" Why is it so dark here? Where am I? Richard? Richard, where are you? Please I don't want to be alone ... Oh I remember, you aren't here anymore, I am alone, eventually you all left.. you are all the same. You always end up leaving me. Why am I the one who has to be cold, alone and afraid ? Why can't I ever get warmth? "

  Isabella woke up in a dark cell of the castle, restrained only by chains on her hands. The duchess had taken her engagement ring but left her the blue dress she was wearing when she was arrested.

  " Hey! "

  Bella looked in the direction the voice was coming from, Markok was standing on the other side of the bars.

  " I brought you food, it's not much but it will fill your stomach. "

  Bella simply glared at the man from the corner of her cell.

  " Listen girl, I'm sorry for what happened but you need to eat, you have been here for three days and haven't said a word or eaten anything. " Markok paused and placed the food inside the cell. " She is not gonna let you die, she will force feed you to keep you alive. I'm really sorry it had to end this way. "

  Before he could go, Bella heard a set of footsteps coming down the stairway. Felix stepped in her field of vision and all her animosity was concentrated on him.

  " Oh if looks could kill I'm sure I would be dead on the spot ahah. "

  " ... "

  " Oh, playing the silent game I see. "

  " ... "

  " I got you a present, I wanted to keep it but I feel like it's more appropriate if you have it. "

  Felix opened the cell and threw a small package inside of the room. Bella stood still as she watched the package slowly roll and come to a stop close to her. Felix took back the food Markok had just given her.

  " Don't waste food on peasants, if she doesn't want to eat our food she can always eat her 'gift'.

  He closed the cell and made his way back up the staircase quickly followed by Markok. Isabella got curious about the 'gift' and crawled to it. A strange smell was coming from it and she realised the package seemed drenched in some dark liquid. She opened it and let out a horrifying scream that was heard at the top of the staircase. Felix smile as he realised she had opened the package and discovered what remained of Richard's head inside of it.

  " Kony I still maintain it's a bad idea. "

  " I know it is but we couldn't do shit to save Rich' we have to save Bella. "

  " I don't really think we can sneak inside with this plan. "

  The two boys had spent the last three days planning on how to break Isabella out of the prison, with the help of Maureen they had acquired women's clothing that would fit Izi and made him pass as an apprentice maid.

  " I know this boy inside, named Eixien, he seemed to like Richard and I'm gonna bet on this for him to help us. "

  " If you have a friend on the inside, why do we need to have me dressed like this? "

  " So we can pass the first gate with a motive and then I will ask for Eixien specifically. And also you look cute."

  " Idiot ... "

  They reached the castle using Richard's horse, and as planned were stopped by guards.

  " State your business. "

  Konnor swallowed his spit with difficulty. It was now or never, he could not fail this.

  " Hi, I have an arrangement with a personal guard of the duchess to provide her with a new handmaiden. She is my sister and we can't feed everyone. "

  " What's the name of the guard? "

  " The young Eixien, can you bring him? "

  " Step into the courtyard and we will fetch him. "

  " Thank you. "

  Konnor gave a slight kick in the horse's flanks and advanced into the courtyard. Here they were in the mouth of the beast. From now on, no turning back was possible. Eixien came out of the building to greet the two visitors.

  " Welcome, hey I remember you, I'm .. humm sorry for what happened to Richard .. "

  " Yes it is regrettable but we aren't here to discuss this right now. " Konnor leaned closer to Eixien to whisper to him. " We are here for the herborist, please just guide us to the prisons and we will do the rest. "

  Eixien looked around to see if other guards were looking at them, he then looked at Izi and Konnor and nodded.

  " Follow me. "

  Olivia was standing on her balcony, breathing in the fresh air of the morning, she heard a knocking on the door.

  " Come in. "

  Eliza opened the door and walked up to the duchess with a look of worry on her face.

  " Milady, I had a vision. "

  " Oh, what have you seen? "

  " I felt more than I saw, I felt a great danger falling upon us, something is coming this way, something dark, powerful and ... cold. "

  " And what could it be? "

  " I don't know but we should not keep the witch alive. "

  " She has not suffered enough yet. "

  Eliza knew the duchess's plans but she insisted.

  " Please listen to me! I can go down there and put her out of her misery, I feel something strange coming from her. "

  " Weren't you the one telling me you felt she was weak and it would be even easier once her mental state was unstable? "

  " I know what I said, she is weaker than me, and the runes surrounding the castle prevents her from doing anything but my vision is - "

  " Just a vision, it could happen in a few years for all we know. Is that all you came to say? "

  " Yes madam .. "

  " You can leave, I have people to recieve. "

  Eliza bowed down and exited the room. Despite the duchess dismissing her worries, she felt she needed to be ready. She headed for the stables to have a few horses ready in case anything happened. Once she was done, she decided to still go check on Isabella in the prison.

