❆ ❆ ❆ ❆ Seven ❆ ❆ ❆ ❆

The Frostblade

Snow entered her mother’s bedroom. The empty room still brought a looming sense of authority with its luxurious crimson bed, ornate decree-topped desk, and huge woodland-stained glass windows.

In the corner of the room was a magical work desk of which her mother was an obsessive user. A blade of pure ice laid upon it. The weapon glowed in subtle harmonizing pulses as Snow approached the table. This Frostblade was supposed to be a gift for Gravis. However, to Snow’s understanding, this weapon did not work properly; when wielded by anyone that wasn’t their mother, the blade would react violently. Snow was mesmerized by the unusable weapon that was no different from a glorified shard of ice. Snow reached out to touch it before her hand paused. She pulled her hand back and moved it to the drawer underneath.

Snow grabbed the drawer handle, staring at it. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Snow had no idea what would be in this drawer, but if there was a chance that it could unlock her power, then she had to look inside.

The wood screeched open as her eyes dove in. Inside the drawer was a stack of papers. On the very top was a list.

Candidates

Snow Regalia (?)

Gravis Regalia (C)

Lillith Regalia (Em)

Lussuria Regalia (E)

Flora Alburn (Me)

Aela Rikheart (Cm)

Genesis Sylvian (Ce)

Genevea Sylvian (E)

Isabella Drakos (Me)

Yami Steelbinder (E)

Sarah Ptahil (M)

Underneath the list was a large brown book. It was heavy and worn. On the very first page, there was a massive symbol.

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/558350026380804098/1021652238730526782/unknown.png]

Snow began flipping through the book.

1539 c6 6

new seal maintenance, ring 3.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

1540 c1 2

tuned seal ring 4, good condition.

1541 c7 9

maintenance check, good condition, no action required.

It appeared to be a logbook. The rest of the logs were similar entries. Snow flipped to the newest page; a recent entry was written one week ago.

1545 c5 12

magic hemorrhaging noted, seal is weakening, no explanation upon further investigation, the seal seems to be losing power. Cause may be directly related to the sporadic decline of magic in regalia’s magika ley lines. May be connected to the increased growth to several sage trees in the great forest. Will question Elf Queen Lourissa on the matter.

Snow had no clue what this seal was supposed to be, but the fact that her mother felt that making the journey to the elven providence to find out information about it amplified its mystery.

Snow went to put the stuff back when she heard a creak from the drawer. Snow paused, lifted the log book, and placed it down again. The drawer creaked again. Snow put the log book on the bench and shoved her hands into the drawer, digging her fingernails in the bottom corners. The bottom of the drawer shifted before popping up, revealing a false bottom. Hidden underneath was a black leather book.

The book gave Snow a bad feeling. It felt evil in every sense of the word, tempting Snow to leave it alone. However, If flora was right, this should tell her how to unlock her frostblood.

“Screw it.”

Snow grabbed the Black book. She held the book only for a second before her fingers grew paralyzed. The book dropped to the floor as the world started to spin. Snow nearly collapsed to the ground. Her stomach curled as she felt a deep sickness that made her want to throw up. After a moment, she recovered, but it still was not pleasant.

When Snow looked at the ground, the book was open. She cautiously tapped the book with a finger to see if it would make her sick again. Nothing happened, Seems she was in the clear. Snow examined the book. It had diagrams of the human body, and each diagram had a different part of the body coated in crystal. At first, the sketches had cool-looking features; some had muscles, and others had icelike armor.

“Wow. This is amazing.” Frost abilities filled this book.

Then, Snow’s expression slowly morphed into horror with each page flip. The diagrams eventually replaced the crystalline ice with blood, bones, and flesh. The enhanced humans were now inhuman monsters.

“What is this?”

The evolution of the monstrous drawings eventually devolved into a featureless black figure. The figure oozed black substance and was chained at the depths of the page. The imprisoned being was clawing at a rune towards the top of the page.

Snow immediately recognized the rune. She grabbed the log book and opened it to the first page, placing the two books side by side. The rune was the same.

What did this all mean?; The rune that matched both books. The monstrous depiction of those with their power. The fact that her mother was hellbent on her activating her frostblood. Snow had more questions than ever before.

“Formation! We are under attack!” Snow heard a yell from the hall.

Snow dropped everything before running to the doorway. She took a peep and saw the guards fighting black figures, the exact black figures from the book she had just read. She quickly closed the door and locked it.

Snow needed to find a place to hide. She ran to the bed and was about to slip under it when she felt a chill hit the back of her neck. Snow spun around to see the frostblade glowing. Icy weapon shrank into a shortsword, forming its own scabbard and everything. Snow ran up to the blade. The blade’s handle smoothed out as if inviting her to grab it.

The door of the room banged repeatedly. Snow did not have time to lag around. She needed a weapon, so she decided to risk it. Snow wrapped her fingers around the blade handle, bracing to be skewered. But, after a moment, nothing happened. In fact, the blade’s handle felt more comfortable the longer she held it, as if the blade was shaping for her fingers.

Snow heard inhuman noises outside the bedroom door and ran to her mother’s bed to hide underneath it with the frostblade. Snow settled underneath and waited for what seemed like an eternity before feeling a draft underneath her.

A hatch was underneath her.