Fire and Ice

Chapter 9

   It has been a long three days since the city became winter. Everyone is getting exhausted while searching for Terria, all except the commander and his men. They are upskilled to stay awake and active and finish the mission no matter what the weather is. Right now, the snowstorm is getting worse by the minute no one can see where they’re going, and is becoming frosted, the individuals can’t take much more of the cold. 

   “Commander! We need to get out of this storm! We must take cover!” David yells as he holds on to his son close. Midnight would usually have enough heat to keep himself warm with the effects of his power, but apparently, the cold storm is beating him down. “No! We must keep going!” Commander argued back. 

   The downward side effect of Linda’s snake-forming ability is kicking her body, the low temperature of winter is making her feel extremely sleepy. She must have warmth, Linda’s sight gets blurry, and then falls forward passing out, “Linda!” Amaro catches her and keeps her to his body as everyone turns around “She’s freezing!” he shouts in worry. 

   “Leave her, she will only slow us down!” Commander says, continuing his way, but David has had it. He catches up to Commander and starts an argument, there is only so much patience he can have with the Commander’s selfishness. Midnight goes to his friends and tries to warm them by using his power, however, it is not doing much, “Midnight, you’re too cold, you can’t warm us” Amaro shivered. 

   Midnight then had a realization, he remembers the day he and Teriia learned about her other ability. He gets a good hand full of snow and tightens it as if he’s trying to create a hail, Amaro knew what he was doing, and Midnight is going to try and contact Terria with his thoughts. 

   ‘Terria! Terria can you hear me?!’

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   Back at the old shack, Terria was just in her new room looking out the window, having her quiet time remembering her past before this nightmare happened. But then she got a headache for no reason and she knew what it meant, her new skill was calling to her– the power to see into the eyes of another and be able to communicate with them through thoughts using a ‘crystal ball’ made of snow, she quickly made a snowball and can hear the voice, ‘Terria can you hear me?!’

   ‘Midnight!?’ 

   ‘Yes, it’s me! We're in trouble... Linda is freezing, we all are, and we’re lost! You’ve been around here, is there anywhere for us to take cover?!’ Midnight shows her where they are through his eyes and Terria recognized the area and sees a cave, ‘there’s a cave that is stable for you guys to get warm. What are you guys even doing out here?’

   Amaro puts his hand on the snowball and thinks ‘We’re coming to get you! What else?’

   ‘No, you guys will get hurt… after you get your strength go back to the city’ Terria ordered.

   That was the last thing the boys heard from Terria before receiving a loud ring, signaling that the communication line went out. But they will still look for their friend, they will not give up. Midnight pointed to where the cave is and then turned to the others cupping his hands around his mouth saying, “There’s a cave! Come on!”

   Some of the commander's men were getting worn out, they knew the kids were right about getting rest and waiting for the storm to slow down, so they took their chance and went into the warm cave and so did David, then Commander gave in. “Alright fine! But we leave first thing tomorrow!” he ordered, and no one argued. 

   After a few hours, Linda started to wake up to the feeling of warmth again. She saw that everyone was in a cave getting warmed up by fire far from her personal fire. “Hey Linda,” Amaro said taking a seat next to her, “Oh, hey Amaro” she replied.

   “How are you feeling?”

   “I still feel a bit cold, but it's the normal cold for snakes” Linda chuckled.

   “That's good… thought we lost you back there” Linda couldn’t help but blush as Amaro then takes off his jacket and wraps it around her, “Thanks…. Do you know how far we are from Terria?”

   “No, but I hope we’re close.”

   Meanwhile, in the shadows, Midnight watches his two friends getting close and closer. He was proud of them, yet it makes him sad that he can’t experience that kind of moments with Terria. He wishes to tell Terria his true feelings but can’t help thinking that she’ll only reject him.