This is the next book AFTER the events in 'FrostBitten: Test Of Courage'. I highly recommend you to read that FIRST before reading this. If you already have, then enjoy!
Chapter One: Starting Of With A Bang
Frost's POV
How did I agree to this again? Did the Old Man persuade me or did I just randomly accepted this? Either way, I'm going to have to tag along with Mindy and Frosty to fight against a wave of random creatures. I took in a deep breath as we walked through the long, grey silent tunnel that gave off an eerie and haunted effect, causing chills of terror to strike my mind like needles. Needless to say, this small challenge is for Frosty basically. After all, I do owe her a lot since she's the one who managed to find a way and change me back to my darkness form... Ah, that's right! I decided to do this for the sake of her reputation in school. Too bad she'll be leaving by next week with us. A cold, soft breeze blew from up ahead, making me shiver and grit my teeth slightly as I froze, despite that I wore a grey hoodie and black long pants. Come to think of it, maybe I should wear a coat instead. Nah, then it'll make me look hostile, but still, it'll make me look like a total bad ass. Especially with my two legendary blades. A warm, quiet sigh escaped from my wet lips, forming a grey transparent cloud before me before it disappeared into nothing in the very thin air that surrounded us like spirits. I clenched my fists tightly as another winter breeze swooped by us in this narrow tunnel, slowly closing the gap between the exit and us with every step. My swords where kept on my back, each having an individual black, hard leather case with white outlines. They where in an 'X' formation on my back, making it slightly easier for me to seethe them out in quick succession. Around me waists, there where thirty silver throwing blades aligned like soldiers, pointing it's sharp, ferocious tip to the cold stone floor we silently walked on. Not even a conversation was sparked ever since the first three minutes upon arriving here... Maybe they're waiting for me to say something? I don't know, and at the same time, I don't want to talk. The silence is already becoming comfortable in this dim, claustrophobic death tunnel, bare of any colour but grey. The air smelt like moss, hardly noticeable, but still were able to sting my nose slightly, making my eyes dampen. Whatever we have to face, we'll take them on together! At the far end, I could see the shining sunlight, tempting me to rush there and smile in the warmth of the sun but I kept my composure. The last time I did something reckless, a whole table was thrown at me! Ah, how enlightening memories can be, even the worst.
"Frost", Mindy said suddenly out of the blue, breaking the forever silence. I instantly looked to my right, her eyes were locked with mine in a ferocious battle of tug of war before I blinked, making her smile at me warm heartedly before she said something. "Are you sure you can carry a blade in each hand?", She joked, making me smile back to her and release a warm sigh along with a transparent grey smoke that crumbled soon after to nothing.
"Are you sure that you can carry a fifteen kilo sword?", I joked back, making her chuckle quietly before too, releasing a warm sigh, emitting a grey puff of smoke. "Anyway", I said, grabbing both of their attentions like an eagle swooping down on a prey. "Are you sure that you want to come?", I asked Frosty in a worried tone.
"Huh? Of course I do! We're all in this together, no matter what happens", She said seriously and blinked before releasing a loud sigh. "So don't think ever think about running off into the chaotic battle grounds without me", she then faced forwards and sparked immediately with a smile, exposing her white glistening teeth. "Say, you know what anime is, right?", She asked out of the blue as I felt an intense chill smash against my bones point blank, making me look at her in disbelief as we continued to walk towards the blinding light up ahead of this dim narrow passageway.
"Well, yeah. It's an animated movie basically", I said naturally as it was a no-brainer.
"You are aware that the Humans make it, right?", Frosty said and looked back at me as I too, looked to my right, straight into her dark brown eyes with small smile as my heart began to pound faster as we approached the light.
"And?", I asked, making her blink blankly before explaining herself.
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that they base it on the things from our lands and beyond from theirs", she simply said and yawned cutely, making me sigh out a grey puff of smoke that immediately disappeared like a wish you never received from a wishing well... That damn, crushing feeling. "Anyway, did you tear up like a little girl?", she asked suddenly, ruining the suspenseful mood that had us going for at least five minutes.
"Hmm?", Mindy hummed confused and looked right at me in the eye. "Oh, you mean Clannad? Frost wouldn't let go of me for one and a half weeks straight because of that", She laughed and blushed as she scratched the back of her head, making quiet scrunching noises as her light purple hair swayed gently from side to side behind her.
