Page 15 of Frostforge, Passage Six
CHAPTER SEVEN
The docks of Verdant Port lay in ruins, strewn with the aftermath of liberation.Splintered wood, torn sails, and the twisted metal of Warden weapons littered the planks where Thalia sat with her mother and sister, perched on a mound of salt-stained fishing nets.The setting sun painted long shadows across the harbor, turning the water to liquid copper and casting their faces in soft amber light.
Thalia's hands trembled as she held Mari against her side, still unable to believe that she had found her family alive amidst the chaos of occupation and revolt.The smell of smoke hung in the air, mingling with salt and blood, a constant reminder of how close they had come to losing everything.
"When the ships appeared in the harbor that morning," her mother whispered, her once-steady voice now frayed at the edges, "we thought it was just another raid.We'd heard rumors of attacks on coastal villages, but nothing like this."
Celeste Greenspire looked older than when Thalia had left for Frostforge two years ago.New lines etched her face, and silver threads now outnumbered the black in her once-raven hair.Her hands—hands that had ground herbs and mixed tinctures with unerring precision—now bore fresh scars and trembled slightly as they clutched Thalia's arm, as if afraid she might disappear.
"I wanted to write to you," she continued, her gaze fixed on the horizon where Warden ships had vanished into the gathering dusk."To warn you not to come home.But they cut off all messages.No one in, no one out."
Mari pressed closer to Thalia's side, her thin frame shivering despite the mild evening air.At seventeen, she was no longer the child Thalia remembered.Her sister had grown taller, her face losing its childish roundness to reveal cheekbones sharp enough to rival Thalia's own.But the change went deeper than physical appearance.The bright, curious eyes that had once followed Thalia's every move now held shadows no seventeen-year-old should know.
"You've grown so much," Thalia murmured, brushing a strand of hair from Mari's face."I barely recognized you."
Mari didn't respond except to tighten her grip on Thalia's hand.The silence felt wrong coming from the girl who had once filled their tiny home with endless questions and laughter.
Thalia swallowed against the lump forming in her throat.While she had been at Frostforge, learning to forge weapons and fight with magic, her family had endured horrors she could only begin to imagine.She had been protected by stone walls and the collective might of the academy while Verdant Port burned.The guilt of it cut deeper than any Warden blade.
"It happened so fast," her mother continued, her gaze distant with memory."First, unnatural storms—lightning that struck with purpose, not chance.Our fishing fleet was destroyed before it could even return to shore.Then the warships appeared, more than we'd ever seen in one place."
She described how the Wardens had landed at every access point simultaneously, cutting off escape routes with military precision.Those who tried to resist were killed immediately, their bodies left in the streets as warnings.Most of Verdant Port's citizens had hidden, hoping to wait out what they assumed would be a typical raid—violent but brief.
"But they didn't leave," Celeste said, her voice hollowing."They began building that wall the same day they arrived.Teams of workers, directed by their storm mages.When it was finished, they went house to house, dragging people to the market square for questioning."
Thalia's arms tightened around Mari protectively."What kind of questioning?"
"Strange questions.Who were your parents?Your grandparents?Had anyone in your family ever shown unusual abilities?They seemed particularly interested in any signs of magic."
A chill ran down Thalia's spine despite the warmth of the evening."They were looking for magical lineages?"
Her mother nodded."They separated us based on our answers.Those with any hint of magical ancestry were taken to different holding pens."Her voice cracked slightly.“And they took all of the children, every single one, no matter what their answers were.I was separated from Mari.”
Thalia looked down at her sister, whose face remained turned away.She wouldn't press for details—not now, perhaps not ever, unless Mari chose to share them.Some wounds needed silence to heal.
Instead, she focused on the strategic implications, her mind working as it had been trained to do at Frostforge.This wasn't the chaotic violence of traditional Warden raids.This was methodical, purposeful—a harvesting of people based on specific criteria.
"I've heard rumors," Thalia said carefully, "that Warden raids have been changing in recent years.More targeted.But this goes beyond anything we've seen before."
Her mother nodded."They weren't looking for supplies or slaves.They wanted specific people.The rest of us were an afterthought, it seemed."
"But why focus on magical abilities?"Thalia wondered aloud."The Isle Wardens have their own magic—storm magic, primarily.Why would they need continental mages?"
"Perhaps they were trying to identify those who might pose the greatest threat," her mother suggested."Those who could resist them most effectively."
Thalia frowned, her strategic mind turning over the possibilities."If that were true, they would have executed anyone with magical potential.But they didn't—they imprisoned them.Kept them for some reason."
She stopped abruptly, noticing how Mari tensed at her words.Both her mother and sister stared at her with hollow eyes that had seen too much suffering for such speculation.
"It doesn't matter now," Thalia said quickly, changing course."What matters is keeping you safe.The Wardens will return—they won't abandon Verdant Port so easily.We should get you to Frostforge as soon as possible."
Her mother's eyes widened."Frostforge?The academy would take refugees?"
"They've already begun to," Thalia assured her, though she left out the complications and prejudices that had attended the first wave of Southern refugees."And they'd certainly take the family of a graduate."
Around them, the survivors of Verdant Port had begun the slow process of reclaiming their city.Neighbors called to one another across rubble-strewn streets.Volunteers moved among the wounded, offering water and makeshift bandages.At the far end of the dock, Roran directed a team unloading provisions from the captured Warden ships, his voice carrying clearly across the water.Ashe worked nearby, helping ferry the injured to shelters hastily erected from salvaged timber and sail.Kaine had set up a temporary forge and was already repairing damaged weapons and tools, his pale face set in concentration as he worked.
They had all thrown themselves into helping Verdant Port's residents without hesitation, but Thalia noticed how carefully they avoided approaching her and her family.They were giving her space—time to reconnect with the people she had crossed an ocean to find.
