Icy Inferno (Troyler AU)

⋙ Chapter Four

All this bad blood here, won't you let it dry?
It's been cold for years, won't you let it lie?
And I don't wanna hear about the bad blood anymore
I don't wanna hear you talk about it anymore

Bad Blood ~ Bastille

Tyler

In silence Connor and I walked through the woodland that outlined the school. A cool autumn breeze ran over my goosebump skin. We trudged along a pathway that was lit with fragmented light. The green-leaved canopy above sheltered us from the occasional light showers of rain.

I kicked the dusty woodland trail absent mindedly. Connor did similarly, smiling over at me as he did. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came to mind. He didn’t seem to know what to say either. We looked away from one another, and retreated back to the comfortable silence. I was grateful we’d left Marcus a while back, otherwise we’d be creating small talk, which neither of us wanted. Instead I was left alone with my thoughts, and Connor took photos of the scenery around us.

It was lunch time but neither of us had wanted to eat much. A banana was suffice. Too many thoughts had been gnawing away at me for me to feel hungry.

Two days had passed since the bizarre powergy lesson. I hadn't seen Troye since - not that I cared. It wasn't like I missed his annoying presence, or the constant chatter that I lacked in other classes. He was a horrid distraction that I could live without. I needed to concentrate on school work, on my friendships, on my family. But somehow he occupied my mind more than anything else.

The event had replayed in my mind constantly. Whatever we had done, it was not normal. I’d never done or seen anything remotely similar. It was rare, according to Mr Lester. His words couldn’t be trusted though, seeing as he thought I was passionate about Troye Sivan Mellet.

Because I definitely wasn’t.

We were both pretty powerful. I knew I was a star student in powergy, but I hadn’t expected Troye to be the same. At first I thought Mr Lester was bluffing about us being the two top students. I'd always presumed the other was a cocky boy named Jack who was the other top student. Troye proved me wrong when he deflected both my attacking spells - the ones that had never been deflected by another student before.

It had to be more than just our abilities. Strong Fires and Waters always fought one another, but the spells never seemed to combine.

Maybe it was something to do with ancestry? I’d been taught that your family could have big effects on your strength. Perhaps both our heritages made our powers stronger? I knew that most of my bloodline were just Fires. They were powerful ones - too powerful, in some cases. Maybe we came from families that were once at odds with one another? But, if it was to do with our heritage, who was Troye descended from?

“Tyler?” Connor asked lowly. I turned to him with a smile, thankful for the distraction. His face was bitter. “There’s something-”

I saw a flash a light speeding out from behind a tree. “Look out!” I shouted, pushing Connor out of the treeline as a bolt of lightning raced towards us. I ran after him.

For someone who never took part in sports, in times of need, I could run.

I grateful it wasn’t autumn, otherwise I may have tripped on leaves.The lightning passed us, instead hitting a tree. The tree stump was blackened by the impact. Thunder boomed a moment after.

I glanced at Connor, who was bracing himself, holding on to his knees. "Are you hurt?" He simply shook his head, panting hard.

“Who's there?” I yelled, eyes darting all over the place. Apart form the squawking of retreating birds, nothing could be heard.