Frostbitten Wayfarer

Zoe ran to Joe’s stand, hoping he would be there but found nothing but some broken plates and smashed up food. She looked around, her eyes darted from left to right as she frantically searched for Joe.

Should she just go to Joe’s inn? Would he be looking for her as well? Was Emma here? Could she even do anything as a level eight if a light red mage was already on the job?

She cursed under her breath. Whatever the creature was, it would be stopped at the walls, right? This wasn’t war, this was creatures. This was exactly what the walls were for. All the high level people would defend the walls, and she would be safe. That was the point of the city, she would be okay.

Zoe took a deep breath and decided to spend a few more minutes at least looking for Joe or Emma. She hadn’t seen Emma here yet, but there was no way that she’d miss out on such a massive event in town.

Minutes passed, and the temperature kept plummeting. Every breath she took in burned her lungs, and every exhale pushed out a cloud of mist. She kept pushing through the crowds of people, looking for somebody she’d recognize. Anybody.

And then the chaos started. Hail rained from the north east, buffeting everything. The shards of ice smashed through tents, splattered food and drinks all over the park. Furniture on display was dented and smashed. Some of the ice impacted Zoe and her health dipped.

Health: 147/200

“Fuck!” She screamed, and ducked under a thick wooden table somebody had on display nearby. A few others who were nearby dashed under it with her. The ice kept flying, making the table shudder and shake with each impact.

And then just as quick as it began, the rain of death stopped. The temperature plummeted once more and the very air seemed to freeze around her.

“Is it over?” One of the women who took shelter with Zoe asked. A dark red marked warrior.

“Shit. I have no idea. Do you know what’s happening?" A man asked and poked his head out from under the table. Identify showed him as a dark red warrior.

“Rolf said it was an unidentified creature from the north east, apparently.” Zoe answered.

“Fuck. I knew I shouldn’t have stayed at the stand.” The man crawled out from under the table and stood up.

“It’s okay babe, we’ll be okay. Rolf’s guards will keep us safe I’m sure.” Another man said under the table. The last one who managed to fit, identify showed him as a dark blue mage. He stood up and wrapped his arms around the other man.

“We need to go,” the male warrior said.

“It was from the northeast you said?” The mage looked to Zoe.

“Mhm, that’s what I heard at least.” Zoe answered.

“We should go southwest then, get as far away as we can as quick as we can. Come on, I’ll cast a quickness spell on us all.” The mage held out a hand to Zoe and the other woman who were still under the table.

Both the women took his hand and he helped them up. Then he muttered some words Zoe couldn’t understand, and she felt a pulse of magic wash out over her.

*Ding* You have been affected by the Haste spell. Increased quickness for ten minutes.

The world seemed to slow down for Zoe as her perception skyrocketed. It was a strange feeling, but she didn’t have the time to process it yet. The two men pointed to the southwest and took off.

Zoe and the other woman followed behind them for a few seconds and then the chaos began again. All the shards of ice that fell around them began to coalesce together, as they swirled through the air and combined to form a floating ball of ice right in front of where they were running.

[Elemental - ??]

A blue marked elemental. Zoe looked around her and saw more forming off in the distance no matter where she looked. Other groups were stuck, trapped by the swarm of ice that was taking over the park. Some lashed out at the ice and others fled as they ran for whatever shelter they could find.

“We’re surrounded.” Zoe said.

“Shit! Do we fight it? It’s only blue marked, do you think you can handle it James?” The male warrior asked.

“I can try. Do either of you have anything you can do to help?” The mage — James, asked.

“I have a bow,” Zoe said.

“I can punch it.” The woman said.

“Good enough. Hit it with everything you’ve got. We’ll deal with this and then keep running southwest.” The mage muttered some more words Zoe didn’t understand and hurled a raging ball of fire at the elemental.

It exploded on impact, and flames washed over the ice that was trying to form. Most of the ice that hadn’t already assimilated with the main body melted and fell to the ground in a puddle. Zoe hoped that meant it would be weaker and drew her bow.

“I’ll keep to controlled attacks now, get in there you two!” James shouted.

The two warriors rushed in. The woman smashed her fists into the ball of ice, each impact sending ripples through its form. The man summoned a short sword and made rapid slashes into the ball, chunks of ice carved off with each hit and fell to the ground.

James peppered the ball with beams of fire, melting each chunk of ice that fell off from the brutal attack of the warriors. Zoe fired all of her arrows off, each one hit the ball and fell to the ground. Some shattered from the impact, but Zoe had no intentions of picking up her arrows after the fight anyway. She had no delusions that her arrows were making much of a difference, they weren’t worth the time.

The elemental conjured shards of crystal blue ice and rocketed them towards the group, but each one was shot down by a blazing beam of fire from James or crushed under the powerful fists of the woman.

After what felt like hours but was likely closer to seconds, the ball of ice crumbled into pieces and fell to the ground. Zoe got a notification but dismissed it. She had an idea of what it might be, but now wasn’t the time to celebrate.

“Lets go!” James called out and ran forward. The rest followed after him.

They encountered two more elementals on their frantic run, but they were never surrounded again and Zoe was able to lead them on a winding path that avoided a direct confrontation.

The effects of the Haste spell wore off while they were dashing down a street, and Zoe stumbled at the sudden loss of her perception. The woman grabbed her and pulled her along as she tried to get her footing again.

They continued on for another hour, nobody even thinking of stopping until they felt the temperature return to some semblance of normal.

“The cold’s gone. We should be fine now.” James said and slowed down to a brisk walk.

He stopped at a tavern and knocked on the door. The door opened a moment later and a short stalky man greeted them.

“Get in, get in.” He said, and gestured them inwards.

