Flames of Dust and Ice

Chapter 1

For the first time, I dare to look up at her. The black of her combat uniform stands out against the stark lightness of her tightly pulled-back hair and milky skin. Her cold blue eyes pierce through me. Sweat beads at my forehead; I long to wipe it away, and to wipe my fear away with it, but I can't. I dig my nails into the rope around my wrists in an effort to tamp down my nerves. I must do this.

I just hope I don't regret it.

She walks around me slowly like a predator sizing up its prey, evaluating my raggedy t-shirt and jeans, my tangled white hair. She stops in front of me, again staring into my eyes.

"You know," she says. "The eyes are said to be windows into the soul, but yours are so black I can't see past them. I can't tell if you have a death wish or if you are simply a little fool of a girl."

I return her stare with the same intensity, determined to look composed and in control despite my being tied to a chair.

"The only thing I seek is protection. Almost no one has heard of your organization, let alone knows that it exists. If you are that good at disappearing, how hard could it be to hide one extra little girl? I am willing to offer my services to you in exchange."

Her eyes widen as she lets out a small, incredulous laugh.

"What service could you possibly provide that would be worth my while? You are more useless to me than the courier who couldn't keep his mouth shut a few months ago. An operation as big as mine is only as effective as its members allow it to be. Now, if a member becomes too weak for my standards, they will be disposed of."

"I have the ability to take out several men at once. If I were to be sent with your field operatives, I could take care of anyone who gets in their way."

"Oh, really? My men easily apprehended you, kidnapped you, and brought you here. Now why were they able to do that, if you can simultaneously incapacitate a group of men?"

"Who said I didn't go willingly?" I say with a smirk, my confidence returning. She leans in close to me, a look of disgust deepening the lines on her face.

"How could such a small, little wretch like you take out any man? Do you really think that I am that stupid? You are worthless. Get her out of my sight." She snaps her fingers, and immediately one of her guards steps forward and slices the ropes off of my wrists.

He grabs me by the shoulder and roughly steers me towards the door and out into an alley. After one final shove towards the main street, he walks back inside and the door slams shut. Not what I was expecting. Is it really that unbelievable, that Madame Durant wouldn't even ask for a demonstration?

And why would she just let me go? A part of me is relieved that I am not bound to them. Even so, an uneasy feeling sinks into my stomach. Just as I'm about to reach the main street, three figures dressed in black turn into the alley, blocking the entrance. I hear the door open behind me, and four more men file out. They move in closer, surrounding me. I glance nervously from one to the other, trying to make out the faces beneath their hoods but failing to in the dim twilight.

"What's happening? I thought I was allowed to leave."

"Change of plans," one of them says. "Did you really think you would get to walk free?" One of the guys in front of me lunges forward with a knife and I panic. I drop to the ground and put my hands to the cobblestone. A cool surge of energy rushes through me. Ice forms near my fingertips and quickly spreads to cover the stone around me. Once it hits the guards' boots it begins to creep upwards. They scream and shout, dropping their weapons as their bodies begin to freeze. Then, silence.

My heart is racing and fear is coursing through my veins. I get up and scramble around their frozen figures, making my way into the street. Several pairs of thudding footsteps tell me that more guys are coming to replace the ones I froze. I run faster down the abandoned sidewalk. Something flies past my head and crashes into a glass display window, shattering it. They're closing in behind me, and in no time I'm surrounded again. Having nowhere to run, I create a cloud of ice shards and thrust it at them. They take a few steps back, surprised but unfortunately unharmed.

I feel a cool numbness as my energy drains. I can feel the ice as it gathers in my hands and extends to create twin spears. A guard advances towards me and I blindly stab one of my spears in his direction. He backs away screaming, covering one of his eyes with his hands. Blood runs out between his fingers. A split second later something metal slams into the back of my skull. I see stars as I stagger and fall against the wall of a shop.

There are too many of them. Another guard comes towards me, and I kick out my leg to touch his. With a burst of energy, I use that contact to freeze him in place, but not without a price. My surroundings start to spin. The men around me blur into one black shape. I can feel the heat of blood trickling down my neck in contrast to the coolness in my veins. My consciousness fades and I black out.

I I I

I can hear shuffling all around me. My head throbs, enough to make me wish I was still unconscious. I open my eyes to see the same room I was in before, and that I am still bound, albeit more securely, in the same chair. The harsh fluorescent lights make the throbbing in my skull worse, and it's all I can do to stifle a groan.

"So, you wish to be hidden? I can do better than that. I can make you disappear."

Footsteps echo through the room as Madame Durant comes from behind to face me.

"Disappear as in hidden, or as in dead?" I mumble. Her cold glare seems to hold a glint of approval.

"You took out nine of my operatives, and you haven't an ounce of proper skill. I am going to train you. You will make more of a valuable asset to me than I first gave you credit for. But remember, you must remain loyal to me. One slip-up, one inkling of disloyalty, and you will be begging for death. What did you say your name was?"

My answer is barely audible. "Eve."

A smile spreads across her lips.

"Eve, welcome to the Blue Flame."

The next thing I know, her figure recedes down some hall I hadn't realized was there. My head swims and the floor swirls as someone cuts me loose and I am shoved into a standing position. I think I hear the guard say something, but whatever it was sounded like it came from underwater. He pulls me in the opposite direction, but I'm so focused on trying not to feel nauseous that I don't bother putting up a fight.

I'm guided down a hall and into a clinic room of some sort. I see a blur of two people already in there, crowded around one of the cots lined along the back wall. The muffled voice of a woman reaches my ears, saying something about how many people she's already had to patch up today, when I collapse onto one of the beds.