Argh, damn it. I though I could at least nab an NCO. Winter is royalty after all. But now, I nab a dragon with as much power as a pear!
I pumped my fist into the air, a display of my anger and frustration.
"We did not think you could possibly be alive, Hailstorm," Narwhal said, inspecting his older son top to bottom. "Congratulations on your survival. The queen will be pleased to welcome you back to her army."
Hailstorm just carved his tail in a slow arc through the snow, his head drooping even lower.
"As for you, Winter," Narwhal continued. "We have heard a lot of stories about your behavior. Perhaps you can clarify some of them for us."
Here we go.
"Attacking your own sister at Jade Mountain Academy. Leaving the school without your queen's permission. Traveling with a NightWing. Leading the RainWings straight to Icicle's hiding place so she could be imprisoned.
That wasn't him.
And then abandoning her, unconscious, in the rainforest, where any NightWing might have murdered her.
Again, NOT him.
Disappearing into Pyrrhia without consulting your queen. Consorting with dragons from other tribes. Gone for days with no message sent home and no oversight or explanation for your behavior."
Okay, that's on him.
Winter's father, took a step towards him, the crisp snow crunched under him. "What were we supposed to think? How were we supposed to account for you in the rankings? What choice did the queen have?" He swept one wing toward the wall. As if he just explained why he's now at the lowest rankings.
Not much of an explanation.
Winter was busy calculating out the consequences of what was unfolding. He probably already knew where his Queen went. Probably to take care of what happened in the RainWing kingdom.
"Father," Hailstorm surprised me. "I see I am no longer listed in the rankings, but may I have permission to speak?"
Narwhal inclined his head, looking down at his son. "Briefly, if you please."
"My brother acted rashly and without oversight," said Hailstorm. "But he did so to save my life. I would have been executed within hours if he had not saved me in time. He was courageous and honorable in his time away from the Ice Kingdom. I am prepared to attest to that before the queen."
I squintied and nodded. Halestorm was prepared to defend his brother, even if he was still not entirely here after Pyrite.
But asking for help? Traveling with two NightWings! He mentally sighed. He did rescue me though.
Suddenly, a familiar voice broke through.
Marvin!
Wha- Grace?
Marvin! Where are you?
I looked up, half hoping I wouldn't see her.
I'm in the courtyard, why?
There's like fifty! Which one?
The one with like two things in it. What-the-hell are you coming here!
I couldn't just let you go without backup. And you'd freeze if I didn't enchant your jacket.
My jacket? That's why! She's right. My breath quite literally freezes as soon as it leaves me. I would've died if I was left as is.
Do you understand now?
I just nodded.
Now where are you. I'm coming to help.
No don't. I can't risk you being seen. What about Kinkajou? You could be helping her instead.
I'm not a doctor, and neither are you. Mayfly at least knows what she's doing. She's good enough.
She's alive. I sighed. Relieved, in a sick and totally insensitive way.
She'll do a lot better with you by her side.
What can I do? I don't know anything that'll help.
But you'll find a way. You always do. You'll do something, and she'll be alright. We'll... No. wait. Stop! Let go of me!
Grace? Grace!
The... the IceWings! They've found me!
What? How!
Marvin, help!
But then our connection was severed.
Winter turned and began to walk back. Halestorm was walking away with Narwhal.
"Hey! What's going on?"
I demanded from him, coming out of chamo.
"You're still here?" Winter said, discouraged.
"I need one final favor." I asked. He just hung his head. "Hey. Do you know how to get to the dungeon? The prison."
Winter's eyes went wide, he looked in some direction. "You can't go there!"
I turned towards where he looked. "Watch me." I slid down, slinging my rifle and catching myself as I started after the place. I heard the dragon bound after me, then slowing to match my pace.
It was then that we intercepted the guards, and I spotted a familiar white colored dragon.
"Let me go!" She squirmed in her chains. White mist clouded around her muzzled snout.
"What's going on here?" Winter asked.
"We found an imposter outside the gates. She's a NightWing, see." The guard poked her with a spear. The pain rocketed through our link, briefly turning her scales a jet black, followed by a stream of blood before her scales healed back over to snow.
"Woah." Winter only exclaimed. The guards nodded.
"We're taking her to be restrained."
"Winter!" Grace called out. "Winter, you have to help me!" She tugged at her chains, only to be dragged back by the guards.
Stand down Grace.
I closed my eyes, stuffing down my rage before anyone else got hurt.
"Winter, please. Help. Moon's-"
"What's happening to Moon?" He suddenly bounded up to her.
"She's... she's..."
"She's what?"
They both met each other for a silent moment.
"No. Don't tell me."
"But Winter, she's-"
"I don't want to hear it."
He turned and started to walk away.
"Winter! Wait! Stop! Winter! You have to help me! You have to help her! Winter! WINTER!"
The guards started to drag her away again. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't.
I followed after the dragons, towards the dungeon. Winter had nothing more for me, I had to worry about Grace now.
