Page 12 of Frostforge, Passage Four

The Golem Fields stretched before them like a graveyard for metal giants, jagged wreckage and half-buried constructs jutting from the snow like the fossilized remains of some ancient, mechanical species.

Thalia's breath clouded before her face as she surveyed the valley from the rim, the bitter wind carrying ice crystals that stung her cheeks and made her eyes water.

Behind her, her squad huddled close, their shoulders hunched against the cold, their expressions a mixture of awe and trepidation at the forbidden landscape they'd been ordered to enter.

"Is this where we're supposed to be?" Daniel's voice cracked slightly, betraying his nervousness. The tall Southern boy shifted from foot to foot, his bronze skin paled by the harsh light reflecting off the snow.

Thalia nodded, scanning the horizon. "Command Challenge, second phase.

These are our orders." She kept her voice steady, though the location surprised her too.

First-years weren't typically brought to the Golem Fields until the Frost Walk at term's end.

The valley was notoriously deadly — even to fourth-years.

Felah wrapped her arms tighter around her thin frame, her dark curls whipping in the wind. "They say these fields are haunted," she whispered, so softly Thalia almost missed it beneath the howl of the wind.

"Metal can't be haunted," Sigrid scoffed, but her copper hair couldn't hide the wariness in her eyes as she stared into the misty valley.

Thalia spotted movement below — other squads gathering in the distance, small dark figures against the white expanse. "There they are. Let's move." She gestured toward the path that wound down the slope, treacherous with ice and hidden obstacles.

As they descended, the enormity of the Golem Fields became more apparent.

What had seemed like distant shapes from above now revealed themselves as monstrous constructs — some standing nearly three times Thalia's height, others collapsed in pieces, their limbs scattered across acres of frozen ground.

The snow muffled their footsteps, creating an eerie silence broken only by the occasional groan of metal contracting in the cold.

They joined the other squads at the valley's edge. Instructor Calloway paced before them, her back to the dangerous field, silver-streaked hair whipping around her sharp features. Her icy blue eyes swept over the assembled students, lingering briefly on Thalia's squad.

"Today's Command Challenge will test not only your combat abilities but your judgment," Calloway announced, her voice carrying across the wind.

"Fourth-years, you will lead your squads into the Golem Fields on a salvage mission.

Your objective: recover a working golem heart — an intact core from a failed construct. "

Murmurs rippled through the assembled students. Calloway raised a hand for silence.

"Some of these constructs retain power years after abandonment.

This exercise is both training and a test. First-years, consider this your introduction to the Fields.

In three months, you will face the Frost Walk alone.

" Her gaze hardened. "Those who succeed today will have an advantage in understanding the terrain.

Those who fail..." She let the implication hang in the air.

Thalia felt Felah trembling beside her and reached out to squeeze her shoulder. "We'll be fine," she whispered. "Stay close."

With her squad in formation — Rasmus and Sigrid flanking, Daniel and Felah behind — Thalia led them deeper into the Golem Fields.

The snow crunched beneath their boots, sometimes giving way to reveal twisted metal below.

The deeper they ventured, the more oppressive the silence became, as if even the wind feared to disturb the resting constructs.

Daniel's foot caught on something, and he stumbled with a yelp. Thalia turned to see him sprawled in the snow, a skeletal metal arm protruding from where he'd tripped.

"Southerners," Sigrid muttered under her breath.

Rasmus elbowed her sharply before Thalia could intervene. "Shut up," he hissed. "You want us to fail again?"

Thalia helped Daniel up, brushing snow from his leathers. "Everyone, stay alert. Watch your footing."

They continued forward, weaving between the broken husks of abandoned golems. A massive torso loomed ahead, half-buried in snow, its head missing and one arm reaching skyward as if in a final plea.

"What happened to them all?" Felah asked, her voice barely audible.

Thalia paused, considering her answer. "Many never worked to begin with.

Improper forging, cryomancy that couldn't take hold.

" She ran a gloved hand along a frozen metal surface.

"Others had subtler deficiencies that made them dangerous, uncontrollable.

They're brought here rather than destroyed completely — some parts can be salvaged. "

"What does a golem core look like?" Rasmus asked, the first time either of the Northerners had deferred to her knowledge.

