Shiver woke to a nightmare of ice, the chill penetrating into her bones.

A blizzard howled around her, conjuring up a feeling of nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. A symptom of being so utterly surrounded by her Fear of ice.

Her eyes adjusted to the dark.

She stood alone, in a dark forest. Despite the blizzard that surrounded her, the space above her head was clear. The twin moons of Elucidor - Valefor and Idriel - shone down on the landscape, bathing her surroundings in a mixture of golden and silver light.

Then, her memories of recent events began to return to her.

Killing Dag.

Stabbing that lord through his neck.

Absconding from Brimstone on horseback, picked up by a stranger, whom she couldn’t recall.

She heard the crunch of footsteps on snow, in the darkness before her. She felt a familiar burn of ice in her hands.

She looked down at the twin daggers, sporting blades of ice. Holding them numbed her fingers, which were already devoid of feeling from the storm around her.

Shiver watched, as a figure stumbled out of the darkness. Mousey brown hair tied up in familiar pigtails. The little girl stumbled forward unsteadily.

‘Blaze? Blaze!’

Shiver leapt forward, catching the smaller girl’s wrists and pulling her into a tight hug.

‘It’s ok little firefly. I’m here now. Everything’s going to be o-‘

Shiver’s eyes widened as she felt something slice into her side. She pushed Blaze away. A dark shard of ice had been driven into her side, albeit weakly. Her eyes snapped to Blaze.

The girl she knew was nowhere to be seen.

Dead eyes, devoid of their characteristic mischief.

Blood mixed with her tears that had frozen in their path down her face.

An ice shade. The very same as the others that haunted her.

Shiver’s anxiety melted away. The sounds of the storm raging around her melted into the background as her vision tinged red.

That’s right. Blaze, Marta and Pov. They were dead, and she was to blame.

Her mind was flooded with the memory of Marta, Pov and Blaze, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition but their faces remaining as beautiful as they were in life.

Her ice daggers dissipated into shards of ice as she released them.

She felt an overwhelming urge to drive the shards lodged into her side further into her body.

Penance for her sins.

Blaze’s shade shivered intensely, at unnatural intervals as she stalked closer to her.

‘Fight it Shiver.’

Shiver’s eyes snapped open, as she whirled, trying to pinpoint the source of the feminine voice.

‘Who are you? Where-‘

‘She’s a product of your Fear. Do not succumb to it. A distraction.’

Shiver shook her head at the imaginary voice.

‘I deserve what I have coming. It’s my fault she’s dead!’

The storm raged on around her, her words escaping from her in shout. A familiar large figure emerged from the storm behind her, trailing Blaze.

‘Will you let their memory be sullied like this? Used against you?’

Tears fell from Shiver’s eyes, unbidden.

‘I deserve it.’

‘No.’

Shiver recoiled as the storm itself appeared to speak to her. The blizzard around her slowed to a crawl. Shiver gasped as she was the cold momentarily fled, replaced with warmth.

‘Do not let their light be tainted. Protect their memory.’

Just as suddenly as it had come, the warmth fled, time resuming around her. She felt the hilts of her daggers return to her palms once more.

She exploded into motion, letting out a scream. She tore her daggers across Blaze’s throat, immediately following up by throwing a dagger at Marta behind her.

The figures exploded into shards, and she was alone once more, weeping.

Another figure emerged from the storm before her.

Pov.

Behind him, an all too familiar face, her own.

The shade had an arm over Pov’s shoulders. Mirroring her own actions when she was with him, as if to mock her.

A shade that wore her own face. It’s lips parted to an unnatural degree, her grey cheeks parting to reveal a smile filled with black fangs.

A nightmare’s smile.

Shiver steeled herself, pushing down the guilt that threatened to tear her apart from within. And strangely, as she did, she felt a connection to the storm of ice that raged around her. Her awareness of the blizzard filled her with a numbness and chill like nothing she had ever felt.

The cold and pain so intense that it burned in her blood.

Then, Shiver smiled, a rictus of a grin to match her doppelganger’s.

Pain? That was easy. It was the least of what she deserved.

She screamed as she lunged forwards, rushing towards Pov and her ice shade, plunging her daggers into their chests.

She laughed, tasting her own blood. She fell to her knees, sudden exhaustion threatening to overwhelm her.

She raised her head, watching as two new figures appeared from behind the raging blizzard winds, hand in hand.

A woman and a man.

Unlike the other shades she had encountered, their skin was unmarked by the passage of frost, their eyes free from tears of frozen blood.

They looked like ordinary people.

The man was lanky, with shoulder-length wavy hair sporting a pair of rectangular glasses.

The woman next to him, however, stole Shiver’s attention.

She stalked forward with an elegance and grace that she could only dream of emulating. She was beautiful, with long, ashen-silver hair falling to her waist, defying the storm around it.

She seemed to be at home in the cold around her. Her armour was sleek, putting even Highlord Berevan’s to shame in its artistry.

Wings of ice, comprised of innumerable shards of frost spread out behind her, and where she walked, the storm seemed to slow.

But of all of her striking features, the woman’s eyes stood out to her the most.

