Well here it is, another chapter in this goofy tale of mine. I hope it is readable, maybe even enjoyable. If anyone happened to be wondering when I'd update, I offer my apology at the delay. My wife just got a huge promotion into upper management, and that has turned our lives upside down, and left me little time to write. Things are settling down now, so hopefully the following chapters will come quickly.
Hey, thanks for reading, and I ask that you please leave a review. I wish to grow in my skills and you the reader are truly my best teacher.
Anyways, on with the show. Thanks for reading.
IV
Frost had made good time, she thought, working her way towards the monastery. She stayed mainly on the road that wandered through the wilderness, the remnants of the trade route from the monastery to nearby towns. The demons came in packs, threatening to swarm Frost at times. She had been able to make her way through and now found herself standing before the gateway to her goal.
The large wooden door, inlaid with metal strips across its face reminded Frost of the temple in which she had grown up, and honed her craft. She had been taken from her parents at a very young age, around six. Whisked away from her family, she had found a new place to belong, with the sisters of magic. They had squirreled her away to an old temple, a monument of stone erected in defiance of the jungle surrounding it.
The temple was very near Kurast, but the witches had no need for that place, nor for the company of anyone therein. They had all they needed themselves. They grew their own food, scoured the jungle for reagents for their magic, and trained in the walls of the temple. They dedicated their lives to preparation for the dark days they knew to be coming.
Frost had been recognized as highly talented within a place where great talent was as common as raven locks. The elder sisters lavished praise on her, hoping to inspire her pride, and keep her away from the corruption that follows great power. This attention from the elders led to Frost becoming an outcast to her fellow students. They resented her for the ease in which she manipulated magic. They had teased her relentlessly, would not include her in their activities, and did their best to make her feel unwelcome.
Frost took this hard at first, but soon embraced her situation. She was better than those children, she was one of the greatest sorceresses to ever draw breath, and therefore above them. She turned to the elders, beginning to spend her time with her teachers, away from the students. She became greater than those ants scurrying about, those who were spending years trying to learn to control a level of magic that Frost could manipulate in her sleep. They were nothing compared to her, and she knew it. Her feelings of rejection and sadness turned to anger, then hate, then twisted her to believe that all of those who had rejected her were beneath her.
With her ego inflated so much, even if just a protection from the pain she had suffered, had driven her to end her training and seek out a worthy adversary to face. She didn't expect to find one, for she was so self involved that she believed herself to be the most powerful being to exist in the world. But no matter how much her mind screamed of her power, her heart remembered the truth, she was just a little girl that wanted to have a friend, wanted to belong, wanted to be loved.
The trip down memory lane ended, repressed before the pain could slip through, as it had been repressed countless times since her trek had begun. She once again turned her attention to the here and now, allowing herself to become angry again, to sheathe herself in her arrogance and superiority. There was nothing that could stand against her, nothing that could defeat her. She was a titan striding the earth, and she knew it. She strode forward boldly, with her usual swagger, trying to convince herself of her confidence, and forget all other feelings that twisted in her soul.
Frost reached to open the door to the courtyard only to be surprised as it flung open with great force. A small group of women stood in the doorway, and for a moment Frost thought they were a group of Kaysha's rogues. She let her guard down briefly, before noticing that the women were pale, and acting very strangely. As this thought came into her mind, the closest woman struck forward with a lance, driving it deep into Frost's armor. The head of the spear pierced through, ripping at Frost's skin.
Frost was thrown backwards from the ferocity of the attack. She hit the ground hard, darkness taking her for a moment. Damn me for letting my guard down she thought to herself. She had let her energy shield run out, and her shivering ice armor melt. She hadn't expected to fight so soon after arriving. She glared up at her attacker, oblivious of her wound.
The group of corrupted rogues stood in the doorway, laughing at her. The ten women were very pale, dressed in nothing but rags, with madness swimming in their eyes. The women finished their mocking, and began moving towards Frost again, each of them bringing their eight foot lances to battle readiness.
