Hello there my awesome readers! Welcome to another chapter of IHIE ^^

So, not much to really say this chapter, aside from usual apologies for taking so long xD But hey, if you want regular updates on how I'm updating my stories, go and leave my Facebook Page a like, eh? Just Facebook dot com and then paste this right after that: /WingsSenpai

Alright, Shoutouts to awesome stories! First off, shoutout to the one person who brings color back into my grey life, Vendra! She's an awesome writer and is currently doing something called "The Book of Drabble" which is a bunch of awesome shorts! You know what they say, 'short is sweet' and her drabbles are like shotglasses of writing brilliance. Also, Summer, if you are reading this, know that the light you cast upon my dark soul outshines the brightest of stars in the night skies. Thank you for loving me as I love you, mea dulci. And thank you for bearing with my depressive nature, my lack of time and my sappy poetry and quotes xD

Also, a shoutout to my bruh Alsodef! You might know him as they awesome dude I'm doing a League x SwordArtOnline collab with (It's called A New Reality, check it out if you haven't already!). So yeah, he's also released the first few chapters of a story where Shurima declares war on the whole of Valoran (Fuck yeah birdie master race Azir knows it) and so far, it's going awesome! I strongly recommend it; it's called "The Power of the Sun."

Anyways, without further ado, heres the chapter ^^

~Wings

"Seeing you was so bittersweet I almost died
My heart jumped but my head kept screaming: Why?
And I almost thought that i could change the past
And I almost, but that never really lasts."

- "Man Down" by The Eden Project

In her Icy Embrace

Chapter 15: Frozen

Alan's eyes opened. They did not open slowly, nor did they shoot open. They simply opened in one smooth motion with no hesitation whatsoever. He stared up at the ceiling above him, black marble that was lit up dimly by white crystals set into the walls in the place of torches or lights. He took account of his body, flexing his fingers and toes before gradually moving up his limbs to his body. He sat up, another swift motion as he looked down at himself. No wounds. No missing limbs. Was he dead? His heartbeat proved otherwise.

A noise made him look to his right, finding the Sentinel standing at the entranceway of the room he was in. The Sentinel still wore his armor, but his helmet was off, revealing his seemingly ageless face. Again, Alan had to blink at the man's apparent beauty.

"Where am I?" Alan asked as The Sentinel… Raziel, if he remembered his name, simply blinked, his face void of any emotions, giving him a sombre, slightly-lost look, yet his eyes were chips of molten gold that was anything but lost. "You are where you have come to be in, Champion." He said as Alan sat up in the bed he was lying upon. He was dressed in a simple blue tunic and black pants, his armor no where in sight. A weight fell to his lap from his chest as he sat up, and he looked down to see Frig Ascutis, as black and broken looking as ever in its dormant state..

"The temple of the seeker." Alan said as The Sentinel nodded. Alan got up as he held Frig Ascutis in his hand. "Where is the Seeker's Raiment? " He asked as Raziel simply shook his head.

"Later. First, you must train." He said as Alan raised his eyebrows.

"Train?" He asked.

"You are not strong enough for the armor, Alan." He said.

"I defeated you, no?" Alan asked as the Seeker fixed his golden gaze onto Alan. The gold in his eyes, Alan realized, was constantly shifting. It was not a trick of the light, his irises literally looked like pools of molten gold, with different shades of gold slowly moving and swirling, almost like the coronas of the sun.

"You defeated the Sentinel." Raziel said as Alan frowned.

"You're the Sentinel, no?" He asked as Raziel nodded.

"I am. But that is not all I am. As the Sentinel, I am limited in order to test worthy candidates. It would not be a test if I killed every man who was remotely worthy." Raziel said as Alan's eyes widened.

"Do you mean you can fight even better than that?" Alan asked, shocked. It had taken much of Alan's powers to be able to have beaten the Sentinel, so much that he had almost lost himself.

Raziel smiled ruefully.

"Alan Frost, I am afraid you would not be able to stand even a second against my full power." He turned around and looked at Alan over his shoulder. "Meet me in the hall."

