Page 50 of Frostforge: Passage Four
Thalia sprinted toward Kaine, her lungs burning with each breath."Kaine!"she shouted over the storm's howl."Where's Calloway?Where’s Marr?"
"Calloway took one of the boats,” he said."Went back toward the academy to sound the alarm."
“And Marr hasn’t come back down yet?”
Kaine shook his head.
The implications hit Thalia like a physical blow."He's probably dead, then," she said, the words tasting bitter on her tongue."The Wardens came down from the summit.They must have —" She couldn't finish the thought.
Behind them, more students poured from the treeline — some carrying wounded, others dragging half-burned equipment.Their faces were masks of exhaustion and terror.And beyond them, just visible through the rain, came the pursuing Wardens, their forms flickering between the trees like deadly shadows.
Kaine's posture changed, tension rippling through him as he assessed the situation."Get to the canoes!"he shouted, his voice cutting through the storm's fury."We need to cross back to the academy side.We can't be trapped here!"
Students surged toward the remaining boats, hope briefly lighting their faces.Thalia turned to help the injured third-year, but froze at a sound that cut through even the storm's roar — a high, thin whine, like air being torn apart.
Lightning erupted from the forest's edge, blinding white bolts that struck the canoes with devastating precision.Wood splintered and flew, and flames erupted despite the rain, consuming their escape route in seconds.
Thalia stared at the burning wreckage, the heat searing her face even from a distance.The realization settled over her like ice: they were stranded on the north side of the fjord, caught between the advancing Wardens and the storm-lashed waters where more enemies approached by ship.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
The world narrowed to a strip of shore as Thalia braced against the onslaught.Around her, first-years huddled with terror etched into their faces, their training dissolving in the face of real combat.The alarm bell's echo still haunted the fjord, a ghostly reminder of how quickly their Command Challenge had transformed into a desperate fight for survival.Lightning carved white scars across the darkened sky, illuminating the Isle Wardens pouring from the tree line like specters made flesh.Their war cries mingled with the crash of waves against the rocks and the roar of the fires as they consumed the skiffs, the students’ only means of escape.
"Stay together!"Thalia shouted, her voice raw from screaming orders."Form a ring around the wounded!"
Daniel and Felah obeyed instantly, positioning themselves with shields raised.Both wore expressions of grim determination that made them look years older than they had at the start of the Challenge.Rasmus, nursing a deep gash along his arm, stood shakily beside them.Of Sigrid, there was no sign, since she'd abandoned them in the forest.
Thalia lifted her ice-titanium shield, feeling its familiar weight settle against her forearm.The polished surface gleamed in the sporadic bursts of lightning that streaked overhead.She shifted her stance, preparing to intercept any attack directed at the injured students behind her.
"They'll target the vulnerable first," she called to the others."Be ready for lightning strikes!"
Her heart pounded against her ribs as she surveyed the chaos unfolding across the shoreline.What had begun as a simple race to the summit had descended into a nightmare.The Isle Wardens had timed their attack perfectly, striking when Frostforge was at its most divided.And now they were trapped on the northern shore, their escape routes destroyed, the academy visible but unreachable across the churning waters of the fjord.
Through the melee, Thalia caught glimpses of her friends fighting with desperate ferocity.
Ashe had emerged from the tree line, her distinctive red-streaked black hair whipping in the wind as she loosed ice-tipped arrows with deadly precision.Each shaft found its mark in the throat or eye of an approaching Warden.Her face was a mask of Northern stoicism, but Thalia knew her well enough to recognize the rage burning beneath that calm exterior.The Wardens had violated Northern territory — Ashe's homeland — and she was making them pay for their transgression with each whistle of her bowstring.
Nearby, Luna darted between two attackers, a short blade clutched in her small hand.For someone who had always avoided combat training, she moved with surprising agility.Her eyes — normally so dreamy and unfocused — were sharp with concentration as she ducked beneath a sweeping blade and slashed at her opponent's hamstring.Blood sprayed across the sand as the Warden fell, and Luna was already turning to face the next threat, her slight frame belying her unexpected ferocity.
"Behind you!"Thalia shouted, and Luna pivoted just in time to avoid a killing blow.
Further down the shore, Brynn Firstborn was a whirlwind of calculated violence.Her twin daggers caught the light as she spun between three Wardens, each movement fluid and precise.One attacker fell clutching his throat, blood seeping between his fingers.Another staggered back with a blade buried in his chest.The third swung wildly at Brynn's head, but she was already gone, sliding beneath his guard to open his belly with a savage upward slash.Her face showed no emotion — this was simply what she had trained for all her life.
Kaine stood like a sentinel near the water's edge, an ice-steel longsword gripped in both hands.The massive blade, nearly three feet long, cleaved through the air.Two Wardens lay motionless at his feet, and three more circled him warily, reluctant to close the distance.His prison-hardened frame moved with the economy of someone who understood violence intimately.Each swing of his sword was deliberate, each step calculated.His pale face was splattered with blood that wasn't his own.
Even Einar and Levi — who had been locked in bitter conflict just days before — now fought back-to-back, their previous animosity forgotten in the face of a common enemy.Einar's ice-brass knuckles shattered a Warden's jaw, while Levi's curved blade opened a crimson smile across another's throat.
But it was Roran who commanded the center of the battlefield, and Thalia couldn't tear her eyes away from him.
He stood alone in a circle of scorched sand, his curly black hair rising with static electricity.Lightning danced between his splayed fingers, arcing and snapping like living things.His secret was laid bare for all to see — the storm magic that marked him as descended from the very enemies they fought.Power radiated from him in palpable waves as he gathered the storm to his will.
With a guttural cry, he thrust his hands forward.A spear of blue-white energy erupted from his palms, striking an advancing line of Wardens.Their weapons vaporized in their hands, metal turned instantly to steam.Bodies flew backward like rag dolls, some motionless before they even hit the ground.Thunder boomed across the fjord, so loud that Thalia felt it in her chest like a second heartbeat.
Roran's face was a mask of fury and pain.Each burst of lightning seemed to cost him, his body shuddering with the effort of controlling power never meant to be contained.But he didn't stop.Couldn'tstop.Not with so many lives hanging in the balance.
"Stay behind me!"Thalia ordered as a stray bolt of energy crackled too close to her huddled first-years.She angled her shield to deflect it, feeling the hair on her arms rise with the proximity of so much raw power.
A quick glance at the shoreline confirmed what she already knew — they were running out of options.The remains of their skiffs burned in the shallows, sending plumes of acrid smoke into the night air.The flames cast eerie, dancing shadows across the water, illuminating the sleek shapes that circled just beyond the breakers.
