Chapter 74: Chapter 74

It all felt the same, as if they were thrown back to the same hell all over again, only that this time it didn’t just come from above, it came from every direction.

Turning to the source of the scream, Henry’s eyes widened and his heart pounded in his chest like a trapped bird as he watched the men, humans and demons, with their bodies caught on fire, clawing at the ground as they tried to crawl forward yet couldn’t, because they were tied down but what looked like thick moving ropes.

At first, Henry thought that it was snakes, but focusing a little, he saw the continuity the strange ropes had with the soil and the trees, roots! Henry thought, the roots somehow had a mind of their own and started attacking them!

The idea was beyond alarming, they were standing in the middle of the forest, surrounded by the giant trees from each and every direction, if all the trees started attacking them then it would be their end! And the fire that ate both the human and the demon’s bodies, where was it coming from?

Henry doubted that it was the same fire as before, for it didn’t just affect the demons but also the humans, let alone the fact that it didn’t burn the bodies right away, unlike the ascendents fire, this one was rather slow at eating the soldiers’ flesh, just a normal fire, human fire.

“Run!” Henry looked at the demon who screamed at others to run away, a young ice demon, wondering why would he act so cowardly, only to take a step back when he knew what scared the young demon so much.

Henry watched as the blue sky was hidden behind a curtain of black smoke, how the golden leaves caught fire, each branch transmitting it fire to another, and each tree igniting it neighbor, slowly spreading the flames all over the forest, the still trees began to shake, as if the fire breathed life and fury in them, the lit branches shook violently, and then began to move up and down, forward and backward rapidly, causing the burning leaves to be detached and then thrown at the soldiers like burning coals

Coughing few times then taking a sharp inhale, Henry felt the air burn his lungs, it was unbearably hot, scorching even, and the smoke made it worst, the air was almost unbreathable and the heat was unbearable, but what scared him the most was how he found himself trapped in a ring of fire.

The flames surrounded them from each side, the smoky sky rained ashes and coals, the roots moved closer, each time taking one of the soldiers and preventing him from shielding himself from the coals.

“Use your ice to cool the air, keep the fire away!” Henry caught the feminine voice yelling urgent orders in the middle of terrified screamed and chaos, and right after it, the air temperature dropped several degrees, and Henry was thankful for it as the air was once again breathable, panting, he tried to look for Rima in the middle of flames, bodies, and chaos, but she was no where to be seen, only her voice reached him.

“Your Grace! Please, think of something!” Henry didn’t know the soldier who pleaded to him, he was but an infantry man, but the desperate and the scared look on his face made the King’s heart tremble, he wasn’t the only one, all the soldiers were scared, panic took over their heart as they lost their formations while futilely trying to escape, no one wanted to die burning, it was the most painful way to die, he didn’t blame them for being scared, but he couldn’t do anything either.

What was there to do, Henry tried to come up with something, his eyes taking everything in, how to defeat such an enemy? Fire and trees, how could such a combination even exist in the first place? Fire was the natural enemy of trees, to be attacked by some living lit trees!

What to do? How to survive? Henry thought, his feet not knowing where to go as there was nowhere to go, all he could do was shield himself from the raining coals and try to not get burned or squashed under the feet, maybe he could ask the few troops he left behind to guard the fleet, they might be able to get them out somehow, it was the only thing he could think of, searching around him for a shadow demon to transfer the message, Henry couldn’t recognize any of the figures but one.

She was far, running and jumping in the middle of the flames, extinguishing them under her feet, bringing winter and cold, freezing everything in her way to him, the burning trees and their roots, her silhouette coming closer and closer each second.

She was stronger than before, Henry thought, her attacks were stronger and more agile than before, maybe it was because of the ascendent’s blood, or maybe because of the urgency of the situation, he didn’t know exactly, all he knew was that she looked both strong and beautiful.

Henry’s heart begged him to go to her when she was standing few steps away, her face covered in grime that failed to hide it beauty, her eyes looking at him with thousands and thousands of emotions, one overshadowing the rest.

