What is ice? It is merely frozen water. A hard forgery of something else. It can not erase something’s existence or bring inspiration to the soul as fire can. Nor can it bear the fruit of life and offer shelter as the earth does. It is another form of something, which in itself is on the boundary between the living and the dead.
In the water is where all life began. This concoction of two simple elements is a substance that existence needs to remain valid. Yet this “motherly spirit” can drown you with its “love”. It can poison you, restrain you, ultimately taking away the life it has given. Water may heal or help you decay. It can be calm and it can be restless. Clear and murky. Deep and shallow. Never remaining in one state for long, changing its form with every new container. A mysterious intricate anima, which does not recognise the borderline between reality and imagination.
Albeit created by this embodiment of harmony, ice is not a scale, on which two opposites reside perfectly in balance. There is no situation in which it may aid the creation of new animate beings, for it possesses a cold and unforgiving nature. Made of crystals pure and graceful, an angelic bringer of death it is, freezing one’s entire being and robbing them of their final breath without so much as creating a single scratch on one’s flesh. Indeed, ice is the true “kiss of death”. A gentle touch that ends all sorrow with an eternal sleep in an embrace deprived of warmth.
This all being clear and said, it can not be expected of something so “black” to be merciful in battle. The stage of war it may silently leave, yet behind it shall be a path of soundless demise. A beautiful white star spreading darkness on its way across the welkin. Obstacles that appear on the road will only meet their peril sooner. This statement is not only true for foes, but for allies as well. An essence so bitterly cold that it stings every fiber of your body is not meant to be one’s faithful companion, like a simple-minded dog that allows not its mind but its heart to lead the way.
Just as a wolf would carefully stalk its prey before unleashing an attack, Hakuren observed the bloodstained arena below him, all the while contemplating on the matter of his power.
Sitting on a branch of one of the trees that surrounded the clearing, he had reached the beforementioned conclusions already and was taking his ~time~ to decide upon his future actions, whilst various happenings occurred with the involvement of his teammates. The young man had taken this position shortly after a tree had fallen between him and the ogre, when Lesley had given him the opportunity to slip by unnoticed, whilst the human of a now not so questionable orientation performed the skill named “Care bear stare”. The ice mage had known from the beginning that his ability was not meant to be used within a short distance, thus he had taken the advantage created by the commotion to occupy a spot that better suited his liking.
However, this did not mean that he had not realized the danger of his new location. Having demonstrated its ability to demolish anything in its path, one swipe from the beast’s sword at the bark could mean a broken leg or worse. Yet the pros outweighed the cons during the moment of action and further dominated them, since the only way for the living terror to specifically pick to cut down the tree he was resting on was to witness the youngster using his ice steps to reach his hiding spot. With Panther properly attracting its attention, it would not have been possible for it to have noted where its other enemy went.
Safely masked behind the many leaves of blue, green and violet, which shivered as the wind blew at them, the green-blue-eyed magician followed closely with his gaze the continuation of the play.
It lasted for what felt like a ~short time~, yet that period was enough for the mythological figure to break free from its attacker’s grip and lunge at the albino healer of the group. Due to her inability to do anything other than mend injuries, the girl had been incapable of escaping the ogre’s hands and became trapped in its hold. Fortunately, her instincts kicked in and her mind made use of whatever was on hand, namely the staff that had been given to her before their departure, and stabbed the fiend in the eye. Taking a staff to the eye. That was a worthy successor of “an arrow to the knee”.
The next actor to step on the stage had been Riley, the heroine of the flame, whose impressive imperfect control over her element had so far in their journey dealt a decent amount of damage. Like any main character out to have fun in the battlefield, she had displayed typical recklessness and confidence by leaping into the air with the aid of Leon’s wind and landing on the monster’s head. The lass had wrapped her arms around its neck and clung onto it like a clingy girlfriend, her intention being to allow her comrades to take a clean shot at the armband, an item which had thus far been absorbing their magical attacks. Things had turned for the worse when the beast attempted to take her off. It had obviously been in a state of panic, seeing as its precious piece of defensive equipment was being targeted. Realizing that she could not hold on any longer, the young woman had fired a shot at the inanimate object, the fire burning away the leather that had strapped the gem to the limb. With this final task done, her mission had been completed.
In the end the humans had achieved their first order of business, not without taking a toll for it. Jasper was scratched and bruised, cowering behind Lesley, who had also taken an injury or two after being pushed away by the ogre. Leon was rather out of it, his body no doubt aching after taking a direct hit from the villain’s shield. But the one, who had received the most pain from them all, was Riley, who now lied on the ground unconscious after being thrown off by the enemy.
