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It shouldn't have surprised Thalia.The Firstborn family was among the Southern elite, with resources to provide their children with the finest combat instructors gold could buy.But there was a difference between knowing something intellectually and witnessing it firsthand.Brynn hadn't just been taught to fight; she'd mastered the art.

Thalia glanced down, realizing she still clutched the broken stub of her ice-steel blade.The fractured edge caught the morning light, revealing the irregular crystalline pattern where the metal had failed.It shouldn't have broken.She had followed every step of the forging process meticulously, had checked and double-checked the balance, had tested the edge herself before setting out.

Anger rose in her throat, hot and bitter, warming her from the inside out.Senna's face flashed in her mind.

The sound of Brynn snapping her fingers cut through Thalia's thoughts.

"Hello?Are you still half-frozen?"Brynn stood over her, impatience written in every line of her posture."I said get moving.Do you want to survive this thing or not?"

Thalia nodded, then cleared her throat."Thank you," she said; the words emerged rough but sincere."For saving my life."

Brynn's expression tightened.She turned away, slinging her pack over her shoulder with practiced ease."Don't tell anyone about this," she ordered, her tone leaving no room for argument."The last thing I need is everyone thinking I've gone soft."She kicked at the remnants of their shelter, collapsing part of the ice wall."Nothing's changed between us — we're just even now.Got it?"

Thalia forced herself to stand, ignoring the tremors that still ran through her limbs.She met Brynn's gaze directly, refusing to show weakness now that daylight had returned."I won't.But...thanks."

Brynn snorted."Save your gratitude for someone who cares."

She turned on her heel, her boots crunching in the fresh snow as she began walking toward the distant peaks that marked the final checkpoint of the Frost Walk.Before she got too far, she paused, glancing back over her shoulder.

"If you're smart, Greenspire," she called, "you'll realize the ones sabotaging you are playing for keeps.You'll have to play just as dirty if you want to survive."

With that final piece of advice, Brynn strode away, her silhouette quickly swallowed by the vast whiteness of the landscape.She didn't look back again.

Thalia watched her go, the harsh truth of Brynn's words sinking in like a stone dropped into still water.She'd been naive, believing that her talent and hard work would be enough to see her through Frostforge's trials.She'd approached the academy as she had approached life in Verdant Port — head down, work hard, prove your worth through merit alone.

But Frostforge didn't reward fairness.It rewarded strength, cunning, and the will to survive by any means necessary.

Thalia looked again at the broken blade in her hand.Senna hadn't just tried to eliminate a rival for Kaine's affections; she'd tried to eliminate Thalia entirely.And she'd nearly succeeded.

The realization settled over Thalia with a strange sort of clarity.Senna was every bit as dangerous as the ice-metal golems that roamed these fields — perhaps more so, because the golems didn't harbor personal grudges or elaborate schemes.Senna, with her extra year at Frostforge and her obsession with Northern superiority, was a calculated predator.

And Thalia had been easy prey.

No longer, she decided, carefully tucking the remnant of her blade into her pack.Next time she would be prepared.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Thalia staggered toward the towering iron gate, each step a negotiation between her frozen limbs and her determination to finish the Frost Walk.Frost rimmed the massive structure like delicate lace, beautiful and deadly — much like everything at Frostforge.Beyond the gate, instructors stood watching with impassive faces as students stumbled through, their expressions revealing nothing of what they thought about the broken, freezing recruits who had somehow survived the brutal trial.Thalia's fingers had long since gone numb around the hilt of her shattered blade, the only evidence to support her suspicions about Senna.She clutched it tighter, refusing to let it go even as her vision blurred from exhaustion.

The gate loomed before her, embedded in the cliff face that marked the edge of the Crystalline Plateau.The wind howled through the gaps in the iron, creating an eerie, keening sound that reminded her of the storm she'd barely survived.Her borrowed furs hung in tatters around her shoulders, ice crystals forming in the matted fur where her breath had frozen.Her lips were cracked and bleeding, her cheeks raw from windburn.

All around her, other students trudged toward the same destination.Some moved with stubborn purpose, others barely crawled.Neither spoke—words required energy they couldn't spare.Ahead, a boy Thalia recognized from metallurgy class passed through the gate, his shoulders sagging with relief as he crossed the threshold.Three instructors flanked the entrance, tallying survivors with marks on a frost-resistant slate.

Thalia passed through the gate.The moment she stepped beyond the threshold, heat enveloped her like an embrace.The sudden shift from bitter cold to warmth shocked her system.Her muscles spasmed, knees buckling beneath her.She stumbled forward, barely keeping her footing as her body tried to process the abrupt temperature change.

The cave beyond the gate was vast, its ceiling disappearing into darkness.Campfires burned regularly, their orange glow reflecting off the crystalline walls.The heat they generated was overwhelming after days in the freezing wilderness.Thalia's skin prickled painfully as sensation returned, thousands of needles stabbing into her flesh as circulation slowly returned to her extremities.

Around her, other students reacted to the warmth in various ways.A girl with Northern features dropped to her knees, laughing with wild, almost manic relief, tears streaming down her face as she held her hands toward the nearest fire.Two boys collapsed side by side, too exhausted even to celebrate their survival, their chests heaving with effort.A Southern girl Thalia had seen only in passing sat with her back against the cave wall, staring into nothing, shock evident in her vacant expression.

Thalia spotted a flat stone near one of the fires and made her way toward it, each step sending jolts of pain through her thawing limbs.She lowered herself onto the stone, the movement lacking any grace.Her hands trembled violently as she extended them toward the flames, her skin mottled with patches of angry red and alarming white.

Her breath rattled in her chest like loose pebbles in a jar.For the first time since the storm hit, since she'd discovered her sabotaged equipment, since Brynn had found her half-frozen in the snow, Thalia allowed herself to feel something beyond raw survival instinct.Relief washed over her, melting her reserves of strength just as the fire was melting the ice crystals in her hair.She was alive.Despite Senna's interference, despite the storm, despite everything, she had survived.

Healers in gray robes moved through the cave, their expressions grim as they assessed the condition of the survivors.They carried stacks of thick blankets and distributed them to the shivering students.A woman with silver at her temples approached Thalia, draping a heavy woolen blanket around her shoulders without a word.Thalia clutched it gratefully, pulling it tight around her body.The healer moved on without comment, already focused on the next student in need.

Thalia scanned the gathered survivors, counting heads, looking for familiar faces.Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she searched for her friends.Her gaze caught on Brynn Firstborn, who sat near another fire, her perfect posture intact despite the ordeal they'd all endured.The girl who had surprised Thalia most during the Frost Walk — the rival who had saved her life rather than leaving her to die.Brynn met her eyes across the cave, and for a brief moment, something passed between them.Not friendship, certainly, but something like respect.Brynn gave Thalia an almost imperceptible nod before turning away.

Relief flooded through her when she spotted Ashe near the cave's entrance.The Northern girl was clearly battered — a purple bruise bloomed across her left cheekbone, and she favored her right leg as she moved — but she was undeniably alive.Ashe's expression was one of weary pride.