Chapter 3 Surviving The Frost

The wood was quiet. Too quiet, I must say; not even a cricket sound.

It was cold and damp, and the only noise we heard would be the rustling of dried leaves under our feet.

I couldn't see much of our way because of the fog that loomed on it. And the more I looked at it, the more it seemed like it approached us.

"Uhm... I don't think we should proceed with..." I was saying as I tried to tighten my hold on Zenir's arm, but it suddenly slipped from mine. "Hey!" I called while swinging my hands about as if to get a hold of Zenir again, but she was gone. "Ah! Where did she go?"

My heart took to its fastest beat. Looking around, I could hear myself breathing heavily in my head. The fog had reached me, and the silence started to haunt me.

I felt deaf, blind, and confused. Yet, all I saw was gray fog.

Something pulled me down-more like knocked me off my feet. At first, it didn't feel like it. But, at a later moment, gravity betrayed me.

I was drowning; trapped between splashes and harsh waves that hit me from all sides. The water was cold, so each crash on me was excruciatingly painful.

I tried to keep my head up even though the torrent kept shoving me down, causing me to drink and choke on water. My legs kicked aggressively and my arms flailed about.

The gray fog was long gone when I fell. What I now saw, through the splashes, was a rotating clear blue sky with white clouds blurring away.

Suddenly, the torrent stopped. The sea became calm, its splashing noise dying down.

"Out, Princess. You don't expect me to come carry you, do you?" Someone was saying, but I couldn't care who it was as I crawled my way to the rocky shore, retching until I finally puked what was left in my stomach onto the rocks.

It went on for some time, with groans and grunts. When it stopped, I tried to catch my breath.

I was on all fours, water dripping down my clothes. I looked beyond to find the teenage girl standing akimbo under a pile of boulders. Behind her was the mass of limestone on which Amperes Tower stood. Like they said, the Tower was pitch black and reached the skies. However, the rest of the story is pure fantasy.

I didn't bother looking back as the girl led me into a dank cavern, leaving behind the starting turbulent waves to deal with itself.

My body still ached so I could imagine how painful the walk would be. We walked for quite some time through rocky grounds and streaks of water.

The cave was dark, with stalactites hanging down its roof. If not for the candle held up by the teenage girl, it'd have been hard to see through, though I still couldn't figure the way. I had a few bad falls too.

When we arrived at what looked like a room in the cavern, I didn't know how we got there. My legs gave out before I slumped to the rough floor.

There wasn't any difference in temperature from the rest of the cavern. A simple four-post bed alongside a side stool and a full-length mirror was situated at the far end.

My only lighting would be the candles lined up around the bed and around a big pool beside which I lay.

The girl left me by myself, and I subconsciously imagined many scenarios of things that could happen here; getting caught by frost, monsters emerging from the pool or the wall.

For some reason, this place didn't feel right.

I figured that maybe if I borrowed a blanket from the bed, the cold wouldn't be so bad. When I tried to move, I heard rumbling from the pool.

Hisses echoed as if snakes crawled about, only there were no snakes.

I struggled to sit up. Then I brought my knees to my chest and hugged my legs, warily watching the pool as bubbles gathered at a spot.

Someone came out of the water naked. I felt like I needed to curse out. However, I was freezing and too frail to even open my mouth.

She advanced towards me while I looked at her feet, wondering how a person's gait could be so calculated.

"So, introductions first," she announced as she walked past me.

I opened my mouth despite chattering teeth. "I'm..."

"No, no! None of that," she cut in. All I could do was bury my chin between my thighs. I heard her continue. "I don't care 'bout your name, an' you don't want to know mine either. Hm? So, let's jus' talk. Heart 'o heart." She had a strong, unfamiliar accent. It made her sound like she rasped her words.

When I turned to her, she was dressed in a red see-through maxi dress that favored the floor and her figure. Her hair was long-like butt-length long-wavy sections of its silky strands cascading down the sides of her oval-shaped face, kissing the glassy skin of her shoulders.

I tried to get up before she stopped me. "Uh uh! Stay there and turn away. I don't appreciate awful, scared faces. Oh, and about the treatment so far, I hope you can adjust. Viesen are treated depending on who their mate is. Ones with no mate are worse. There's nothing anyone can do about it too."

I sighed as I resumed my previous sitting position, watching candlelight shimmer in the water. Chills crawled up on my back to my neck, and then my face, something tightening in my chest. I choked back tears.

"Put this on." She tossed a pair of denim pants and a red sweatshirt to me.

