CRASH
I sat bolt upright, feeling a flare of pain in my shoulder. I gasped and clutched it, tears of pain pricking my eyes. By the Moon's flaming underpants that hurt!
Burning underwear aside, it was as black as night, so I flicked on my bedside light to see what was going on. My room was as clean as always, with books and clothes stored away as they should be, and the various knick knacks I'd gained over the years were still on my window sill and shelf above my desk. To the left of the room the two half carved blocks of ice were still standing, and the frost surrounding my bed hadn't changed either.
With my room undisturbed, it meant the crash had come from somewhere else.
I started to get out of bed, although I quickly found that my leg was still wobbly and more than a little painful. I sucked in air through my teeth in pain and formed a cane from ice to hobble towards the stairs. From there I heard scared whimpers from downstairs. Very human whimpers. Light spilled out from the living room, so that was going to be my first port of call.
I started to go carefully downstairs, avoiding all the parts that creaked.
I reached the bottom and peered around the door into the living room. What I saw in there made me tense with anger.
The Descendant of Lupine leader was there, looking a little worse for wear. His clothes were ripped from the transformation earlier and there were open wounds on his arms.
Around him were other Descendants of Lupine, about four of them, all in wolf form and also with various injuries. Up against the wall were my parents, each having a Lupine Descendant guarding them.
My parents looked unhurt, however my dad did have a cracked glasses lens. Both of their faces were pale and I could see that they holding each other's hands.
Anger built inside me, they had just overstepped a line. They do not mess with my family.
I carefully stepped into the doorway, formed a snowball and threw it at the leaders head.
He flinched and turned around to see me leaning against the doorway, another snowball hovering in my free hand and scowl on my face.
"Get. Away. From them." I practically snarled.
"What's the matter? Afraid they'll get hurt?"
On cue one wolf by my mum opened its mouth by her leg. Something about seeing those fangs sent a combined bolt of anger and fear through my stomach and I changed the snowball into an ice shard, sending it at its eye with a fling of my hand. It jumped away from my mother away with a yelp, paw over the now probably injured eye.
I immediately felt bad, but I shoved it aside as I turned to the leader. Now was not time for feeling sorry for these guys.
"Clearly there are things you are yet to understand. Even the Descendants of Pitch didn't go this far. You do not involve non Descendants if you can help it."
"They are related to you. Surely they count as Descendants!"
"I'm going to explain this simply, since you're obviously new to this. Only those with abilities that are associated with their ancestor are considered Descendants. You just crossed an invisible line."
"Doesn't matter, we have you where we want you."
"I thought you wanted me dead, or was that just a warm up earlier?"
"You're injured, and we have your family hostage. Five of my fellow Descendants are patrolling outside." The leader looked pretty smug.
"Seems like the perfect time for a conversation." I stopped leaning against the wall and stood up as straight as my cane would allow.
"However, it seems that my reputation hasn't reached you." I said, my gaze narrowing slightly.
"You defeated Lu-"
"No! There's more to it!"I said loudly, with slightly more force than I had intended.
"I am officially the most powerful Descendant of Jack Frost, such power comes with some repercussions. When I was seven I killed my brother in a moment of panic. In a moment of anger I killed six Descendants of Pitch, and in a moment of grief induced rage, I froze two hundred of them solid."
I looked at the leader straight in the eyes. "You don't want to get in my way."
His yellow eyes betrayed his fear, while the rest of his face remained stoic.
"Leave now, before I do something I regret."
"Big talk from someone who's injured and alone."
"I don't need to move."
An ice pillar shot up from next to him causing him to dance away as I focused on an area of spreading frost. His wolves stepped back with their ears flattened as an ice tiger formed in front of me. I was getting a lot quicker at drawing these and bringing them to life, it had only taken a brief moment of concentration that time.
"Now, GET OUT!" I yelled, a series of spikes blocking them from my parents.