I followed them down a huge flight of stairs underneath the palace. I found my way into a reception like room. I met the Icewing guards, returning upstairs. Letting them pass, I continued forward. Another Fifth circle guard was stationed at the entrance of a long corridor, but I snuck past him no problem. A no longer camouflaged Grace was in the cell furthest and deepest down. Encased in shimmering and reflective ice. Like I was in a funhouse hall of mirrors.
"Marvin!" She whispered.
"Grace." I exclaimed. Slipping through the rungs, to be grabbed up by her. Grace held me close to her chest, encasing me in warmth. But... I felt the warmth on my outside, but none made it inside. My chest, my inner layer, was still as cool as the ice surrounding me.
"I'm... glad you're okay." I had no tears for her.
"Marvin."
"Why did you come after me?" I scolded her while we parted. "You got yourself captured. What for?"
Grace sniffed, nuzzling me with her chained shut snout.
"I couldn't let you go. You're... my family. I'm like you. It's all about family. Right?"
Everything convulsed. My entire body was dunked into arctic water. Grace held me closer.
"You're okay. I know how it feels. You're okay Marvin. You're okay."
I pushed myself away from her.
"This was my decision! Not yours! I told you to stay, I told you to help Kinkajou. She needs you."
"No." Grace stopped me. "Kinkajou lives. She always lives. It's you who is in danger."
I stopped dead in my tracks. Gritting my teeth, turning away.
"You say that. And yet you don't tell me."
Grace hung her head. "I know. But... believe me, if I tell you. It's all but guaranteed. You have to understand."
"I understand fully."
I stepped for the bars, when a wave of fear met me.
Wait.
I stopped, looking back to a shivering Grace. She was terrified.
"Grace. What's wrong?"
She closed her eyes, gripping her temples.
"The person in charge. He's here." Her face contorted, her migraine seeping through our link. "They're... talking about me. About... reclaiming their gift."
"What?"
Her eyes shot open. "Marvin..." She began hyperventilating, I saw the terror drift onto her face. "They're... they're gonna come down. The princes, they're..."
I saw what she was thinking. Her voice quavering, shaking, on the verge of tears.
"Are... are they going to rape me?"
I froze. Something snapped in my ears. Then I started to shake my head. I shook my head vigorously.
"No. No-no-no-no-no, that's not going to happen. I'm not going to let that happen. That's not going to happen. I'm not going to let that happen. That's not going to happen Grace. I won't let it. I won't."
"Marvin! Wait!"
Suddenly, there was a commotion. Icewings started running down the corridor.
"Watch her. She's an animus."
Shit! Make me invisible!
"There's someone here! Search everywhere! Don't leave a single corner unchecked!"
I started for the entrance.
Marvin! Wait!
I'll get you out. I'll be back. You'll be safe.
I-I know. But- you're still in danger. The prophecy-
I'll be fine. I'm coming back for you.
I ran up the stairs, emerging to so many pounding legs and swinging, spiky, tails. This was worse than Kasserine. Everything around me exploded. Snow dust, trampled under claws, hung in the air, making it harder to breathe. I kept moving forward, running as fast as I could.
I came upon the gate. Tall, and made of solid ice. I dug out my entrenching tool, unfolding the pick axe. I gripped my bayonet in the other hand, digging them both into the crystal, blue ice. They were sharp enough to stick nicely, although they wouldn't stay in for very long. I tried my weight, but my arms weren't strong enough to lift me anymore. Not even with adrenaline.
Well shit.
Instead, I started chewing through the ice with the pick. I drug away the snow that gathered around the hole.
Wait. I can dig under.
Digging swiftly. I carved a small tunnel a yay deep, underneath the ice. I Él Chapoed my way underneath. Emerging on the other side, as I heard a commotion form on the other side of the gate. The deep thumping of wingbeats. I took off.
I ran.
Trudging as fast as I could through the soft snow. I constantly tripped over the fluff, but I kept running. I ran until the sounds of wingbeats faded out underneath my breath. I ran until the final minds disappeared.
I ran until I fell down into the snow... and stayed there.
When I finally realized I was not dead, I pushed myself up. I had been covered with snow, making an invisible pocket in the bluff. Not twenty paces away, there was a humongous precipice that dropped off sharply. The bottom was obscured by the snowy fog down there. I looked around. There was nothing but flat, snowy ground, and the howling wind. I had even lost my bearing, in the storm. I didn't know which way back the Ice Kingdom was.
"Oh no. No! FUCK!" I yelled at the top of my lungs into the flurry around me. I punched the air, kicking up the snow.
"Damn it! God damn it! Just... FUCK!"
I shouted. But nobody was there. Even less who gave a damn. I seethed, balling my hand into a fist and punching the soft powder. It was fluffy enough to absorb my blow without much pain. Although my knuckles felt weird from the unnatural pressure.
I closed my eyes, sitting cross legged so I wouldn't have to prop myself up. I spent a few moments collecting my breathing.
Fast inhale. Restricted exhale.
Fast inhale. Restricted exhale.
Fast inhale. Controlled exhale.
Deep inhale. Controlled exhale.
Slower inhale. Slower exhale.
Slow and deep inhale. Slow exhale.
