Ice Hunting

Leaves crunched under my feet. I freeze as I mark my prey hoping, praying that the elk was too busy eating to hear me. I had been so careful to make no sound and avoid leaves and twigs altogether. Five minutes pass. Seven, then eleven minutes passed as I waited for the elk to me. I breathe out as I move my boot forward so I could shoot. The elk kept eating, moving along just feet away from where I stood abaft a tree, hidden by the gear I wore. Notching my arrow into the bow, I pulled the string back until my forefinger only just reaching the corner of my lips. I exhaled, aware of the stillness surrounding the woods. A steel tip goes flying through the stomach, and I double-check to make sure I didn't release my arrow into the animal. An arrow was still in the bowstring, leaving me gazing at the cursor sticking out of the lifeless victim and along the nocking point, lay a teal dreamcatcher. I snarl a swear under my breath; I darted over to see if the marksman is still here.
I spun around in a circle and checked behind multiple trees. But he's not here. I turn my back. Something caught the corner of my eye I hadn't seen earlier. An attenuate boy leaned over the elk. It took me many moments to realize who he was.
"Kendrik?" I inquired, aware of the shock beginning to etch itself on my features. As the boy stood up he turned, and I viewed the Cygnus constellation on his left cheek. "Adira," he said in his familiar stoic manner. His harsh, ice green eyes drilling holes into my skin.
"I see your Astrumian mark hasn't changed." Kendrick gestured toward my face, at the bright Sagittarius constellation on my right cheek. "At least mine suits me," I spat. He strolls between trees, crossing his arms in front of him as he did so. I watched, as he paced the woods, but we avoided the other eyes. Twigs snapped, leaves rustled, and we tried to pretend the other wasn't there. But nature refused to let that happen.
Our hunting time finished, and we walked side by side with our game on our backs. "Why did you come back?" I question as I stop in my tracks. He continues for a couple feet, then pauses. "I forgot something," He mutters after a couple minutes, maybe hours, of steady silence. "Forgot what?" I asked, jogging to catch up with him, but too tired to keep up with his long strides. "Our lives would be separate, so why don't you leave mine out of yours," he said, his voice dead and tight. "You leave, betray your people, then you come back and say you forgot something? I assume you head out once you find what you need, right?" I jog to keep up with him now, Kendrik quickens his pace, trying to lose me in the field.
An echoing noise resonated sound equal to ice bursting and spreading sent Kendrik to a run towards the west when the town to warn the people lay in the north. I wanted to shout at him, tell him it was too dangerous, but I had to warn the people of Astrumia. I run until I was choking on my breath, my legs sweeping by the blades of grass in the field. My feet met the cobblestones that used to welcome me, but now my brain couldn't help but to picture them broken and covered in the ice. A rosy-cheeked young woman strolled past me, humming under her breath. I seized her arm "Ice is coming, you need to tell everyone you know and ask them to do the same." at her blank expression, I shook her harder. "Is this hard to understand? Go!" I shoved her hard, and the rolls fell, gathering dirt and rolling undercarriages bruising along the way. The girl had run off while I headed back to the woods. Kendrik stood on the edge of the forest as the ice creeped out towards him. I sprint on over to him, "On a scale of one to ten how awful do you think it could be if-"
"At least twenty," he remarks as we watch the ice come hurtling toward us, faster and faster with each passing second. The blood pumped in my ears and my vision disfigured, as if looking through fish eyed lens. Ice raced through trees, plowing them over. Some trees fell on houses in the town, people screamed. Sounds of feet running away met my ears. I wanted to leave Kendrik and hide in a hole until this nightmare was all over. I knew I couldn't though. People were in danger, people that I knew how to save.
I washed away all my emotions and faced my target. I have to think. "Adira!" I turn to face Kendrik who stood a few yards away. "Use your arrows to create a barricade. But, use the ones with the explosives." I reach behind me and grab fifteen arrows from my quiver. Stringing and releasing them from my bow, I lined them up to catch the ice just when it reaches the cursors. I held my breath and stood with my feet rooted to the ground, the ice coming towards us in a fast pace. Closing my eyes became my way to avoid all happening as I counted out the minutes. Almost ten minutes had passed when I heard Kendrik laughing to the side of me. Peeling open one eye, I turned to look at him and the ice. The ice had melted away and Kendrik was spinning around in a circle, laughing with glee. It was the first time I had seen him show any emotion other than inhospitableness.
"I wish we were all born with the ability to shoot like that," A boy with a gentle Scottish accent loped over to where Kendrik and I stood. Kendrik stopped laughing. "Who are you, and what do you want?" His cold demeanor returning. "I'm Ace, and I want nothing," he frowns. "Where's your constellation?" I ask. He turns his head to the right, a small series of Circinus constellations on his left cheek. "Compass," Kendrik muttered. "Or drawing tool," Ace says with delight painted on his features. Kendrik grimaced at Ace's contagious smile."Come on Adira, we need to find out who sent the damn ice." He turned around and grabbed my wrist and I yank it back. "Do you want to come with us?" I ask Ace as I tilt my head to the side. His bright red hair seemed to shine better at the possibility. "Wait." Kendrik stepped forward.