Need, she needed him by her side and it was clear in her eyes, even though she was the one doing the protection, the fighting, she still looked scared of something and needed his presence by her side, his reassurance, his safety, and he wanted nothing but to go there and be with her, give her what she needed, but he just couldn’t…

Those beautiful red eyes he loved, those precious rubies which were looking straight in his, were the same that watched his best friends’ die after sending them to death, he wished to believe it was the only option, but he knew Max and Damien long before he knew her, he loved them longer than he loved her, and they were their in his life more than her, unlike them, he felt like he didn’t know her fully, and couldn’t trust her fully, she was at the end of the day his predator, and chose herself and her kind over his, even when he had send the two to protect her.

As bitterness clouded his blue eyes, a small part of him told him that it wasn’t true, that he knew the woman and knew that she would never harm him that way if she had another choice, however, he couldn’t forgive her, not yet, for the sake of his best friends who suffered a horrible fate, he couldn’t forgive her so easily…

Rima watched as Henry’s eyes lost their warmth little by little, killing every hope she had inside her heart, and while everyone thought she was fighting the flames so bravely, she was actually horrified, fire was the natural enemy of ice, and to be trapped in a ring of fire with flames surrounding her from each side was her worst nightmare, one which she lived before and left her with deep scars and deeper fears.

It was all in the past, she kept on telling herself, not letting her mind sink back in the memories she had locked away in the back corner where they wouldn’t be able to hinder her present anymore, but they kept on bubbling right under the thin layer that defined her sanity, threatening to come out, she needed something to survive, to anchor her back to reality, to make her feel safe.

Not something, someone, she needed him, the man who had seen her in her worst and yet still kissed her as if he worshiped her, the man who made her feel safe and loved, something only her mother managed to do, she knew he won’t be able to sustain the attack on his own, and the idea filled her with more horror as she didn’t care about herself but him, they needed each other, she told herself, her eyes not once leaving his as she rushed towards him, afraid that the moment she would blink he would disappear, however, his eyes, after being filled with love and warmth for a second, were quickly clouded by bitterness and ice in the next, before he looked away from her.

He denied her even that! Even a look! Even eye contact! He hated her in that moment, Rima thought with a loud sob, one which came from her depths, the thin layer of sanity was breaches and all the ghosts and fears of the past resurfaced, swallowing he into a pit of despair!

Painful frozen tears fell from her eyes as she watched the invisible gap grow between them, flames and black smoke separating them, a scary realization settling in her mind, telling her that it was indeed the end, that she lost him the moment she chose herself over his friends, that the hate their kinds held for each other wasn’t going to be washed away no matter how much she loved him, and that the same hatred would always resurface in the moments of doubts to fill them with suspicions and accusations against each other.

Rima almost swore that she heard the sound of her heart breaking, the heart she kept safe and hidden behind thick walls all these years just to have it swept away by the human king was being shattered and then thrown back at her feet, he abandoned her, just like everyone she cared about, first was her siblings who abandoned her in the ring of fire, and then there was her mother who abandoned her to death, her family members who stabbed her in the back many times, her people who abandoned her at first, refusing to be ruled by a woman, it was a feeling she was way too familiar with, to be abandoned, and she thought that it won’t affect her any longer, but being abandoned by him after handing him her heart so openly, reopened all the wounds she thought had healed with time.

Rima lost sense of her surroundings, of herself, as she felt herself drawn, the unbearable pain in her heart slowly took over her entire body, and the darkness inside of her, fed by her heart break and the rich blood of the ascendent seeped into her every cell, releasing every bit of energy it carried.

The brown locks slowly turned white, like the snow, her skin lost all color, turning almost blue, cold air emerged from her pores and flood in violent waves, blowing off all the flames around her.

Henry, who took a moment to gather himself and his thoughts, looked back at where his eyes left Rima, not knowing what exactly to say to her but knowing that he couldn’t leave her when she needed him, but all what he was met with was a thick cocoon of fog, before her defining scream echoed in the forest, nearly destroying his sanity.

The scream was followed by a strong wave of cold wind that pushed everyone and everything in the opposite direction, chasing away the suffocating hot air and the thick smoke, Henry and the rest had to cling to anything they could so they wound be thrown away, the flames were extinguished, the ashy ground was covered in a layer of snow, the moving trees were frozen back in their places.

The violent winds only lasted for a minute or two, and once it stopped, Henry slowly opened his eyes, inspecting the place around him, for a second he felt as if he was somehow transported to another dimension as the place he was in at that moment didn’t look like the one he was in before he closed his eyes in the slightest, there was no sight of flames, nor the golden trees, nor the black smoke, the entire place was covered in white, and it took Henry few second to adjust to how bright it was before e could distinguish any of the shapes he saw.

