The Frozen Beginning (Elemental Diamond Book 1) (32 page)

I can't see anything. It’s too dark
.

She rests her hands against the wall, feeling her way down the hall.

There is a Pyre coming from your left up ahead. Stick to the shades. You can follow his light
.

Glacier’s heart begins to beat fast at the mention of the presence of a Pyre close by. Her skin unintentionally frosts over once more, the cold now reminding her of Aleena’s melted remains. The memory of the stench that lingered in the air, along with the girl’s bubbling bodily insides causes Glacier’s stomach to roll nauseously.

“Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it…” she tries to command herself, but the images tackle her head on. The smell and the bodily sludge follows the dark red slush of ice that had coated her gunky remains.

Bile begins to rise in her throat, and the powerful burning returns. She leans against the wall guiding her, as she continues to empty her already hollow stomach.

Glacier doesn’t try to hold herself up any more. She collapses backwards, hitting the wall and then sliding down till her butt hits the cold floor.

Cold
.

Her eyes and throat burn, her head pounding. She feels tears trail down her cheeks, cold against her rosy skin. Some of her hair has come free from its ponytail, flying wildly around her face. She wipes her lips with the opposite sleeve that she used last time, before sobs finally break free.

I can't do this. I’m not a fighter. I don’t know what I'm doing!

You don’t need to know what you are doing. You just need to follow my directions. Now get up, and stop feeling so sorry for yourself.

The voice is frustrated now, angry at Glacier’s lack of emotional control.

The Pyre is nearing you.

Glacier rests her head against the wall for a moment, as she pulls herself together. She dries her eyes and blots her cheeks, taking deep calming breaths to soothe her racing heart. Climbing to her feet shakily, she leans against the smooth surface for support. She dusts her hands on the back of her shirt, and is about to take off back down the hall when she hears her name being called.

“Glacier?”

Now wide-eyed, Glacier pivots to find Fielder standing at the end of a corridor from behind her, his face illuminated by a ball of fire hovering over his palm. The flames lick towards the ceiling, flickering in the dark passage.

His muscled arms look soft but strong, his skin displayed by his sleeveless tank top. A small flask-like object rests against his hip, similar to hers.

“Fielder.”

Almost on instinct, she gravitates towards him like a beacon of safety and security. Once she is close enough, she wraps her arms around his midsection, careful to stay clear of the floating fireball hovering over his palm. His warm body immediately soothes any aches or pains lingering in her muscles. Fielder seems startled by her display of affection, after her shutting him out only a few nights earlier.

“Glacier, what’s—”

“He killed her. Brink… He killed Aleena.”

You need to keep going Glacier, don’t get distracted
.

The voice is insistent.

But he can come with me
…

Glacier pulls back from Fielder when she realizes he isn’t going to return the embrace, and gazes up at him with her wide, frightened eyes.

“I need to find the centre of the maze.” Fielder seems dazed, not sure what he should expect from the ice elemental. Her words don’t seem to have any effect on him, which stuns her.

As he begins to walk away, panic rises in her throat.

He can protect you in the Dead Zones, Glacier. Tell him you can help him get to the core of the maze
…

The woman’s voice in her head convinces her to call out.

“Wait! I can help you get to the centre.”

Fielder seems sceptical, his guard high. He gives her a disbelieving glare, but eventually nods his head in agreement.

“OK. Let’s solve this bloody thing.” His voice is gruff and his tone is final. Glacier is momentarily thrown off guard by his solider-like demeanour.

Tell me which way to go
.

There is a hesitation before the voice continues to guide her.

Left up ahead
.

The woman’s voice seems resigned to the fact that Glacier is willingly abiding a fire elemental.

“Come on, I think I know which way to go.” With Fielder’s fireball lighting the hallways, Glacier can actually define her surroundings.

There isn’t much around her; just vacant dark walls that she can now tell are a camouflage green. Fielder walks ahead, leading the way with a taut back and ridged arms. Glacier notices he is wearing the same looking outfit as her except sleeveless, his hair the same as it always is.

