Page 71

Alexandra

Ice

A biting cold permeates everything, sinking into my bones. No amount of shivering, teeth-chattering, or hugging myself tight wards off this bitter veil that wraps around me. My eyelids, sealed by a thin crust of ice, refuse to part until I pry them open with trembling fingers.

Was it tears that froze them shut, or that thing Demon Egg-Head sprayed in my face?

My heart pounds with fury and fear, but each breath of frigid air is like swallowing razors, stabbing at my lungs.

I scan the dazzling blue-white room reflecting the light from outside at countless angles, with frost-covered walls like a thousand broken mirrors. My frantic breaths escape my quivering body in ragged plumes, mingling with the frosty fog swirling around me.

I’m trapped in a giant freezer. The realization hits me like a gut punch. Panic flares as I try to recoil, only to be met by the harsh resistance of thick black chains clamped around my ankles, anchoring me to the ice-locked floor.

What the fuck is going on?

My outrage seethes at this injustice, my mind churning for answers, but only more questions spring to mind. I blow hot air into my numb fingers, rubbing them together for any semblance of warmth—there is none.

“Let me out!” My voice cracks, shrill with terror and frustration.

No! This freezing—I can’t take it! I’d rather plunge into that volcano than endure this agony.

I crane my neck, scanning the space. The ceiling is a translucent sheet of ice, while the walls curve inward slightly, like I’m inside some frozen dome.

Ahead of me, a tunnel yawns into pitch-black nothingness.

I strain to listen for any clues, wondering if the creepy Ignixis is nearby, hearing only the sound of howling wind and my own desperate breaths.

Fuck, I’m going to freeze to death here!

No! I can’t die like this! Desperation takes over, and I scream again.

My voice echoes off the frozen walls as I yank at the chains with every ounce of strength I have left.

My muscles burn, but the frozen links sear my skin, forcing me to let go.

I collapse onto the icy floor, chest heaving, my breath coming in frantic bursts that cloud the air around me.

I’m going to end up like some forgotten vegetable in a freezer aisle.

This bitter cold creeps across my body, and I resist the urge to scratch off my skin, feeling it seep into my very core like a virus infecting me.

I hate it! I long for the flaming heat that sustains me and makes me feel alive—not this creeping death.

How did I even get here? Wherever here is?

It feels like hell. Worse than even the cells back on Dracoth’s hobo ship. There was dark, but at least it wasn’t this mind-numbing cold, with not even a blanket or fur for comfort.

Why is Ignixis doing this? Because of a few stupid insults? I gasp, recalling that threat he made before he left.

“We’ll be spending a lot more time together soon.”

Fuck! Is this what he meant? Sticking me in a damn freezer? Where the hell is the creepy weirdo now?

The frostbite gnaws at my skin, the cold seeping through my clothes and biting into my flesh. My backside is numb, and the pain forces me up with a ragged scream that tears at my throat.

I yank the chain again, my body trembling with the effort, but it’s no use. The links are as thick as my wrist, disappearing into layers of unyielding permafrost beneath my feet.

“Please!” I shout, my voice hoarse and cracking.

“Please...” The word slips out weaker than before, my strength fading.

The cold is sucking the life from me, inch by inch.

My fingers, pale and stiff, feel as foreign as the frozen walls around me.

I can feel the darkness in my heart oozing out, the bitterness and resentment pulling me down into the depths of despair.

Maybe Celutok or Sandra saw what happened.

Maybe they’re coming to rescue me right now.

Or... Dracoth? A flicker of hope surges at the thought of him.

God, I’d love his heat now—I need it. I can picture him now, tearing down this whole evil igloo and slaughtering that bastard Ignixis for this.

Attacking like a red dragon, full of fire and blood.

Despite the cold, it brings a smile to my face, swelling me with pride—my instrument of revenge.

But a worrying thought burrows into my mind, extinguishing my spark of hope.

I haven’t exactly treated Dracoth well, have I?