Alan stood in the large hall, surrounded by black stone polished to a shine, no windows to be seen anywhere, the only light coming from the crystals that dimly lit up the room.

"I want you to summon a cube of ice, the size of your fist." Raziel said as Alan frowned slightly. "That is easy." He said, as he brought his hand forward. He willed his power into being as the water molecules in the air condensed and froze, forming a large cube of ice in his pale as big as his fist.

"That is not your test." Raziel said as seven large prisms of ice formed around him, diamond shaped, floating in mid air around his chest level. They began to slowly orbit around him, rotating in the opposite direction as well as gyrating up over down. "Willing ice into being is the simplest of a Cryomancer's trick. Sending it to move is as easy as pulling an arrow back and letting it loose. You are not controlling it. You simply let it go. But consciously controlling it… You will find that much harder than you think." He said as Alan frowned, focusing his energy into the ice cube. He had controlled ice before... He could make snow fall around him, he had even once used ice on his body to propel him through water. But the snow flakes had been tiny, barely heavier than a strand of hair. The ice had been supported by water and they were not consciously moved either… He had just done what he had always done with his ice projectiles and given them a push. But now… He had to consciously control the ice cube, like it was a part of his own body.

'Rise…' He thought, willing the cube of ice to float off his hand. For a second, the cube vibrated and rose an inch from his hand… Then it shot up into the air without stopping and shattered against the ceiling. Raziel didn't even flinch as he stood with his ice diamonds, each as long as Alan's arm, spinning slowly around him.

"Your first training and test is this. Be able to consciously do what I did with my ice crystals in the air for 42 hours without moving or resting." Raziel said as Alan frowned at the man.

"Raziel, I do not know what being you are, but I am still human. I require food and rest and water." Alan said as Raziel shook his head. "We are in the Temple of the Seeker, Alan. The closest to the Void you will ever get without entering the void itself. You might say we might be half in the void to begin with." He said.

"The temple itself is in another reality, Alan. Old magic define it's existence, far more powerful than we can fathom. You do not age in these halls. You do not require food or sustenance in these halls. Time runs differently here as well. It is ever shifting and hard to discern, but you can be sure you have much more time inside these halls than you ever had outside." Raziel said as the ice crystals around him defragmented into billions of tiny particles, swirling around him and upwards as they all melted into the air. "I will come to you again when you accomplish your task." Raziel said as he walked out, leaving Alan alone in the hall.

…

It was the third time this week that Analia had found herself retching, emptying the contents of her stomach. Nausea came onto her being out of the blue at times and the waves were so powerful she found herself running to empty her stomach somewhere discreet or somewhere she couldn't dirty things. Lydia was beside her this time, however, as she had called the little medic to check up on her as she thought she was ill. Lydia patted her back and held her hair out of the way as dry heaves continued to wrack Analia's body.

"Okay?" She asked in a quiet voice as Analia nodded, wiping her mouth with the damp cloth that Lydia handed to her. Lydia guided Analia to her bed, where she sat down as Lydia raised her hand and placed it against Analia's forehead gently, feeling her temperature. Analia almost winced from the contact but then had to remember that Lydia was not Iceborn. Though she had platinum blonde hair and large blue eyes, her skin was a pale peach. She was like Analia, human, having lived her life in Freljord with her father Jory.

"You don't have a fever." Lydia asked as Analia grimaced, feeling the world spin around her. "Do you have any other symptoms?" Lydia asked as Analia shook her head, groaned and stopped shaking her head as that made the nausea worse.

"Alright… Just lie on your front then, I will massage your back and press upon a few of your pressure points which should alleviate the nausea." Lydia requested as Analia nodded very slightly, slowly turning over on the bed and then gently lowering herself down. She gasped slightly in pain, frowning, as her chest ached when they were pressed against the bed. She didn't have small breasts, but they had never hurt when she lied on her front… And they felt swollen and tender right now.