Without looking at her, I asked, "Where can I change?"

"What, you're shy? Come on, people have seen it all already. It's not like it changed much since you were a kid."

I struggled to my feet and gradually took off my wet clothes. From my side eye, I saw her sit upright on the bed, her monolid eyes narrowed as she regarded me with a smirk.

The only thing I had on me now was my underwear, which I was hesitant to remove even though they were wet and some hours due already. As I battled with the pants, I heard the strange Lady hooting.

"Ooooh! My mistake, lass. Look at those juicy boobs!" She cackled, her expression wearing a mask of excitement.

I used the shirt to cover my upper body, my gaze hurling daggers at her. As she continued laughing, I felt my rage build. I believed she enjoyed how I looked at her; the anger that left its trace on my face.

If my body didn't ache so bad that I could barely move, her face would be buried inside these rocks already. That annoyingly small nose of hers would be wonky, blood gushing out.

"Who the fuck are you anyway!" I bellowed, and the Lady stilled. The tranquility that followed forced spit down my throat.

The look she gave me was so cold that her eyes glowed like a vicious blizzard. "Use that tone with me again, young lady, and you'll find yourself stuck beneath that pool," she warned sternly, causing me to drift my gaze to the pool.

Surely, no sane person would want to be down there. It was so dark you wouldn't see its end. Moreover, the vapor from it was scary enough to convince even Zeus himself.

"Now, let's do this," the strange lady began with her former tone. "Each question you answer correctly earns you a point; like food, warmth, bath, more clothes, maybe even some peace because you won't come by that here. Nod if you understand or... I don't need you to understand anyway. Viesix bond triggers when you and your mate are within the boundaries of a place. Have you ever felt deeply connected with someone while you were at Suvan?"

"I don't know," I mumbled. The only person I thought I had a connection with was Cleopatra even though she was always quiet and indifferent. It felt like she understood me more than anyone. And if I were mated to her, she wouldn't have sent me to this godforsaken island.

"Have you felt strange lately, or even before?"

I shook my head. "I've always felt normal? I don't even know what is normal anymore." I said the last sentence under my breath as I sat on the floor.

"Have you perceived any sudden scent that didn't belong?"

"No. I'm not sure." I was nervous for an unknown reason. The answers I was giving flew right out of my mouth without consideration.

The lady cocked her head to the side and watched me, muttering, "Not sure... Hmm."

When she left the bed, she stood before the mirror and closed her eyes. "Did you hear strange voices or feel any sudden urge while you attacked your friend?" She asked after some time and I jumped out of my skin.

Attacked my friend? "Whoa, hold up a second!" I held my hands up in panic. "What do you mean? The motherfucker attacked ME." I emphasized 'me' while pointing a finger to my chest.

The stranger shrugged nonchalantly. "It's none of my business. We got this information from Abia who was informed by your... whatever she is to you."

"No! You have to listen to me. I didn't attack Mae."

"That's why you were brought here, lass. Your eyes changed during the bang bang."

The whole thing was getting frustrating. Why would Cleopatra lie to these people when she saw what happened? She was the one who stopped Mae too, and I still remember the look she gave me after that.

The stranger didn't look concerned by my panic at all. She held strongly to what she was told.

"I said she bloody attacked me! The girl bashed my fucking head to the goddamn glass! I felt the pain, I know what I'm saying."

"How about now?" She asked as she wore a red Weimao that had, instead of curtains, numerous strings of red beads that dangled to her feet.

Thinking about it now, the ache I'd been feeling was gone. My bones were no longer weak, and the back of my head had stopped hurting. I didn't even feel the bruise stings that had intensified when I entered the cavern.

I jumped to my feet, making for the mirror where the lady once stood. I pulled up the shirt sleeves to find that the wounds were gone, the ones on my face too.

"Until seconds ago, you had a pain in your head that disappeared with your wounds when I healed you. The pain was a result of someone knocking you out. And if your face were bashed as you say, it'd have been a lovely work of art," the Lady said before she headed to the entrance, the Weimao beads clattering with every step she took.

When she nearly cleared out of the room, she stopped and uttered in a low tone, "I saw the girl you beat, and gods you did knock the spirits out of her. If she survives that, it's her luck. I'll see you again."

As she exited the room, she left in her wake echoes of rhythmical hums; a ballad tune that led a somber mood to the room.

I stood speechless, thinking about Cleopatra. I imagined that if she were here, she'd tell me the truth and why she lied, and then make me understand, even though she'd do it in a relatively cruel way.