"Can we please keep out minds in the situation served right in front of us?", I said as we where only a few meters from the blinding light. The exit of the passageway. Thank goodness! I can already hear the cheers and cries of the crowd outside and boy where they loud. Or maybe it's just because of my ears... Figures.
I cringed to the bright light and held out my right hand to block off the blinding light that burnt my retinas, stinging them just before my eyes were able to readjust themselves to the new lighting... Woah! I lowered my right hand slowly as I walked towards the centre of the large arena, kicking up the brown dirt with every step I took forward as I gazed up all around me in awe. The stands where wooden and they where on top of the high, grey cement walls that locked us in like prey, awaiting to release the hunters to devour us. Too bad they'll be dead before the first minute. The light blue sky was filled with many transparent white whips of clouds that resembled fairy floss and would cover the sun occasionally, casting a shadow of grief over the earth like Death was watching us with it's piercing red eyes. I clenched my fists tightly as a light breeze swooped by me, Mindy and Frosty who stood beside me, ready to face anything head on. Our hairs danced in the grasp of the wind like puppets before it ceased. My heart began pounding against my chest, feeling as if at any moment it could lunge out and splatter against the floor, painting it with my crimsons of life. Here we go... the tunnel we had came through was now closed via a massive metal gate, making escape near impossible. But who said we were going to back down?
"Let the challenge begin!", Someone no other than the king himself exclaimed and took a seat on his throne as his guards stood beside him like gargoyles, only to move when necessary. From within the raving crowd of cheering and screams, I managed to spot a certain group of people. Red hair... obvious. So they all decided to watch huh? Well then, let's not disappoint them then... Time to show them all what we are truly capable of!
"Releasing the lions!", I heard someone scream as the gate behind us opened up with a dreadful screeching noise, causing both me and Frosty to grit out teeth as we all spun around, standing tall and as ready as one can possibly be. There, I spotted four, full grown, golden feral cats that roared at us fiercely before slowly walking out, keeping their gaze onto us like we couldn't see them.
"Frost, Frosty, get ready", Mindy said as she put her right hand behind her back and pulled out her sword with a metallic scrape that hurt our ears painfully. "Get used to it", She quickly said and held out her long, thin, legendary blade before her as the words on the handle began to ignite into bright white glows, charging up her strength and will to fight. "Blitzerker, show them my wrath", She said as the blade's black stripe that ran along the middle of the blade from handle to tip suddenly glowed a slight red as bright red words formed onto the centre of the blade. I smiled and looked to my left to see what Frosty was doing. She had her scythe held in her hands behind her back. My lungs where suddenly filled with fresh air and I immediately exhaled before looking back at the lions with a devilish grin.
"Ezarca, Exzera, show them no mercy", I said and held both my hands up behind my back and grasped onto the firm black handle of my blades before immediately seething them out with the ear demolishing noise of a dying cat. Damn how much I hate that metallic screech, let alone a chair rubbing it's rubbery padding against wooden floorboards.
I held my slightly heavy blades to my sides and stood in a defensive stance as I looked to the right, looking into Mindy's eyes. Her left was the colour of blood while the other one was the colour of a diamond. My blood suddenly began to pump more efficiently within my entire body, delivering the required oxygen and nutrients at a greater pace. Looks like it'll be twice as hard to take me on. Too bad for the lions.
"Frost, don't spare a single soul", Mindy whispered and looked right at me before she pulled out a small, steel knife and threw it high into the air for a reason, beyond my abilities of comprehension. "Game on", She stated and at once, I managed to see a spark of yellow fireworks explode from beside her as a lion cried in pain before falling down to the cold, dusty ground with a great, earth crushing thud. Immediately, I looked forwards in surprise to see a large crack in between it's skull, meaning that Mindy must've used her skills to slash the dagger with lightning speed as it hurdled down towards the floor, hitting the lion point blank in the front of the skull, resulting in an instantaneous death. Blood spewed out like ketchup out of a bottle, pooling under it a reflective pond of it's bitter blood.
The lions growled in anger, making me smile and blink just before they made a full charge at us with amazing speed, kicking the dust behind them, forming a small dust cloud. The crowd cheered on and screamed with every passing second the lions approached, shaking the fragile earth slightly. Let's play!
