The Frozen Beginning (Elemental Diamond Book 1) (7 page)

Glacier’s body slackens, the pain resonating through her back where she feels the piercing. She hears a small beep before a clicking, and her back twitches where the pain originates.

The guards relinquish their hold and step back cautiously. From the corner of her eye she sees somebody take a step closer until their shoes are a meter from where her face lies, soaked in tears and rubbed raw. The person crouches down, but Glacier can't bring herself to move as the pain reverberates up her spine.

Thomes watches her with curious eyes before he brings a small flat device out from behind him, and clicks a few buttons. “Now, let’s see if this works.”

His thumb taps a button on the small toy, and her back spasms with a current. Her mind suddenly teleports her back to Mr Michaels stabbing her with a stun rod in the shoulder just as a searing pain quivers up her spine.

Glacier screams out, her throat hoarse and croaky. The same chilling imaginary white cloth coats her, soothing her, before it expels from her skin like a brutal wave of rushing water. The sounds of cracking and splintering echo around the room, before a string of curse words and ‘woes’.

“Holy Crap! How the hell did she do that?”

“What is she?” Two unfamiliar voices shout out before Thomes replies.

“Men, she is what you call a hybrid.”

Glacier’s hair is tugged roughly from behind, pulling her head back at a painful angle. Another cry leaves her lips before she bites down to keep quiet.

“And the Chancellor told me to remind you to keep your mouth shut, or your little friend will be dealt with.”

He throws her face back against the ground. Too exhausted to fight back, she lies on the carpet writhing in pain. But Glacier doesn’t comprehend any of what Thomes was saying after ‘hybrid’. The word continues to circle her mind on repeat, taunting her.

I’m a freak
.

Hybrid. Mutant. Monster
.

~

Glacier wakes up foggy and confused. Her face is pressed into the soft carpet, but it feels wet against her sensitive cheek. Her skin is tight and her eyes itch without moisture. Glacier groans when she tries to move, her muscles tight and achy.

Why did I sleep on the ground?

Trying to push herself up off the soaked carpet beneath her, her lower back burns like a hot rock had been placed on her skin. She rolls onto her side and stands up carefully, trying to turn her back as little as possible.

Glacier treads over to the bathroom taking small, slow steps to avoid more pain, and her feet treed through large damp puddles on the carpet. She turns on the vanity light in the bathroom and paces over to the mirror. Her eyes are swollen and red, and her face flush despite the bruising. She turns her back to the mirror and lifts her shirt awkwardly.

She covers her mouth with her hand, gasping at the sight of a small black device with an unblinking red light attached to her flesh. Something similar to a beetle. The skin surrounding it is dark red with some bruising, burning like an infected fresh wound.

Tears fall freely down her cheeks before Glacier can swipe them away. Twisting her arm around, she gingerly touches the tiny flat chip. She sucks in a sharp breath as the area howls in pain, causing her to immediately retract her hand.

Grabbing the bottle of healing spray she used on her shoulder wounds earlier, she takes a deep breath before spraying around the wound.

Can’t get infected
.

Side splitting pain follows soon after, and Glacier grit her teeth over the flesh of her hand once more. She feels the newly generated flesh heal around metal, and grooves form around the beetle-like chip. Hot tears race down her sore cheeks, and onto the bathroom tiles with an inaudible patter. She reaches for some toilet roll to dry her wet face.

“Miss Wardgrave,” PAM’S voice surprises her when it sounds through the titled room, “I am to remind you that your beauticians will be arriving to dress you in fifteen minutes.”

“Thanks, PAM,” she manages to croak out.

Glacier splashes her face with water before using the hand towel near the basin to pat her face dry.

She looks up, staring into her reflection. The girl that stares back is flush with blotchy red cheeks. Her eyes are dull, and her bruising is prominent.

I would like to see them try making this beautiful
.

FIVE

INTRODUCTIONS

Overwhelming. Unbarred. Clean. Glacier could
barely absorb her surroundings as a thousand and one thoughts circle around her mind at lightning speed.

Her eyes glance around as she enters through the colossal sliding gates. Although she can see all the riches that the earth elementals luxuriate in, home is the only place Glacier wants to be.

