The Isles of Ice Book One: The Corrupted Kingdom

Lightning Strikes and Temperatures Rise

It was a beautiful night. A soft breeze was gently blowing the lush green grass on the field and trees from the forest were shaking slightly from the light gust.

Kingston was the warmest island due to its north-most position and the fact that it was summer meant the island was almost as full of life as Marok was.

The fields were filled with farms. The only place in the archipelago where farming was feasible for any period of time and it was done en masse because of this. It didn't hurt that the island was easily the largest and had numerous small towns making it up beyond the capital city built on the water.

The gentle chirping of bugs contributed to the calm atmosphere of the night. An atmosphere that would have been appreciated by the pirate had Crius not been standing in front of them.

Unlike Atlas, he had a mouth and it was curved in a toothy smirk. The Guardian's body had the same blurry outline that made his figure hard to determine that Atlas had but his defined mouth and eyes said it all.

Crius's eyes were orange like Atlas's but they had a red tinge to them that gave them additional unwelcome malice.

His mace was sitting in his left hand waiting to be used. The spiky ball exuded purple energy but the Indigo Jewel was nowhere to be seen. "We've done this song and dance before. Now kindly give up and let us finish what we've begun."

Xavier ignored the Guardian's 'request' and drew his sword. "Where is Atlas?"

Crius couldn't help but snicker. "My brother is in our care and the details of that are none of your concern."

"They're not your brother you bastard!" Jacob shouted. "They're our friend and you're going to find out what happens when you mess with friends of ours."

The rebel held out his sword and Rose filled it with magic. Rage started to build up in Xavier and he could tell that mood was shared by his two friends.

"You don't scare me, boy," Crius replied. "Once Astraeus's spell alerted him that you had all shown up here, I was sent to deal with you. Definitively. And that's what I'm going to do. This ends now!"

Crius threw his arm out and his mace went flying with it. The ball and chain extended towards Jacob who countered head-on with his blade.

Lumis's wielder charged in which forced Crius to retreat. Pillars of light started to rain down from above and the Guardian was forced into a very defensive position right off of the bat.

Crius tried to counter by sending a ball of magic at Rose while she conjured pillars but Xavier deflected the attack with a rush of ice magic.

The captain was surprised to find that the air was so easy to manipulate even in the warmth of the night. If he could counter that attack with ease, the fight would only get easier as the night got colder.

Jacob drove his blade into Crius's side and his enemy hissed in response to the weapon making contact. He tried to swing his mace into the boy but Xavier put up a wall of thick ice between the weapon and his friend which stopped the move in its tracks.

Rose then summoned a beacon of light from Crius's feet which briefly consumed their enemy before dying back down.

The Guardian was visibly getting worn down by the barrage of attacks and still had Lumis wedged inside of him. His eyes locked on Jacob and he suddenly sent forth a wave of purple magic.

The magic seemed to electrocute the blacksmith and he was thrown back before collapsing. "Jacob!" Rose screamed. The girl rushed to his side.

Xavier grew even angrier as he faced a now laughing Crius and charged straight at his foe. Crius did exactly what Xavier expected and tossed out his mass to intercept the pirate captain.