The lion in the middle was the first of the remaining three to lunge at me, opening it's killer jaws, revealing it's jagged razor sharp teeth that sent a slight chill up my neck. With my blades clenched tightly in my hands and a heart full of fire, I grit my teeth and sent a vertical slash with my right sword, making it split in two halves that went straight past me and collided with the ground behind me, leaving a trail of it's dark blood and some of it's entrails. My nose was stuck with it's foul blood but I ignored it and watched as Mindy had already slain her foe. Blood gushed from it's wide opened wound from it's left side, exposing it's bloodied white ribcage and the pinkish pale organs from within. My stomach turned like a washing machine for a fixed moment before the gate before us was lifted up once again, releasing twelve green goblins armed with black, demonic armour and a short, rectangular sword in hand, held above their heads dangerously.
"Frost, Mindy", Frosty said and wiped off a blood stain from her right cheek. "You two can do the honours".
I nodded and looked at Mindy. She looked back at me and returned the smile before we both looked up ahead at the raging mob of goblins quickly approaching us with all their might. "Ready?", She asked as we both stood beside each other, side to side with our blades held before us.
"You got it", I smirked and felt her warmth send shivers all over my entire body like a vibration. "Have you been practising?", I asked and clenched the handles of my blade more tightly.
"Every single day", She said as her right eye began to emit a light blue aura that flickered like the flame of a torch. "Let's annihilate them", She said with courage and nodded.
I gave a simple nod and felt the cold air sweep upon the arena like an assassin, making the crowd cheer with all their might along with their encouraging claps. "GO!", I yelled with courage as the goblins where nearing us like a swarm of ants.
Instantly, the brown dust flew behind us like confetti the moment we rushed towards the angry mob, shoulder to shoulder and our swords ready for anything. My eyes turned to dark red. The colour of my blood. We yelled simultaneously our battle cries as we neared the goblins with every passing second, feeling the ground below our moving leg rumble. I held both my blades out to my right, in between me and Mindy in an 'X' formation as she placed her behind it in between my two blades. The crowds screams began to muffle as everything went slow motion, ceasing the wind that was about to blow from behind and making the goblins suddenly stop as if they knew what was going on. Their eyes where replaces with anxiety and fear, shuddering as we approached them all and screamed on last time before releasing out blades, scraping one another, forming thousands of red, blue, black and white sparks that exploded like fireworks...
Milk's POV
"To the Duo!", Frosty exclaimed and held out her glass of ginger ale from the other end of the table with a large smile. Luckily, her sudden movement hadn't made the tasty beverage spill out, despite the fact that her glass was filled to the brim with the brown beverage with white foams that sat at the top.
"To the Duo!", Everyone exclaimed including myself as we all clanked each other's glasses in the middle of the table. My mind throbbed when the logic vanished from the very thin air... Not one molecule of the beverage had spilt from our glasses... What the hell is this black magic!?
"Milk? You seemed lost", Chaos said in a worried tone as I pulled back my hand and shook my head vigorously to rid myself from the mystery of the beverage.
I smiled as soon as I turned to my right, looking straight into Chaos's amazing red eyes that made me blush hard. "It's nothing", I quickly said and took in a deep breath before saying continuing. "Anyway, where did Mindy and Frost go?", I asked.
"They went to grab the prize money at the challenge", He said like I should've known. "Do you have amnesia?".
"N...No", I stuttered and clenched my fist as I stared into his eyes seriously, making me blush even more harder. "I just forgot, that's all", I said and looked away in embarrassment, finding out that everyone in the entire room was listening and watching quietly... dammit guys...
I was about to stand up and leave, until I was stopped abruptly by a voice that made me cringe and feel the need to slaughter whoever it was... Of course, there is only ONE person who can annoy me to this extent. Star, the one and only Old Man. White hair, white eyes, but in a way, it's kinda grey. He usually wears anything that's bare of any colour, almost if not ALWAYS white. His skills are great and he thinks tactically, but his flaw is that he's too reckless. Like what happened when we fought Coal. Man did he really get it. He too is annoying and very darn loud but over all, he's a good person with a good heart filled with joy and happiness.
