Fractured Soul

Chapter 36: Back to Ryn

The city was eerily quiet when Mella and Wesley arrived, with the sun setting below the clouds and behind the mountains on the other side of Ryn. It had taken most of the day to reach Ryn, which had been the smudge Mella had seen a couple days before. The blizzard raged on, keeping them trapped in one place during the day previous until it blew itself out earlier that morning.

"Wesley, how many people did you take from here at the solstice?" she whispered. Dawn's hoof beats echoed off the buildings, the only thing to break the silence.

"At least half of them. For some reason my parent's only wanted the water elementals that were seventeen. But this is still weird...unless..." Wesley trailed off.

"Unless what?" Mella asked, but another voice cut Wesley off before he could start to answer.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because the others are scared that the royal brats will come back to take them too, so they hide all day."

Mella knew that voice. She searched around until she saw somebody half-hidden in shadow. Mella slid off the horse and walked closer. The person chose not to move.

"Dilan?" The person stepped out of the shadows, revealing blonde hair, blue-green eyes, and a goofy grin. Mella ran up and hugged him.

"Hey Princess." Dilan hugged her back. "You alright? You vanished after the festival and then soldiers appeared. We thought you got caught."

"I was caught, but I escaped. I went back to Berna afterwards and started heading this way." Dilan was no longer paying attention. His eyes had hardened and were glaring icily at something behind her. His hand was pointing, his finger shaking in anger. Mella turned to see Wesley had dismounted, leading his horse and was walking closer. At least, he had been until huge amounts of snow had melted and refrozen around him, almost to the middle of his chest.

"Why is Roxas here?" he demanded, still pointing. "What are you doing with the prince that tore Ryn apart?"

"I would explain myself, but breathing's rather difficult at the moment." Wesley muttered before falling silent. He was getting paler as the ice kept climbing. His hands were frozen solid, and it didn't look like he could free himself.

"Dilan, stop! He's on our side. Wesley's the reason why I could escape."

An inkling of understanding dawned in Dilan's eyes. "Escape?"

"Yeah, escape. I told you five seconds ago, I was caught at the festival. Let him go." Mella pleaded.

Dilan looked he was just going to ignore her and rid the world of the disgraced prince right there. A month had changed things for him, Mella could see that. She stepped closer.

"Dil, if I didn't trust him, or I thought he was lying, he wouldn't be anywhere near me." she said softly. "Let him go. Please."

Dilan sighed, and let his hand drop. Immediately the ice, which had reached Wesley's neck, started melting. As soon as the prince was free, Dilan crossed his arms. "Start talking, Roxas."

"It's Wesley. Roxas is my middle name. And we need to talk with Kai. Preferably without my cousins around."

"What makes you think I know who Kai is, Wesley?" Dilan said stubbornly.

Wesley rolled his eyes. "I've been here before, Dilan." Dilan stiffened at the sound of his name. "We knew who would be with Mella before we came at the solstice. You and Kai, not to mention your brother and my cousin, are inseparable. Just help us out here."

"Please." Mella added to the end, silently telling Wesley to do the same.

"Please." Wesley said.