My heart sinks as I recall every cold word, every brush-off. Maybe... maybe he’s in on this. Maybe he’s already chosen Sandra for the marriage thing, and I’ve been left here to freeze like a popsicle? Despite their differences, they were close, closer than I got.

Fuck, I’m screwed...

I stand shivering, blowing what little warmth I have into my hands, unable to even lie down on the frozen floor.

Typical that I’d end up like this. Sandra’s probably being whisked off to some grand ceremony right now, nice and warm.

Why does this always happen to me? I try to act right with people, and I’m always the one abandoned. It makes me sick.

The universe is so fucking unfair.

How did I even get here? What were the chances?

Trillions to one? If my piece-of-shit parents hadn’t abandoned me, I would’ve never been on the Brooklyn Bridge to be abducted in the first place!

What? Just because I’m not a doormat like Sandra doesn’t mean I should be treated like shit and thrown away like garbage by the people who are supposed to always care for me?

I swallow the lump in my throat, bitterness swirling in my chest. Maybe it’s better this way—freezing to death.

It’s not like anyone ever wanted me anyway.

Tears spill down my cheeks, but even those soon freeze, mocking my suffering as they turn to brittle crystals.

Let it come quick, I think, wishing for the end—the end of my pain, my fear, this awful cold. Death by fridge, what a way to go. At least I’ll leave a beautiful corpse, frozen in time.

Suddenly, soft scuffs echo through the icy chamber, sending a chill of a different kind through me. I strain to listen, my breath catching in my chest, unsure if salvation or something far worse is approaching. The sound isn’t quite footsteps—more like sliding scrapes against the frozen floor.

Then, faintly, I hear a grumble. “...could break your neck in here.”

Through the frigid haze coating my skin in tiny crystals of suffering, I catch sight of something black swishing across the light.

It looks wrong, something so dark in a place of dazzling ice and reflected kaleidoscopic hues.

I don’t need to see the glowing green eyes or the smirking yellow fangs to know who it is—Ignixis.

My captor steps from the tunnel, his form draped in shadows that make him seem more of a phantom than a living person. Hope drains from me like warmth from my skin, leaving only the weight of dread in its place.

“Hail,” he greets, his blackened face disturbingly neutral, even his usual insults are gone.

And somehow, that terrifies me more. My eyes dart to the large wooden box he’s carrying, filled with God knows what horrors.

My throat tightens, a hundred grotesque possibilities flooding my mind as I catch faint scrapes from within the box.

“Please... Demon,” my voice trembles, my arms shaking as I reach toward him in desperation. “Please, Ignixis, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone about this, I swear.” The words spill out, frantic, pleading.

He sets the box down with a groan, watching me with cold disinterest. “You won’t live to tell—” Ignixis begins, his tone flat, until his eyes flicker and widen, staring at my forehead. “You wear the blessing of Arawnoth?”

My trembling fingers brush the ash streaked across my forehead, shocked to find it warm. A desperate plan forms that if I appeal to his cult-like religion, he might let me go.

“Yeah... yeah, I love Arawnoth,” I stammer, the words tumbling out in a rush. “I never miss a ritual.”

Ignixis studies me with a frown, suspicion clouding his glowing eyes. “Did young Dracoth force you?”

So, they aren’t in cahoots!

The palest flicker of hope flutters in my chest. “No, no. He doesn’t go… just me,” I blurt out, wearing a quivering smile.

For the briefest moment, his gaze shifts downward, and in that tiny sliver of time, hope blooms—only to wither when he jerks upright, his face once again a mask of chilling neutrality and piercing intensity.

“Silence now, child.” He moves closer, looming over me like a wrinkled wraith who comes to claim my soul.

His claws extend in a sudden, lethal movement, glistening like shards of frost, and I gasp, recoiling in terror. The chains rattle and grow taut as I scramble backward, my breath freezing in the air between us.

“Please, Ignixis!” I plead, almost slipping on the ice in my haste to back away. “I’m sorry I ever called you those stupid names! Please, just let me go!”