He looked at his wolves, who looked like they wanted nothing better. He looked back in my direction, looking surprisingly calm still.
"Sorry, I'm not falling for cheap intimidation."
My tiger grew in size and roared, then lunged at one of wolves and picked it up in its jaws. The wolf yelped in fear and scrabbled at the sides of the tiger's mouth, not even leaving a scratch in the ice.
"Cheap intimidation, you say?"
He glared in my direction. "Fine, we're leaving."
He exited through the open window and I made the tiger drop the wolf, allowing it run after its pack mates.
I made the ice tiger disappear as I hobbled over to the window and slammed it shut. The other pieces of ice detached themselves from the floor, condensed into a column and I sent them up the disused chimney. After clearing the chimney I let it fall to the ground outside. The tiger had melted when I made it disappear, the water falling into an ice bucket, which also went up the chimney.
My parents looked at me with a mixed look of fear and amazement on their faces.
"That's what you've been learning?" asked my mum, shock and disbelief in her voice.
"More or less, although Jack didn't teach me the tiger thing."
I hobbled over to them and pulled them into a hug, not wanting to know exactly how afraid I'd been for them.
"Are you two okay?"
"We're fine, just startled."
"I'd think you'd be more than startled after an encounter like that." I said, pulling back.
I glanced at the window, where even from here I could see the paw prints.
"They're not going to give up any time soon." I said, more to myself, but my parents still heard.
"Well, what can we do about it?"
"Personally, I can't stay. We can't have an incident like just now. You two keep all windows and doors locked."
It was strange ordering my parents around, but neither of them seemed to be able to really do much on their own right now.
"Where are you going to go?" Asked my dad.
"I'll follow the Descendants of Lupine from above. HOG's been looking for them, and they'll never expect me to get so close after this."
I hobbled up the stairs and got back to my room. I got dressed and packed, using the hiking backpack mum gave me last time. I didn't bother emptying it, I didn't want to waste time.
I strapped on my armour with some difficulty from the pain and shouldered the bag, which contained food for the road, some bandages, plasters and painkillers. The medal still hung on my chest plate and I took it off before I left. It would just get in the way, and I still had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it was an honour and reminded me of what HOG meant to me, but the other, it was a reminder of the spotlight and how much I hated it.
I felt my fist clench around it as what just happened sank in. They went for my parents.
My parents.
I sat down heavily on the bed with my bag clunking on my back. Oh god they went for my parents.
I bent my head and pinched the bridge of my nose, breathing through it.
Calm down. They're fine, chances are it won't happen again, that's why you're going after them, right?
I nodded to myself and breathed in heavily. They'll be fine, but I needed to get going.
I looked up and my eyes landed on a little, brown, frost covered cardboard box.
It was sitting on the top of my shelf, a little off to the side, out of the way. It was no bigger than a jewellery box.
I knew I shouldn't, I was worked up enough as it was, and the longer I waited the further away the Descendants of Lupine got, but I needed to see it. Just once before I went. I hadn't looked at it in too long.
I got up, placing the medal on my desk and reached up to grab the flimsy box.
I held it in my hand, just standing there, until I carefully pried it open, trying not to rip the material.
Inside was a paper and string necklace. Dark blue painted paper beads were strung along the string, with the pendant also made of paper, in the shape of a snowflake. The flimsy paper was stiff with frost and the cotton wool bed had a slightly lighter coating.
I got for my seventh birthday, from my brother.
He'd wanted to get a proper necklace, but at the same time he wanted it to be a surprise to my parents as well, so he compromised. He was four at the time.
I'd never worn it, too scared that I'd break it, and I'd never get it over my head now anyway.
I remembered when he gave to me, that massive grin he was wearing. He was gone now, and I had to protect what I had left.
I closed the lid and put it beside the medal. This mission might just be suicide in my condition, but I didn't care. I was coming back for this.
I walked past my parents as they went back to bed, gave them a hug, and disappeared through the front door after the Descendants of Lupine.