Ashes of a Black Frost

heart as he thought of the others he’d lost. His smile faltered for a moment as he searched and failed to find the faces of so, so many.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Their numbers had been steadily whittled away. Months of hard living and even harder fighting had taken its toll on those that still remained. The scars, whether physical or somewhere deep inside, would probably never heal, not entirely. Their Empire was falling apart at the seams, and victory looked less and less likely the closer they got to Her mountain. But for all that, they had each other.

Konowa grinned, and started to laugh. His soldiers laughed with him. From somewhere in the small crowd, a soldier’s voice rose up above the din, and his words were taken up by every Iron Elf present:

We do not fear the flame, though it burns us,

We do not fear the fire, though it consumes us,

And we do not fear its light,

Though it reveals the darkness of our souls,

For therein lies our power.

?ri Mekah!

THIRTY-FOUR

Visyna stood on the harbor side of the ship with her forearms resting on the railing. The wind in her hair felt good, as did being on the ship and knowing they were leaving this place. She waved as the Prince, escorted by a company of troops, walked across the pier to board the HMS Ormandy to take him back to Calahr. He never broke stride, but he did doff his shako in response.

“Our future king,” Konowa said, walking up to stand beside her at the railing. She felt the sudden urge to slide closer and have him wrap his arms around her, but the frost fire made it too difficult.

“A future king,” she said, turning to him. “I wish him well, but the time of his Empire is over. My country is free.”

Konowa held up his hands. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Old habits.”

“Speaking of old habits, can’t you get rid of that acorn? You did before in Elfkyna,” she said, watching his face carefully.

He smiled, removed his shako and placed it between his thighs, and reached into jacket and pulled the leather thong up over his head. He then placed it inside his shako and set it on the deck of the ship. “Give me your hand,” he said, holding out his.

She did, and immediately withdrew it when black frost arced between their fingertips. “I don’t understand, you removed the acorn.”

His smile remained, but she saw the sadness in it now. He unbuttoned the top four buttons of his jacket and pulled back the lapels while pulling down on his undershirt. A black, acorn-sized stain marked the skin above his heart. “It’s in me. The only way I break this oath and Her hold is to destroy Her.” He placed the acorn back around his neck.

“Then we need to be going,” she said, standing up straight and stepping away from the railing. “She’s come between us long enough. One monarch’s reign has ended, now it’s time the other’s does, too.”

“Have I told you how attractive you are when you’re feisty?” Konowa asked, moving to stand as close to her as he could without touching her.

“No, and I expect that to change,” she said, breathing deeply to take in as much of his scent as possible. She wet her lips. “Bellowing orders like a mad bull might work in the army, but as my elf you’ll need to learn more subtle techniques to get what you want.”

Konowa looked at her with a hunger she longed to feed. She knew it matched her own.

He leaned forward and brought his lips to the very edge of her ear. His breath on her skin made her entire body shiver. “Are you saying you want to tame me?”

“Not. . not when we’re alone,” she said, her voice husky with desire.

He started to whisper something else when there was a loud thump and the ship rocked. She stepped back and looked around. “What was that?”

Konowa had his hand on his chest and his eyes closed. “Nothing good.”

The water in the harbor began to churn, but the wind hadn’t picked up. “You’re the only weather weaver I know. Can you tell what this is?” he asked. Men were running around the deck of the ship shouting. Iron Elves appeared along the railings with their muskets at the ready. From belowdecks the ship’s gun crews were yelling and hurriedly reloading their cannons.

“If I could weave I might have an idea, but I’ve exhausted myself. I’m sorry,” she said.

He moved forward and smiled at her. “You’ve nothing to apologize for. I heard what you did. Everything from when you, my mother, and Rallie took off in her wagon from the party in Nazalla until we met at the fort. You didn’t just survive, you saved a lot of lives.”

She returned his smile. “I guess I’ve picked up a few things from watching you.”

The ship rocked again from another unseen blow. “All right, that’s got to stop,” Konowa said, his hand drawing his saber halfway out of its scabbard. “Can anyone see anything?”

The answer came in two parts. Ice began to form on the water although the temperature above it hadn’t dropped. Moments later, long, black branches shot up from the water on the seaward side of the ship and clawed up the side of HMS Black Spike, tilting the ship to starboard.

Pandemonium broke out on deck. Soldiers fired their muskets wildly at any branch they could see. Musket balls whizzed and ricocheted but did little damage. “Hold your fire, hold your fire, you daft buggers!” Yimt yelled. A few more muskets fired before order was restored. The ship rocked as more branches snaked up the side and latched on.

“They’re underneath us,” Visyna said, looking down at her feet. She could accept horrors that came at her in the open, but something about an unseen enemy beneath her was chilling. She stepped away from the railing.

Konowa turned to look at her. “And you wonder why I hate trees?”

Rallie and Chayii appeared on deck with Jurwan between them. The elf wizard was still not talking, but his eyes followed events with an obvious interest and it seemed he was close to returning to normal. Visyna hoped so.

“If you’ve got anymore tricks up your sleeves, now’s the time,” Konowa said to the women. He walked over to his father and peered into his eyes. “We could really use your help father.”

The ship lurched and mooring lines snapped.

“They’re trying to pull us away from the dock,” Visyna said, stumbling back toward the railing. She caught herself and looked down into the water. It was black and frothing, like boiling oil. She pushed herself upright and caught movement on the dock.

“It’s Jir and Tyul!”

She turned to point, but only Chayii heard her. The elf ran over to stand beside her.

A thunderous broadside fired from the Ormandy across the way shook the night. Both of them jumped. Wooden buildings near the dock exploded in a shower of splinters. Jir and Tyul went to ground, but were immediately back up and running for the ship. Rakkes cut them off and a melee began. The elf was a blur of slashing precision while the bengar tore through the creatures with savage efficiency.

But it wouldn’t be enough. There were too many rakkes. More and more joined the horde surrounding the two. The rakkes finally had a chance to bring down two of their tormentors and they weren’t going to let them get away.

“Don’t shoot!” Chayii yelled, waving in a vain attempt to get the attention of the Prince’s ship.

“It’s their only hope,” Visyna said, doubting even that could save them. She could only see Jir and Tyul sporadically now as still more rakkes streamed through the smoldering ruins of the buildings and toward the dock.

The ship rocked again and the brittle, caustic tang of frost fire filled the air. She turned and saw Konowa with his saber drawn, slashing at branches while Rallie drew furiously on a sheaf of papers. Jurwan stood between them,