Page 48 of Frostforge, Passage Six
The assembled soldiers parted, revealing a figure pushing through their midst with urgent strides.Kaine Ember emerged from the formation, his dark hair disheveled as if he'd rushed from elsewhere in the academy.His expression was hard, almost grim, until his eyes locked with Thalia's across the distance that separated them.
Something in his face transformed then—the rigid control fracturing to reveal raw emotion beneath.Relief, disbelief, joy—they chased across his features in rapid succession, too quick to catalog individually but unmistakable in their intensity.
Protocol forgotten, Kaine rushed forward, crossing the open ground between them with long strides that ate up the distance.He reached Thalia before anyone could react, before she herself could process what was happening, and pulled her into a fierce embrace that drove the breath from her lungs.
"You're alive," he murmured against her hair, his voice thick with emotion he rarely displayed so openly.His arms tightened around her, solid and warm and achingly familiar."I got your note.I… I thought…."He couldn't finish the sentence, but the tremor that ran through his body told her everything his words couldn't.
Over Kaine's shoulder, Thalia saw Senna's face darken, jealousy and frustration flickering across her features like heat lightning on a Southern summer horizon.Senna held up her hand to still her soldiers, though her expression suggested she might have preferred a different command entirely.
Beside her, Brynn stood with arms crossed over her chest, a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth.Brynn seemed more amused than alarmed by the display unfolding before her, as if she found the entire situation—and particularly Senna's reaction to it—vastly entertaining.
"I thought you might not return," Kaine continued, his voice low enough that only she could hear it.The admission cost him something; she could feel it in the tension that ran through his frame, in the way his fingers curled against her back as if to reassure himself of her solidity.
Thalia allowed herself a moment to absorb the comfort of his presence, the familiar scent of forge-fire and metal that clung to his clothing.Then she stepped back, gently breaking the embrace, though her hands remained on his arms.
"We didn't just return," she said, her voice steady despite the emotions churning beneath her calm exterior."We succeeded."She glanced toward the fjord where the fortress whale waited, its massive silhouette visible even from this distance."But there's something you need to know—all of you need to know."
She raised her voice, addressing both Kaine and Senna with equal urgency."We need to speak with Instructor Wolfe immediately.The fortress-whale in the fjord is filled with refugees, not enemies.They must not be attacked."
Senna's eyes narrowed to silver slits, suspicion evident in every line of her body."Refugees," she repeated, the word dripping with disbelief."You expect us to believe a Warden fortress-whale carries refugees?"
"I don't expect you to believe anything without evidence," Thalia countered, meeting the other woman's gaze directly."That's why we need to speak with Wolfe.Now, before anyone makes a decision that can't be undone."
Something in her tone—perhaps the absolute certainty behind it, or the edge of steel that had entered her voice—seemed to reach Senna.The Northern woman studied her for a long moment, calculation clear in her storm-gray eyes.Then, with visible reluctance, she signaled for her soldiers to stand aside.
"Firstborn, maintain the watch," she ordered."The rest of you, stay alert.I want archers on the walls and cryomancers ready to cast at a moment's notice."She turned back to Thalia, her expression still guarded."You have ten minutes with Wolfe.If she's not convinced, we take appropriate action."
The threat was clear in her words, but Thalia had expected nothing less.She nodded her acceptance of the terms, then moved toward the gates with Roran and Ashe flanking her.
As they passed through the massive entrance to Frostforge Academy, Kaine fell into step beside her, his proximity both comforting and complicated after everything that had happened since they last stood together.
"I have news," he said quietly, leaning close enough that his breath warmed her ear."Big news about the documents we uncovered in Verdant Port.Luna and I have been translating them, and what we've found—" He shook his head, a gesture that communicated the magnitude of their discovery more effectively than words could have."It changes everything we thought we knew about Frostforge.About why it was built."
A flicker of excitement sparked in Thalia's chest despite the tension of the moment.If Kaine and Luna had uncovered information that connected to what she had learned aboard the fortress-whale, it might provide the evidence they needed to convince Wolfe.
"It will have to wait," she replied, though regret colored her tone."Right now, we need to stop an imminent bloodbath.I made a promise to keep those people safe.And they may be crucial to our survival."
Kaine's steps faltered momentarily, confusion evident in the furrow between his brows."What people?The fortress-whale should be filled with enemies, with Warden raiders and soldiers—"
"That's exactly what we thought too," Thalia said, her voice softening as she remembered the frightened children huddled in the fortress's lower chambers, the elderly clutching meager possessions, the civilians who had lost everything to the same enemy that had driven their people to desperate measures against the mainland."We were wrong, Kaine.We wereallwrong."
She glanced back toward the open gates, toward the fjord beyond where the fortress-whale waited in silent majesty.The promise she had made to Cassia echoed in her mind, a vow sealed in sacrifice and storm magic.
I will bring them to safety.
Thalia squared her shoulders and continued forward, each step carrying the weight of that promise and the lives that depended on her ability to make the impossible seem reasonable—to convince her people that their ancient enemies deserved sanctuary rather than destruction.
To convince them of the bare truth: that the continent and the archipelago shared the same enemy.An enemy that was rapidly approaching the mainland’s shores.An enemy that could not be fought through conventional means.
An alliance was the only hope.And yet, even as she spoke the truth aloud in her own mind, Thalia felt the cold weight of uncertainty pressing at her chest.Could she persuade those who had bled and suffered under Warden's hands to see beyond their hatred?Could she convince Frostforge—and the people of the continent—that survival depended on trust, on cooperation with the very ones they had been taught to destroy?
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Frostforge's main hall swallowed Thalia in its stone maw, the familiar grandeur now oppressive rather than impressive.Massive support pillars rose like ancient trees of iron and stone, their shadows stretching across the polished floor where her boots echoed with each step.Torch flames wavered in their sconces, casting amber light that failed to warm the chill emanating from the walls themselves.
The space had been designed to humble those who entered, to remind visitors and students alike of their insignificance beneath the weight of Frostforge's purpose.Never before had Thalia felt that weight so acutely, the promise she'd made to Cassia heavy on her shoulders as she walked the long path toward judgment.
The unexpected summons to the main hall rather than Wolfe's chambers set alarm bells ringing in Thalia's mind.Such formal settings were reserved for ceremonies, for graduations and tribunals—for matters the instructors deemed worthy of public display.
