A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, making him jump. But the head that bent forward, taking a peek at him, was smiling, allowing him to relax.

Snow just couldn’t get used to it, he thought with a sigh. The way the other boys freely touched without a second thought. The way they all stood close together as they laughed and played.

“You’re really a good shot!” the young man beside him was saying in what was clearly a compliment, but it only made Snow feel awkward.

“What did I tell you? We should take him with us, the next time we go out hunting,” the one that had invited him to join them replied.

Snow grimaced. Sure, he wasn’t a bad shot. But that didn’t mean he would be able or even willing to coldly hunt down an innocent animal.

“Ah! As if Storm would allow that!” another voice retorted.

“You’re always like that, afraid of what Storm might say, as if she were some kind of big, bad wolf,” someone mocked and the others laughed.

“I’m not afraid! But I will never dare to say so to her face. She is a bit scary.”

“She is a lot scary!” the one standing beside Snow added and they all laughed again.

“Oh, look! There she is. Why won’t you go and ask her?” another voice suggested and they all looked towards the direction he had just pointed. Sure enough, there she was. But she wasn’t alone.

“Is that the young lord?”

“It looks like it. Better reschedule asking her anything for later,” someone replied.

“Oh? Why’s that?” the youngest of them, a boy more or less Snow’s age, asked.

“Why’s that?! Just try and go interrupt her, when she’s talking with the young lord. If you think she’s scary on an everyday basis, you can’t even imagine what she’ll do to you if you dare go there right now.”

The others nodded in silent confirmation.

Snow just stood there, watching the two of them from a distance.

They seemed to be talking about something but, as always, ZaiWin¹ Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos).’s expression was unusually tender while listening to her, allowing her to get close to him in a way he normally didn’t allow other people to do. She really held a special place in his life, Snow concluded. And, even though he knew why, even though he understood that they had known each other for a very long time, he still couldn’t help feeling as if his heart was being pressed down by something really heavy.

“You think she fancies him?”

“Fancy him? That cold, scary man?”

“She did refuse to go out hunting again because he’s in town. And she’ll just drop everything she’s doing to run to him, if she so much catches a glimpse of him.”

“I think their relationship is more like a brother-sister thing.”

“You really think so? I could almost bet that she has the hots for him.”

They all laughed happily. Only Snow couldn’t find their conversation the slightest bit amusing.

“If she hears you say that she’ll chew off your head!”

“Then again, if she were to marry him, can you imagine? She’d be the owner of this entire land!”

“Ah! And the world would be lost! Just imagine! Storm, with power to decide over who lives and who dies! The population of Nox would be cut down in half in only a fortnight.”

More laughter filled Snow’s ears but his eyes were glued on the both of them, attentively registering their every move and gesture. And then she suddenly jumped onto ZaiWin’s lap, nimble as a cat, and kissed him.

The boy’s around him immediately became a dissonant chorus of wows and ahs, but Snow’s mind didn’t register any of that. In fact, the entire world had gone deadly silent, his gaze lost in the way ZaiWin’s arms surrounded her waist, in the way Storm’s legs were firmly wrapped around him his waist like a pair of snakes. For an instant his mind went completely blank, the bow he still held in one hand slipping from his listless fingers and falling on the ground. He couldn’t even tell if he was still breathing. His eyes burning from staring for so long, Snow blinked. But that unbelievable image was still there when he opened his eyes again.

What was going on …?, Snow wondered in confusion. Something was terribly wrong with him, he concluded the next instant, a frown marking his forehead as he clenched his tunic over his chest. It … hurt! He wasn’t injured. No one had cut him or burned him. And yet, it hurt … a lot. It hurt so much that he couldn’t stop his eyes from filling up with tears. And then his whole back was burning in response to his pain, the temperature around him plummeting to the point that his breath became a white cloud the instant it left his lips. He had to get out of there, Snow quickly decided, forcing himself to close his eyes so that he would be able to look away from that painful picture. He had to get as far away from that place as possible, for more than one reason!

Gritting his teeth, Snow forced his legs to obey him and pushed his way through the paralyzed group of young men, that were still gaping and the couple kissing just a few steps away from them.

Snow didn’t look at them again. He couldn’t look. All he could do was run. He focused his mind on that, his gaze fixed on the tunnel that would take him away from the village. He could already hear the cracking sound of ice forming beneath his feet with every step he took. But, scarier than that, was that dark, ominous sensation emanating from his back.

