That receptionist lady—the Director—had connected the two of us. She had fastened our fates together: hers, mine, and a good number of others’. My father, of course, had been the one who first brought me to Harré, but there is no doubt in my mind: the reason I’ve made all these connections at Harré, the reason I connected with all my friends back at school, it was all thanks to her.
This time, I want to be the one who makes the connection.
“Y-You bitch! Seek to do the same thing that Ice did to me, do you?! Freeze me as you will; I shall take your power—I shall consume it! This body of mine is filled with the blood I stole from several Humans, all of whom possessed the pure magic of Ice! I’d thought your power to be hidden away deep within the sea, but a strange twist of fate has brought you here before me! And yet, our meeting was inevitable—for I know just how dearly Ice has wished to see me once more!!”
Creak! Crack! I focus so intently that I feel as though the core of my being may break under the force of my concentration. He should be frozen over by now. Why is this so difficult? Is it because, like he says, he’s absorbing my magic? My whole body begins to feel heavy and weak. If the power of the Ice Ancient truly is within me, please, just let me hold out for a bit longer, until I can finish him off.
“You’re doing fine. Remain just as you are.”
(What was that?)
I’d been on the brink of preparing for my own imminent death—when all of a sudden, I hear the soft voice of a kind lady echo inside my head. The pain and struggle I’d been feeling somehow eases. Städal doesn’t appear to find my suddenly calm disposition suspicious, however, and only continues to cackle at my efforts. Did I imagine that voice just now? My question is quickly answered when I hear it speak to me again.
“I am the Firstborn of this world, and I bear the power of Ice.”
Along with the sound of her voice, images flash through my mind.
A wide field. Six men and women wearing thin, loose garments. All of them smiling, singing and dancing, looking happy.
The scene changes. Five are holding hands in a circle, casting a spell on something. In the middle of them all, a little creature like a black dragon—but somehow also like a human baby—takes shape.
(Is that Städal? Is this an old memory of hers?)
After that, I see the five often taking good care of the baby, in their own ways—but there is another who watches him even more than the rest. She, a woman with white hair, is the only one who did not take part in Städal’s birth. The woman holds him in her arms, sunlight shining down on them both. A small shard of ice materializes in her hand, and she gently presses it against the baby’s cheek. Most likely, she is the one future generations shall call the Ice Ancient.
The scene changes once more. I am standing in a grassy field, and before me I see the Ice Ancient and a red-haired man kissing. If their hair color signifies their magic type, he’s probably the Fire Ancient.
From far off watches Städal, who has now grown to have the body and mind of an adult. The glare in his eyes, the expression he has on his face as he looks at them—as he looks at the Fire Ancient—is terrifying. Even without words, I can tell he hates him.
Another scene change. Städal has crafted demons with his magic. They are strange creatures, likely things only he can create. They are neither mischievous nor malevolent. He seems to have summoned them only to prove his strength to the Ice Ancient.
But even with this show of force, she does not fall in love with Städal. Eventually, he uses his demons to attack all five of the other Ancients present. The woman in my head speculates as to why he does so. “He attacked out of loathing, out of jealousy of the other five, and knew he possessed the power to withstand their abilities. No longer able to control him, I gathered all my power to freeze and destroy him.”
Since all I had seen so far had been described in Genesis, I had guessed at how this story might end. “Despite my efforts, however, he was not utterly defeated. Years later, the shards that had been scattered across this wide world became conscious, and transformed into creatures unthinkably alien.”
So Städal had been in love with Ice, then. But his love was broken, and despite her tender affection he grew to resent her, to the point where he lashed out in violence against all the Ancients.
“Hundreds of years later, humans and the other animals were born. Power was granted to them, but the demons sought to steal the power of Ice I possessed, and so it was thought I should be hidden away. I, the woman called even now the Ice Ancient, had my soul and power sunk to the bottom of the ocean. To depths of the sea so dark and far, no demon would ever trouble my sleep. I was given to none other than the first Lord of the Sea, Celestialea.”
I suddenly feel the blood in my body begin to seethe. My hands grip Städal all the tighter.
“What’s this...? You come inside me, even without my consuming you! Ah, I understand, you must have missed me dearly, O Ice.”
“Do you not know, beast, that you are freezing over?”
“That voice—Ice!”
A voice only I should have been able to hear now appears to be audible to Städal as well. The spirit of the Ice Ancient must be leaving me and entering Städal, flowing out with my magic.
“Annihilate thyself. Even if I cannot ensure your sundering is eternal, know this: this age, of this world...it is not yours.”
“Oh! Dear Ice of mine! Around and around I feel you race inside of me! To think that becoming one with you should bring me such pleasure and comfort! Ice, darling Ice of mine—let us rule this world, you and I! We simply need to vanish away all those creatures that would seek to come between us, isn’t that right, my darling Ice?”
“Yes, you’re right. Shall we vanish, then? Together.”
“Ahhh, what sacred bliss...!”
His voice still raised in exaltation of Ice, Städal is, at last, totally frozen over. He cannot speak, he cannot move. Petrified in solid crystal, his body merely hovers there in the air.
My whole being feels weak, as though my very life has been sucked out of me. Yet, I am not done; I lift my shaking right hand and press my thumb and middle finger together, ready to snap destruction.
“Nanalie.”
With her kind voice, full of affection, the Ice Ancient calls my name. Even until the very end, however, I never see any trace of her with my eyes.
“A long time ago, Städal took all those who inherit the blood of Ice and cursed them, so that they could not bear children with any other who had inherited the blood of Fire.”
“I can’t...have children?”
“But after one thousand years, that curse is beginning to lose its power.”
I cannot see her, but I feel a chill breath against my forehead.
“Please, do be kind to him.”
And with those words, I hear no more. I close my eyes. Slowly, I snap my fingers.
With a million clicks and cracks, the vanquished Städal crumbles into fragments of ice; a million tiny icicles shower the ground like falling stars.
All my power gone, I tumble with them, down to the ground below. There’s not a single island floating in the air above me.
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen such a sky.