I feel the cold bite of the ice-covered wall as my back hits it hard—nowhere left to go.

This is it. The end.

My heart pounds frantically, my breathing ragged, erratic. I shake my head in disbelief, finding no pity in his terrifying face, only the cold flame in his emerald eyes, alight with fanatic fervor. He stands over me, and I wince, squeezing my eyes shut, unable to face the end, unable to fight.

His hot breath prickles against my skin as I await my terrible fate, trembling from icy terror.

“I recall what you said,” Ignixis rasps, his ancient voice scraping inches from my face. “You don’t fear the dark—you fear being eaten alive.” His voice drifts as he steps away, and I dare to crack my eyes open, just in time to see him approach the wooden box.

His horrifying words and whatever’s in that box send fresh rounds of frozen tears to spill from my eyes.

“Please, Ignixis,” I choke out, my voice breaking, pleading for anything that will make this nightmare stop. “I’ll do anything you want! I don’t want to be fucking eaten!”

My body shakes violently with terror as I collapse onto my knees.

This fate—this unbearable, twisted end—is crushing me.

My mind screams for mercy, for an escape, for anything that can melt this horrific reality away.

Please, God—Arawnoth—come from the heavens, burn this nightmare away like in my dreams!

But then, something in me snaps, and the terror festering in my gut twists into white-hot hatred. I raise my head, fury igniting behind my eyes.

“He’s going to come for you,” I spit through gritted teeth, my voice dripping venom. “And when he does, I’ll enjoy watching him burn you to ashes.”

Ignixis doesn’t even flinch. He simply mutters, distracted as his claws pry the wooden lid from the box.

“I pray Dracoth does come.”

I can just make out the writhing, segmented pale yellow and red creatures probing the edges of the opening with grotesque curiosity. My stomach churns with revulsion, disgust mingling with my fury.

“Not Dracoth!” I snarl, my voice shaking with rage. “Arawnoth! He’s coming. I see him in my dreams, and he’ll burn you to a fucking crisp!”

Ignixis freezes, his head snapping toward me, eyes widening in surprise. Good. He should be scared, he should fear what’s coming for him. He’ll die for this, no matter what happens to me.

“It’s too late, child,” he mutters, his tone infuriatingly level, reaching into the box and pulling out a writhing creature, as long and thick as my wrist.

“This is a cyloillar,” Ignixis thrusts the horrible grotesque toward me. Its singular, large black eye reflects my terror, dominating its segmented, leathery body, rippling with a wave of spindly legs.

“Don’t let looks deceive you. These critters can chew through a live borack in minutes.” He whirls round, placing the creature back into the box. “Despite your plumpness, you’ll be consumed quickly. Consider it a mercy—my final gift to you.”

Seething rage mixes with icy terror, trembling through my entire body. But despite my fear, I notice the faintest smirk curling his quivering lip, like he’s trying to suppress laughter.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” I roar, my voice ricocheting off the frozen walls. “You’re one sick, twisted old freaky bastard, you know that?” I thrash against the chains, wanting nothing more than to lunge at him, to throttle him until his disgusting grin is gone.

“Indeed,” Ignixis murmurs, approaching with the box, the writhing giant caterpillar-like creatures turning my blood to ice water. I instinctively retreat to the cold unyielding wall, my frost-lined chains growing taut.

This is really happening!

With a flick of his wrist, Ignixis tips the box, and dozens of fat, squirming cyloillars spill out onto the frozen ground, their legs skittering with surprising speed. I yelp, almost leaping into the air with disgust as they wriggle around me.

“Farewell, my little snowdrop.” Ignixis titters, his voice filled with dark amusement as he whirls like a dark cloud, gliding out of the frozen tunnel.

“You evil bastard!” I scream after him, my voice cracking with rage and terror. My eyes lock onto the nearest revolting creature, its single black eye gleaming, its mandibles twitching. My heart pounds furiously, blood roaring in my ears.

Arawnoth protect me!