Glacius Frostmaw's Arc

Chapter 8 of 14

The elk carried them past the tree line and up the white slope. Snow thinned to bare ice. At the top waited the frozen peak, and its cavern mouth glittered with pale crystal. Glacius slid from the elk's back. He knew what stood inside. The same guardian who had warned him before, on the day he took the dragon's heart. Skara and Throk hung back. This was his to finish. Glacius stepped into the cavern. Cold light bounced off frozen walls. A small figure stood at the far end, white hair wild, blue eyes bright as the ice around him. Oskar Drumm, the demigod who guarded the summit. He had told Glacius that greed would kill the mountain. He had been right. Now he blocked the last stretch of ancient ice, the ice Glacius needed to finish his blade. "You came back," Oskar said. "The mountain is already dying. Yet you want more." "I need the peak's ice," Glacius said. "For the weapon. Only that ice is old enough." "And I stand here." Oskar spread his small hands. Frost crawled up the walls toward Glacius. "Take it by force, and I will fight you." Glacius drew the sword he had forged. Its dragon eyes glowed faint blue. He raised it, then stopped. Force had brought the collapse. Force had nearly buried Skara. He lowered the blade. "I won't fight you," Glacius said. "You were right about the mountain. I paid for that." He held up his bare hand. Frost formed there without the cube. "I carry the power now. The cube is spent. Whatever I take, I take once, and no more." Oskar studied him. The crawling frost slowed. "You have changed," the demigod said. "The one who came before grabbed and ran. You ask." "I ask," Glacius said. "One block. Enough to finish the blade. Then the peak is yours alone." Oskar was quiet a long moment. Then he stepped aside. Behind him, deep in the cavern, a single pillar of clear old ice caught the light. "The mountain gave everything else," Oskar said. "Take this and no more. Break your word, and even a spent orc will not walk down again." Glacius laid his hand on the pillar. He drew a slow breath and pulled the cold into a single block. It came free clean. The pillar closed smooth behind it. He held the ancient ice against his chest. "Go," Oskar said. "Finish what you started. Then let this peak rest." Glacius carried the block out into the wind. Skara looked at his hands, then at his face. "He let you pass," she said. "He let me pass," Glacius said. The guardian was behind him now. The last ice was in his arms. Only the forging remained.