When Fielder goes to continue straight ahead, Glacier quickly calls out to him, “Let’s go this way…”

Fielder turns around, giving her a confused look, but follows her nonetheless. He once again takes the lead, keeping a strange distance from Glacier as he passes her. She notices how estranged he seems to be with her, and she knows it is simply an echo of his emotions from last night.

Glacier continues to follow the directions from the voice in her head, and Fielder continues to follow Glacier.

They walk for what feels like hours, not having come into contact with anyone else.

They round the next instructed corner and surprisingly come to a dead end.

Fielder turns to her with an annoyed look, huffing before turning back the way he came. Lowering her head in embarrassment, her heart tugs painfully at his bleakness towards her.

There is a small cord hanging from the ceiling in the corner. Pull it
.

Glacier quickly turns back to Fielder’s retreating form, calling out to him.

“Wait, I think I found something…”

She notices him pause, hesitating before turning around. He had made it a long way down the corridor already, so the light currently surrounding her is very dim. She rushes forward to where the walls meet at the end of the corridor, and searches the left corner for a cord of some kind.

Her hand trails from as high as she can reach to the bottom where she meets the floor, finding nothing. The light quickly becomes brighter, and she knows for him to trust her judgment she needs to find the cord quickly. Glacier moves onto the right corner, starting from the bottom. As she trails her fingers up the joint, her skin finally comes into contact with a wide string.

Glacier blows out a deep breath with relief, just as Fielder rounds the corner. When he looks to where she is standing, he raises an eyebrow in waiting.

“Well, what did you find?” His voice is still hard, but not harsh.

Glacier takes a step back to reveal the string she holds between her fingertips. Fielder seems perplexed by the object. Almost like he was passing a ball from one hand to another, the fire is transferred into his once free hand. As he advances to get a better look at the cord, Glacier pulls it down towards her. There is a large clack before the dead end wall, ceiling to the floor, opens out away from them, revealing another long passage. The new corridor, however, seems very eerie.

Glacier moves closer to Fielder unconsciously, craving his warmth and protection.

“I changed my mind. I don’t want to go this way.”

You have to
.

The voice reminds her.

Fielder turns to her with a surprised look on his face, as he evaluates the options.

“This path was hidden, which means that we weren’t meant to find it easily. This labyrinth is supposed to test us. We have to go this way.”

He gives her shoulder a quick squeeze for reassurance before straightening his back and slowly walks down the creepy passage. Glacier follows, toughening herself for anything unexpected. The walls seem thin, as if wind is passing through them, creating a quite breathy whistle to surround them. Glacier presses her palm against the centre of Fielder’s back for comfort. He stiffens at the unexpected contact, but quickly relaxes under her touch.

The pair continues down the long path, the only sounds surrounding them are the noise of their breathing and the quiet yet constant screeching between the walls.

When they come to the end of the passage, Fielder stops them at a strange looking door.

The door knob sits in the middle of the door, surrounded by cobwebs and small spiders. Fielder pauses at the sight of the small eight-legged creatures. Glacier smiles as she remembers the time when she had met with him at the old shack, and he had seen a spider.

Its many legs had danced across the top of the old broken piano, and Fielder’s fingers had frozen as he gaped at the small arachnid. Seeing the dim flicker of fear in his eyes had allowed Glacier to understand that Fielder is just as capable of fear as any other elemental. He is scared of something so small, something that he can squish between his fingers. It had made her realize, as it does now, that he is still afraid. That he isn’t invincible.

“Still afraid of spiders, I see…” Glacier reaches around him to twist the door handle, easily avoiding contact with any of the spiders or webs. A loud squeak resonates through the pair’s ears as the old metal turns.

Glacier then nudges the door open, and opens out the door to a heavily shadowed room. Walking in cautiously, her body is tense and ready for any surprise attack. Fielder follows closely behind, pushing the door closed behind them.