Chapter 2

Cappilum
The dark cobblestones of the dungeon are lit up by the small torches mounted on the wall, as I sprint down the corridor and to the right. Finding the correct cell was key to this mission going smoothly. I pass by an old man with yellow hair, a young woman with bright red, and a little boy with light blue. Briefly, as I turn a corner, I wonder what such a small boy wronged to deserve for the soldiers to throw him into such a heavily guarded prison. He lifts his head slightly and I see the Aries constellation on his forehead. An Astrumian spy. I sneer at him as I run by, faster and faster, until I stop as a small sign sticks out at me, blocking my path. "DO NOT ENGAGE" Turning my head, a teenage girl with snowy white hair peered back at me.
"Who are you?" She whispers into the darkness. I could barely hear her over the roar running through my brain. Never had I ever seen a white hair girl. It's not possible, it's not even recorded in any of the kings documents. "Depends, who are you?"
"Ailsa" I turn the name over and over in my head. "Emrys" I mutter. I walk around the cell and notice the chains wrapped around her wrists, ankles, and neck. She's the only prisoner with them. "What's your power?" I blurt out suddenly. Her head lift and I spot a flicker of terror in her eyes. But then it's gone. "Everything"

Astrumia

"We need to ask the people if this has happened before." I state, stopping at the edge of the forestry. "Oh, it's happened before. " Ace said with a grim smile. "Thrice before with the ice but twice with storms and tsunami's attacking Astrumia" Kendrik whips his head around and sticks his finger to Ace's chest. "Don't rhyme. It gets on my nerves." He snarled. Ace grinned wildly, like it was all some elaborate game plan. "This is fun, but I think we need to find, what did you call it? The 'damn ice'? Kendrik growled and stormed into the woods, stopping to bark at me, "Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there like a helpless rabbit?" Rolling my eyes, I slowly walk over watching as Ace smirked as he skipped along towards the forest lines pleased that he had made Kendrik blow his top.


Cappilum

"Why are you here?" I ask, and again Ailsa lift her head, but refuses to meet my eyes. "I can't control it." Her head slides back into the gap between her two knees. "You're lucky, you only have one power. It's easier to control, isn't it?" I have to strain to hear her, her voice muffled by the light blue nightgown she was in, I rub my rust-colored hair, then shrug. "Yeah, I guess, but it's just lock-picking. Nothing special." I slowly walk over to her and reach inside the cell to pull her off her feet. She looks at me curiously but doesn't say a word. "Get ready," I whisper and reach over to the lock on her cell. Barely touching the lock make it fall right off the loop it had previously hung onto so tightly. Yanking the gate open,