The Frozen Beginning (Elemental Diamond Book 1) (28 page)

Anticipating his move, she turns ready to drown the fire, but is surprised by its size and ferocity. The water only manages to swallow part of the fire, creating a loud sizzling sound as it quickly evaporates. She manages to leap away from the oncoming flame, causing it to crash against the walls of the arena.

Quickly turning on her back, she is caught by Dolby as he jumps on top of her. He pins her arms above her head with one hand, and grips her throat in a tight chokehold with his other.

Aleena’s face quickly turns a bright shade of red as she struggles to breathe past his hand. Her fingers flicker as she tries to move water closer to her, but every time it moves it only slumps back to the floor.

“Aleena!” Tric is against the glass, banging hard as he tries to capture her attention. When her face turns a light purple and her lips start to turn bluish, he moves his arm up to move the water.

Glacier panics for a split second, knowing that if Tric interferes that the three battling parties and Tric will all be disqualified. Branch realizes this as well and quickly jumps to his feet and grabs Tric’s arm, holding it down, “Tric, you can't. She’ll be disqualified if you do.”

“She’s
dying
! I don’t care if she gets bloody disqualified!” Tric tries to shake Branch off, but Tanner has a hold on him now as well.

“Mr Holden, if you don’t sit down then
so help me
, I will
make
you.” Tanner’s voice is deathly quiet as he sends Tric a menacing glare. From his words along, Tanner seems like a larger person than he is. Tric seems at war with himself, but as he struggles, Glacier’s focus returns to the battle, where the entire scenario has changed.

Aleena is still on the ground, now coughing and spluttering for air. Fielder and Dolby on the other hand are battling against
each other
.

“Dolby, you aren’t a murderer. Stop trying to be like
him
!” Fielder stands protectively in front of Aleena, pointing at Brink. His stance is wide and steady as he balances a flame in each hand, watching for Dolby’s next move.

The other fire elemental is enraged by his teammate’s betrayal, “What are you doing? I’m trying to win this battle for our region! Why are you protecting her?”

“Because you don’t need to kill her to win!” Fielder shouts in return. He throws a fireball against his teammate, hitting his shoulder. Dolby seems almost unaffected by it; only thrown back a little from the impact. He quickly regains his bearings, but as he does, Aleena is on her feet.

Swivelling her hands in a quick, circular motion, the water around her rises to captures the two boys in the globe-like formation. Both are caught off guard as she captures them in her large sum of water, encompassing them in a giant sphere of water.

The two fire elementals try to move through the water, but it only continues to move with them. Perspiration gathers on Aleena’s eyebrow as her intense concentration lifts the two bodies higher into the air. The two boys have frantic looks on their faces as they try to move through the water. Trapped in the water, their element is rendered useless.

“Aleena
stop
!” Glacier stands against the glass close to Branch and Tric, her eyes blurring with panic.

She will kill him
…

Aleena doesn’t seem to hear her cry, so she calls out louder, “
Aleena
!” The girl doesn’t flinch, but Glacier knows Aleena heard her. Instead, she lifts the two fire elementals higher into the air, the water remaining remarkably steady.

Panic seals her throat. Through the ripples of water she can see Fielder’s face purpling. Without a second thought, Glacier sprints out of the team box with her heart pumping wildly.

Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him
…

Glacier’s shoulder is pulled back, her spine slammed against the ground with an unexpectedly strong force. The hand that pulled her back holds her down against the ground as her head pounds from the harsh impact.

She feels a strange oozing feeling as blood slowly flows from the place of impact on the back of her head. Glacier tastes the coppery flavour on the back of her tongue, as screams and shouts are heard around her. There are those who shout at her nerve to try and interfere with the competition. Then there are others that yell for her wellbeing.

“Bloody hell Tanner, she could be concussed!” she hears someone yell - a male.

“Do
not
leave the box.” Tanner’s harsh words speak finality.

Glacier’s ears feel filled with wool. The sounds and words flying around her are muffled, and her blood pumps audibly against her temple, loud and fast.