The small intake of air did not go unnoticed by Lydia. "What's wrong?" She asked as Analia got off her front, sitting up again. "I can't… my chest hurts…" She muttered as Lydia blinked. "May I?" She asked as Analia nodded, taking off her tunic. In her nauseated and miserable state, she couldn't care less about baring her chest to Lydia, who was both a healer and another girl. Lydia inspected Analia's breasts, frowning at them as she said, "Do they feel more tender than usual?"

"Yes…" Analia said as she closed her eyes and put her hand on her forehead, the fingertips of her fore finger and thumb massaging her temples in an effort to stop her headache.

"Do you feel very… tired these days?" Lydia asked. Analia opened her eyes as Lydia seemed anxious. As she pulled her tunic back on, she frowned. "Yes… A bit… why?"

"Analia. I must ask you something personal… Did you have… um… Sexual intercourse… with anyone recently? Probably within the last month?" Lydia asked as Analia felt a cold weight sinking in her stomach and all of a sudden she had forgotten to breathe. Finally, she took a shuddering breath and admitted, "Yes… I did."

Lydia looked a bit grim. "Did you… this month?"

"My moonblood?" Analia asked, her lips pressed thin as she already knew what was wrong with her. She shook her head. Lydia simply looked at her sympathetically.

…

He did not know how much time had passed. Seconds. Minutes. Hours. Days. Weeks. Months. It made no matter. Time was inconsequential here. It was not important. Alan had taken his shirt off as it had been drenched in sweat from his concentration. He was down on one knee, gripping Frig Ascutis tightly and using the broken blade to hold himself upright.

In front of him, floated two crystals of ice, each of them almost the same size aside from minor differences. They were spinning lazily around on an axis infront of him as he stared at them with utmost concentration. A drop of sweat trickled down his forehead and down the length of his nose, stopping on the very tip and wiggling there, distracting him slightly but he kept his focus on the two crystals. It was extremely difficult as he had to maintain a very, very specific wavelength of his power to control the ice telepathically.

But it was still not enough. He needed to make all seven. But his mind felt like it was tearing itself apart. Not only his mind, but his very being felt like that. With every ice crystal he had to summon, he had to branch his concentration off to it as well. He gritted his teeth and growled as he shut his eyes tightly, feeling his arms shaking as they clutched at Frig Ascutis in a white knuckled grip. As the air molecules began to freeze infront of him to form another crystal of ice, the other two began to vibrate, chips of ice breaking away as his concentration faltered. He had to focus again and he let out a muffled scream of frustration at the effort it was taking him. And then, as the third crystal was half formed… All three crystals suddenly exploded into shards of ice, hundreds of fragments flying in every direction.

"FUCK!" Alan shouted in anger and despair, taking his right hand from Frig Ascutis and raising it, before punching down at the ground hard. That caused him to scream again as he felt his knuckles breaking against the hard stone floor, the shock going up his arm and probably breaking most of the bones in his hand as well. As bitter tears of pain and anger sprung up into his eyes, he slowly pulled his destroyed hand off the ground. A second later, he felt a warmthness enter his hand and in seconds, it repaired itself. Thus was the magic of this place. Any exhaustion he felt was soon remedied. Any wounds he suffered, soon healed.

"You still do not see the path you must take, Alan Frost." Raziel's voice echoed as Alan looked towards the source to see Raziel standing there, as armored as always except for his helmet. "You are unique in a way, Alan. Ice runs in your blood, but Fire tempers your being." He paused, before continuing, "But even a fool knows that Fire and Ice cannot work in perfect harmony… Atleast, not always. This is one such case. You try to wield the power of ice with fiery determination. You are walking against the current of the river, Alan Frost."

"Then tell me." Alan said, his voice hoarse with his helplessness. "What must I do."

"Find your center." Raziel said. "In order to wield ice, you must become ice. Ice does not burn with rage nor determination. Ice is still. Ice is unfeeling. Cease to feel and enter a state of mind where nothing can touch you, not even yourself." Raziel said, his golden eyes burning as they always did. "Emotions fuel the flame, Alan. But people fear a leader who is calm in the face of battle more than a leader who shouts in fervor."