Frost felt a wicked smile form on her face. The battle was on, and she lived to fight. Frost leapt to her feet, and began teleporting herself around madly, stopping only long enough to cast one protective spell before teleporting again. After getting her energy shield and shiver armor cast, she shot herself several yards in front of the rogue group. Frost began to laugh herself as the familiar ball of ice formed in her hand. She threw it as hard as she could at the group. The ball flew unerringly to its target, shards of ice flying everywhere like angry hornets. The ball impacted into the twisted women with barely any sign of slowing them down.
"Cold hearted are you?" Frost growled at the rogues, but received no answer. They are probably beyond human thought she thought to herself. Frost changed her tactics, and again teleported herself a distance away from the ever advancing lancers. Frost called upon the power of lightning, feeling electricity flow between her fingers. She threw her hands forward, sending a streaking bolt crashing towards the rogues. It impacted the lead rogue, a horrid scream escaping her devilish throat. The bolt chained on, killing two more vile women before disappearing.
The rogue behind the lead pushed her comrade aside, seemingly not caring about her fate. She then charged Frost, moving with great speed. She thrust her lance out, intending on skewering the defiant sorceress. Frost was caught off guard by the agility of the lancer, unable to teleport to safety. She managed to turn and roll with the blow, even though it dented her armor, and she heard the rib underneath crack.
Frost rolled completely around bringing herself face to face with the evil woman. She quickly smashed her orb into the woman's head. She then turned away, and prayed these warriors didn't retain their senses. She quickly enchanted her boots to leave a trail of fire in her steps. She fled, praying they followed.
Luckily for her, they apparently weren't thinking nowhere as clearly as they used to, since the rogue she just struck and the one behind her both followed her directly, flames burning them fatally. That was half the pack of vile hunters down, with only a handful to go.
The remaining huntresses had developed a bit of intelligence, and began to change tactics. They quickly fanned out, and started to enclose the sorceress from all sides. They moved cautiously, but with murderous intent. They became a pack of predators, closing in on their prey, eager to end the hunt and enjoy the spoils.
Frost saw the opportunity and acted on it. She chanted softly to herself, and called down a meteor from the heavens to set the earth aflame directly where she stood. The spell had a few second delay, giving her targets a bit of time to get even closer, and a moment for Frost to lure them in and teleport to safety before the blazing ball of death struck.
Going on instinct, she teleported an instant before the meteor struck down. The flaming rock smashed into the ground, destroying the bodies of a couple of rogues, and inciting a firestorm in the vicinity. The flames leapt up, as though alive, and gracefully, hungrily, licked on the remaining two demons. Screams of pain issued from their lips, a horrid, angry sound, full of pain, and desperate for vengeance before embracing the silence of death.
Frost watched the fiery display with a certain amount of glee. She was proud of her power, arrogant in her abilities. Satisfied with herself, she turned away, and realized the grave mistake she had made. The last of the corrupted women hadn't been caught in the fiery inferno, but instead had hung back, looking for an opening to attack. Frost had just given her one, during her moment of self congratulations.
The crazed woman let out a scream, an utterance of victory and immediately thrust forward with her lance. The weapon impacted upon Frost's armor, and was quickly iced over. The woman wasn't bothered much by the chill, however, as they proved earlier by shrugging off the frozen orb. The bite of cold seemed to do nothing more than intensify her anger, and she drove even harder, shattering through Frost's armor and biting deeply into her right shoulder.
Frost was caught totally off guard by the attack. Pain seared through her as her shiver armor fell and the weapon began its journey through her flesh. She had neglected her energy shield, and it had dissipated. It could not have protected her from such a direct and powerful blow even had it been active. Frost realized the folly of her pride, but it was too late. The pain shattered her concentration, disrupting her spellcasting.
The invincible warrior that Frost thought she was just couldn't be found in that moment. She could not respond to the attack, just do nothing but lose herself in the pain that swept over her. Darkness came over her, and she knew her end drew nigh. The world faded to nothingness, and she prayed she found the peace she had so long sought.