Frost & Bothered (20 page)

“Too heavy to move well on solid ground,” he said as the drake whipped its head back and forth, its flippers sending snow and other debris flying. The drake had a hard time pushing itself back into the water.

I nodded, watching its long-snouted head slip under the water. “Okay. My first thought is to teleport, but considering what happened last time, I’d rather not risk it.”

“Spells of transport do have a way of going awry in this reality.”

“Next would be telekinesis, but,” I squinted at the far bank, “I’ve never tried to move anything that far.”

“Ice.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I’ll try to freeze a bridge across it.”

It would be tricky. The “bridge” needed to be thick enough to hold us, and to keep from breaking under the weight of an attacking drake. It would also need to be wide enough for us to stay out of reach while crossing.

The river was a half-mile or more wide. I was going to have to freeze a lot of water. “Is there a spot where it’s not so wide?”

“I’m afraid not, however, I may be of some assistance. My spell repertoire for ice and water isn’t extensive, but I can distract the drakes.”

“Okay. You do that and I’ll work on bridge building. I don’t know how long it’ll hold, though.”

He studied the river’s flow. “Take yourself, Leandra, and your companions across as soon as it’s ready. I’ll ride.”

I knew from experience elf-bred horses were fast, and agreed. “There’s our plan, then.”

We’ll mark where the sides should be
, Logan said. I nodded.

“It might take a while. I’ve never tried to freeze anything this big. I’ll hurry as much as I can.”

“Leandra, stay with Lady Discord,” Kethyrdryll ordered. The hound responded with a single nod of her head.

“All right, guys, let’s do this.” I waited, chewing my bottom lip, while the three men moved into position, Kethyrdryll leading his horse down to the bank. Tiger and lion coughed and chirped until they’d found the right spots, about thirty feet apart.

The elf climbed on his horse and rode another thirty feet past Logan. He was too far away for me to hear his incantation, but I could see his hands move. A whirlwind grew into existence, sucking up snow, which became clumps. With a swing of his arm, the elf directed the whirlwind toward the river. He began calling a second one as the first flung snowballs over the water.

The river churned, drakes rushing to the disturbance. I waited until it calmed in the correct area before beginning to concentrate.

Was six feet of ice thick enough? I had no clue, and was acutely aware our lives depended on my getting it right the first time. There wouldn’t be a do-over.

The water froze along the bank. I turned from side to side, making certain it reached both shifters, then froze another line against the first. Then another and another and another, before moving a few steps forward. The first six feet weren’t bad, because of the slope of the riverbed.

It would be easier if I could touch the water. I glanced at the elf and the frenzied mass of drakes. There were a dozen or more of the creatures. All of them in this section?

No way to tell without scanning telepathically, and I’d already broken a sweat.

“Screw it.” I walked down to the bank and tested the ice with one foot. It held firm. “Okay, Cordi, you can do this. Just a few fingers in the water.”

Stripping off one glove, I went to my knees, then my stomach, stretching my arm toward the edge of the ice.

My fingers went numb the second I put them in the water. “Argh! That’s frickin cold.”

I took a deep breath and pushed with my cryokinetic ability in four directions. Both sides, down, and forward. The ice began to spread, and I closed my eyes, trying to envision what I wanted to build. I had to grit my teeth against the burn in my fingers as water froze around them.

After a few minutes, I opened my eyes to check my progress. It wasn’t bad, about a third of the way across.

Kethyrdryll was continuing his job of keeping the drakes busy. I climbed slowly to my feet and started walking in wide circles, shaking my fingers to restore circulation.

Logan’s voice sounded in my head.
Do you need us to keep marking the edges?

“No, come on out. Be careful, though.” If my bridge broke under their weight, at least they had a chance to make it to safety before the drakes noticed.

Reaching the edge of the river again, I knelt and put my fingers back in the water.

Even with contact, it was using a lot of energy to freeze so much water. I began sweating in earnest.

By the time the shifters reached me, I’d frozen the second third of my bridge. “We might need to camp early. This is wearing me out.”

Logan purred, stepping close as I stood up.
Need a lift?

“Thanks, but I’d better walk ahead and test.” My incomplete bridge was swaying slightly right, with the current. “And I need to hurry, before the middle breaks off.”

Okay
. He said something to Connor in big-cat speak and the lion nodded. They followed me at a distance of ten feet as I jogged forward.

“Final phase.” I knelt and touched the water again, hoping I didn’t end up with frost bite.

Dizziness struck when I rose, and I staggered forward, wishing I were home in front of the fireplace, with a big mug of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows floating on it. The shifters caught up with me. I threw an arm over each pair of shoulders. “I’m tired.”

They kept me upright, walking me the rest of the way and a safe distance from the bank.

I’ll be back
, Logan said, and trotted away.

Connor purred as I pulled on my glove while leaning against him. We watched Logan as he stopped where Kethyrdryll would notice him. The elf sent a final snowball-laden whirlwind over the river and turned his horse before urging her into a gallop.

He’d reached the middle of the bridge when Logan yowled, drawing the drakes’ attention. A few swam over to try to attack the tiger, but the rest disappeared under the water.

I focused on the elf. “Come on. Go faster.”

The mare stumbled three quarters of the way across when a drake slammed into the ice bridge. She skidded forward on her knees, back legs slowing.

Kethyrdryll didn’t miss a beat, throwing the reins over her head and leaping out of the saddle. The ice bridge shuddered under a second impact, and a drake lunged out of the water, snapping at the elf.

Ice groaned, creaked, and cracked under the pair.

“Crap!” I tried to refreeze that section, but the drake’s ungainly thrashing caused more cracks. “Run!”

Kethyrdryll snatched hold of the reins and pulled. Selwin lunged to her feet, blood dripping down her forelegs.