"It's easier said than done, Raziel. I'm human. Emotions are something that comes to me naturally." Alan said as Raziel shook his head. "Find your center, Alan… It will take time but you can find it."

"How much time?" Alan asked. "How long?"

Raziel stayed silent before saying, "A few months… Sometimes, a year."

"I don't have that much time, Raziel." Alan said.

"Time does not move as it does ou-"

"But it does move outside, no matter how different." Alan said as Raziel stayed silent, his face as emotionless as ever, always wearing that same mask of melancholic mystery. "There must be a faster way." Alan said.

"There is… But it is dangerous." Raziel said as Alan stood up, the beads of perspiration on his skin gleaming in the dim light a she moved. "I do not care about dangers, Raziel. In the end I will face the Watcher, no matter which path I take. And I am either prepared to face him or I am not. And to be prepared, I cannot balk from a path just because it is riskier." Alan said as Raziel stared at him, seeming more grim than before.

"Are you fully intent on taking this path then, Alan?" He asked.

Alan remained silent for a few seconds…

Lissandra…

Her name. Her face. Her voice. They flashed across his mind.
What am I fighting for? He asked himself.
I am fighting for her. He answered.

"Yes."

Raziel simply stared at him for a few more seconds before turning around. "Follow me." He said.

It was another path through the long, winding hallways of black polished stone as Alan walked with Raziel, going down stairways. Finally, Raziel pushed open a large set of double-doors of black wood with golden patterns on it. As the door opened, Alan saw that they were outside. But that made no sense, as they were deep underground, judging from the number of staircases they had climbed down, not to mention that the temple was built into a cliff.

"Are we outside?" Alan asked as Raziel shook his head. "As I mentioned before, we are in another dimension. Time and Space do not make as much sense in here as they do in your world." He said as Alan found himself stepping onto black marble, a huge ocean of water infront of them, a neutral sky of blue above them. All around them, Alan saw a never ending expanse of water. They were on a circular platform of black marble, which slowly stepped down into the water. Raziel stopped at the edge of the top most step, turning around. "Go into the water, Alan." He said as Alan stepped up to him, to stand next to him as he looked at the stairs leading down into the water.

"And what must I do in the water?" Alan asked as Raziel took Frig Ascutis from him and placed it at his own sword belt, before turning back to Alan.

"You drown." Raziel simply said.

Alan stared at Raziel, not understanding as he frowned, his mouth opening slightly in surprise but Raziel stayed adamant, staring at Alan, his golden eyes shifting and glowing, waiting for Alan's answer.

If I turn back, I am lost. That was what had driven Alan into finding this temple. And that was what came into his mind now. He looked out at the silent ocean, the sea without the waves so it simply looked like an infinite expanse of dark glass.

"If I drown, won't I die?" Alan asked.

"Yes." Raziel said simply, after a pause.

"Then what is the point of this?" Alan asked again, although he knew that he would still do it regardless of the answer.

"You will die. But the test is… Will you live?" Raziel answered as Alan took a breath to steel his resolved and began stepping down. His bare feet felt the smoothness of the black marble as he was walking down. When he took his first step into the water, he hesitated, stopping for a second in surprise. It's cold. He realized, looking down at it. In all his life, he had not truly felt cold. If I turn back, I am lost.

He completed his step, the water only lapping around his feet. His next step brought the water upto his ankle. The next, upto his calf. The next, his knees. With each step, he submerged more and more of his body into the water as the coldness sunk through his clothes, through his skin and buried themselves deep into his bones. So this is what cold feels like. He mused in his head as the water was around his chest now. He pushed off from the step he was currently on and slowly swam out into the water. His motions sent out ripples across the glass surface of the water, the only disturbance in the entire ocean. The cold shock had been initially brutal… Now, it just felt like a blanket of numb wetness around his skin. He turned around, taking one last look at Raziel, who stood in the same place, staring at Alan. Taking a deep breath, Alan closed his eyes and stopped moving his hands and legs.

