Veins of Ice Read online

  Veins of Ice

  By:

  Melissa Kellogg

  © Copyright 2017 by Melissa Kellogg

  All rights reserved. No part of this book, either in part or in whole may be reproduced, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, photographic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Author.

  Formatting by: Polgarus Studio

  Cover Illustration and Cover Design: Karri Klawiter

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 1

  Year 522 in the Sixth Age

  Archelm City, Sundarin Nation

  World of Ammaria

  Karena paced around the empty elevator shaft. Her hands sweated, and she rubbed them against her leather pants to remove the powdery frost that had formed on them. Her nervousness was showing. At any minute, the duel waging in the arena above would end, the worn participant would be lowered down, and then it would be her turn to step onto the elevator platform and be lifted upwards. She had been anticipating this duel all month, and now the day had come.

  Inside the underground holding chamber, light cast from electricity-powered lanterns splashed around the stone pillars and bathed the area in a warm glow. Attendants stood nearby, waiting too. One of them repaired a suit, which was identical to the one she wore. Its tropical blue and amethyst-purple colors were associated with water and the Water elementals. Wide streaks of purple curved down the torso and across the legs of the predominantly blue suit. It was a beautiful suit and she was proud to wear one. Each elemental group had a different color scheme and patterning.

  Karena swung her arms forward to get her blood flowing. She felt the thick padding press around her shoulders and elbows as she did this. She bent her arms, feeling the flexible material move with her. Snowflakes cartwheeled off of her in mini fusses of energy. She took a deep breath to steady herself. The last thing she wanted was to have an anxiety attack.

  Karena broke away from the elevator shaft to stand in front of a body mirror that was leaned up against one of the walls. She checked her hair, which had been elaborately braided. Even though there was no need, she pressed her plum-colored hair deeper into their pins.

  Then she let her arms fall by her sides. Her shoulders shook as she took another laborious breath. She clasped and unclasped her hands out of nervousness.

  She stared at the mirror and into her sapphire eyes. “I can do this, I know I can,” she whispered to herself, and repeated the affirmation.

  Her duel would be against none other than Asher, a Chaos Fire elemental. Their duel would be the last fight of the four-day event. Chaos elementals were only allowed to fight other Chaos elementals, and Asher was probably the most dangerous of them all. Chaos elementals weren’t much different than a regular elemental, except that they had considerably more stamina and power. It was like comparing a sorceress to a witch.

  Almost four years ago, when she had been close enough to turning eighteen to qualify to participate in the annual dueling event, she had faced off against Asher for the first time. She had lost that duel and every duel against him in the following years, except last year when she had tied with him due to running out of time in the arena. A time limit was placed on every duel, so that the risk of injury and death was reduced.

  Karena looked to the attendants. Irene had just appeared from the main level.

  “Irene, what’s the score right now?” Karena asked the young woman in the lavender dress.

  “For the Fires, or the Airs?”

  “I want the total against them. It’s us versus them, ultimately.”

  “This has been the fiercest competition yet. There have been a lot of ties this year,” Irene said. Irene checked her clipboard, and her pen scratched out mathematical additions.

  Ties didn’t grant points. Defeating an opponent in less than fifteen minutes did.

  Irene tapped her pen against her clipboard and tallied up the figures again to be sure. “The fight going on above is running too long to garner points, so I will assume it’s a tie. The Fires and Airs have a combined total of one hundred and sixteen points, with the Fires having earned most of those. The Earths and Waters have a combined total of one hundred and two points. It’s a close one.”

  But Irene withheld from speculating about whether she could win the upcoming duel with Asher in five minutes or less, which would earn her fifteen points and a win against the Fires and Airs by one point. It wasn’t even conceivable that she could win it within ten minutes, which would give her ten points. Asher was an undefeated champion in the Annual Archelm Dueling Competition. He had fought other Chaos elementals, and usually won in less than five minutes.

  “I remember when there were more Chaos elementals that competed,” the elderly attendant who was repairing the suit said. “In my day, there weren’t only five duels, but an all-day event of just Chaos elementals.”

  Irene replied, “Grandma, those days were different.”

  “There’s a curse, and that’s why there’s so few today in Archelm City.”

  Her granddaughter was quiet, as they all were. As a Chaos elemental, Karena was well aware of what was commonly called the Chaos Curse. For some reason, Chaos elementals died young, either from accidents, animal attacks, health reasons, or they were the first to die in murders associated with the feud.

  They heard the roar of the crowds through the ceiling, and the announcer say something.

  “Looks like it’s over,” Irene said, her eyes drifting to the elevator.

  It was time. Karena took one last look at herself. When she breathed, a mist of cold air fogged up the mirror. She sprung away from the mirror to stand by the elevator shaft again. The elevator’s gears screeched as the platform descended.

  When its jaws opened, Hadrian staggered out. His sweaty face, the tickles of blood from the top of his head, and his torn clothing explained well enough what his duel against Jaxon, an Air elemental, had been like. His uniform hung off of him in ribbons, and his skin was nearly as shredded. Blood streamed from multiple slash wounds.

