Liam trudged through a landscape of ice and snow. Skeletal trees and toppled debris of unnamable ruins were scattered here and there over what was mostly an unrelieved wasteland.
His body felt like so much ice, and his mind was just as numb. He vaguely remembered the warehouse—where it all had started. He remembered killing the Djinn.
No, he thought, I killed Rob. The Djinn survived and…
A gust of wind whipped across the land, knocking Liam off of his feet. He landed face down in the snow. The fierce gale half buried him in sliver-like flakes of ice. With joints that creaked angrily, Liam scrambled to find shelter. He found feeble refuge behind one of the fallen stones.
His hands were cut, and he could still feel enough to know that shards of ice had worked their way into his flesh. He brushed his face, and his hand came away covered in bloody crystals. Instead of melting, the slivers sent the cold deeper into his body.
Please…he thought. His teeth were clenched hard enough to break, and he couldn't speak. Please.
He curled himself into a ball against the frigid stone. He just wanted it to end.
He had no way of knowing how long he had been in this place. No way to know how long he sat there. The sky was a solid mass of clouds, an enraged black bruise over a white and blue world.
He couldn't have heard it approach over the wind, but somehow he knew it was coming before he could see it.
He lifted his head. A thick shell of rime crackled as he moved. His frozen hands ached as he pressed against the stone and stood. Somewhere out there, something was moving.
Liam peered through the blizzard. His eyes felt frozen, they very possibly were. But in the distance he saw…flame. He was gripped by a sudden unreasonable eagerness. He stumbled forward into the tempest drawn by the distant light.
The wind tore at him as he went, but he was somehow able to ignore it. The promise of heat drove him, even as what little he now had was stolen away. He came to a river, frozen solid in its flow. Across the irregular ice, Liam saw the source of light and heat that he sought.
It was the Djinn. It wore Rob's face, but was wreathed in red fire. The flames licked at his clothing without consuming them.
"Liam?" The creature sneered. "I don't know what that clown seeks by having me confront you, but it won't work."
Its words meant nothing to Liam. He barely heard him. He felt himself take a step toward the burning monster. It cocked its head curiously, crossing its arms.
"You lost, you know. When your father torched your mother, he knew to cast the spell that would send me back. When you killed Robert, he died for nothing. I was free to take whatever body I pleased."
The slick ice defeated Liam and he fell to his knees, sliding downstream a few feet. He grabbed a half submerged boulder, and stood again.
"It pleased me very much to kill your father with his son's own hands. The look on his face was beyond price. I shall cherish it for all eternity…"
Liam's hands shook with the effort of moving. Sweat beaded on his skin and froze there. He couldn't stop himself, as gasping he made his way toward the demon.
Liam reached the edge of the river. The Djinn's heat reached him like a furnace. He fell, and crouched for a moment on his knees basking in the creature's warmth. Ice shed from his skin like scales, slithering to the ground. A sound escaped his clenched teeth…the sick joy in it was enough to ruffle the demon's calm. It stepped back nervously.
Tears of relief froze on Liam's cheeks as the heat receded. The seed of winter once again gripped his core, and he began to shiver.
"No!" He cried through clenched teeth. He crawled toward the demon, the deaths of his friends forgotten. He only wanted to banish the cold. It was all that mattered. He pulled himself weakly to his feet.
His frozen hands like claws, he made a grab for the creature. He caught it by the wrist. The Djinn burned in his grasp, but he held it. Strength entered his limbs as they began to thaw.
It screamed. In its pain, the heat grew greater. Liam got a grip on its shoulder, drawing it closer. The flames around it guttered and died as Liam's flesh drank in their heat. When it was gone, the hellish chill returned. He lost his balance, toppling him and the Djinn both into a bank of snow. They hit the ground with a savage hiss.
The disguise of Rob's form melted from its face. Its brow became thick and it glared at him with merciless, reptilian eyes the color of ash.
"You will suffer…" It slurred. The Djinn put its blazing hands around his throat, and Liam's vision blurred. Desperately, he slammed a fist into the demon's face. And again.
The Djinn bled. The blood ran from its nose—a burning stream of liquid fire. A sudden madness tore at Liam. He bent down against his enemy's grip and lapped at the flames.
His tongue began to blister, but he took every drop. And when they were gone, Liam wanted more.
"No…" The hoarse denial came from the Djinn. For the first time in its infernal existence, it showed real fear. Its hands released him, and it tried to claw its way free. Liam's hands held it like steel. He could feel the fire pulsing within the thing; in its wrists where he held it, in its throat. He tore into it with his teeth.
Heat exploded in his belly, and the frost that lived there finally began to melt. The Djinn fought him frantically, but Liam's teeth had locked deep into its flesh. Soon its struggles ceased…
When he came back to himself he was halfway across the river. He looked behind him. Already the puddle in which the Djinn lay was beginning to freeze. The demon no longer wore the face of his friend: the form that lay there dead was Liam's own. He prayed the creature was truly dead.
The blood that oozed slowly from the hideous wound was dark and cold. Whatever heat it had once possessed was gone.
But the sun had risen, and the cold wasn't so bad any more. Liam shook his head clear. For the first time since he had been brought to this place, he felt in control.
A crack rang out behind him. The ice on the river had begun to break. When it gave, he wanted to be on one side, and the Djinn far behind him.
He made his way as carefully as he could; the ice was twice as slick, covered with the sheen of moisture. He was nearly across before the ice shuddered and creaked, and he went down.
He caught himself with one hand before his face could hit the surface. It came back wet.
Melted into the ice was an odd-shaped groove—it matched his hand perfectly. He touched the edges; they softened and ran, and the shape filled with water.
Liam caught his reflection in the clouded ice. His chin was coated with blood. He looked into the inhuman eyes of the Djinn.
The ice gave way, and Liam fell.