This was not normal water, he realized. Normal water tended to push human bodies up. Humans floated in normal water. But here, as soon as he had stopped kicking at the water to keep himself afloat, he began sinking into the water slowly. When his face was submerged, he opened his eyes. Unlike normal water, he could see perfectly as well. But it was water nonetheless. He could feel the coldness on his skin. He could feel the pressure on his lungs as he held in his last breath of air. He could feel his white hair hypnotically moving as he sunk. He watched as it got darker and darker around him, the surface of the water slowly moving further and further away from him. In the water, it was complete silence. He could only hear his heartbeat, beating valiantly against his approaching death.

His lungs were on fire. His throat clawed itself. He held on until he could hold on no longer. He opened his mouth, releasing the air within and gasping for air. But air wasn't what rushed into his lungs. Cold water filled his mouth, filled his throat, filled his lungs. And Alan's eyes widened slightly as he realized it wasn't worse than holding in the air. Now… The coldness was inside him. His chest wasn't burning any more. His throat wasn't itching. He didn't even need the breathe, as his lungs had suddenly lost the ability to exhale or inhale. He simply stared up at the growing darkness, his mouth slightly open, his body limp as he sunk deeper and deeper… Hearing his heartbeat slowing down. Every beat came later than the last. And with every beat, a new image presented itself in his mind. It was true… Life did indeed flash before your eyes when you were dying.

Him punching the ground in frustration, his fist shattered from his anger. Him losing control as he fought against the Sentinel, his entire body being propelled by his power at unbelievable speeds. Him on the balcony at Rakkelstake Castle, with Lissandra next to him as they looked out into the horizon. Him kissing Lissandra gently after he had almost died at her hands. Him gently taking her mask off to gaze upon her face for the first time. Him learning the basics of cryomancy from Lissandra. Him lying on a bed as Lissandra spoon fed him something warm. Him lying halfburied in snow as Lissandra found him. Him looking at himself in the mirror of his old home. Him lying in the snow, younger, as the snow fell around him in a spiralling circle. Him sitting alone at his home as he cried in depression, holding the photo of him and a girl. Him taking baths in icy ponds in the middle of winter without feeling the least bit of discomfort. Him sitting beside a bed as a woman lay there dying. Him hugging a warm woman who caressed his head and said his name lovingly. Him being held tightly against the woman, who was crying into his tiny shoulder and patting his hair as he failed to understand what was going on. Him opening his eyes for the first time to look at the same woman who looked so happy to see him, tears falling from her blue eyes as she smiled at him, holding him in her arms for the first time, her white hair messy as she lay on the bed.

And just like that, the face faded into the darkness as Alan stared up at the dark water. He could only barely see the light reflecting off the surface of the water above him… It was no larger than his fist now. He was still sinking deeper and deeper… His heart. It was almost stopping to beat now. It still fought, even after all of this… It would be so much easier to just give up. To just… die here. At peace. To just… Stop fighting.

What do you fight for? He asked himself.

I fight for her. He answered.

His heart stopped beating.

Psst. Hey. Hey you. Yeah you, reader. Guess what...?

CLIFFHANGER BIATCH ( surprisemotherfucker. mp3)

Anyways xD As usual, if you liked the chapter, please leave a review with your thoughts and comments. Criticism is welcome, you will find me impossible to offend or anger or depress. And, as usual, You do not need an account to leave a review!

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Any and all support you readers give to me is appreciated greatly. As a writer, I always try to interact with you guys, my readers, as much as I can. Because you guys are what makes my stories happen, so all of you are just as important to my stories as I am.

And it is a sad day for us, my dear readers. For I have finally run out of ice puns. They were getting too old anyways, tbh. If i used too many ice jokes... Well, I don't wanna give you guys FrostBite now do I? :^)

*Dealwithit Shades slowly descend onto my face*

~ Wings