What only felt like a few minutes for Humphrey ended when the girls voice cut through the crackling fire to say ‘time to go,’ she grabbed his wrist and forced him to his feet. His legs was feeling weak from the walk it was already a struggle to stand and he was about to complain but the words seemed to die in his throat, his desire to speak up fizzled out.

  As time passed she wondered what this felden could do, ‘Humphrey,’ she stated strongly and she looked behind her to see his nervous expression, ‘what spells do you know?’

  Despite everything he didn’t wish her to know the extent of his powers. He licked his cracked, dry lips, ‘… for build-d-ding,’

  ‘Buildin’?’

  ‘Yes, useless for violence. I k-know naturalistic spells and ice…’ His voice was getting quieter until she could no longer hear it.

  ‘What?!’ She snapped, annoyed of his pathetic nature, purposely loud to psych him out and he jumped back slightly and stumbled down onto the snow. She couldn’t help the snigger. After a few fast breathes he said, ‘ice and snow are for safety…’ (as the school was in a snowy place) but he was under too much pressure and could no longer formulate words. A part of her was tempted to ask why he didn’t run back but didn’t want to put ideas in his head. ‘Could ya create stairs? Or float rock down with us on?’ Shaking and obeying he knelt down and after a few moments said ‘soeen,’ but it took him a few tries to say it correctly as his voice was shaking so much. It wasn’t from the cold, however, but the fear of the girl’s gaze. ‘I need my staff to do so.’

  ‘Like Shaw I’m giving it to you.’

  ‘Do you want the stairs or not?’ He asked softly.

  ‘You’re not getting the staff. Try it without.’ She new it was a near impossible ask. He was a felden he had little chance of doing anything the staff. What idiot put their felden kid into a geoptic school? The snow began to vibrate before suddenly bursting to life and began to formulate stairs. Some stairs formed, the snow solidifying to ice, but after a few more all of them melted to water and splashed uselessly down. He gasped as sweat forming on his brow, slumping forward onto his hands. ‘I… I’m not strong enough.’ As if, if he did not have a good enough excuse she would scold him.

  ‘Can’t do anythin’ right.’ She mumbled to him and he felt something snap.

  ‘Why are you like this? You’re so horrid!’ His voice was loud but it sounded weak and fragile and he was unable to meet Isadora eyes as tears made his own shine.

  ‘You know nothing!’ She grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face her but he refused to look up from the ground. “I-!’ There was a sharp stab to her chest. She gripped her fists so tight the nails threatened to puncture her skin. The faces of her dead brothers blinded her behind her eyes. She couldn’t scream the words out; if she did she’d break down into a horrific mess.

  He squeezed his eyes shut and arms stiffened to his sides, waiting for some sort of punishment.

  ‘I’ll find ‘nother way.’ She leaned away from him and he felt like a weight was removed as her presence became more and more distanced.

  A few minutes passed. ‘Why did you break into my home? You travelled all this way alone just to leave with some books?’

  Did he always ask so many questions? ‘I thought my silence would be a good indication that I want you to shut up.’

  He was taken aback by her coldness. And so he did- for a few minutes. ‘W-why?’

  That seemed to get her attention, when she looked behind at him he was surprised by her sudden shift in eyes, to a more green state before it flickered back to normal. But he already saw the emerald gemstones shine through the illusion- she was a ! She turned back around, ‘magic is outlawed. The Red King is destroying any city or kingdom that stands for magic, as well as spreading lies about its corruption. You only don’t know about it because you were so isolated.’

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Tears filled his vision and his knees felt weak. ‘Everything was fine until you showed up! I could have done something! You stopped me! I could have saved everyone!’ He stamped his foot like a child, voice loud but shrill, strained, like a crying toddler.

  ‘ saved your life! You should be grateful you’re not dead like everyone else!’ She yelled. ‘Plus, you can avenge them, that’s why I was there… To kill that bastard. An’ I’ll obviously keep you long enough alive until you lead me to the weapon!’

  He tried to speak again but his voice was too shrill, and wiped away tears and snot with his sleeve as his legs shook, barely standing. After a few deep breathes said, ‘you c-can’t promise that.’

  ‘Eh, your right I can’t.’ She turned back around but turned after a few steps, ‘but I’ll try… I promise.’ She sneered. Only a few steps later her foot caught on something, causing her to face plant into the snow, ‘ow.’

  Humphrey looked down to see a piece of shiny wood stick up from the ground. Isadora wiped snow from her face before her vision focused on the oak wood and began digging, revealing more and more of the structure.

  Humphrey rested his legs, glassy eyed at how upside down his life was and felt a wave of exhaustion. Next to him his kidnapper, of who he didn’t know her name, digging something rather large out of the ground.  It had a sail and was about the size of a canoe, thinly shaped with only one seat. Grabbing the sides she hauled it out. ‘A Snow Sailor.’ He said, surprised. It was an outdated sport.

  ‘Can we ride it down the mountain?’ She looked forward at the slopes and segmented rocks. Humphrey shook his head, ‘no, no, no.’ He said weakly but she was already forcing him into the back of the sailor.  ‘It’s this, starvation or freezing to death.’

  Humphrey was so pale his complexion was so white he looked like a cephalon. She tightened the backpack around her and angled it correctly before clambering in herself. He thought as, shaking.

  Isadora, behind him, began to push speeding it up until it met the decline. It sailed through snow like a boat on water. The air began to whisk by and Humphrey let out a shriek as they sped up.

  Isadora held on tight, Humphrey crawling to the below the seat and covered his eyes with trembling hands. Isadora spotted a rock up ahead, ‘Ahhhh!’ She grabbed the side and pulled as hard as she could and the boat well avoided it but she overcorrected! The boat leant so heavily to the side it took a complete right- where there was a drop. Humphrey poked his head over, saw the coming edge and let out an ear splitting scream.

  Isadora put all her weight and forced the thing to correct, it swerved into the other direction. ‘Hold on!’ She yelled with a voice specked with excitement, a smile forming on her lips as the racing snow reflected in her emerald eyes as the first gap in the ground approached.  She tried to pull up on the front, and aimed for a snow-covered boulder which threw it off the ground! Skimming the surface of the snow and landed securely on the other side.

  He poked his head up to see the boulder rise. No, an animal. ‘Animal, animal!’ He shrieked so loud Isadora thought her ears would explode. The animal was living snow and jumped out of the sailor’s path and batted them with large paw! Spooked the creature sprinted off. It no longer seemed fun anymore as they soured to the edge at break neck speed, spinning uncontrollably! ‘Jump!’ She grabbed a balled up, frozen Humphrey by his collar and jumped off into the snow.

  Slowly, Isadora looked over the edge of the cliff to see the thing break into splinters as it made contact with some jagged rock. There was a loud cracking sound as it collided into another part of rock. Damn it!’ She punched the ground over and over in anger. ‘We’re going to die!’ As she beat the ground Humphrey was recovering from his shock and looked around.

  ‘Actually,’ he interrupted her rage to point to the real, solid ground, only a few feet away. They had made it out of the mountains.

  ‘Oh.’ She said, coming out of her anger.