Curselock

Chapter 95: Ice Warrior

“An… Incarnation?” Jude asked, his throat suddenly raw.

He looked from Gelo to her mother, finding both bears staring at him expectantly. They watched his subtle movements, the younger silently taking in the announcement. The older, however, answered.

“Indeed, a gift worthy of everything so far.”

Now Glenny and Leland stared at Jude. Each gawked at their friend, a blessing. A full-on blessing. They couldn’t believe it. Congratulations were in order, drinks, partying, a wonderful warm night in a tavern! Their return to civilization would be glorious! Both Leland and Glenny could see it now.

At least, until Jude’s next words.

“What’s an Incarnation?”

Everyone else froze with stupor, even the two frost bears. Gawking turned to blank faces which then turned into irritated maws. Only Floe regained some composure, the others cracking like an overheated glass statue. But silence reigned supreme.

Leland was first to fully taken in the situation, “It’s a type of blessing from ancient intelligent beasts.”

“Specifically,” Gelo added, “a war-themed blessing.”

Glenny coughed. “A blessing is a gift someone of great power can bestow on someone else. In this case, Floe to you.”

“Ahh,” Jude mouthed. “So like my tattoo of regeneration? My parents are quite powerful if you don’t mind the humble brag.”

Again, silence reigned.

“Blessings aren’t so much physical items, but rather an understanding of an aspect of magic or a dynamic change in someone’s aspect,” Leland retorted, referring to one of the many introductory magic textbooks his parents made him read.

“But I don’t use magic,” Jude said with a frown. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for the blessing, I just think it will be more useful given to someone else. Perhaps Leland, he uses magic.”

Floe couldn’t hold it any longer. She laughed and laughed, rumbling the sandy arena floor like a bomb had detonated miles underground. She flattered herself in her giggly fit, lowering her head inline with the boys in Gelo.

“Perhaps it would just be better if you see for yourself,” she said between laughs. “Glenny, would you fancy a spar?”

The rogue perked up at that and turned to Jude. “What do you say? I’ve got a new weapon technique, you’ve got a new Incarnation? Might be fun?”

Jude, never usually one to turn away from a battle, was hesitant. He remembered back to his time unconscious, to right before he was frozen in hoarfrost and killed. Just how he was alive again, he didn’t know. But he felt something was wrong, something deep inside him. Something had broken and had been reconstructed.

He voiced his concerns to the group. Glenny and Leland then recounted the events leading up to Ice Castle’s King’s demise. Jude listened intently to all of it, yet never spoke. He didn’t remember any of it, even after waking in a “raged-out” state, as Leland put it. He especially didn’t remember hacking away at the moose, killing it like it was a common, non-magical, deer.

“And then you just kept hitting the King’s corpse. Over and over again, long after my spell ended,” Leland finished.

“That was about the time Floe arrived. She jumped into the arena, killing the crowd of monsters, and magicing you asleep.”

Floe cleared her throat. “My magicing you, was the ritual for giving you my blessing. I sensed the unmasked raw rage in you. There were a few threads of fate I harped on, one such being a glue of sorts.”

“The cold peace,” Jude muttered. “You locked the rage inside of me away. And when I unlocked it, the cold peace intertwined with it. That was you?”

The mother bear gave a slow nod.

“That power… it soothed my nightmare…”

“A nightmare that hopefully shall be hesitant to return,” Floe replied.

“How do you mean?” Jude asked.

“Rage, and all of its kin, have equal opposites. Anger, irritation, rage, calmness, excitement, peace. A mask, of sorts, one with a fissure through the center. The rage leaks out, blinding those who look through. Peace, in this case, is the glue to smooth the fissure.”

“I-I see…”

“My blessing is weak, however. That is the way of the Lords and their pets. As you grow in strength, so will your Lord’s guidance. My blessing, while exactly what you need, is only a temporary fix. But even a temporary stepping stone provides a footing to reach the peak of the mountain.”