  " I'm sorry my love, It's going to be alright, shhh shhh, I'm here, you didn't abandon me after all. They just took you away, far away from me. They took, they always take away from me, humans always take away from me, I will never let them take away from me again ... "

  Curled up in a ball on the cold stones of her prison cell, Isabella was cuddling the head she had received and talking to it. Her eyes were fixed into his who remained closed. The moment his head fell on the stand something started changing inside her. Power was swirling inside, something she had no idea she possessed. She had not realised yet but the ground around her had started to freeze, her breath was forming mist each time she would exhale, she was still whispering alone in her cell.

  " Never again, never never never ... they will pay, all of them, all humans must pay. They must all suffer as they made us suffer my love. "

  She was so deep in her rambling that she had not heard the guards being knocked out by Konnor and Izi coming down. They dragged the bodies into the empty cells next to her and then came up to her cell and tried talking to her.

  " Bella! Bella it's us, we came to save you! "

  She turned her head and glared at them as if they were complete strangers, the cell was almost pitch black but for some reason Konnor took a step back as his eyes met hers, he could feel a deep rage and a lack of empathy coming from her.

  " Be-Bella? Speak to us please, we are gonna get you out of here. "

  Izi slightly tapped on Konnor's shoulder and whispered to him.

  " I think she isn't all there .. "

  " Yeah, she seems different. "

  " And were her eyes always this color? "

  Konnor was about to ask what Izi meant but he then heard the sound of boots on the stairway. The two of them hid inside one of the open cells and waited. Eliza came down and looked at Isabella. At her sight, Isabella's eyes lit up and she stood up to look her in the eyes.

  " Little herborist, I think I'm going to go against my duchess's advice and end your life right here and now. I do not wish to see you be tortured because I still respect Richard's memor- "

  " Silence."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Eliza froze, the voice coming from within the cell was not the one she heard from the herborist before, the voice resonated inside her head and had a sort of distant echo to it. Eliza realised the air around her was starting to feel way colder. Isabella walked slowly towards her, Eliza's heart was starting to beat in her chest like never before.

  " Stay back! "

  Bella kept walking towards her.

  " I said stay back! "

  Bella stopped and tilted her head to the side.

  " Look at me. "

  The voice was once again an echo resonating through Eliza's head, this voice was putting fear into her heart, she was literally frozen in terror.

  " You-You can't get out of here, my runes will prevent you from doing so. "

  Isabella's face remained frozen in the same poker face, without a word she looked at her shackles and the shackles started freezing in front of Eliza's very eyes. All she could do at this very moment was to be horrified at the sight of the woman in front of her defying every rule she knew. Isabella had not uttered a spell, she had not traced any runes, the shackles and the ground around her was getting covered in ice. She finally moved and spread her arms which resulted in the frozen chains breaking.

  " You have worked with humans to hurt us, you are a traitor to our kind. "

  " Wha- What are you saying? "

  " You shall face my anger. "

  Isabella kept walking towards the door of the cell and with each step the ground was getting more and more frozen. Finally stepping into the light, Eliza was horrified to discover what the prisoner looked like.

  " You.. you are not the herborist .. who .. what are you ? "

  Isabella's hair had lost its red color and had turned white as snow, her previously green eyes had transformed into a cold yet vibrant blue. Her skin complexion was even more white than before and her lips had taken a blueish color. She kept walking and placed her hands on the bars of the cell and they instantly started freezing over. Seeing what was about to happen, Eliza started running up the staircase.

  " Guards! Guards come down here! Protect the duchess and get her to safety! "

  Right when she was done screaming for help, the cell door exploded and Isabella stepped out of her cell. Konnor and Izi came out of their hiding space and came up to her. Excited to see her escape, Konnor let out a whistle of admiration..

  " Bella, that was incredible. Where did you learn that?! "

  She turned around and stared at them with a dead face.

  " Bella ..? "

  She started raising her hand towards them. Izi felt something was off, Konnor was suddenly thrown to the side and fell on his back into a cell, next thing he knew he could hear Izi screams of pain. He stood back up and saw that the way out of the cell was blocked by spikes of ice, Izi was on the ground with a spike stuck in his leg.

  " Izi!! "

  Konnor kneeled down and looked at the wound, his friend could not stand still as the pain was getting progressively worse.

  " Kony do something please, it's killing me! I'm freezing from the inside! It hurt so much! "

  " But if I take it out you will bleed out! "

  " Pleeeeeease I'm begging you! Ahhhhhh !!! "

  Konnor looked around for a solution, he dragged Izi to the side and placed him against the wall.

