Frozen Flame

Chapter 57: The Five of Them

He bounded ahead, joining back up with his partner, flying across over Jared's head.

Still pressed against the walls and sharp rocks on either side of him, Jared sighed. "Great, and once again I'm behind. Love it when this happens, love it! And of course, little Larcens gets a ride overhead, all high and mighty whilst I, the stupid leader of Ice, am stuck beneath them, struggling like an idiot. 'Oh, sure Jared, you can just stay beneath us, taking your time whilst we galivant around you.' 'Oh, poor little Jared with your...' Oh, just forget it, you can't hear me anyway!" He growled. "Shouldn't I get a little more respect over here? Just..."

With a calming breath, he shook his head, pushing himself through the small blades of ice that were starting to poke through the misshapen ledges and beaten towers of earth.

***

Jumping to the ground and landing perfectly balanced, Benjamin looked around, staring at the long expanse of land before him before turning back around and offering a hand to his mistress. With a small smile of gratitude, she placed her hand in his and stepped down, graceful as a petal. He returned the favour, moving away from the edge of the slim walls, offering ample space for his partner to drop down.

A loud thump hit the ground, followed by a large groan as Lucas landed, rolling the heavy duo on his back to the ground. He groaned again, standing up and walking to his partner.

"Ben, I swear, one of these days I'm going to kill you."

A smile looked back at him as the boy whipped his long, pink hair over his shoulder. "Oh, you love me, admit it!"

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "I'm not denying it. I would never have carried those two brick-heads over there if I didn't."

A voice piqued up behind him. "Hey! We're not brick-heads! Well... I'm not, he might be..."

Then, "Larcens, I am not a brick-head, I am the leader of Ice and your superior!"

As the four continued muttering amongst themselves, Ceecee stepped forward, walking away from the arguing group. Several seconds passed until the four noticed her movements, of which caused a large scramble as each of the Ice residents attempted to climb over each other, quickly hurrying to her position so as not to be left behind.

Ceecee smiled, calling back. "It appears I'm the only responsible one here who realises the small fact of 'we need to get moving'. Can you boys hurry it up!? I'm bored and need someone to vent to!"

Lucas arrived at her side, not a single breath out of place whilst Benjamin joined him, calm and confident. However. They were soon joined by a tired Jared, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Seconds passed.

Finally, Larcens joined them, bent in two, breath heavy. "Can you guys please slow down a bit?" A laboured breath. "Seriously, how did you guys get so fast? I mean," deep huffs, "wooh..."

Jared glanced at him. "It's called fitness, Larcens. I honestly didn't think you'd be out of breath."

He frowned. "Hey, I may be excellent at fighting, and super fast, and look pretty awesome when I do it, but when your ability's freezing things you can kind of get away with a lot of physical movement... like running. I usually just propel myself forward."

Jared raised an eyebrow. "So, why didn't you just propel yourself then?"

Placing his hands on his hips, Larcens pursed his lips, annoyed. "Because I thought we were doing that thing where we all run forward together – like the endings of those happy stories and those paintings. You know, proud heroes run forward towards their next mission, like a metaphor thingy?"