Then there's Chaos, a quiet, peaceful person who is as strong as he looks. Looking almost like Frost, only with red eyes, less messy hair and always wearing black clothing hence his name. Despite him the physical dark side of Frost, he wields the greatest knowledge and strength, equipping a thirty kilo breaker class sword that he calls 'Perish'. His downside tho is his lack of will, thus not allowing him to fight for something. He's lost sometimes but when I'm around him, he seems to know what he's doing. Mindy's kinda the same, since she's weak in will but when Frost is around, she shows what she can truly accomplish in the blink of an eye.
Sindy, a calm, smart girl who's stuck in between a rock and a hard place. The rock is Star's recklessness, always getting her dragged into his own troubles and the hard place is the lack of communication between her and Mindy. They where once sisters, until Mindy found out the truth and what Sindy had taken away from her back in the Games. She regrets it but it never seems to bother her. She has a more darker purple colour to her hair to Mindy's and is a lot shorter. She has two small red ribbons on the sides of her head, each holding a bundle of her hair that dangled down beside her ears. Red eyes and relies on her stealth to toss over her opponents. Her flaw is when she is noticed, making it impossible for her to even land a punch. Over all, she is nimble, silent, smart and very popular in the Kingdom. After all, she IS the daughter of the king.
Ruby, an extremely adorable young girl by the age of ten who looks more like she's fifteen! Literally, these two weeks we spent in this place have been he craziest and the most memorable in my entire life. Despite her age, she is capable of single handedly taking out a group of bandits with the help of her legendary dagger, Dragons Rage, and her pet, Flame. She has light blue eyes, filled with happiness and calmness. She has a strong will and knows a lot about the history and the tales of the continent, including strange creatures and magic. Tho, her knowledge and strength comes with a price. She easily gets distracted in battle, even a beat of a butterfly can earn her a one way trip to failure. But overall, she's intelligent, kind and sweet, same goes for her twins, Diamond and Sapphire. She refers to Frost and Mindy as her parents, since Frost made a promise with her when they where little.
Cream, my sweet little sister who was brought from the realms of insanity by Frost. She was killed by an atomic bomb dropped in our home town, decimating everything in it's path. She can't fight, but she gives me hope when ever I look into her light blue eyes or rub her golden hair.
Candy, Mindy's younger sister who was too, brought out of insanity by Frost. I've been told that she was hit by a truck on the way to school on her first day and fell into a coma. Local residence and people locked up in prison have reported to have seen her walking past with an uncanny smile and blood all over her body. It's frightening, and Mindy too has seen her like that before, but as of now, everything is alright. She has light purple hair like Mindy and they both have red, glowing eyes.
Diamond, she ran away from home at a very young age and was guided by Drago all the way to floating isle, Thris to protect Hythin from any thieves and from Frost, the fifty first person to have Drago guiding them in their destiny. She has white, long flowing hair and is also ten, same as her twins. She can really provide maximum damage to one's mind using her mouth and her claymore class sword. Heavy and very durable with a slight white glow, but she's an easy person to defeat since she can only focus on one point at a time when fighting. But, despite all that, she's very confident and confronting at times, piercing the very souls of anyone desires with her red, burning eyes of pure confidence. She's begged me to death to TRY and tell Frost that she too, wants to be part of his small 'family'. But I seem to always forget for some reason. Oh well, I'll try tomorrow.
Sapphire, the third out of the triplets. She has turquoise coloured hair that reached down to her waist and carries both a bow called Sacred Blue and a claymore class sword that she calls Drago's Furry, since it blazes up into intense flickering flames, coating the whole blade whenever she fought with her heart and mind. She's strong and easy to underestimate, her will is very strong and her heart is pure. She too, ran away from home to end her sorrow for Ruby. Drago brought her up to Thris as the second guardian of Hythin. Her greatest flaw is not being able to take control of a battle alone since she cannot regain her composure after a parry or block, thus making her an easy target. Almost like fish in a barrel. Overall, she is kind, sympathetic and very thoughtful. She too, wants me to tell Frost that she want to be in his 'family'... He's getting more and more popular by the day!