The last thing that she perceived before her nightmare came to an end.

Eyes the colour of snow in a thunderstorm.

---

Shiver awoke as the world around her bounced, rising with a groan. Just as she did, she realised that she was not, in fact, on the floor of her homely cave, but on a horse.

A particularly boney one.

She flailed, barely catching herself as she narrowly avoided a tumble into the snow.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

‘Ah Shiver, you’re finally awake. I’ve been waiting for an eternity.’

Vale turned to look at her, unconvincingly hiding a look of concern.

‘Are you alright? You were out for a while.’

Shiver groaned as she righted herself behind Vale. She looked back down at the steed they had mounted.

‘Why are we riding an undead horse?’

Vale avoided her gaze. Shiver saw the girl’s hands tighten around the sides of the horse’s skull.

They rode on in silence. Shiver watched as Vale’s shoulders slumped slightly.

‘I’m a lady from… House Revenant.’

She could sense the girl’s tension. The furtive glimpses she shot at Shiver, afraid of judgement. Vale sat bolt upright, her shoulders rigid and knuckles white.

‘So… You took part in the Rampage?’

‘N-no! You mean the Rampage of Undeath? That happened a decade ago! I was only ten years old!’

‘Well? Didn’t send any undead to the Archcities to stabby-stab the living?’

Shiver mimed quick strikes in the air in front of her. Vale looked on in horror.

‘No! I did not. Besides, I’m not a Fearshaper.’

Shiver just questioningly cast her gaze down to the undead house they were seated on, before returning to meet her gaze.

Vale blushed, as she stuttered.

‘Marrow was… stolen from my father.’

Shiver laid back on the horse’s back, staring up at the Verscallian Peaks that bordered them.

‘Then you aren’t any different from any other noble to me. Relax princess. You don’t have anything to fear from me. For the most part.’

Vale scoffed in disagreement.

‘In the short time since I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you, you’ve pulled me into a heist, thrown me into a crab pit, forced me to subdue those crustaceans at the peril of my own life, and made me an accessory for murder when you sent a dagger through the neck of that lord! If I hadn’t intervened, you would be dead. We barely escaped with our lives – “nothing to fear from you”?’

Shiver struggled to stop herself from rolling her eyes, but she could sense the girl’s visible relief.

‘We’ve got bigger problems.’

‘And what might they be, Shiver?’

‘Your horse… Marrow was it? He’s a touch malnourished.’

Said horse turned to regarded Shiver with empty eye sockets.

‘Now I believe he’s giving me sass.’

The pair of them rode on in silence. They rode between a mountain passage, guarded from the gales of the snowstorm that raged around the Winterlands.

‘Are you… alright Shiver? I’m sorry. For what happened. I saw them. They… were kind people.’

Vale was met with hollow laughter.

‘Just what comes from associating with me. Ending up burnt to a crisp. By the big man, Highlord Berevan Brimstone himself.’

‘Shiver! It wasn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourse-’

‘Wasn’t it? They sheltered Blaze after she stole from lord, just like I taught her. They must have followed me right back to their home.’

Shiver bit her lip, so hard that Vale was concerned blood would surface.

‘Their only mistake was caring for a wretch like me. There’s only one thing I can do for them now.’

Vale’s eyes widened as she saw two blades of ice manifest in Shiver’s hands. She wore an empty smile on her face, dull eyes staring into the depths of her blades of frost.

No… It can’t be.

‘Don’t worry. I wouldn’t expect a lady like you to understand. Living a life, pampered by your parents. Escaping expectation and power.’

Silence filled the air, as they proceeded on their path through the mountains.

‘There you go with your assumptions, like always. You don’t know anything about me.’

‘Oh? Anything I should know?’

‘You aren’t the only one seeking revenge.’

Vale gave Shiver a smile of despair to rival her own.

‘Who’s on your list?’

‘My father.’

Shiver turned to stare at her, before letting out a low whistle.

‘So old Vetrian Revenant is alive. You want to kill the Deathbringer himself. That’s why you came to Brimstone.’

Shiver’s smile finally reached her eyes. They burned with cold conviction.

‘Searching for something capable of killing him?’

Vale nodded.

‘I chanced upon some writings in my father’s library. By an “Olthamus Veringold” which spoke of an Archcity hidden in the Verscallian Peaks. It was my father’s latest obsession. It had a name.’

‘Well, don’t keep me in suspense.’

‘Anhedonia, the Archcity of Fear.’

The two sat in silence. Shiver had never heard of such an Archcity.

The Archcities had been constructed centuries ago, at the height of elven civilisation. Each were marvels of construction, the works of Fearshapers that had long since passed.

Brimstone, the Archcity of Flames birthed unparalleled craftsmen and innovation.

The Dreadwood, the Archcity of Life housed flora and fauna of every conceivable form, acting as the grainstore of elven civilisation.

Somnolence , the Archcity of Dreams housed the palace from which rulers made the decisions which would shape elven civilisation.

An Archcity of Fear?

Shiver felt her skin tingle at the mention of it.

What secrets would such an Archcity hold?