Inside were another two dozen people. Basic triage was set up, some of the more injured people laying on tables that were pushed together. A couple people were walking around checking on everybody, giving them water or food.

One woman was standing next to one of the injured people, her hands were resting on the man’s chest and her eyes were closed. Zoe could feel a pressure rising from her but wasn’t sure what it was exactly. She showed up as a green mage to Zoe’s identify.

“Any injuries?” The short man who opened the door for them asked.

“No, I think we’re all mostly fine.” James said, and looked over the group. Everybody nodded back.

Zoe had taken a few hits from the initial barrage of ice but her regeneration would take care of it soon, she knew.

“Good, go sit down somewhere then. Somebody will bring you some water and food soon.” The man said and rushed over to the kitchen.

There were no chairs left, so the group walked over to one of the walls and sat down on the floor. A few minutes later a man came by with cups of water and some plain looking soup for them all.

“Did you all get the feat too?” The woman warrior asked.

Zoe checked the notification she dismissed earlier.

*Ding*

For assisting in the destruction of a cold elemental, you have been awarded with the [Slayer of Frost] feat.

[Slayer of Frost]

You strike fear in the heart of frost, a harbinger of death and destruction to all who would call the chill their home. Draw strength from the frost’s fear and harness its power as if it were your own. All classes gain a bonus to cold affinity. Gain the frost skill.

[Frost]

Summon the frost and bend it to your will.

Zoe’s eyes widened in shock at what she got. This was much better than the winter’s master feat, she even got a new skill out of it!

“I did,” Zoe said.

“Me too,” The two men agreed.

“I’m Eve, by the way.” The woman said.

“I’m James, and this is my husband Anderson.” James said.

“Zoe,” Zoe said.

“You were impressive out there for a level eight. How were you able to see the elementals from so far away so clearly?” Eve asked.

“I have a skill that makes my eyes better.” Zoe said.

“That’s a nice one to have then, especially if you’re planning to be an archer it seems?" James said.

“Something like that I guess, yeah.” Zoe said.

“So what’s this frost skill do anyway?” Anderson asked.

“Looks like an all in one creation and manipulation skill to me.” James said.

“That might be convenient if I could coat my fists in ice or something then, I guess.” Eve said.

James summoned a small ball of ice to his hand and made it float around his hand like one of those clear contact juggling balls.

“Yeah, seems like it’s a creation and manipulation combination skill. Not very powerful though, you should be able to give it a try.” James said.

The other three fell into a quiet silence as they focused on their skills, trying to summon the frost to bend to their wills. The first to succeed was Anderson, a small shard of ice appeared in his hand and wiggled around a little.

The next was Eve, to similar success. A shard of ice appeared in her hand and wiggled its way around her fingers.

Zoe took a few minutes longer but managed to get it as well. Mana rushed out of her hand and formed into a tiny sliver of ice. She could feel a connection to it, like a string of… somethingness that attached it to her. She pushed her will through it, and could feel even more mana rushing out of her to push the sliver of ice around on her hand.

“Seems kinda useless. How’d you get such a big ball like that?” Eve asked James.

“I have a lot of experience with these kinds of skills already, and my classes all give some bonuses to it too.” James explained.

“Hmmm… It’s fun at least.” Eve said.

“Keep practising and you’ll get better at it. These types of skills tend to get a lot better as they level up.” James said.

The four kept playing with their shards of ice, but were interrupted by frantic banging on the tavern door.

“Please, if you have any help, let us in. Please!” Somebody shouted from outside the door.

The short man ran out from the kitchen and opened the door. Outside were two men carrying another injured man. He was missing his left arm and had a long frozen gash down the left side of his face stretching down to his waist.

Blood dripped as the ice slowly melted, and the short man lead them up to a table. “We only have one healer right now and we can’t interrupt her while she’s casting. Just hang on for a minute, alright?”

The injured man groaned in response. One of the men carrying him nodded his head.

Zoe’s eyes were glued to the scene, and fear welled up inside her. She’d never seen somebody in such bad shape before. And she hoped that whatever caused the injury wasn’t nearby.

The minutes passed, the tavern silent as people watched the green marked mage continue to build pressure within herself.. The feelings of hope and fear were almost palpable.

Finally, the pressure stopped building for a moment and then rushed out of the woman’s hands into the man she was helping. His breathing became more regular, and the woman opened her eyes to look at the innkeeper.

He gestured to the injured man that was just brought in and the woman rushed over to place her hands on him.

“I’m sorry, I won’t be able to fix your arm.” She closed her eyes, and Zoe felt the pressure begin to build again.

The tavern was silent a while longer as people watched the race between healing and death take place. The man had already been sitting on the table for several minutes before the woman was able to get to him, and who knows how long before they got to the tavern.

And Zoe had watched the woman build up that pressure for almost six minutes after they came into the tavern — not to mention that the woman had already been building up that pressure before they showed up.

She couldn’t remember the exact feeling the woman gave off when she entered, but Zoe thought she remembered it being quite a bit more intense than it was right now.

Almost ten minutes later, the pressure stopped building and rushed through the woman to the man. The massive wound on his left side closed, leaving a long scar that stretched almost his entire body.

“He should be okay. Keep him hydrated when he wakes up.” The woman said and moved on to the next person.

Everybody in the tavern let out a sigh of relief.

The woman continued healing the rest of the people, and hours later a familiar voice echoed through the tavern.

“Hello again, Flester. The elemental has been slain. If you have any injured, please bring them to city hall. Any available healers please report to city hall to assist. Some sections of town are still dangerously chilled. Approach the cold at your own risk. Thank you.” Rolf said, his voice just as clear as it was when he spoke at the centre of the festival.