Frosty, the light form of Frost who was released from insanity and fought with Frost in the very realm to free him from the insane thoughts that clouded his mind that day. She has black long hair and dark brown eyes that matches Frost's ones perfectly. At school and other places, they are often mistaken as brothers and sisters which really gets up on Frost's nerves. She fights with a smile as she sheds the blood of her foes and snatches their souls with her huge, black scythe that she calls The Black Widow. She fight with her heart and will but is easily defeated when enraged. Frost tried his best for two days to train her but to no avail. Over all, she is enthusiastic, playful, cheerful and a bundle of energy almost every single time. She always makes us laugh
Mindy's mother has yet to tell us her secret, but I already know who she truly is, same goes for her father. She is indeed from the arachnid race, but I can feel that she is only part arachnid. She has light purple hair and is very beautiful, kind, generous and thoughtful for us all, treating us as their very own. I have yet to see her fight but I can already tell that she could easily kick some ass. Her red, glowing eyes shine fire in the dark, making her have an uncanny appearance that had frightened me more than twice over these two weeks... those great memories!
Mindy's father, a man who has shown who he truly is to me, and me and his wife only. The black irregular patches on his head where actually his black, cat-like ears, just hiding themselves from plain sight. According to what he told me a week ago, he's both a FrostBitten and part arachnid. He told me that tonight he'll tell us all their truths to try and make it up for Mindy, since she can't even bare to look at them due to what had happened in her past. He has black, slightly messy hair like Chaos and has dark purple eyes that shone in the dark just like his wife's. He seems extremely tough and I can feel some sort of strange power flowing from within his veins. I don't know if it's just my mind playing tricks on me or if it's true. Tonight will be the night for all of our secrets to be revealed...
Then there's Mindy. A sweet, lovable girl who is extremely sympathetic towards others and has a weak mind at certain times. Chaos told me how hard she broke when Frost and I were kidnapped by Coal and Charcoal. She has a great fighting spirit and an amazing will to fight on if given a good reason. She's part FrostBitten, Arachnid and Crimson, tho I have no idea why she doesn't exhibit cat-like ears or a tail at least. She has many secrets kept within her heart. The most recent one was her perspective in time. Strangely, she sees it in a much slower pace when she's fighting or when she's serious. Her sword is one of a kind, forged within the depths of the Ancient Ruins down south of the continent, then refined up in Hythin by Drago himself. It's name is True Guardian but she calls it Blitzerker. She currently is the final of her entire race, making her have a much more different perspective to the world she sees and hears.
And then there's Frost Richtofen. Someone who has the will to live on and to fight for what good and to kill whatever threatens the safety of others, especially those he loves. To him, we are all he ever needs to the end of time. People he can call friends and trust with all his heart. He's the one of the two final bloodline of our slow dying race, FrostBitten, and has Drago guiding him until the very moment of his death. His younger sister Serenity guides Mindy by talking to her mentally. He wields two legendary swords, the Ezarca for his right hand and the Exzera for his left. Both darkness and light. How he wields them both at the same time is stunning but it may have something to do with his heart. Maybe he has some light in there. In his current form known as Darkness, is masculine and what he calls 'normal'. But, when he changes to his Light form, he becomes feminine and becomes an exact replica of Frosty, often mistaken as twins which really makes him crazy. But some weird things have occurred during these two weeks. Frost's light form has the heart of darkness, making him a complete nut job when he is enraged. His light form is also a cannibal, only to eat humans and other types of creatures that pair up close to humans, like FrostBittens. Despite all of this, he is a shy, strong, wise boy who I deeply attached to Mindy. His memories come back to him here and there but he can easily get over it. So far, I have yet to see his weakness, but as of now, it's probably anxiety, eating away at his heart and soul.
"Where's the popcorn!? The kiss of the two lovers is about to happen!", Star exclaimed, making me blush hard as I grit my teeth and dug my nails deep into my soft palms... I'll cripple this old man... AND MAKE HIM SIT ON A WHEEL CHAIR!
"Star... you're an old man right?", I said as I trembled in the piping hot anger flowing through my entire bloodstream.
"How many times do I have to say it, I'm thirteen! Not fifty!", He exclaimed and took in a deep breath. "C'mon! Kiss him already!". Oh that's it! This old man is going to his funeral right now!...
Thank you guys for reading the previous story, "FrostBitten: Test Of Courage". All of your reviews have on that story have motivated me to make this story with a smile! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a review on what you think and I'll see you guys later!
"Gotta put the punch in the line!"
"If you're depressed, then stop looking at the past!"