  “Don’t say anything. I promise you it wasn’t a chicken that attacked me,” he said. He gave a pained smile.

  She laughed, breaking her own tension. Jaxon, his opponent, did have wings, and perhaps she could liken him to a giant chicken. Jaxon was a shapeshifter, and even when he didn’t shapeshift into a halcyon, a bird-like humanoid creature, he possessed wings in his normal human form. With six-inch talons, an elongated beak, and solar coated wings, a halcyon was a warrior and like hell sent from the skies for those unfortunate enough to piss one off.

  “Did any of the seeds survive?” Karena asked.

  She glanced behind her to one of the attendants who had his ear pressed to a bell-like device that was attached to the wall near the staircase. They were waiting for the arena to be cleaned up for the next duel between her and Asher. Once that was done, she would be given the go-ahead to get into the elevator.

  Hadrian held out his hand. A little vine he had animated rocked back and forth as i
t shadowboxed with its thorny tendrils.

  “Out of the five seeds I had, only this one did. I was trying to turn Jaxon into a lettuce wrap, but that didn’t happen,” Hadrian said. He pouted in disappointment.

  Hadrian’s affinity was with plants. Because there weren’t any plants growing in the arena, he had been allowed to take five seeds with him. Though his powers might’ve seemed harmless, they weren’t. He could animate plants to do whatever was physically possible with them, or grow them into fully mature plants within seconds.

  “You need medical attention,” she said. She was stating the obvious, but it was because he didn’t seem concerned about his injuries.

  He ran a hand through his hair, and tucked a few shoulder-length locks that had escaped their ties behind his ears. “I’ll go to the medical room after the finale. I want to see the fight between you and Asher. It’s going to be a good one, I just know it,” he said.

  “You have more confidence in me than everyone else.”

  He shrugged. “Even if I wasn’t naturally biased, I still would. An undefeated champion can only stay undefeated for so long. They wouldn’t save this fight for last just because.”

  “Karena,” someone said.

  Karena looked over. The attendant with the listening device against his ear motioned to the elevator shaft.

  “It’s time,” he said.

  “Turn him into an ice cube,” Hadrian said, and patted her on the shoulder. “I would hug you, but it would look like you sacrificed a goat down here if I did.”

  She glanced at his wounds again and winced. The wounds were too deep and wide to clot up.

  “I’ll make it quick so that you get to the medical room sooner,” she said.

  A nurse with a medical kit in hand walked into the room and bee-lined for Hadrian.

  Hadrian tilted his head and stared deep into her eyes. He said, “Know when to quit. Don’t do anything foolish out there. I don’t want you barbecued.”

  Karena nodded. Her gaze shifted to the elevator. She inhaled and slowly exhaled. An icy mist frothed around her. She stepped onto the elevator platform, and faced the direction the painted arrow on the floor was pointing to, so that she was facing correctly when she appeared in the arena above.

  The metal gates drew together. The elevator platform ascended with groans and squeals. Her feet pressed into the elevator platform. As she rose, so did her nervousness. Her heart lurched in her chest. Could she score a victory in five minutes or less against Asher? It didn’t seem possible, but her determination roared at her to believe in herself.

  She had been training for the past couple of months with Hadrian and other Earth and Water contestants for this duel. She knew what the common combat tactics were to fight Asher in duels, and once they proved to be ineffective or when fear took over, running became the only feasible option. She had done that before too, much to her embarrassment afterwards. The fiery blasts he had unleashed upon her in previous duels had scared her, and she had fled like a rabbit all over the arena, unable to turn and face him. But this time, it was going to be different.

  As the main level neared, sunlight beamed down onto her. Her elemental powers rushed through her veins. They drummed against her skin, begging to be released. In her head, they sang with emotions and imagery about frozen wastelands, white mountaintops, and arctic lakes. A cloud of ice particles sparkled around her. She bounced onto the tips of her toes and rolled back onto her heels.

  Her head emerged from the elevator shaft’s depths.

  “KARENA OCEANIA!!!” the announcer boomed from his perch to her far left.

  The crowds roared with excitement. This was the grand finale for them. The elevator platform stopped, and was now flush with the ground. She felt exposed and immersed in a world of noise and movement. She wanted to hide, but it was too late for that. The pressure to succeed mounted inside of her.

  Karena gave a twirl, and released a flurry of snow around her, which she spiraled up into the air. All of the Waters and Earths chanted her name and shouted encouragements.

  She waited for Asher to arrive. Her hands tingled as icy-blue tendrils spiraled from them. Around her feet, ice crept outwards in a frosty corona. Her emotions were showing again. She hyperventilated. Her thoughts stopped and started in incomplete sentences. She closed her eyes for a few seconds to remind herself not to run, but to stand and fight Asher no matter what. When she opened her eyes, she looked to the crowds, and the wavy, translucent force field that kept the spectators safe from debris and attacks that went amiss.