TWENTY-ONE

REFLECTIONS

When the door clicks shut, bright white lights
illuminate the entire room, revealing mirrored walls staged in various positions. The mirrors create a distorted reflection, leading forward like a zigzagging and uneven corridor.

The reflections of both elementals bounce back against every mirror, surrounding them with echoes of themselves. Glacier and Fielder observe their reflections for a moment before Fielder decides it is time to keep moving. Once he steps into the corridor, the flame he held in his hand immediately disperses.

Confused by the sudden loss of warmth and light, Fielder flicks the top of the flask on his hip and snaps his fingers to call the fire. When nothing happens, he tries again. Nothing.

“This must be a Dead Zone,” Glacier mutters quietly. Fielder snaps his fingers once more before he putting the cap back on the flask when nothing happens. He looks down the corridor in annoyance, his hands now resting in fists against his hips. He sighs deeply before he speaks.

“Come on, Glacier. It just looks like another maze.”

He called me Glacier
…

She hadn’t noticed the first time, but she doesn’t miss it this time. Fielder has distanced himself from her, like she asked. His detached words hurt her heart.

They continue through the maze of mirrors, their nerves edgy. Their reflections move at strange paces, almost like there are other elementals following them through the mirror maze. There is only one passage that they can follow, so they continue straight.

Everything is unnervingly quiet. The only sounds are their footsteps and breathing.

Sick of the silence Glacier finally decides to speak. “He blackmailed me into going with him…”

Fielder seems indifferent, like he hadn’t heard her speak at all. So she tries again, “Brink said he wouldn’t hurt anyone else in my team if I went to the Gala as his date.”

Still she receives no sign that he heard her.

“Fielder…”

“What, Glacier?” He turns to her with an annoyed scowl, his eyes blazing.

She is surprised by his lack of empathy towards her. His tough exterior is something she hasn’t had directed at her before.

“Please don’t be angry with me…” she whispers, her voice sad.

Fielder doesn’t seem swayed by her gloomy tone or her lonely eyes. If anything, steam would be flooding out his ears if it could.

“Don’t be
angry
with you? Why, when I
am
angry?” His tone is harsh, his fists clenched tightly. “You don’t want me to talk to you. You
told me
to never speak to you again. Why are you so chatty now? Why, when I needed to talk it was OK for you to shut
me
out, but when you need to say something, I am supposed to listen?”

He strides over until his nose is centimetres from hers. Glacier’s eyes brim with unexpected tears as she gazes into the fiery eyes of a boy she had only known as sweet, and kind, and gentle.

Angry and shouting, Fielder is unrecognizable to her. He shows a side she has never seen before.

“How is that fair, Glacier?” he asks. His tone is calmer now, but still has some bite.

Closing her eyes, a few stray tears stream down her flushed cheeks. She shakes her head at his words, sucking her lips between her teeth.

“I don’t know what you want me to say…” Her voice is no louder than a whisper.

Lowering her gaze to her stomach, Glacier’s hands fold and unfold against her belly button.

“I want you to give me a good enough reason to stay away from you.”

His conviction throws her back a step. Glacier gapes at him, astounded by his request. “What?”

He closes the new space between them, his eyes flaunting his determination. “Give me a
reason
.”

She tries to take a step away, but Fielder quickly closes his hand over her wrist.

“
Don’t
. Just give me a reason!”

She shakes her head, overwhelmed with the confrontation. “I-I can't…”

Fielder’s grip tightens around her wrist, and his eyes blaze with aggravation, but Glacier has lost all thought.

“I don’t want you to Fielder… I just need you too.”

He steps back, relinquishing his hold. “Just answer me one thing… Right now, do you need someone, or do you need
me
?” Fielder’s hauntingly quiet voice is still irate and confused.

He has completely forgotten where they are and who is watching them. All he is focused on is finding out why his only childhood friend is shutting him out.