Page 7 of Winter Queen
The door opens again and in comes a furious Storm, holding his bleeding nose.
"What the fuck are you playing at?" he shouts, stalking towards me. Frost and Arc are behind him, staring at me with grim faces.
"Crispin!" Frost has seen Crispin on the floor and hurries to kneel by his friend's side. "Crisp, can you hear me?"
He checks for a pulse while I wring my hands, ice flooding my veins. What have I done?
I begin to shiver, then my body starts to shake ever so slightly. The ice is reaching my heart, already cold, but it's a different kind of ice now. The current layer is one I put there myself. The new ice is one out of my control.
It scares me. Everything scares me.
Crispin groans and Frost sighs in relief. Arc is kneeling on Crispin's other side, but I didn't even notice him move. The world around me has turned into a dream that I'm watching, but not taking part in.
"Wyn?" Storm asks from far away, coming closer. The blood flowing from his nose has stopped, leaving brown traces behind. "Wynter?"
He never uses my full name. Why is he now?
Something is building up in me, a pressure that is starting somewhere near my heart. An icy energy is running through me and my shakes are getting stronger.
"Wyn, your eyes are glowing."
Are they? How strange.
Fog is clouding my mind and it's hard to stay focussed.
Something tickles my hand and I look down. Tiny sparks of lightning are sizzling around my fingers, so beautiful and pretty. I raise my hand to take a closer look, watching as the sparks are turning into larger bolts.
"Wyn, stop it!"
But why would I stop such a pretty thing? It's like Blaze's sparkly cave, only brighter and more powerful.
"Frost, get Crisp out of here. Everybody out, she's going to flare again!"
Storm is looking at me strangely, like he's afraid.
Is there something dangerous with us in the room? I look around, but there's nothing behind me. No monsters, no enemies.
"Wyn, you need to control your magic," Storm says, urgency lacing each of his words. "Without Crispin, we won't be able to contain it."
The intensity of his voice makes me stop and think, but I'm not sure how to use my magic anymore. It's too slippery, too powerful.
"Get out," I whisper with difficulty. Forming words is difficult. Holding on to reality is hard. I just want to let go, but Storm needs to get away from me first.
I expect him to refuse, but he gives me a quick nod and leaves the room.
"I'm going to get your mother!" he calls as he runs away.
Finally, I can let go.
Lightning burst from my body, crashing into my mind, making everything go blank.
Chapter Three
Iwake up in an unfamiliar place. Not a bad place, though.
Shelves laden with books tower above me, reaching all the way up to a high ceiling. The air smells of parchment and ink; that beautiful scent you get when you open an old book.
I sit up and look around. It seems that I'm in a library of sorts, or an archive. Those shelves are enormous. They're higher than a house, and every inch of them is packed with books and scrolls. Some books look like they're about to fall apart, others are brand new.