  Karena shook her head. She needed to be studying the arena now that she was inside of it. The arena had an urban theme this time. Several low walls occupied the north end of the area from behind where Asher was due to appear. On the western end, a seesaw leaned one end against the ground. To the south, just behind her, was a concrete pipe large enough for someone to crawl through for ten feet. Then to the east, monkey bars stretched across the ground for a few yards.

  A deafening, thundering of the crowds crescendoed through the stadium. It was far louder than what she had received. She watched Asher appear from the lower level. His black, spikey hair appeared first, followed by his chiseled face, broad shoulders, narrow torso, and thick legs. His outfit was red and black, the colors of the Fire district.

  “And here we have ASHER VOLCANIS!!!!” the announcer shouted.

  Asher shot a fireball into the sky, his signature move before a fight. From across the sizeable distance that separated them, his eyes bore into her, stabbing her soul with hate. He couldn’t possibly hate her as much as she hated him. He was a Fire, rash, violent, and unreasonable. He didn’t deserve the ridiculously good looks he had been blessed with.

  The announcer continued, “Fire and ice will clash in this epic showdown. This is the grand finale of the Annual Archelm City Dueling Competition.”

  The announcer shared the scores of each side, which Irene had already told her. And just like Irene, he didn’t bother to mention the fact that if she won the fight in less than five minutes, her side, which was the Waters and Earths, would beat the Fires and Airs by a point. That was all that mattered to her and everyone else. No one cared about the individual points each elemental group gained.

  Several women on the Airs’ side of the stadium screamed as shrilly as they could to catch Asher’s attention, which it did because he turned around with an incredulous look on his face, no doubt surprised that it was humanly possible to reach such decibels.

  Karena glanced at the announcer up on his perch to her far left. He had been blathering on about Asher’s winning streak for the past minute. No one needed to be reminded, especially not her. Then he finally mentioned her, and how she won more times than she tied.

  Her heart thumped against her rib cage. The time was drawing near. She stared at Asher and the smirk on his face. He didn’t seem perturbed at all. Rather, it looked as though he was about to take an evening stroll or something, rather than fight her. She drew upon her powers. The elemental essence in her collected. Inside of her chest, she felt it churn like a whirlpool, powerful, ready to explode outwards. It spoke like a whisper inside of her. Let us out, let us play. We are awake it said.

  Her ears tuned the crowds and the announcer out, and listened only for the bell. Asher’s fists erupted into fire in preparation for the start of the duel. They licked up his arms, but didn’t burn his uniform. His eyes glowed a golden hue, just as she knew hers were lighting up ice-blue.

  The ring of the bell clashed against her ears. She threw out her hands. Her suppressed powers broke free from their bodily tethers. A bright aura shone from her hands as a torrent of ice gushed from the palms of her hands. The ice galloped with the strength and speed of a herd of wild horses.

  Her white blast, that glossed the air with ice particles, slammed against something two-thirds of the way to Asher. Splintered ends of what it had hit spiked upwards and to the sides, like a huge dandelion that was perpetually exploding. It was clear that
Asher had met her attack with his own fire blast. The site of the impact oscillated back and forth as she and he poured their energy into their attack, hoping to drive the other back and ultimately relent. Where his fire and her ice met, shards of ice flew away and vaporized into a magnificent spiked halo. Clouds of steam billowed from Asher’s side.

  The announcer exclaimed, “What a show of aggression! Karena didn’t waste a second in showing her feelings for Asher. Look at the display of raw power. Folks, you will only see this from Chaos elementals.”

  Karena felt herself tiring from the enormous amount of energy she was expending.

  “Is Karena trying to drain Asher? I don’t think it will work; he has plenty of energy to spare it looks like,” the announcer said.

  Annoyed by him, Karena snarled, and leaned into her attack. Time was ticking. She had to act fast. Wearing Asher down would take longer than fifteen minutes. She mentally prepared herself to move. Like the flip of a switch, she disengaged from her powers. They vanished and she jumped to her right. She wasn’t fast enough. A searing ray of fire and heat scorched her left arm. The unexpectedness and extreme agony that followed caused her to lose her balance. On the ground, she gasped and cried out from the pain. Because Asher wasn’t allowed to kill her, he ended his attack. Her vision swam as she struggled to get onto her feet.

  “If Karena doesn’t get moving here soon, it’ll be over for her. How disappointing, not even a full minute into the fight, and she’s out,” the announcer said.

  Enraged by that remark, Karena found the strength needed to stand up. She flung a fan of lethal, ice spikes at Asher. He blasted them away and shot a few fireballs at her as he advanced to her. Now the cat and mouse game would begin. She ran to the concrete pipe behind her, jumped over it, and used it as cover.

  Did she still have the courage to confront him and his fire attacks? She didn’t think so, and wanted to abandon the plans she had made to win the duel. Wave after wave of desert heat rolled over the concrete pipe. The surrounding air simmered like the inside of an oven. Her feet sweated, and then ached from the ground baking. She sweated, becoming dehydrated at a rapid rate. Her heart raced. She was terrified. She didn’t want to meet Asher head on. The fire and heat scared her senseless. Her burned arm was testament to the danger she would have to face.