With little more to say, Glenny and Jude stepped away from the group and into the center of the arena. As he did, Jude looked around finding monster body parts in partially melted ice around the periphery. He wished he could have seen it, Floe decimating them. It would have been a sight to behold.

“Ready?” Glenny asked, extending his arms.

A quick swipe of crimson red power blasted from his palms before sprouting like an opened umbrella. The change was quick and wobbly, but his power solidified with every pounding second. Like an initiate Legacy of the Forge, he crafted his weapon with bountiful imagination and vision. The outcome wasn’t exactly as he wanted but what he was going for was evident enough. A scimitar; a back-curing blade fit with a single bladed edge and short hilt.

Jude let out a low whistle, summoning his own battle axe from his hand tattoo. He took a minute, looking at the eternal blood that licked his blade, reading through his Legacy rankings. Everything was in order, albeit higher than he originally imagined. He shrugged, lowering his hands and raising back his weapon.

“Ready,” he said with a playful snarl.

“Go!” Leland shouted from the side.

The spar started with the rogue turning invisible and rushing through the sand. The berserker mimicked the move, minus the invisibility. They clashed in the very center of the arena, Jude reading the imprints in the sand like a book.

Hot sparks clashed from their weapons, Jude powering through with his increased strength. Likewise, Glenny dipped and skipped around the sand like a dancer, moving around his friend with precision.

First blood streaked down the back of Jude’s leg, the heat from Glenny’s crimson blade nearly searing the wound shut.

Jude grunted at the pain, his Legacy ability activating instantly. His agony fueled his movements, pushing his strength and rage higher. He hesitated, however, feeling something in the background. He checked his leg, something he would never have done if in a real battle. But then again, Glenny might attack to prove a point, so he made it quick.

What he found almost made him call off the spar. Ice, a small pocket of ice. Like he sat in snow and some stuck to his pants. He frowned, but before he could inspect more, a curved crimson blade appeared from stealth.

Jude reacted quickly, parrying the attack before shoulder bashing the invisible Glenny. Hearing his friend grunt back and retreat put a smile on Jude’s face. Why was he worrying so much? He loved to battle, he loved to spar. Why was he worrying about some ice? He was literally in an Ice Castle!

The stress of the last few days washed over him as he let out another one of his Legacy abilities. He bellowed with power, the war cry adding to his strength and upping his threshold for pain. Then he leaped, flying through the air toward where he last saw one of Glenny’s footprints.

The agility-based rogue, however, moved out of the way, circling under the mid-air berserker. Jude landed, breaking the stone under the sand in a small arc. Glenny predicted this, appearing with his weapon raised. Jude turned quick, however, blocking the attack before receiving a kick to the gut.

He bounced through the sand, rolling in such a way that he gained his footing. Like a bolt of lighting he shot off, back to Glenny. Jude’s battle axe, however, was no longer a bloodied mess of iron and instead was frozen over with sharp hoarfrost. He swung wide, cleaving with what used to be his only ranged attack.

Before a red crescent of raw rage would ignite from his axe and blast through the air, but now a frozen blue arc launched out. The sudden change in ability caught Glenny by surprise. He blocked most of the damage, but his forearms and wrists were gushing blood as the ability razed past him. He lowered his guard, expecting the bout to be over, but something yanked him from behind.

Like a boomerang, Jude’s crescent ability made its mark, returning to the berserker with frigid strength. Glenny, caught in the attack, flew through the arena and landed just before his opponent – his invisibility dispelled. Both friends looked at each other, their eyes wide.

Jude, however, broke his stupor with a sinister smile. He raised his arms back and up, hoisting his frozen battle axe high into the air. He then thrust with all his might, ending his attack just before Glenny’s open neck.

“I win,” said the Legacy of the berserker.

“Jude,” Glenny whispered, already accepting his defeat. “What’s with the ice?”

All across Jude’s leg, a thin layer of blue-tinted ice crested him like the pant of a suit of armor. It bent and pivoted at his joint, moving with his muscles in a similar fashion to Gelo and Floe. He then noticed his axe, flared and frozen, sharpened and cool.

“Huh,” Jude said. “That’s new.”