  " Handle it for a few minutes ok? I'm coming back as soon as possible! "

  Konnor looked at the ice blocking the hallway and started punching it to break it. Thanks to his skin, he could not feel how cold and hard the ice actually was. He kept on going, trying his best to ignore the cries of agony from his friend. Isabella was nowhere to be found but he could hear screams coming from the upper levels followed by the whole building trembling. " Bella is not herself right now, she is attacking everyone. " Finally done with breaking all the ice in front of him, Konnor reached the top of the staircase, it seemed that everywhere she walked or touched had frozen. " I had hopes of finding a torch god dammit, wait a second .. ". He started realising that the ice on the ground was sort of 'alive' and was progressing to cover everything that was still intact. " I need to go back to Izi before he gets trapped in there again. " He started running back down and found Izi where he left him, somehow the spike had started spreading frozen roots inside his leg.

  " Kony I'm so cold .. "

  " It's alright, come on we are getting out of here! "

  Despite Izi's moans of pain, Konnor lifted him up and they started making their way out of the castle.

  Markok was running in the corridors calling out a name.

  " Rovlak! Rovlak!! Where is that damn cat? "

  He turned the corner and bumped into Eliza who was running towards the duchess meeting room.

  " Is the duchess on her way out? "

  " She heard the commotion and took refuge in her apartments. "

  " WHAT?! The idiot! "

  " Why? "

  " The prisoner, she escaped and is rampaging through the building to find her and she is probably heading there as we speak because she came here one time already!! "

  " But shouldn't your runes prevent her from using magic? "

  " She somehow bypassed them .. there is nothing we can do against her at this point. "

  They both started running towards the duchess bedroom.

  " But Eliza, how exactly did she become so strong?! "

  " I don't know!!"

  Ever since she saw her change right before her eyes, Eliza had this thought inside her head. " Did she have a re awakening? "

  They could hear the screams of guards and the maids being decimated downstairs, followed by the whole building shaking from the attacks. They finally reached the bedroom and found Olivia pacing in her room nervously, her face lit up when she saw Eliza.

  " Did you manage to take control of the situation? "

  " We need to get you out of the building, miss. "

  " What? I am NOT running away from this frail bitch! "

  " We cannot stop her! The castle is lost and she is probably going to destroy it! "

  " This is ridiculo - "

  Olivia stopped mid sentence as she realised her breath was starting to form mist, the three of them froze in place as they heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Each step sounded like a thin layer of ice was being cracked. Olivia started tapping on Markok's shoulder.

  " What are you waiting for?! Go out there and fight! "

  " But - "

  " No but! GO NOW! "

  Markok slowly walked towards the door and peeked around the corner, and what he saw froze the blood in his veins. Isabella was coming down the hallway, a soldier tried striking at her but the ice coming from her feet stuck him in place before he could strike she grabbed his throat and turned him into an ice statue. She looked in Markok's direction and locked eyes with him, while maintaining eye contact she ripped the man's throat and he broke in frozen and bloody pieces to the ground. Still with her eyes fixed on him she kept on walking towards him. Before he realised, she was right in front of him.

  " I-I- I'm so-sorry ... "

  She kept a straight face as she placed her hand on his chest. Slowly he began feeling colder and colder, until he could no longer feel. Encased in an ice prison, Markok's eyes remained where she stood, his heart full of regret to the very end. Isabella entered the room where Olivia was taking refuge behind Eliza. Bella raised her palms and ice stalagmites started popping from the ground and coming towards the two women. Eliza crossed her hands and created a protection bubble around them to protect them from the enraged witch. Bella continued her relentless assault on the magic shield where cracks were starting to appear. Eliza was putting every ounce of energy she had to keep it up while thinking of a way to escape. " How can we flee this? If I turn my back on her she will kill me for sure, should I run away and give her Olivia? "She looked back at the duchess sitting on the ground with an expression of terror in her eyes. " I can't do that to her, dammit, we need an opening, I can't attack right now." . In this moment of inattention, the shield cracked further, allowing Bella to rip it apart with a flurry of attacks. In less than ten seconds the shield broke and Eliza ended up on her back coughing and gasping for air. " We are going to die!". Bella kept her gaze on the duchess who was now crawling away on her back. Bella held out her hand in front of her and formed an ice lance. Olivia thought her last moments had come. Just before the spear could be thrown to her, Felix arrived inside of the room and slashed horizontally aiming for Bella's neck. She raised her left forearm and blocked the upcoming hit with it, the sword broke the second it met her skin. In shock, Felix stood there looking at his broken sword. Realising he was still in combat, he tried taking a step back to reposition but it was too late, his feet were already stuck in ice. Bella was now focused on him and for the first time since she started her rampage, the expression of her face changed, she smirked at him. She raised both of her hands and multiple needle size ice spikes appeared in the air, she started piercing his body with hundreds of ice needles, deletecting herself of the pain she was inflicting upon him. She walked up to him and traced the outline of his chin with her finger and once again talked in this new cold and echoing voice.

