to the shore!"
The Wardens attacked in unison, three lunging for Roran while two pivoted toward Thalia and her approaching squad.She raised her shield — specially crafted with the titanium alloy that negated electricity — and braced for impact.
The first Warden reached her, blade flashing downward.Thalia parried, the shock of the blow traveling up her arm.She counterattacked, driving forward with a thrust that the Warden barely avoided.Behind her, she heard Daniel grunt with effort, followed by the clash of steel on steel.
Rain streamed into her eyes, half-blinding her as she ducked beneath a horizontal slash.The mud sucked at her boots, threatening to unbalance her with each step.A flash of blue-white light erupted to her right — storm magic, aimed at Rasmus.
Thalia pivoted, shield raised.The lightning struck the metal with a deafening crack, the energy dispersing harmlessly around her.Rasmus's eyes met hers for a fraction of a second — a wordless thanks — before he lunged past her, driving his blade into the side of the nearest Warden.
The Warden staggered, clutching his ribs, blood mixing with rain as it seeped between his fingers.He snarled, face twisted with pain and rage, and raised his free hand.Stormlight gathered at his fingertips.
Before he could release it, Daniel crashed into him from the side, knocking him to the ground with the splintered remains of his shield.The Warden writhed beneath him, one hand still glowing with building power.
Thalia started forward, but Roran was faster.His own lightning arced across the space, intercepting the Warden's storm magic in a tangled web of voltage that illuminated the clearing like midday.The energies fought, sizzled, then collapsed in on themselves with a thunderclap that shook the trees.
The battle swirled around her, a blur of motion and light.Felah darted between two Wardens, her small size allowing her to slip past their guard and hamstring one with a precise slash.Roran manipulated the wind itself, creating a barrier that deflected a barrage of lightning bolts back toward their casters.
And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the tide turned.The Wardens, not expecting such fierce resistance from what should have been easy prey, began to fall back.One lay motionless on the ground, another limped heavily, supported by a third.
"Go!"Thalia seized the moment, pointing toward a narrow deer trail that angled sharply downhill toward the fjord."Now, while we have the chance!"
They ran, a ragged band of survivors plunging down the mountainside.The rain made every step treacherous.Roots became snares, rocks turned to slippery death traps beneath their feet.Twice, Thalia nearly fell, saved only by Rasmus's quick reflexes as he grabbed her arm and steadied her.
Roran moved ahead, using wind to knock away overhanging branches and clear parts of the path.Even with his help, their descent was chaotic.One of the first-years from Roran's squad stumbled, crying out as her ankle twisted beneath her.Another clutched a bleeding shoulder, his face pale with shock and pain.
"I've got you," Thalia said, looping the injured girl's arm around her shoulders."Lean on me."
Thunder cracked again, closer this time, the sound so loud it seemed to vibrate through Thalia's bones.The trees began to thin, revealing glimpses of the fjord beyond—a churning mass of gray, whipped into fury by the storm.
"Almost there," she gasped, though she wasn't sure if anyone could hear her over the roar of wind and water."Just a little further."
They broke through the treeline onto the rocky shoreline, gasping and stumbling.The fjord stretched before them, its waters dark and violent.Waves crashed against the shore, sending spray high into the air, as if the sea itself sought to drive them back into the forest and the waiting Wardens.
Thalia's gaze swept the shoreline desperately, searching for any sign of aid or escape.And there — near a cluster of skiffs that had somehow remained upright against the storm's fury — stood Kaine, ankle-deep in the tide, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword.His gaze was fixed on the treeline they'd just emerged from.His posture was that of a predator awaiting prey, utterly still despite the chaos of wind and water around him.
Beyond him, perhaps half a mile down the fjord, Thalia could see the approaching Warden ships.Their hulls were sleek, designed for speed and stealth, their sails black against the storm-gray sky.Ahead of them, cutting through the water with unnatural precision, moved the dark shapes of storm sharks — the Wardens' vicious companions.