Her upper arms are suddenly lifted, raising her shoulders and head off the ground. Glacier’s body is dragged back across the ground in the direction in which she came, her calves and lower back rubbing uncomfortably against the dirty floor.

She feels a shivering sensation of blood trickling down the back of her neck like a stream of thick water, causing goose bumps to rise across her arms.

“Why don’t you kids listen? You can't interfere -
You can't
- so why -
why
do you not listen? No one has ever gone against the rules, against me. The rules are there, so why won’t you listen? We’ll be disqualified for sure.
Bloody hell!”
Tanner’s voice is stressed. His words are spoken without much breath between as his anxiety reaps.

Glacier’s eyes are scrunched together tightly, as she raises her hand slowly to touch the back of her head where she can feel the constant burn.

Her finger barely touches the gash before she starts gasping through clenched teeth from the pain. Her eyes itch with determined tears, as they squeeze between her clenched lids.

When she tries to sit up, she falls back down, lucky enough to keep her head slightly elevated from the ground so that she does not cause any further damage.

Obviously realizing her distress, a set of large hands reach out to support her back, bringing her forward into an upright position.

Drained and in pain, Glacier leans against the body holding her up, thankful for the unaccustomed assistance.

“How you doin’, Glacier?” Branch’s voice mutters into her ear as she feels a pair of dainty hands appear on her other side, squeezing her shoulder.

Glacier grunts in response, pressing her hand against the back of her head. In her head, she is thinking about the healing spray in her hotel room.

If I don’t draw any attention to the gash, I can just spray it
…

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit of a sore head is all. I’m sure it will be gone soon.” Then she remembers the battle raging on around her, “What’s happening? What’s going on?”

Glacier tries to move, but her head throbs harshly with the jerky movement. She hisses in pain, her eyes squeezing shut.

Branch rubs her back as he speaks, “I think Aleena won, but by default. Even though you didn’t directly interfere with the battle, you were still classed as a distraction, which forced the Chamber to end the battle. She only won because she had the advantage.”

“No one died?” she asks as a second thought. She looks at him with large eyes, to which he smiles shortly in return, “No one died.”

Glacier releases a large sigh of relief, the pressure on her head oddly lessening.

Fielder’s fine
.

Having Branch help her to her feet, he quickly assists her to the bench. When she is sitting down, she gently rests her head against the wall, careful not to let her cut touch the surface.

“I’m sorry about the ending of the battle, everyone. Sometimes the contestants just get too
excited
.” Hampton is the speaker this time.

Glacier feels her eyes magnetically drawn up to the glass above her, where Hampton is staring down with a strange glimmer in his eye. Flinching away from the disturbingly searching gaze, she looks down to her feet.

“But that doesn’t matter. We have our winner, and now, we can move onto the
final
battle of the Harvest.” The eagerness in his voice is openly apparent. “We move onto my favourite contestant, up against two Hydra contenders.
Today,
there will be blood. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our final selected, Brink from the Pyre team.” The audience is boisterous with applause at the mention of the lava elemental’s name. “Contending against our selected, we have our two remaining winners from the Seeding battles. We have Neena Crates and Branch Disk, from the Hydra team.”

“Good luck,” Glacier quickly whispers to Branch as he gets up to enter the ring. He pauses for a second, looking back with a smile, “Thanks.”

The two of them walk into the ring where Brink is already waiting. His fingers twitch dangerously at his side, while the smirk on his lips hints to something more sinister. The three stand in a triangular form like the others have before them, bodies poised to attack.

There is a moment’s paused before the horn sounds suddenly. The noise rocks through Glacier’s body like an earthquake, shaking her bones as her heads pounds with the pain. She clenches her jaw as her eyes follow the quick flashes of blue and orange as they start the battle with each attacking. The elementals are quick to move, the two Hydras never coming close enough to Brink. His attacks are narrowly avoided as Neena and Branch barely dodge or shift out of range.

The two of them attack at the same time, rivers of water raining down on Brink’s form.

Now wet, but not defeated, Brink reaches forward with his hands glowing a brilliant orange. He manages to neatly avoid any other liquid projectiles in his direction as he advances on Neena.