The trees were still there, only that they were frozen and covered with snow, the land was covered in snow, he himself was covered in snow, snow crystals were handing midair, too light for gravity, his breath was coming out as vapor, and his toes and fingers felt numb.

Henry didn’t know what exactly happened, but he knew it was Rima’s doing, but he didn't understand how she was able to unleash so much power at once, the entire forest was frozen, and while some complained about the cold, he was nothing but thankful, if it wasn’t for her last second outburst of power then they would have been all dead, screaming at that, however, an urgent voice kept on nudging him to go and check on her, he never saw her, or any other demon at that use so much power in a single attack, and he doubted it was only because she fed on the blood of the ascendent, he feared that the unimaginable had happened and that the saving she did had cost her dearly.

No, no! it must be some kind of a miracle, Henry reassured his terrified heart, the ascendent’s blood must’ve intensified her powers and granted her such miraculous power that saved them all, that must be it, a miracle of her own making, Henry thought as he searched for her with his eyes, his fear growing when he couldn’t see her anywhere, couldn't bring himself to think that something bad happened to her, even when he was still in shock, still mourning the loss of his close friends, but not in his darkest thoughts he wished for something bad to happen to her.

Unfortunately, what was happening to the ice queen was not a miracle nor a sudden rush of power, but what Henry feared and didn't want to imagine.

She was breaking, her heart break lead to a mind break, Rima wasn't an ordinary woman after all, her entire life was an endless battle, with almost everyone, she fought and fought nonstop, and the one person who loved her had to die so she could survive, that was the kind of life the ice queen had, the scars she kept hidden under her strong façade, an endless battle for survival, where many people came and left, friends, foes, family, strangers, bringing her more betrayal and ice, she kept on fighting her way through though, pushing the pain away, deep inside her, thinking it was gone while it only accumulated through the years, thickening and darkening to form something so dangerous and destructive that waited in the back for the right moment to burst.

Rima wasn't aware of the chaos she caused when she gave up on herself and when her conscience gave up on her, letting her be swallowed and imprisoned by her sorrows, it was the saturation point to her, the enough point, where she couldn’t take more, she had enough of hiding and enduring, she had enough o resisting the urge to simply let everything slip out of her hands, to let the dam break, she was tired of holding it all back, the pain, and just wanted to let herself go for once, cry it all out, rest and unburden her chest, but a demon's pain wasn't like a human's, Demons’ powers came from dark magic that fed on pain and agony and sacrifice, and with the blood of the ascendent and her life force feeding it further, her magic was at its peak, destroying everything around her while offering her as a sacrifice.

Taking few aimless steps, Henry tried to locate Rima in the middle of the snow, the soldiers were emerging from under the snow, luckily alive, some suffering from minor injuries, but there was no sign of her, and the fear turned into an alarming horror when no one seemed to know where she was.

"Your Grace, The barrier! " Henry wanted to ignore his subordinate and just focus on the task o finding her, but the urgency of the voice as well as the sad look on everyone’s eyes told him that he wasn’t going to find what he wants, that the damage was already done, and all he could do in that moment was to move forward.

Henry refused to admit it, he refused the unspoken words, she was there and he knew it, even when his heart felt like it was being stabbed, as long as he didn’t hold her dead body in his arms, he refused to admit that the woman he had feeling for died, even if the taste of her betrayal was still lingering on his tongue, however, when he couldn’t find her anywhere, his eyes turned to look at the barrier the soldiers were begging him to look at.

The invisible barrier was no longer invisible, Henry thought, his mind hardly processing all the changes, the castle was the one barely visible as it was surrounded by a giant dome, formed by the ice and ashes that covered the exterior of the barrier in a thin layer, making it visible.

Looking at the sight, Henry couldn’t help but be reminded by the small snow balls he used to get for Nara, and at the same time, the circles that formed the center, the forest was but another circle, another layer of protection.

There must have been a connection, a detail he kept on missing, Henry thought s he watched the dome, noticing the air thickening inside it, a difference of temperature between the outside and the inside of the dome, Henry thought while focusing his gaze on the ice that melted and then reformed, slower on the surface than it formed on the ground, wondering if the barrier was resisting the assault, the same way it resisted…no not resisted, but absorbed the flames.