Slow and deep inhale. Slow and deep exhale.
Slow and deep inhale. Slow and deep exhale.
I opened my eyes, only to be dazzled by the sudden change in brightness. I blinked only once to adjust.
I huffed, one final time.
Supplies. What do I need? Food, water, shelter.
I unslung my daypack. Inside was my entrenching tool, spare ammunition, a D ration, and a foldable cup.
"What? I thought I had more with me. I couldn't have eaten it all." Then I thought about the comotion with Grace. I reached in further, finding something cylindrical. I remembered what happened to us during the flight. Winter was intercepted, Darkstalker's scroll, I... I killed an IceWing.
"I killed a dragon."
I sunk back onto my feet, tears welling in my eyes, but I didn't know why. I didn't know why I felt bad because of that. Like I was somehow guilty of something, but I didn't know the rules to begin with.
But then a breeze buffeted me, and I was reminded of my previous objective.
Food. Water. Shelter. I got five hours in a place like this.
I wiped the tears away, frozen into hard beads that stung when I pulled them off my cheek.
Fffuck. Pretty much all my supplies are lost. Probably when I went sliding.
It was only then that I checked the equipment on me.
My radio was gone. My flashlight: gone.
My pouches.
My compass pouch was open... and empty.
But I still had my lighter
My canteen was still filled with water.
All three of my magnification devices were still with me, albeit a little scraped up. The left lense of my binoculars had finally shattered. It would need replacing, but I can still see just fine through my right.
But I had no food, no support, no materials, no hope.
I took a breath, noticing the world around me get dimmer and dimmer.
I'll freeze if I don't find shelter soon enough.
Then I remembered. Grace enchanted my jacket. I would be cold, but I wouldn't die. Armed with this knowledge, I technically had all my basic necessities fulfilled for the short term.
With daylight fading fast, and hunger quickly setting in, I had no choice but to already open the D bar. My partly numbed fingers made short work opening the cardboard holder, but I less gracefully ripped off the tin foil. Using my knife, I cut off two of the six cubes. I then split that in half, taking one and putting the second with the rest of it.
Opening my mouth, I slid the chocolate through my teeth. I shivered when the taste stung my tounge. It tasted like an unpeeled potato. I fought back my urge to crunch down on it, to swallow down the pieces and get rid of the taste as fast as possible. Instead, I let it sit in my mouth, letting my saliva do the work for me. Slowly, the taste intensified as the bitter chocolate began to coat my taste buds. Still dissolving too damn slowly for anyone to be comfortable. I would have the taste in my mouth for a week. I let sit for a few long minutes, that felt more like hours under this torture. The peckish feeling in my stomach still persisted, and the fog drifting over my mind did not part yet, but I knew I would be alive.
For how long, I don't know.
From what little math I could still do, I remembered that three rations make up the minimum requirement of calories for soldiers, which was 1,800 calories. Three rations makeup that daily amount. However, the bars themselves were split up into six squares.
1,800 divided by three is 600.
600 divided by 6 is 100.
Each one of those bitty squares are approximately 100 calories.
But considering my high physical demand, and the fact I'm already pretty lean to begin with, meant I was already teetering on the edge of starvation. I haven't gotten much time to fatten up again. That was dangerous. But there wasn't anything I could do now. If I eat more, I'll sacrifice my long term survival for short term comfort. But if I space out my rations, I'd be starving myself.
It was my choice. I had ammo, and good sights. I could hunt, but tracking an arctic animal is different than your average deer. I could only hope and pray that one would stumble across me.
I dug a small indent in the snow, down into more compact snow. There, I lay down, in cover and out of the wind. But it kept blowing dust into my little hidy-hole. I was going to be buried, and there was nothing I could do about it. I lay the shovel entrenching tool on my face, to keep my airway clear. Laying down on the hard floor, and I couldn't get warm.
I looked up into the pitch sky, speckled with hundreds, thousands, millions of stars of various small intensities.
I recognized this sky.
It was the same sky that I had slept under during my first post away from home. The same sky. Home, abroad, or in another world entirely, we all see the same stars.
I thought of my family. I thought of home. I thought of all the responsibilities that I had to carry. I thought of my men, and how scared they must be without someone to stand with them. I thought of my superiors, what they must be thinking. Desertion? Stealing? Defection?
I thought of the men who soldiered before me. Above me, their souls glimmered with every speck in the sky. Watching. Watching me.
I wonder what they think of me? Do they see me as a hero? As someone who's story is truly worthy of being told? Or do they see me for who I really am? A failure. A turned squad leader who couldn't meet the challenges. Who couldn't take back a defector in his squad. Who got banished from his own damn squad! Thoughts of the Invincible City. Thoughts of Jade Mountain. All of it was there, in the specks in the sky.
I pointed my index finger at each of them. My thumb facing parallel along with me. I pushed it in to meet my index, making a little "pwhew" with every motion. I aimed at every speck, sending an imaginary round downrange.
I couldn't do anything more.
I rolled over onto my side, supporting my head with my arm. I drifted off to sleep. Absolutely done with everything today.