Branch tries to reach her first, but isn’t quick enough. Neena erects a thick wall of water as a barrier between herself and the lava elemental, but it serves no protective purpose as Brink easily reaches his hand through the water, grabbing her throat in his burning grip.

You can instantly smell the stench of her skin melting beneath his hand, as she screams out in agony.

“Neena!
No
!” Keena is at the glass, her eyes wide with terror. Her hand is gripping at her throat, as if she can feel an echo of her twin’s pain. Neena’s wall of water falls to the ground, as a gurgling sound rises from her incinerated throat, replacing her shrieks. Her eyes slowly vacate, leaving soulless orbs of blue. Her struggling body stills, and her head sags to the side as her body expels her life.

The entire time he holds Neena’s throat in his deadly hands, Brink watches Glacier with a stare that dares her to defy him. His look frightens Glacier, as tears surface in her eyes. The stink of liquefied flesh has her choking on the air around her.

Neena’s dead
…
He killed Neena
.

Without wasting any time, Brink drops Neena’s lifeless body like an empty potato sack, turning to Branch.

Branch stands frozen, his jaw slack and his eyes shining with unshed tears. Glacier had suspected his feelings for Neena; nothing had been confirmed until now. She can see how affected he is by her motionless body and dead eyes. She can see his lips trembling as he whispers her name.

Brink advances on him like a solider on a mission to destroy anything in his path. Branch doesn’t move from his approach. Instead, he remains rooted to the floor, his gaze stuck on Neena.

Once he is close enough, Brink delivers a kick to Branch’s stomach, throwing him down to the floor with a surprised grunt. Brink crouches down to kneel over his body, his knee planted into Branch’s chest with his glowing hands raised threateningly above him.

Already knowing how this battle will end, Glacier calls out to him in panic. “Brink,
no
!”

Everyone turns to look at her. Brink pauses. His head turns in her direction, his eyebrow raised in disbelief. She nods her head furiously, ignoring the splitting pain that laces through her skull with the movement.

If going to the Gala with Brink will save my teammate’s life, then I’ll do whatever the bastard wants
.

Pleased with her answer, Brink smiles evilly as he looks back to Branch’s helpless form. He shakes off his glow, until his hands return to their normal flesh colour.

With a final blow to Branch’s face, Brink is proclaimed the winner of the last Harvest battle.

NINETEEN

DATE

Walking down the hall in her new gala dress,
Glacier feels resentful and self-loathing.

After what he did to Neena today,
everyone
in my team is going to hate me for this
.

Her dress is a navy blue ankle-length dress with lace covering from her chest bone up to her collar, then down her arms to her elbows. It often slips her mind that she wears a wrist brace, until she gazes at her reflection and sees the ugly article paired with her lovely dress. The velvet material hangs loosely past her hips, with a long slit up her left leg.

Wendelin and Geri had different ideas for the second to last gala. Wendelin insisted on taming Glacier’s wild mane into large curls to flow down her back, whereas Geri thought a stylishly messy bun sitting on top of her head would be better.

After they both decide on an updo, Glacier wishes she had an input. Without her hair to hide her, she feels exposed.

She continues down the hallway with her beauticians in tow, as they continue to fuss over small things like her corset ties and lint. The wait for the elevator is only a few seconds, then the ladies step into the glass box. Glacier wipes her sweaty palms against the felt, dampening the soft material.

Tonight will be disastrous
.

Keena wouldn’t speak to her tonight, and if she did, it would only be to insult her openly. Branch will be furious as well. Tric doesn’t speak to her at all, so that won’t be any different. Aleena will be outraged that she is accompanying
Brink
of all people. The one person that is just like her.

“Chin
up
, my dear. No one will be able to see our masterpiece if you try to hide it.” Wendelin comments, fixing any out of place hairs.

Geri rubs Glacier’s shoulder with a smile on her face, as she picks away any lint attached to the lace. The elevator starts its descent to the lobby, but the journey is cut short by an unexpected stop. When the doors open, Glacier’s heartbeat accelerates with fright.