‘Olthamus wrote of a place where Fearshapers awakened. He hypothesised that Anhedonia’s academy had been responsible for a renaissance of Fearshaping.’

Shiver’s brows knitted together in a frown.

‘A renaissance?’

‘Renaissance is a word that refers to the revival of-‘

‘I know what “renaissance” means. Do you think I’m an idiot?’

‘Don’t ask stupid questions Shiver. Of course I think you’re an idiot.’

Shiver grinned. Then she pursed her lips, continuing.

‘What precisely did this Archcity achieve?’

Vale shook her head, frowning.

‘He didn’t say, specifically. The only line I can think off… Olthamus mentioned that it brought “Serenity” within the reach of elves. I haven’t the slightest clue what that means.’

Vale raised her gaze, meeting Shiver’s.

‘My father discovered it. He said as much to my siblings and I. But no matter how hard I searched, he never left behind a trace of its location. All I was left with was the writings of Olthamus, and a mention of the Verscallian Peaks. I journeyed to Brimstone in search of leads.’

Shiver sighed, as she twirled a dagger in her hand.

‘That’s why you were so interested in the archaeologist’s guild. If only we had found a lead in Aveline’s office. It was a shame our grand heist was a failure-‘

Vale pulled out a page from beneath her cloak, a smug look painted on her face.

‘Not a total failure.’

Shiver’s mouth fell open.

‘While you were busy playing with relics, I found Aveline’s diary.’

‘You what?’

Vale handed her the parchment, which depicted a map of the Winterlands. A chill fell over her as she studied the map. They were headed down a pass which lead straight to where Anhedonia was marked.

‘This has Brimstone marked as a mining outpost. That can’t be right. This path we’re following leads to a dead end. And yet…’

Shiver and Vale stared as the path they were following between the mountains tapered to end in a solid cliff face that melded into an enormous mountain above them.

‘This is where the Archcity is marked.’

Vale lost her smug smile at the sight of Shiver’s body shaking. The girl was convulsing, covering her face.

‘Shiver, are you-‘

Peals of her laughter rang out in the mountain pass that surrounded them. Shiver desperately wiped tears that ran from her eyes. She sported a wide grin of mischief.

‘You’re telling me, princess… That you escaped Vetrian Revenant himself, the Deathbringer, with only the name of an obscure archaeologist in hand. Crossed the seas to reach Brimstone, the devil’s arsehole, and managed to steal the current guildmistress’ diary. All in an effort to kill dear daddy?’

Vale blushed in embarrassment.

‘Well… you don’t have to put it like that-‘

‘You’re bloody Insane. You’re a Feardamned inspiration, my lady. I was wrong about you.’

As Shiver wiped a tear from her eye, she turned her gaze to the undead horse they were riding on.

‘Oh dead horsey, they grow up so fast, don’t they. One moment she’s catching crabs, the next she’s plotting to kill the Deathbringer. And they tell me my lessons don’t work-‘

‘Shiver… you do know that your lessons occurred after I had made up my mind-‘

‘This must be how it feels to raise a kid you can be proud of.’

Then, abruptly, her expression soured. Her mind far away.

She’s thinking of her family.

Vale noticed the shift and quickly interceded.

‘I did pretty well, didn’t I? One might say, I’m even more impressive than you.’

Shiver’s gaze met her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her.

‘You wish, princess. All that’s left to do, is discover a lost Archcity and find, or become something capable of killing a Highlord. Easy.’

The glint of mischief returned to Shiver’s eyes, and Vale breathed a sigh of surrender.

‘It wouldn’t be fun without a challenge.’

---

They finally came to a halt at the end of the mountain pass. They stared at the remains of a camp – undoubtably an expedition that had been arranged by the archaeologist’s guild.

The skeleton of their campsite remained, buried in snow that had since enveloped the equipment left behind by the archaeologists.

‘Feardamnit. They’ve already been here. What do we do, Shiver?’

Vale gazed around the area helplessly.

‘It looks like they’ve already searched for an entrance and failed.’

Shiver snorted, and walked close to the surface of the mountains that boxed them in.

‘I wouldn’t trust those archaeologists as far as I could throw them. Reading some of the reports I… borrowed, it was clear how tardy they were. Most of them in search of a quick buck or glory.’

Vale sighed, and she placed her arm on the cliff surface at the very end of the mountain pass. Exhaustion was creeping into her limbs. She hadn’t slept a wink since last night, narrowly evading the thugs that had come to Shiver’s cave in search of something. She had spent the night searching Brimstone’s surrounds for Shiver unsuccessfully – until she had encountered her in front of the Trobid home.

‘Don’t give up so easily, prince-‘

As Shiver placed her hand on the same stone slab that Vale had, she fell-

Right into the stone.

Vale screamed at the sight of half of Shiver’s body, sticking out of impermeable stone.

‘Shiver!’

Then she watched as the elf began to kick her legs, her torso still obscured from her vision.

Shiver remerged, a triumphant look in her eyes, and Vale sighed in relief.

Though she knew, the crazy orphan would never let her hear the end of it.