“Oh. My. Gods. You did it BryBry! You actually did it! That’s wonderful!” Bryson’s mother Duchess Coldwater cried out elated after seeing the picture Bryson sent her. It was a selfie of Bryson with the massive ice lizard in the background with Lottie posing atop its head.

“Yes mother, sorry about being unable to capture the storming hawk.” Bryson said calmly. He and the others had entered a new village and were staying in another inn for the night. The lizard they killed was butchered and stored in their packs which were enchanted with basic storage space.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Duchess Coldwater said brushing it aside, “Don’t worry about needing to hunt anymore either, your father and I both agree that you’ve done more than enough already.”

“Really?”

“Yes, though the king is still here so go ahead and fool around a bit with that lovely little Lottie.” She said sweetly.

“Uh… right.” Bryson said a bit confused.

“Anyways you said that you worked with the Snowfield’s son correct?”

“Yes mother.”

“Oh very good, we were hoping the two of you would be able to get along for this and look, you did.” His mother said happily.

“Yes mother.” Bryson said with a beleaguered sigh, at least he was able to make his parents happy.

“Oh by the way Bryson.” Her mother said in a more serious tone, “The prince and princess that came with the king appeared to have snuck out somewhere.”

“Oh, I see.” Bryson said feigning surprise, “Snuck where?”

“We’re not too sure, they probably want to explore the place, so just keep an eye out when you get back. Don’t worry we already have people searching for them as we speak. Though make sure not to tell anyone this.”

“Of course mother.” Bryson said as his eyes immediately darted over to the next room where the two were located, “Is the situation serious?”

“As of right now no. It seems that they took thing with them. We think they might be travelling somewhere in the wilderness, we’re tracking them down. We should be able to find them soon.” She assured him.

“How is the king and queen reacting to this?” Bryson asked.

“Surprisingly calm… well King Alvidor is, the queen is a bit of a nervous reck. But she I can see why as a mother she would be acting like this. Anyways just enjoy yourselves and by the off chance that you hear something tell me alright dear?” Duchess Coldwater said sweetly.

“Alright mother.”

“Love you dear.”

“Yes mother.”

“… BryBry.”

“Yes?” Bryson said suddenly having a feeling of dread consume him.

“Say it back.” His mother said, more of a command than a response.

Bryson’s eyes narrowed as he looked over to Lottie who was busy watching a video on her Communicator. In a hushed whisper Bryson said, “I love you mom.”

“I love you too Bryson. Stay safe, talk to you tomorrow!” She said sounding absolutely delighted as she hung up the phone.

“That’s sweet.” Lottie said from where she was sat.

“Hrrggnn.” Bryson grumbled, “Follow me.” Bryson said as he headed over to the room next door. Knocking at the door Mallory opened it for them.

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“Bryson.” Mallory said with a bright smile on her face, “I still haven’t properly thanked you for saving me yet.”

“I was just doing the bare minimum.” Bryson said brushing the praise aside, “But I think we have more important matters to discuss, may we enter?”

“Of course.” Mallory said letting them in.

“Oh hey Bryson, what’s the matter?” Reynard said as he was upkeeping his equipment.

“Your disappearance has been noted and people are now looking for you.” Bryson said as the door closed behind them.

“What? How many? When will they be coming.” Mallory said her face turning pale.

“You don’t need to worry, they don’t know where you are exactly right now.” Bryson said assuring them.

“But they’ll find us soon. You are important people.” Lottie pointed out.

“Frost.” Bryson said sternly.

“Yes?”

“Shut up. You are not helping,” Bryson said, noting both the Alvidors' worried faces. Look, they’ll probably find us in a couple of days, but don’t worry. It’s not like you’ll be in too much trouble. Well, I actually don’t know what the king will do to you two, but it’s not like your life is in danger.”

“But we still have a bunch of things we want to try.” Mallory pouted.

“Hey, I said it would take a couple of days. We can keep exploring around a bit before they arrive.” Bryson promised them.