  " Humans are so fragile, so pathetic. "

  She took his head in her hands, Felix was starting to realise his whole body was numb except for his head, he could feel his neck starting to freeze. Her cold and blue eyes were still glued to him as she smiled at him, slowly but surely, she was pulling his head upwards and twisting. Because she also had her hands on his ears Felix had one last thought. " What is that sound? it sounds like screams, horrifying screams. Someone is screaming like they are dying, ahah what a coward. Wait ... I see .. it's me ... ". Isabella lost her smile and spoke to him one last time.

  " You are weak. "

  She then pulled one last time and ripped his head clean off his body. She turned her head to resume her vengeance to discover that Eliza and Olivia had both slipped away, the door to the balcony was open. She walked to the balcony and looked over the railing, in the distance she could see both of them starting to get away on a horse.

  Olivia was on the front and Eliza was holding onto her.

  " Olivia I'm sorry we lost everything, listen to me, it is very important, she must never find y- "

  Eliza never had the opportunity to finish her sentence. Bella had thrown an ice javelin from where she stood with incredible force and precision and hit Eliza directly in the throat. The second she was hit she fell on the ground. She held her hand up in the hope that Olivia would pick her up, but she never once looked back at her. Feeling life fleeing out of her body, Eliza exhaled one last time as she thought about how much she regretted betraying Richard and his friends.

  " Come on Izi! We are almost there! Keep going! "

  " It's useless Kony, I'm not going to make it! "

  In her massacre, Isabella had sealed all the exit with thick ice that even Konnor could not punch through, he was out of breath as he reached the highest point of the castle, one of the only parts the ice had not reached yet. The ice in Izi's legs had progressed up to his waist and was now expanding on his belly. Konnor opened a door that finally led to the open but his joy was short lived as he noticed there was no more way down. They were now stuck on this high point with the ice between them with on their left the gardens and on their right the courtyard. In front of them was the mountain side. " How do we go out? I could try carrying him, to go where? ". Izi took him out of his reflection by lacing his arms around his neck.

  " Izi what are you doing? "

  " Shhh, will you dance with me? "

  " Wh-What? It's not time to dance we need to - "

  " Shhh, just dance with me please. "

  " Ok... "

  Konnor placed his hands on Izi's back and the both of them started dancing on the roof. As the sun of the summer was beginning to peak over the mountains and the ice was progressing towards them. Konnor focused on his senses and could finally do what Izi had taught him long ago, he could feel each of his movements and sync with him. He could feel his emotions, his sorrow, his despair but he could also feel his love for him. The two of them danced to the edge that led to the mountain side. Izi stopped dancing and looked Konnor in the eyes.

  " Hey, you know what? "

  " What? "

  " You aren't that bad at dancing after all. "

  " Izi .. "

  " You know I never thought I could experience this, when Jessamine spoke about Malik I realised I didn't know what love was until I met you. "

  " Don't say that please please don't say it. '' Konnor was powering throught his tears and trying not to choke on his words. " I rescued you months ago because I cared about you so much, I sacrificed what made me human, I may not be able to feel anymore on my skin b-but .. you are the only thing in this world that can still give me an ounce of feeling. I love you. "

  " I love you too Kony. "

  Izi pulled him in and placed his lips on his.

  " Goodbye Kony. "

  " Wha- "

  Izi then pushed Konnor off the edge as the ice behind him transformed him into an ice statue. While he was falling down, Konnor let out a scream that even the Creator could hear.

  " IZIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!! "

  Isabella stood there after having hit Eliza with her javelin. She turned around and laid eyes on her ring that the duchess had taken from her. It was resting on her nightstand, she walked up to it and took it in her hand. The gem at the center of it was still the most beautiful thing she has ever laid eyes upon. In her right hand she started forming a small crown and put the blue gem at the center of it, she then placed the crown on her head and walked back to the balcony. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She put her hands in the air and focused, the sky got cloudy, the air cooled down, snow began to fall over the castle, a strong cold wind rose and soon after the snow expanded to the town of Ciscera. Isabella let out a scream, almost a screech, that would terrify all citizens and stopped them in their tracks. So powerful that all of the windows of the castle shattered and the ground shook as her ice expanded from the castle walls to the mountains. The wave of ice began spreading to the town, covering every building, filling every space.

  In less than an hour the entire town of Ciscera was covered in ice and encased in a strong blizzard, the streets previously full of life were now frozen in time, the citizens that could not run away had been changed into ice statues. In less than a day, the surroundings of the town were being covered too.

  People now tell this tale about the ice witch. She had a lover, he was her whole world and was taken from her, so in return she took everything from the world. This is the story of how twenty three years ago, the entirety of the country of Triskal got stuck in what would be called : The Frozen Summer.