And during the passing of all these events Hakuren had not so much as lifted a finger. Watching them struggle from his comfortable seat, his staff placed atop his lap, the thought of casting a spell had not been far from his mind. In fact, using his ability was the topic of his internal monologue, yet the moment to play his part had, until this point, not yet come. There were numerous openings that could have been taken, but what had prevented him from doing so was the fact that his companions were simply too close. Even if he could give the order for the ice to attack and move in a certain manner, he could not draw out the detailed course of action. Ice was like a cat. A pet with a great dose of independence. In all of the instances when the rest of his group needed his aid, a shot from him would not only affect the ogre, but them as well. Understanding that this would be a waste of energy, not to mention friendly fire at useful teammates, this individual preferred to stay in the shadows and lie in wait. His patience was bound to be rewarded.
An icicle fell out of thin air on the armband gem, which had not been picked from the ground. The jewel shattered, lights flashing brightly as they escaped their container. The magical nullifier was no more. The humans were longer at a disadvantage. The monster was unsteadily standing on its feet, blood pouring out of the fresh wound where its eye used to be. With half of its sight now gone and tired from the chase, it was now a sitting duck.
The atmosphere became cold. Bit by bit the temperature dropped. Transparent shards could be seen fluttering in the air as light glided on them, before disappearing into the nothingness. Seemingly in an instant the ground beneath their feet became pure ice, layer upon layer of thick crystal clear sheets. Frost started creeping its way up the trunks of the trees around the clearing, as well as up the legs of the ogre, yet in the second case its purpose was not to hold it down. Considering the being’s brute strength, it could not hope to accomplish such a feat, thus its priority was its penetrating property, rather than its chaining function. The animal’s skin may have been thick, yet it could definitely feel the cold. It was not necessary to reach to the muscles beneath it. Simply enter a few millimeters down and drop the temperature. This was of the ice’s own “free will” after being released upon the earth and, despite the target being the monstrosity, those who were not capable of movement could also be affected lightly. That was the reason why Riley’s skin was losing colour and miniature bits of ice were forming on her fingers. If someone did not reach out and pick her up, her slumber would be eternel.
Only for a heartbeat did the serenity of the ice remain. With a thunder-like sound deformed pillars, huge spikes and cones started rising from the ground, all of them made of ice. The direction they took was offtimes to the side, ranging in radius from 30 to 78 degrees. Their number was great and with their various shapes and positions, they effectively blocked the monster’s view of all of its targets. In addition, the ice was polished to perfection, becoming the same as a mirror. Even when many of them did not manage to sting the opponent, the trap was a success.
From the appearance of the icicle to the end of the obstacle formation and restructure of the arena, Hakuren recited a piece of literature he could remember from memory, despite not being able to recall when or why he had learned it:
“Whereat I turned me round, and saw before me
And underfoot a lake, that from the frost
The semblance had of glass, and not of water.
So thick a veil ne'er made upon its current
In winter-time Danube in Austria,
Nor there beneath the frigid sky the Don,
As there was here; so that if Tambernich
Had fallen upon it, or Pietrapana,
E'en at the edge 'twould not have given a creak.
And as to croak the frog doth place himself
With muzzle out of water,--when is dreaming
Of gleaning oftentimes the peasant-girl,--
Livid, as far down as where shame appears,
Were the disconsolate shades within the ice,
Setting their teeth unto the note of storks.”And when all was completed, he resumed in his normal voice
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” He had stepped from the branch down to the ground.
“That’s how Dante describes Cocytus in the final circle of Hell, where all traitors, including Lucifer himself, are frozen and tormented by neverending cold. To be able to restrain even the so called “Devil Emperor”, ice must be an amazing thing.” he sighed and rested his back on the tree behind him.
This one complicated spell, which gave form to many objects all at once, was given the name “Mirror Labyrinth” by Hakuren, due to the confusion created by the ice reflections. Even if the ogre tried to cut through it, there was simply too much hack off of one or two goes. Yet, as magnificent was this creation was, it did not leave its owner to only marvel at the sight. Five sixths of the liquid within his amulet had been used for the fruition of the maze. Lacking so much life energy made the young man’s head pound and blood veins were visible in front of his eyes every few seconds. He felt like he could choke out blood at any given moment. Some of it even dripped down his mouth. His intention to additionally bring forth a shower of ice needles upon the beast, yet that was not possible in his current state.
As if that wasn’t enough, the temperature of the atmosphere had dropped dramatically. It was as if it was the middle of winter. Frost formed on the trees. Some bugs were even frozen in place.
~Beautiful. Powerful. Dangerous. Cold. Ice as a power can’t be controlled.~
