“Good point,” Monty said with a nod. “Let me see if a tracking rune will—”
“Welcome to your death, mage,” a voice boomed around us.
“I think we found her,” I said. “Seems like she wants a word—with you. It’s strange, as I don’t remember little Cece sounding like James Earl Jones. Maybe she has a cold—you know, all this ice.”
“That’s not Cecelia,” Monty said, turning in the direction of the voice. “Not entirely. I should’ve expected this.”
“You should’ve expected Cece to sound like an older, middle-aged man? What do you mean, not entirely?”
“The Jotnar are connected to an ancient consciousness, it serves almost as a hive mind,” Monty said. “It’s usually dormant, surfacing only during times of extreme stress or danger.”
“I’m guessing an ice mage shift qualifies as extreme stress and danger?”
“You will die today, Tristan Montague,” the voice said. “For your transgression against my people. Your vow remains unfulfilled.”
“There is no vow,” Monty said with an edge to his voice. “There never was.”
“Do you want me to wait outside?” I asked. “This sounds personal.”
“Stop talking,” Monty answered. “I highly doubt it’s just me this entity is focused on.”
“For befriending the Vowbreaker, you, too, will meet your end—Chosen of Kali.”
“Well, shit.”
NINE
“Wait, I didn’t commit any ‘transgressions’ against her people. What does this have to do with me?”
“I seem to recall you being there when we retrieved the runic neutralizer from Steigh Cea Styne.”
“True, but I had nothing to do with your vow,” I said. “Befriending is now a punishable offense?”
“They seem to operate by archaic laws of their own. Befriending a Vowbreaker in their eyes makes you just as guilty as the perceived Vowbreaker.”
“I need to start keeping better company,” I muttered. “The kind that doesn’t get me killed.”
“You could always join Bangers and Mash,” Monty answered with half a smile. “I’m sure they would welcome your skill and expertise.”
“I said the kind that doesn’t get me killed, not the kind that races me to my death by C4—or worse.”
“Just giving you options,” Monty said. “Think of all the ways you can test your immortality with those two.”
“Pass on joining the pseudo-mage and his sidekick. Not in that much of a rush to test my condition, thanks.”
“I thoroughly expected this to be quashed, especially with the request I teach Cecelia,” Monty said. “Apparently the Jotnar can hold a grudge.”
“You think? Your apprentice has gone full Sith,” I said, keeping my voice low. “How do we stop her? Without blasting her to bits.”
“This Jotnar consciousness seems to have manifested because of Cecelia’s shift. We just need to get her past the shift, and it should return to dormancy.”
“That’s all?” I said, shaking my head. “Doesn’t sound complicated at all. What do we need to do?”
“First, we need to find Cecelia in this space.”
“Right,” I said, looking around. “You said she’d pick something familiar. This looks like a barren wasteland.”
“I truly hope this isn’t familiar to her,” Monty said. “Even as empty as it appears, we need to be wary in here.”
“Wary? Of what?” I asked. “This place is empty.”
“Not exactly,” Monty said, lowering his voice. “Do you recall the threat when we visited the Stynes?”
“You mean besides the unstable Jotnar trying to kill us?”
“Her cognitive degeneration and psychotic break were the results of her proximity to that ley-line. I meant the other threat.”
“Honestly, it was all a blur. That usually happens when powerful ice women are trying to skewer me repeatedly with large ice missiles.”
Monty grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side while gesturing with the other hand. A golden semi-circular wall of energy materialized in front of us as several angry-looking icicles slammed into it, shattering into dust.
“Move back,” he said, covering his face as we backpedaled. “Do not breathe in that dust.”
The pieces that fell to the floor weren’t the familiar blue, glowing ice.
These shards were black.
That’s when it came back.
“Shit, is that what I think it is?”
“Seems your memory has been jogged. Yes, that is obsidian ice.”
“Obsidian ice, the fatal-to-magic-users kind of ice?” I asked. “Is that the signal to exit?”
“Would love to,” Monty said, slowly panning his gaze. “Do tell me when you see the exit.”
“It’s right over…there.” I turned to point to the entrance that was no longer there. “It was right over there. Come on, really?”
“See if you can contact your creature.”
“I’m sure Peaches can hear me. Give me a sec.”
<Boy, can you hear me? Are you close?>
I waited about thirty seconds before trying again.
<Hey, boy! Extra meat at the place if you can answer.>
“Anything?” Monty asked, gesturing.
“No response,” I said. “He must be out of range.”
“He’s not the one out of range—we are.”
“We are?” I asked. “Just how strong is Cece?”
“It’s not Cecelia I’m worried about right now,” Monty answered. “We need to break her focus.”
“Okay, how do you—”
“Cecelia! Cecelia Styne! Desist from this course of action this moment!” Monty yelled. “This is your teacher, and this behavior is inappropriate!”
“Spent much time around kids, have you?”
“She’s not a child,” Monty said. “The Jotnar consciousness inside of her is ancient, possibly millennia old.”
“Inside the body of a child,” I corrected. “Let me try. Just keep that wall up in case the angry, old Jotnar decides to unleash more black ice.”
“Obsidian ice,” Monty corrected. “Not black ice.”
“Potato, potahto—bottom line, it’s lethal.”
“Granted,” Monty said. “See if you can get her attention. I have an idea that may break the hold it has over her. I need to disrupt the focus.”
Monty crouched down and began tracing symbols into the ground.
“Cece?” I called out. “Hello, Cece? It’s me, Mr. Simon from next door.”
I had a feeling “next door” was some distance from where we were standing at the moment.
“I just wanted to say thank you for helping Peaches find me when I was lost. Do you remember? How you, Rags, Peaches, and the tiny lizard, Frank, found me?”
It was petty, but I didn’t care. Frank was no dragon, and I would remind him of that when we spoke, preferably after I smushed him