She tried, but her stiff-legged jog wasn’t fast enough as the cracks spread. Kethyrdryll hauled on the reins, pulling her as the drake wallowed closer.

I hit it with a blow of telekinesis, knocking its head away so it missed the mare’s hind quarters by inches.

Logan rushed past us, turned, his hind paws skidding, and bounded out onto the ice.

The cracks were spreading. The horse stepped in one with a hind hoof, her head jerking up and yanking Kethyrdryll off his feet.

A second drake surged out of the water, and ice broke under its weight. The mare’s hind quarters slipped into the water, and the elf howled her name.

I ran, concentrating, and lifted her to more solid footing. Logan reached them, snarling and rearing to slash at the drake’s face. He scored and the beast roared.

“Come on,” I yelled, blinking at the bright dots threatening to blind me. Leandra barked, cutting in front of me, and I tripped over her to face-plant in the snow.

It knocked the breath out of me. The hound grabbed the hood of my coat in her jaws and dragged me away from the riverbank. I managed to roll over and saw Kethyrdryll coaxing his horse the final few steps.

Logan was backing up, his tail lashing. I closed my eyes for a second, dragging in a painful lungful of air before re-opening them. Just as the center of my ice bridge broke and a third drake shot out of the water on the far side. It landed right behind Logan, breaking the ice underneath them.

Drakes and tiger fell into the water.

The elf yelled out an incantation, dropping his reins and rushing back toward the riverbank. Connor roared as he ran past. Leandra kept dragging me backward. “Let go.”

She ignored me. I spotted Logan’s head as it broke the surface, and an arrow flew over it, landing in a drake’s eye as the monster loomed over the tiger.

“Swim!” I screamed and tried to gather enough energy to use my telekinesis. Kethyrdryll was firing arrows one after another, each thunking into the drake’s face.

Connor roared, trying to distract the drakes while standing at the river’s edge.

Logan reached a chunk of ice and clawed his way half onto it.

All I could manage was a wimpy TK boost, lifting him fully onto the ice chunk. But it wasn’t too far from the river bank. He’d have to jump.

Logan crouched, his ears flat, and a breath later, leaped. At the apex of his jump, a smaller drake burst out of the water and nabbed him.

Both disappeared and I lay there, unable to process what had happened for a second.

I sat up, frantically searching the river’s surface. Connor retreated, slinking toward me with his mouth open, deep moans rolling out of him.

Kethyrdryll was looking too, and still firing arrows at the drakes showing their heads above the surface. One by one, the creatures retreated, sinking below the water.

Everything was quiet.

Logan was gone.

“C
ordi.” Connor squatted down and held out a steaming mug. “Soup.”

“Thanks.” I burned my tongue on the first sip. “How’s the horse?”

“Kethyrdryll is wrapping her legs, says she’ll be fine in a day or two.”

“Good.” We could stay put until then, in case Logan came back. I stared at the river and shivered.

“You should come in where it’s warm.”

“Can’t move. My legs went to sleep ten minutes ago.” I petted Leandra’s head, and she responded with a faint tail wag. The hound lay across my thighs, and my back was against the trunk of a tree. I had a great view of the water as it sparkled under the moonlight between breaks in the clouds.

Connor quietly said, “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”

“No, it’s not. You weren’t the only person we were looking for, and none of us chose to get swallowed by that damn portal.”

He turned and dropped onto his butt, to look at the river. “You think he’s alive.”

“I’m not going to believe he’s dead unless I see his body.” Or parts of it. My stomach considered returning the soup. I convinced it not to, because the rest of me really needed food. My headache had faded, thanks to a draught of some pain remedy Kethyrdryll had on hand.

The elf had dropped to one knee and kissed my hand for helping to save his horse. She’d been one of only two friends he’d had for eight years.

I thought he’d say something more, but he’d risen and set up camp, leaving the thorn barrier open on its river-facing side. He’d also brought me a leather cloak and a cushion to use while I kept watch.

“If there’s anything left to see, it’ll come up miles downstream.” Connor’s hands flexed on his legs. “Do you want me to go look?”

The first fat snowflakes began falling while I considered his offer. I looked at the sky, filling up with dirty gray clouds, and shook my head. “I promised your dad I’d bring you home. Be hard to do if you fall into the river in the middle of a blizzard, or freeze to death.”

“Be hard to do if you sit out here and freeze to death,” he said. “You should come inside.”

“In a little bit.” I drank more soup, and kept watching the river until the snowfall grew too heavy to see that far.

Leandra stood and shook, snuffled at my face, and left us for the pavilion. Connor had to help me to my feet. He grabbed the cushion and cloak before putting an arm around my waist. My legs wobbled the first few steps, feeling heavy and useless before blood began circulating. “Ow, that hurts. Don’t let a hound use you for a pillow.”

“Can’t say I see it happening.”

We stopped to peek in at the horse, who raised her head from a big pile of hay and softly nickered, stretching her neck to hold out her nose for us to pet. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

A few more pats and we went inside. Kethyrdryll was sitting at the table, gazing into his bowl of soup. He looked up and jumped to his feet when he saw us. “Are you injured?”

“No, Leandra’s heavy and used my legs for pillows. I’ll be fine in a few more minutes.” I patted Connor’s hand and hobbled to the table under my own power. “The soup’s good. You should eat yours.”

“Of course.” The elf sat down again.

“If no one minds, I’m going to take a bath,” Connor said. We didn’t mind and he left the main room.

“There’s no sign of him?”

I shook my head. “Not yet. Can I ask you a question?”

“Certainly.”

“Why are you nice to them? Your brother likes to pretend they don’t exist, and Alleryn’s kind of snooty to them.”

“They’re people.”

“I don’t think Thorandryll thinks so.”