The question warmed her more than any fire could in this frozen wasteland.

"It's an orb of ice-metal, about this large," she explained, making a cupping gesture with her hands.

"Etched with intricate designs that facilitate the flow of cryomancy through the construct's body. You'll forge your own in second year."

She thought fondly of her own golem, Falchion, now stationed as part of the academy's guard.

The bond between a creator and their construct was unlike any other — a connection of magic and metal, of will made manifest. She'd felt that bond at full strength during the second year of the Forge Gauntlet, but in the aftermath, all students' golems — at least, those that hadn't been destroyed — had been incorporated into the academy's defenses.

Despite the danger surrounding them, Thalia felt encouraged by her first-year's questions and their responses to her answers.

Her squad was finally working together, watching each other's backs as they traversed the valley.

Even Sigrid seemed less hostile, her eyes constantly scanning their surroundings for threats rather than opportunities to undermine Thalia's authority.

Then, abruptly, the ground trembled beneath their feet.

At first, Thalia thought it might be the shifting of ice — common in these parts — but then came a metallic groan that set her teeth on edge. From beneath a nearby drift, snow cascaded away as something massive began to rise.

An ice-iron golem lurched upright, its joints screeching in protest after years of disuse.

Its eyes flickered with faint blue light — residual cryomancy still powering its core.

Taller than any of them by half, its massive limbs moved with jerky precision as it oriented toward the nearest living thing — Daniel.

"Spread out!" Thalia shouted, her command instincts taking over. "Keep low! Target the joint seams!"

Daniel froze in place, his eyes wide with terror, until Rasmus yanked him roughly aside as the golem's fist crashed into the spot where he'd stood.

"Ice-iron is brittle!" Thalia called out, circling to the construct's flank. "It can't withstand concentrated force!"

To her shock and relief, Rasmus listened.

The Northern boy raised his frost-gloved hands, performing basic cryomancy that sent a rime of ice creeping over the golem's breastplate.

The metal, already weakened by years of exposure, became even more brittle as the ice expanded in its microscopic cracks.

Rasmus darted forward, striking the frosted area with the hilt of his blade rather than its edge. The breastplate cracked but held.

Understanding bloomed across Sigrid's face. She mimicked Rasmus's cryomancy, adding her own layer of frost to the golem's damaged chest. "Daniel! Felah! Blunt force!"

The Southern recruits shook off their fear and moved in tandem, Daniel delivering a powerful kick to the weakened metal while Felah struck with the pommel of her dagger.

Thalia felt a surge of pride. "Again! Together!"

They coordinated their attack, no longer Northern and Southern but a single unit with a common purpose. The golem swung wildly, but they ducked and weaved around its clumsy blows, continuing their assault on its weakening chest plate.

With a final, determined grunt, Sigrid wedged the head of her hammer into the fractured metal and wrenched it aside. The chest plate broke open completely, revealing the pulsing blue orb within — the golem's core, still alive with cryomantic energy.

"That's it!" Thalia exclaimed as the construct collapsed, its power source exposed. "That's our prize."

Sigrid carefully extracted the core, cradling it in her frost-gloved hands. For the first time since they'd been assigned together, she met Thalia's eyes without open hostility. "Not a bad fight."

They gathered their gear and the precious core, turning back toward the starting point.

Thalia walked slightly ahead, allowing herself a small smile of satisfaction.

After their disastrous first challenge, this was redemption — not just for her leadership, but for the possibility that Northerners and Southerners could indeed work as one.

The wind still bit at their faces, and danger still lurked among the broken golems, but Thalia felt lighter than she had in days.

***

Thalia lay back on her bunk, still in her frost-stiffened leathers, letting her muscles finally surrender to gravity.

The ache in her limbs from the punishing hike through the Golem Fields was a satisfying pain, a testament to effort rewarded.

She watched pale shafts of late-afternoon light spill through the frost-laced window, carving geometric patterns across the stone floor, and allowed herself a rare moment of contentment.

Her squad had worked together. Even Rasmus and Sigrid had moved in tandem with their Southern comrades.

For once, the weight on her shoulders felt a fraction lighter.