Walking through the large concrete doors that open out into the tremendously vast Terrain Stadium, Glacier notes the thousands of seats filled with an excitable audience, hungry for this year’s elemental representatives.

Glacier walks in behind twins Neena and Keena, two girls with exceptional blue eyes. Keena’s short-cropped black bob is left down, and Neena’s shoulder length pin-straight strands are tied high in a slick ponytail.

Glacier knows they are all moving in an organized line, but she doesn’t look back to see who follows behind her as she tries to keep up with the girls. They all wear their region’s custom blue attire, the girls in elegantly slimming sapphire gowns, and the guys in a cobalt dress shirt and black slacks.

The twins are yet to formally introduce themselves to her, but Glacier knows them from the region. Keena is said to be one of the best defence elemental’s of their generation. Neena is as good as any other water elemental. Glacier heard rumours around the region that Keena bargained her participation for her sisters as well.

Glacier’s team had been surprised to see her. So surprised that they simply stood and gawked at her. All except for Aleena, the beautiful brunette with a sour look reflected in her hateful eyes.

Glacier’s dress dangles around her toes dangerously, slightly too long for her short, fleshy figure. The silk material clings to her curvy frame and the neckline plunges an uncomfortable depth. The two wide straps sit suitably on her shoulders, and the hem is a soft cut with a gradual blend, from baby blue to dark cerulean starting from her waist up.

The garment makes her feel like she is someone else entirely. Glacier’s white hair is tamed from her naturally frizzy ringlets, into large voluminous curls. She notes that for once her hair is
tidy
, compared to her usual tumbleweed of spirals.

The tightness of her dress causes the fabric to rub irritatingly against the newest feature on her lower back, reminding her of its presence.

“You stay quiet, you hear me?” Glacier turns at the sound of Aleena’s harsh words, finding a menacing glare directed at her. Lowering her head, she says nothing as she continues to walk, gradually growing closer to the stadium stage.

Aleena assumes the submitting gesture as an indication to continue with her attack, “It’s enough of an embarrassment you are here, so keep your mouth shut and we won’t have any further problems.”

Aleena lifts the side of Glacier’s hair, revealing the scar across her forehead, and raises her lip in disgust. Glacier quickly flicks her head away from Aleena, her hair sweeping like a drape to protect her from the stony glare.

Aleena casts her glossy bangs from her face with the flick of her head, strutting past Glacier to the front of the line. Her gown is much shorter than Glacier’s, reaching above her knees. But it is equally elegant. The dress clings to Aleena’s torso like a second layer, fanning lightly at her hips. Her brown hair is pulled back in an intricate French braid across either side of her head, coming together at the middle of her shoulders with stray curls hanging from the twist.

Glacier breathes a long sigh of relief as Aleena struts ahead. She hunches when someone squeezes her shoulder, turning around to find a boy she has seen around Hydren. He, like the rest of the team, lives in the richer areas of Hydren.

“Forget about Aleena, she’s just hoping to win this year.”

The boy’s dark skin accentuates his pearl white teeth behind his thick pink lips and brightens his deep blue eyes. His head is shaved either side with stiff frizzy hair down the centre of his head. It is a stylish cut, flattering to his oval shape face. His cerulean button down is tight around his arms and chest, tucked into his trousers. His white tie is knotted perfectly at his collar, hanging to his lower stomach.

“I’m Branch by the way,” he holds his hand out for an official shake, but Glacier meekly stares at it. He laughs off her awkward aversion, dropping his hand.

He squints his eyes at her. She turns her head to the side to make it seem like she is looking for someone. “Are you going to tell me your name?”

By this point they have both stopped walking, now lingering separate from their four other team members. She looks to Branch with a bored gaze.

“You already know my name.” Her latent reputation had in her past labelled her as an anomaly to everyone around her; it would surprise her if he didn’t know who she is.

Branch gives her a humble smile before he continues. “You’re the
supposed
latent.”

At the word ‘supposed’ his eyebrows rise in a disbelieving manner. Glacier doesn’t appreciate his dubiousness and know-it-all arrogance, but she says nothing. He hums sceptically at her silence and walks off to join the rest of their team, leaving her alone to her thoughts.

