The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 28

The next morning, I walk out to the common room and find breakfast on the table. It's early, but I don't mind. I actually feel refreshed after an uneventful sleep. Taking a look around I can see that both Jared and Alexander are nowhere to be seen. My breakfast is a pancake platter from IHOP. It has three large pancakes and several breakfast sausages in it. It's doesn't taste too bad, and it must not have been sitting here too long as the syrup is still warm. I begin to eat and don't realize how hungry I am. The whole thing is gone in minutes.

A few minutes later, while I am wiping the excess syrup off my fingers, Jared and Alexander walk in with a few bags from a local department store. Inside are a few changes of clothes. Things like jeans, sweaters, t-shirts, a tracksuit and a new pair of runners. To be honest, it's been a long time since someone other than me has bought my clothes and I feel pretty awkward about it.

"Good to see you're awake. Get your stuff on, we're going to start training today."

"And what does this entail?" I ask.

"Well, we're going to start by running, just to build up some stamina; a quick jog around the park."

Jared opens the blinds on the window and I can see that the snow has started to fall again in Ohio. They are large fluffy flakes that float, more than they do fall, to the earth. Beyond the window and the street is a large park. Significantly bigger than I thought it was when we unloaded in the dark last night.

"We are going to start by going for an easy jog."

"Ugh, I already don't like the sounds of this."

About 20 minutes later, Jared, Alexander and I are standing across the street of our hotel at the entrance of Goodale Park. The park is about 30 acres large and there is a pond in the middle of it, a rather large gazebo and many trees. The snowfall actually makes it look very peaceful. The tennis courts are closed for the winter and the park is nearly deserted.

There is one other person with a black dog walking around the pond. The dog barks every so often but not enough to deter us.

"So we're starting easy," says Alexander as he takes off to the west side of the pond. "Try and keep up!" He yells back to Jared and I who begin our pursuit.

I can't believe how fast Alexander is. He makes running look effortless and is nearly a hundred yards ahead of Jared and I. It's almost as if his feet don't even touch the ground, like he is floating ahead of us. It's not long before he gets too far ahead that I lose sight of him completely.

Running around this pond makes me think of my dreams and running from the darkness. I recognize that burning feeling in my legs that starts in the front of my legs and eventually starts to work its way down to my calves. About three quarters of the way around the pond, I am running by myself. Jared is struggling to keep up to me, but I refuse to quit. Ahead, I see a figure back near the spot where we started this nonsense. It looks like Alexander has already reached the end of this run. How could he do it so quickly? His legs must be killing him! I think to myself. I try to concentrate on anything but the pain I feel in the lower half of my body and it seems to dull the pain a bit or at least trick my mind into not thinking about it.

I think about the beauty of this park in the wintertime. People are missing out on how peaceful this looks with the frozen pond and the glistening sun sparkling off the snow and the long icicles that hang from the tree branches as I pass by. The shimmer seems to capture me and I begin to feel an odd sense of peace as my feet pound the pavement.

I seem to lose myself in the view and before too long I have completed the loop around the pond and have caught Alexander who is lounging on a picnic table. By the time I bring myself to a stop I can begin to feel my legs throbbing again. I sit down and start to rub them which gives Jared the extra time needed to catch up to us.

"You jumped didn't you?" he says through panting breaths.

"I've never seen anyone move that fast."

"No, I didn't jump. But this is one of the first lessons that you will need to know. Endurance will save your life. Think if you are fighting the Achlys, something that isn't bound to emotions and feelings, it will fight you all day and the moment you tire. It will win. You will need to overcome all the tiredness and aching you feel in your muscles to ensure that you win."

"Well that sounds easy," I finally say. "How do you propose I do that?"

"You have to center yourself, find something that you can use in your mind to push out all the fear and the pain."

I think back to the feeling I had when I was running earlier and the beauty around had captivated me, but I can't seem to find that same feeling inside. Maybe it's because my legs are screaming at me right now, wondering why we just ran at a decent clip for nearly 45 minutes. I stand up and start to slowly move my legs around. They feel better when I do.

People are starting to make their way into the park, which prompts Alexander to tell us that we should go. His thoughts are that the more people that see us, the more likelihood that the darkness will discover our location.

All three of us put our hoods up to cover our faces but the people at the park don't even come close enough to be able to make us out. We find our way back to the hotel a little slower than we did when we left this morning and as we enter, both Jared and Alexander take a look around to see if there is anyone that could be potentially watching us. There appears to be none.

Before long, we are standing outside the door to our room.

"Umm, I forgot my key," Jared says a little embarrassed.

Alexander feels around his pockets a bit and comes up with nothing. He offers a smile.

"Ugh, boys..." I say reaching into my pocket and pulling out my key. I move to the door and slide it into the key lock. The light changes from red to green and I can hear the lock disengage. I turn the handle while looking back at the boys, smiling and open the door. When I do, I see the look on Alexander's face change and he tries to push his way through the door. I turn quickly back just in time to see a figure standing in the middle of the room with some kind of a weapon pointed directly at us.