Pernicious- True Evil

Chapter 17

"WAKE UP NOW!"

Astra's eyes snapped open to the sound of Alek's voice filled with desperation. Immediately she felt a bitter cold that painfully seeped into her bones, momentarily holding her captive as her eyes fell upon the frosty remains of the flowers that had grown between the cracks of the walls. They no longer glowed now that the cold had burned them. She opened her mouth and watched a ghostly puff of air crawl out of her lips before she looked around herself in disbelief. When did this happen?

Outside of the entrance, all she could see was a thick blanket of white pouring on the ground as if God himself was turning over a bucket of this icy hell. The blizzard slapped away all evidence of flora, arrogantly coating the ground around it as if what it had to show was somehow better.

Her jaw tensed as she watched ice rapidly close their only way out. Their time was limited before mother nature herself decided their verdict would be immurement.

Alek and Sagan grabbed their bags and blankets and motioned for her to do the same.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? LETS GO!" Sagan cried out as both of the men rushed outside.

"Get out of there!" Alek yelled as he rushed back into the shelter and grabbed her bag for her before leaping over the mound of ice that was quickly forming. "COME ON!"

"I'm hurrying!" She turned and grabbed her blanket, wrapping it around herself.

"If you don't get out now, you're going to be trapped!"

Her gaze averted to the entrance. It was now halfway blocked off by the moving, contouring ice. She watched in horror as the ice reached out and covered the fire pit full of ashes. Astra ran towards the entrance of the shelter. The ice had already formed too high for her to be able to get out without some sort of help. The men yelled as they attempted to chip away at the ice with their weapons.

She threw her blanket through the fast closing entrance and shoved the handle of her weapon into her pocket. Jumping onto the slippery rocks she tried to grip onto the fast-moving frozen mound. Her feet slipped out from underneath her and she felt her face slam onto the bitter cold surface. Her heart pounded as she continued the struggle to get out. She knew her life depended on whether or not she could get through to the other side.

Her shoulders sank as her heart stood frozen within her. The surface was too slippery. She needed to make it coarse and had only minutes to do so before her fate would be sealed.

"Grab my hand!" Alek yelled from outside the shelter, barely able to reach over the surface of the entrance. There was no way she could grab it.

"Come on! You got this!" Sagan yelled as both of the men slammed their weapons into the ice.

"SHIT! My knife broke!" Alek yelled as he pounded the ice with his fists, breaking open the skin on his knuckles.

"Stop!" she yelled from inside the shelter, seeing the ice on the other side turn red. "I have an idea!"

"I shouldn't have left her in there!" Sagan yelled in frustration as he punched the ice, leaving a small crack. "We can't let her die like this. We need to go find Elde. He will know what to do."

She turned around and saw a large rock the size of a football, only feet from where she was standing. Snatching the stone from ground, she watched as the icy substance crawled over where the rock once was. With screaming muscles, she raised the rock above her head and used all of her force to slam it into the moving surface in front of her, before she pulled the rock away. Though it created a hole just big enough to fit her foot in, within a second it was already closed.