Chris Evans - Ashes of a Black Frost

His mother appeared in the circle surrounding him. Her sad eyes found his. She reached out her hands. “Kill Her, my son. Kill Her and set me free.”

The cold now was so intense Konowa was having difficulty breathing. His entire body was shaking so hard it took all his strength to hold on to his saber. He watched with horror as the frost fire on the blade began to sputter.

“You must do this,” Chayii said, moving closer as the ring tightened.

Konowa shook his head and swung his saber around him like a drunk. He almost toppled over, but caught his footing in time. “No! I won’t. I want to know why. Why mark us? Why seek us out?”

The sound of branches moving grew in volume. The circle opened leaving Konowa no route except straight forward. The group of people he knew closed to within arm’s reach, but Konowa could no longer lift his own. The frost fire on his saber went out. Tears of frustration streamed down his face and froze. “I want. . an answer!”

A branch reached out and circled around his right wrist. Frost fire burned at the spot, searing his skin. The branch tightened, and pointed his saber at the Shadow Monarch. It pulled him forward.

Konowa dug in his heels leaving a trail of black flame in his wake. “Why?”

Chayii moved to his side. “Kill Her my son, kill Her.”

Konowa wrenched his arm until his shoulder joint burned and lights began to flash behind his eyes. “Tell. Me. Why!” He pulled his arm and broke free of the branch. More snaked toward him. Frost fire burst again along his blade and he began slashing wildly at any that came close, setting them afire. The Shadow Monarch cringed, throwing Her hands over Her head.

Chayii moved toward him, but he held his saber in front of him and kept her at bay. “My son, this can all be over. She killed so many you love. She killed me. Kill Her, and the oath is broken.”

A new cold washed over Konowa’s body. The shades of the dead Iron Elves appeared, taking their place beside him. The circle of avatars surrounding Konowa moved back. RSM Lorian on Zwindarra. One-eyed Meri. Private Teeter. And Private Renwar. They said nothing, but there was no need. They and he were one. Their pain was his. Their need was his need.

“Break the oath. Set them free,” Chayii said.

Konowa stepped forward again. “No.”

Waves of anguish washed over Konowa as the shades writhed. He was prepared for battle, but this was something else. Life after life cut far too short flashed through his mind. Husbands that would never return to their wives. Sons who would never see their parents, and fathers who would never hold their children. The sorrow left him breathless. He sobbed until he thought he’d pass out.

“Why?” he screamed, staggering another step forward.

The image that was Chayii shattered, and in its place he saw the Silver Wolf Oak as it saw itself, as it wanted to be. It stood tall and proud, a towering, monstrous example of a Wolf Oak, its leafy crown a sky-blotting collection of glittering Stars. “This is why,” a new voice emanating from the Shadow Monarch said. “I was destined for more! I am more, and I will be, once She is gone.”

Konowa roared. “You’re a tree! You’re a damn, bloody tree! Why? Why all of this? If you hate Her, kill Her yourself. Why mark me?” he asked, pointing to his ruined ear. “Why mark any of us?”

“You wonder why I marked you? Why I marked the others? She is dying. She was always going to die. Do you know what happens to a Silver Wolf Oak when its ryk faur dies?”

A light of understanding dawned in Konowa. “You die, too. Not right away, but you wither and die. The bond has its price.” Konowa understood better now why Tyul was the way he was. “If you kill Her, you kill yourself.”

“And so I need a new bond, a new life to take Her place. The acorn your father gave you was my gift. She did my bidding as Her own. But now I need more. Her strength bleeds away. I need a strong elf, one not enraptured by the natural world as all these other elves are. As She was. And so I sought to set some of you apart in the hopes that one day I would find one strong enough to bond with and create a new world.”

The acorn against Konowa’s heart cracked. He felt the first tendril of what was inside pierce his skin and start to worm its way into his flesh.

“I created you, my child, and now we will be one.”

Konowa screamed and reached for his chest. He ripped his tunic exposing his flesh. He grabbed the acorn and pulled, but he couldn’t remove it. The saber fell from his right hand. Everything was going dark. More branches snaked around him.

He looked to the shades for help, but they were trapped in a shimmering wall of frost fire. He was alone.

A branch wrapped itself around his right wrist while another reached to the ground for his saber.

The saber wasn’t there. Konowa forced his head up. The Shadow Monarch stood next to the Silver Wolf Oak, his saber in Her hands.

“I cannot kill you, my love, my life,” She said, the tears streaming down Her face. “I saved you, I gave you life.” Her voice was broken with sobs. The love and agony in it made Konowa hurt.

The branches of the Silver Wolf Oak shook and thrashed in an attempt to get to the Shadow Monarch, but they were so interwoven now around Konowa they could not reach Her. She moved forward until She stood beside the tree’s twisted trunk. Her sobs grew louder as She sunk to Her knees beside it.

Branches snapped as the sarka har flailed around them. The entire mountain began to tremble. Konowa stumbled as the rock heaved beneath him. The air turned so cold he could no longer breathe. His vision grayed at the edge.

“You have to!” Konowa choked. He struggled to move forward, but the cold and the shaking ground made it impossible.

The Shadow Monarch turned to look at him. “No, I can’t. I won’t. But if I cannot be with my love in this life, I will be with it in the next.” She turned the saber so that the point was facing Her chest, and then She fell forward.

The mountain shuddered. Rocks cracked and blew apart as the Silver Wolf Oak’s roots ripped through the deep, climbing back to the surface to ensnare Konowa in their grasp. The first roots broke free and wrapped themselves around his ankle, but they were too late.

The summit exploded in a shower of black, crystal flame. The Shadow Monarch’s body vanished in a gale of frost fire. The flame ignited the ichor dripping from the Silver Wolf Oak and set it ablaze. It flamed at once, burning so dark the night appeared as day. Konowa burned, too, only now, he had no protection from the frost fire. He stumbled blindly through the flame, struggling to find a way out. He tripped and fell, landing hard on a rock. He struggled to stay conscious as the black flames roared skyward, consuming everything on the mountain peak. He knew if he stayed here, he would die.

The pain tried to keep him pinned to the ground, but the fire inside made him roll. He climbed to his feet, still reeling. He couldn’t see. Everything was aflame. Sarka har shrieked as they burned. The Silver Wolf Oak’s branches thrashed and tore itself apart in its funeral pyre of ugly, black flame.

A wave of cold air suddenly surrounded him. He looked up. The shades of the dead stood beside him again, shielding him from the raging fire. Private Renwar stepped forth. His shadowy form solidified for a moment, revealing the young lad Konowa had first met. They locked eyes. Alwyn smiled, and saluted. The other shades followed suit. Lorian. Meri. His men. His brothers.

Konowa struggled to stand upright and returned their salute, the tears streaming freely down his face. It wasn’t the salute that made him cry. It was seeing their smiles.