“You’ll do that? Won’t you get in trouble?” Reynard asked surprised.

“I can feign ignorance.” Bryson said shrugging, “Besides I think it would be best if I keep an eye on you as you run wild around the place.”

“Then we don’t need to hunt?” Mallory asked.

“Nope, the lizard was payment enough… though I have to split the bounty with Snowfield.” Bryson said bitterly.

“Can I take photos then?” Mallory asked looking more excited.

“I don’t see why not” Bryson shrugged, “Frost did you manage to get some information about the area from the locals?”

“Yep! I know an entire lake not far from here, completely frozen!” Lottie said excitedly, “Do you two know how to skate?”

“No, but we don’t have ice skates.” Reynard said.

“Oh don’t worry about that. We can sort it out, right Bryson?” Lottie said looking over to Bryson.

“Right, but that’s in the morning. I’m heading off to bed.” Bryson said, “Just get ready in case the people sent looking for you find you.”

“Alright, we look forward to it!” Mallory called out to a retreating Bryson.

“Hmm.” Bryson said with a grunt as he and Lottie exited out of the room and headed to their own.

“This is going to be fun.” Lottie said happily.

“It won’t be boring.” Bryson acknowledged.

***

“Wow.” Mallory breathed out watching her cold breath as she stared down on the vast lake before her.

“Never have seen a frozen body of water like this before have you?” Bryson asked.

“No… the most amount of ice I’ve seen is the statues made for parties.” Mallory said with a chuckle.

“There surely are ice rinks in the capital.” Frans said with a face of surprise.

“Never really had a reason to go visit them.” Reynard said with a shrug towards Frans and Clarissa who both joined them for their trip to the lake much to Bryson’s dismay.

Mallory had already taken a few photos on the journey here and was now doing the same by the lakeside, “Can we go on the ice?” Mallory asked after finishing taking her photos.

“Yep.” Lottie said excitedly, “I already tested the thickness of the ice, it’s perfect to skate on.

“We had to overpay for the skates.” Frans muttered as he pulled out a set for him and Clarissa, he then frowned as he saw Bryson walk next to the ice, “Where’s your skates?”

“Trying out an experiment.” Bryson said off handedly as he walked onto the ice and much to everyone’s surprise began to slide around the ice as if he were on skates.

“Hmm.” Bryson grunted to himself, “Feels different then skates.” Unsatisfied he lifted a foot up and snapped his finger, on the bottom of his boot sole then appeared a skate blade made of ice.

Testing the feel, he made some minor adjustments before he formed another blade on his other foot and skated his way back over to the others. As he made it to the frozen shore he had the blades disappear and moved without pause on land.

“Did you just enchant your boots?” Frans said slowly not quiet believing what he was seeing.

“Yeah, why?” Bryson said as Frans stared at Bryson in silence for a long moment.

“Clarissa, don’t change shoes just yet.” Frans hissed out as he marched down to the ice and stopped right before it. He stared at the ice in silence for a solid minute his lips occasionally moved as he whispered something to himself.

“Can I help you?” Bryson said with a snarky grin on his face, “You need a hint?”

“Shut it.” Frans snapped before falling silent for a few more moments.

“What are they doing?” Mallory whispered to Lottie.

“Competing.” Lottie whispered back looking interested at the sight.

Frans took a step onto the ice and as he did a skate blade formed on it and he began to glide on the ice, as he placed his other foot on the ice another skate formed. There was a look on Frans’ face as he was in deep concentration. A few seconds later he looked far more confident and made his way back onto shore.

“Not that difficult.” Frans said with a cocky smile.

“Good then, you want to do the same with the other’s skates?” Bryson said smirking back.

“… All of them?” Frans said suddenly looking a bit nervous.

“I think I can handle three more of these.” Bryson said folding his arms.

“… I’ll do Clarrisa’s.” Frans said with a glare.

“That’s what I thought.”