Glacier glances past her fellow teammates to digest the competition. They all stand calm and collected, some smiling and waving to the boisterous crowds that can see them behind the stage, engrossed in the fame and attention they are receiving. Others, like Glacier, simply stand straight, eyeing the rest of them with mocking and disinterested glares.

From the corner of her eye, Glacier notices there are only four contestants standing together in the Pyre team, the fire elementals, instead of six. She notices the Terra team stand off to the other side of the stage. The six of them stand in a straight line, one beside the other at least half a metre between each of them, all wearing variations of green. No team has been announced to the stage yet, so they are all nameless in the meantime.

A girl standing behind her Terra teammates stands petrified. Her features are tight and her eyes are jumpy. From what Glacier could see, the girl is mousey, her arms holding her body as she makes herself as small as she can.

She doesn’t look like she’ll last a minute in a battle against any of these brutes
.

The girl’s short ash brown hair seems harshly severed; it is recently cut. Her jade green dress dwarfs her as it hangs loosely on her frame, cut diagonally from her knee across to her calf.

Glacier’s gaze remains rooted to the strange girl until the girl suddenly glances over, catching Glacier’s stare. She looks away, instantly overcome with a prickly feeling of the girl’s strangeness. Keeping her eyes rooted to the floor at her feet, Glacier doesn’t dare to move an inch.

A group of hurried footsteps approach the three teams from the same entrance they entered. Glacier turns to the gate as a group of earth and fire elementals walk towards the stage, surrounding someone she cannot see through the crowd. Nearly all of them wear lab coats, holding tablets or scanners. Those who aren’t are in formal attire or dressed in the High Chamber Guard’s uniform.

The closer they get, the louder they become. Glacier can see other casually dressed elementals trying unsuccessfully to find a way past the Chamber Guard’s. She watches the group as they are led in the direction of the Pyre team.

The waiting team seems equally as stupefied as the rest of the waiting contestants. A guard breaks formation and gathers the Pyre team in a circle towards the new group of scientists and formals.

Suddenly, bright flashes blink furiously from her right. Glacier turns and is blinded by the fast bursts of white light. She tries to move away but the flashing follows.

“Are you Glacier Wardgrave? Are you the latent?” Loud questions are shouted by a male voice, heard over shuttering clicks.

Taking a step back, she covers her eyes with her arm, trying to see past the blotches in her vision.

“If you’re latent, why are you in the tournament? What isn’t the Chancellor telling us?” He continues boldly. Despite the man being a lone reporter, Glacier feels swarmed.

“Stop taking pictures! Stop!” Her voice is rough with surprise.

Suddenly the flashing stops, followed by a loud smash and scuffling. Glacier lowers her arm to see a short man in a casual green suit held above the ground by his collar, with another man, this one
much
taller, holding him without struggle. The man above the ground is small, with a balding head and a large bird-like nose.

“She said stop.” The new voice is unnervingly familiar, but Glacier cannot remember where she has heard it before.

The tall man has a beautiful head of brown hair, dark at the roots with naturally lighter ends, curly and groomed into silky waves. She can only see half of his face as he stands side on to her, but what Glacier can see is clean-shaven tan skin. His horrid burnt orange shirt fits him overly well as it fits snug around his chest and torso, hugging his biceps as they bulge with his strength.

“If I catch you harassing her again, I won’t be so
friendly
.” His voice is deep and menacing.

The short guy nods his head hurriedly, before he is dropped to the floor. He ungracefully scrambles to collect what was dropped. Quickly looking down, Glacier notices an eye camera that must have fallen off his head, and a transparent glass notebook that doesn’t seem to be shattered. The small guy then scurries off with his broken camera and his pad, leaving Glacier in the company of her protector.

I should probably thank him, shouldn’t I? I mean, he’s not from my team – am I even allowed to speak to him?

When the man turns to face her, Glacier almost doesn’t believe her eyes. Suddenly a flash of a boy with short scruffy brown hair and dark orange eyes sprints through her mind. A boy Glacier had left behind, a long time ago.