Page 66

Thalia continued her visual sweep of the cave, worry gnawing at her when she didn't immediately see Roran or Luna.She strained to see through the haze of smoke and steam rising from wet clothes meeting heat, searching for Roran's wild mass of frizzy black curls or Luna's neat dreadlocks.

Her worry for Roran eased when he stumbled through the gate, looking as though he'd wrestled with the storm itself and barely come out on top.His steps were unsteady, but his head remained high.His left arm was bound against his chest with what appeared to be a torn piece of his own coat, but he was smiling — that easy smile that had offered Thalia encouragement during her first disastrous cryomancy lesson.

Luna, though, was still missing.Thalia's stomach tightened with concern.Luna, with her keen observations hidden behind a carefully crafted facade of distraction.Luna, who had become an unexpected ally in this harsh place.Thalia stared at the gate, willing her friend to appear.

"You made it!"

The voice came from beside her, not from the direction of the gate.Thalia turned sharply, wincing as the movement sent a fresh wave of pain through her stiff neck.Luna stood next to her, wrapped in a blanket identical to Thalia's, her dark eyes bright despite the exhaustion evident in the slump of her shoulders.

"Luna," Thalia breathed, relief washing over her."I didn't see you come in."

Luna's lips curved in a small smile."I arrived just before you.Been sitting here watching everyone stumble in.It's quite the show."Despite her casual tone, Thalia could see the tension in Luna's jaw, the careful way she held herself to minimize pain.

"Are you all right?"Thalia asked.

Luna gave a noncommittal shrug."Better than some.Worse than others.Standard Frostforge experience."She studied Thalia's face, her gaze sharpening."You look like you went through all of the frozen hells.And back."

"I have a lot to tell you," Thalia said, her voice dropping to ensure only Luna could hear.

Luna's eyes flashed with interest, immediately alert despite her exhaustion.Her gaze dropped to Thalia's hands, still clutching the broken blade like a lifeline.

"Does it have anything to do with that?"Luna asked, nodding toward the shattered, useless weapon.

Thalia nodded grimly."Everything to do with it."She shifted the blade so Luna could see the break more clearly."This should not have happened.Not with a blade I forged myself."

"Sabotage?"Luna whispered, her expression hardening.

"Sabotage," Thalia confirmed, her own voice equally quiet."And I know who did it."

Luna's eyes narrowed."Yeah?”

Before Thalia could answer, a healer approached them with steaming cups.The conversation paused as they accepted the hot liquid, both understanding without words that this discussion would continue once they were alone.Thalia wrapped her still-trembling fingers around the cup, letting the heat seep into her bones, her mind racing despite her body's exhaustion.She had survived the Frost Walk, but as she looked at her broken blade, she knew that her trials at Frostforge were far from over.

***

Hours passed in the cave's warm embrace as Thalia watched the iron gate with unwavering attention.The steady stream of survivors had dwindled to a trickle, then to sporadic arrivals gasping through the entrance, then to nothing at all.A hollow silence stretched between each new arrival, growing longer and heavier with each passing minute.The air in the cave tasted of woodsmoke, healing herbs, and an undercurrent of something darker — the collective realization that many who had set out on the Frost Walk would never return.Thalia counted the empty spaces where students should have been, cataloging faces she would never see again.Among them was Joren Tidewell, a boy from her same street in Verdant Port.

Cold dread pooled in Thalia's stomach as she mentally tallied those missing.Nearly a third of their class hadn't made it through the gate.She remembered Joren's deep-set eyes and the crooked tooth that showed when he smiled, how he'd described his mother's fish stew recipe during their first communal meal at Frostforge — a taste of home that neither expected to enjoy again.Now, he was another name on the growing list of those claimed by the academy's brutal training regimen.She wondered if his mother would receive compensation for her son's life, or if it would be deemed his own failure rather than the academy's loss.

Several students wept openly for missing friends.Others sat in stunned silence, perhaps contemplating how easily they could have been among the missing.The Northern students, Thalia noticed, seemed less affected; they had been raised with the expectation that not everyone survives the cold.Death by ice was as natural to them as breathing.Still, even among them, Thalia saw tight expressions and distant gazes that hinted at concealed grief.

The distinct sound of metal striking stone silenced the murmurs of conversation throughout the cave.Instructor Maven stood at the entrance, her metal eye-covering reflecting the firelight.She struck her blade against the cave wall once more, ensuring she had everyone's attention before sheathing it at her hip.

"The Frost Walk trial is complete," she announced, her voice carrying easily through the cave without needing to shout."Those who have survived have passed, and will continue at Frostforge.Those who have not..."She let the sentence hang unfinished, the implication clear.No search parties would be sent for the missing.No bodies would be recovered.The Golem Fields had claimed them, as it had claimed countless others before.

Maven's remaining eye scanned the survivors, her expression unreadable.The bear claw around her neck gleamed dully in the firelight as she continued."You will receive medical attention here before returning to the academy.Your performance during the Frost Walk will be evaluated, and your yearly rankings adjusted accordingly."

Rankings.As if the whole ordeal had been nothing more than an academic exercise.Thalia's fingers tightened around her broken blade, anger momentarily cutting through her exhaustion.People had died, and all Maven cared about was how to grade the survivors.

"Rest while you can," Maven concluded, already turning to leave."Classes resume tomorrow at dawn."With that, she strode out of the cave, leaving a wake of disbelieving stares behind her.

The healers moved with greater purpose now, organizing the students into groups for medical assessment.They applied salves to frostbite, bandaged wounds, and distributed steaming mugs of herbal tea that smelled of pine and something bitter but medicinal.The tea burned Thalia's throat going down, but warmth spread through her core immediately, chasing away the last of the bone-deep chill that had settled during the trial.

A healer with a severe expression and gentle hands examined Thalia's frost-nipped fingers and toes, coating them with a greenish paste that tingled unpleasantly."You're lucky," the woman said."Another hour out there and you'd have lost the tips of these fingers."She wrapped Thalia's hands in thin, soft bandages."Keep them warm and dry.Change the dressings twice daily."

As the healer moved to her next patient, a Northern instructor Thalia didn't recognize approached, hand extended."Your weapon," he said, voice flat.

Thalia hesitated, reluctant to surrender the broken blade."Will I get it back?"