Frostbite

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A moment later, Eira collided with something hard and frozen. Her legs buckled and she stumbled forwards onto her hands and knees, palms stinging. But aside from that she seemed to have survived and remained intact. She blinked open her eyes—screwed shut on impact—and surveyed exactly what she'd landed on. Indeed she was in the midst of the surging River Linn, but instead of water beneath her, there was a flat, solid lump of ice. Edan crouched at her side. Whole. He was not hurt, but his expression was urgent. Gwen was at Eira's other side, righting her balance. She looked relatively unfazed, unlike Eira—whose heart was pounding with adrenaline mixed with fear and relief. They had only dropped a few metres, but it had felt like a lot more.

Edan glanced anxiously between Eira and Gwen, and the bridge above them. "Now?"

Gwen gave an affirmative nod. "Now."

Edan removed his hand from where he'd had it placed on the point where the ice connected to the pillar of the bridge. The ice began to move.

Eira's stomach lurched as the water began dragging them downstream at an alarming pace. She held onto the ice for dear life. It was certainly an effective escape route, she'd have to give them that. One that she hadn't even thought to consider. But still... "Is this thing safe?" she yelled over the rushing water.

"I hope so," Edan replied, unhelpfully. He didn't even take it upon himself to sound confident.

Eira supposed she'd be a hypocrite if she chastised him for it, but even still, she tightened her grip on the edge of the ice.

"It'll be fine, if we're careful," Gwen said, stressing the word careful. She shot Edan a glance.

He smiled nervously in response.

Eira dared to look back over her shoulder, watching the bridge grow smaller and smaller in the distance. Guards and more Frosts had arrived, but they were helpless to catch the three of them. She couldn't make out much detail; they were only dark shadows silhouetted against the bright light of the gibbous moon. She forced her eyes away, and onto the lump of ice they clung too. It was just over her height in both width and length, and certainly not flimsy. She couldn't tell how deep into the water it went, but it was solid and stable enough that it must have been far "Edan... did you make this?" she half shouted, struggling to hear herself over the noise of the river.

Edan shrugged slightly, eyes on his hands. They were bright red with cold, except for the white of his knuckles. "I practised."

"He made it while I distracted the soldier," Gwen explained, wind whipping her hair over her face. "He had the idea when the fight started."

"Thank you," Eira mumbled to Edan. She felt a little guilty; she'd underestimated him. His usage, his ideas, his dedication. He'd come a long way from the boy she'd met five years ago, who'd barely been able to freeze a glass of water. He'd done so through perseverance and repetition. The Frost was not so natural to him as it was to Eira or Gwen. And yet he'd accomplished a feat that neither of them would easily have been able to do.

"It's nothing," Edan deflected instantly. "Really."

"No. You saved us, Edan. That's not something to be taken lightly. We'd all be dead, or imprisoned at best, if not for you."

He didn't reply. His ears reddened, and she couldn't tell whether that was from the cold or embarrassment.

Eira smiled encouragingly. "From now on, you can be our escape artist."

This time Edan looked up. He laughed, a rare sound in the past few years. "I think I'd like that."

The ice was starting to wobble, dark water splashing over its edges.