Chapter 3: Chapter 3 — The Last Keeper

For several seconds, nobody moved.
Snow drifted through the open academy gates.
Elian stared at the woman.
“I'm the reason?”
The keeper nodded.
Master Arven stepped between them.
“Enough.”
The woman's pale eyes remained fixed on Elian.
“You knew this day would come.”
Arven's voice was unusually cold.
“You should not have come here.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“And you chose to hide the truth.”
Elian looked from one to the other.
“What truth?”
Neither answered.
The silence frightened him more than the winter outside.
Finally, Elian turned toward Arven.
“You said the wards recognized me.”
“They did.”
“You said I could read the cipher.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Arven closed his eyes.
“Because your family was involved with Vaelthar.”
Elian felt the world tilt.
“My family?”
The keeper stepped closer.
“Your bloodline carried the first fragment of the Frost Cipher.”
Elian touched the silver pendant around his neck.
“What does that mean?”
Before she could answer, the ground shook.
A tremendous crack raced through the courtyard.
Students screamed.
The fountain shattered.
Ice exploded upward.
Something beneath the academy was breaking through.
Arven raised his staff.
“Everyone inside!”
The students ran.
The keeper grabbed Elian's arm.
“You must come with me.”
“Where?”
“To the tower.”
“Which tower?”
She pointed north.
The Glacial Spire.
Elian stared at it through the snow.
“You want me to go there?”
“If you don't, the Frost Rune will consume the south.”
Arven shook his head.
“He can't go.”
The keeper turned toward him.
“You know the alternative.”
Arven's expression hardened.
“There is another way.”
“There isn't.”
“There must be.”
“There was.”
The keeper's voice became bitter.
“You destroyed it twenty years ago.”
Arven went silent.
Elian looked at him.
“What did you do?”
The old wizard lowered his staff.
“Nothing that can be undone.”
Another tremor shook the academy.
This time, the courtyard stones split apart.
A blue light rose from beneath the earth.
The ancient symbol appeared again.
But this time it was enormous.
Elian suddenly heard a voice.
Not through his ears.
Inside his mind.
Come north.
He stumbled backward.
“Did you hear that?”
Arven looked terrified.
“Hear what?”
A second voice followed.
Come home.
Elian froze.
Home.
He had never been to the Glacial Spire.
Yet something inside him recognized those words.
The keeper saw his expression.
“It has found you.”
“What has?”
“Vaelthar.”
The Frost Rune suddenly flared.
Every window in the academy shattered simultaneously.
A wave of freezing air swept through the courtyard.
Students cried out as frost crawled across their clothing.
Arven slammed his staff into the ground.
A golden barrier erupted around them.
“Take him,” he told the keeper.
She nodded.
Elian stared at his master.
“You're coming too.”
Arven shook his head.
“I cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because the wards beneath this academy were built to stop Vaelthar's servants.”
He looked toward the northern mountains.
“And they are waking.”
As if summoned by his words, three dark shapes appeared beyond the academy walls.
They walked through the snow without leaving footprints.
Tall.
Thin.
Covered in armor made from black ice.
The keeper drew a curved silver blade.
“Frostbound.”
Arven's eyes narrowed.
“Three of them.”
The creatures raised their hands.
Ice spears formed in the air.
“Run!” Arven shouted.
The keeper pulled Elian toward the eastern passage.
Behind them, magic erupted.
Golden fire collided with blue ice.
The academy shook.
Elian looked back once.
Master Arven stood alone in the courtyard.
The Frostbound advanced.
Then the gates slammed shut.
The keeper dragged Elian through a hidden tunnel beneath the academy.
They ran in darkness.
“Who are you?” Elian demanded.
“My name is Seris.”
“Why do your eyes look like that?”
“Because I have spent too long near the Frost Rune.”
“Are you human?”
Seris stopped.
She looked at him.
“Once.”
Elian said nothing.
They continued deeper underground until they reached a massive circular chamber.
Seven doors surrounded it.
Six were covered in ice.
One was open.
Inside the chamber stood a stone pedestal.
Upon it rested a small crystal.
Seris approached it.
“This is the first key.”
“To the Frost Cipher?”
“Yes.”
Elian reached for it.
The moment his fingers touched the crystal, the chamber disappeared.
He saw a vast frozen throne room.
An ancient man stood before him.
Long silver hair.
Black robes.
Eyes glowing like blue stars.
Vaelthar.
The archmage looked directly at Elian.
“You have your mother's eyes.”
Elian couldn't breathe.
“My mother?”
Vaelthar smiled.
“She told me you would return.”
The vision began to fade.
Elian shouted.
“Wait!”
Vaelthar raised one hand.
A final message echoed through the chamber.
“Do not trust the keeper.”
Elian fell to his knees.
The vision vanished.
Seris stood behind him.
“What did you see?”
Elian slowly turned.
For the first time, he was afraid of her.
“Vaelthar.”
Seris's face went pale.
“What did he say?”
Elian hesitated.
Then he remembered the final words.
He lied.
“He said nothing.”
Outside the chamber, something began scratching against the stone doors.
Once.
Twice.
Then seven times.
Seris looked toward the entrance.
“The Frostbound found us.”
Elian closed his hand around the crystal.
And somewhere beneath the Glacial Spire, an ancient bell began to ring.

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