The men guarding the entrance of the village opened their mouths to greet him but, by the time they actually said something, he was already gone, diving into the narrow tunnel and running towards the bright light on the other end.

Why did it hurt so much …? Tears fell from his eyes but froze immediately, the instant they touched his cheeks.

“It hurts! Please make it stop!” another voice screamed inside his head, making him wince. It sounded like a young child, and its screams of pain stole Snow’s breath away. “Please make it stop!”

Please just kill me, was what Snow could hear beneath those heart-wrenching words.

Gasping, he stumbled out into the light and looked around, feeling lost.

Get away! Get as far away as possible!

Snow ran again, down the only road leading away from the village.

“Please! No more!”

“Please shut up!” Snow replied, stumbling and falling on his knees. He was breathing hard from running so hard, and it still felt like it wasn’t far enough. The ground beneath him immediately froze, the ice spreading like a growing, living thing.

Control! He had to control it. He had to clear his mind. That’s right! But the pain in his chest made him wince again. Was he dying? Why did it hurt so much?

“It hurts! Please make it stop!”

Clenching his own hair, Snow squeezed his eyes shut.

“Please stop screaming. Please stop screaming,” he repeated time and time again, but the burning sensation on his back only got worse.

“Snow …?”

The sound of that voice stopped the entire world and, for a moment, Snow couldn’t tell if he’d really heard it, or if he’d imagined it as well.

Slowly raising his gaze, Snow could immediately see his booted feet and long legs. But the instant he reached his face the pain in his chest returned with a vengeance.

Without thinking twice, Snow raised a wall of ice between them and then quickly scramble to his feet, running in the opposite direction. He had to get away from him as well! He needed time!

The man clothed in darkness that suddenly appeared in front of him forced him to a sudden halt, his feet skidding on the dry dirt. And Snow promptly raised another wall of ice between them.

“Snow. Calm down!” the voice on the other side of the wall told him, and Snow immediately stepped back, the sound of his own harsh breathing filling the cold air.

That was exactly what he was trying to do! But for that he needed …

“Leave me alone!” he shouted back, and the entire area around them immediately froze, making him bite down his lower lip, hard.

The dark man easily appeared on the other side of the ice wall. He hadn’t even gone to the trouble of walking around it. And a deep scowl marked his forehead.

“I’m not going anywhere! Not until you calm down and hear me out!”

Snow shook his head and turned around to run the other way. He couldn’t look at his face right now. Every time he did so his chest only hurt more, and he could hardly breathe.

He crashed so hard against something that he almost fell back from the impact. But then a large, warm hand was holding his arm and pulling him back to his feet. And yet, that warm touch, even the familiar scent of him, only made him feel worse.

“Let go!” he shouted, squeezing his eyes shut, pulling his arm from his grasp. That was all he’d intended to do. Make him release him. But the crackling sound of growing ice made him open his eyes in panic.

Long spears of ice had just erupted from the ground, all pointing at the dark man. For a moment he couldn’t breathe, afraid he might have actually hurt him. But then the man was nimbly jumping back, leaning his body to one side and then the other, successfully evading them all.

“Shit!” the man grunted angrily, taking the time to catch his breath. “Are you trying to kill me? Freaking brat!”

Snow shook his head and stepped back. His mouth tasted of blood from how hard he had bitten his own lip.

“Just leave me alone!” he demanded again, trying his best to keep his voice under control. Because his chest hurt so much right now that he could hardly breathe, much less control his angry daitai²Literally dai (light) + tai (mark), or Holy Markings, considered Heavenly Blessings. They’re the source of power..

“It hurts! Please make it stop!”

Wincing, Snow grabbed his head between his hands.

“Please be quiet. You’re only making things worse,” he whispered to himself, tears flooding his eyes again.

“I’ll always stay by your side,” another warmer, more mature voice sang inside his head, stealing his breath away. “We’ll be together forever.”

Liar! Liar! Liar!

The pain that tore through his entire being was more than he could take.

“Snow …?”

A dark shadow poured over him and Snow could see his feet again. He was standing right beside him. And Snow was kneeling on the ground, even though he couldn’t remember falling. But what really caught his eye was the red glow already surrounding his legs.

In a panic, he slammed his hands on the hard ground and screamed. The loud sound of cracking ice filled his ears. And then everything went silent, the entire world around him tinged in blood red.

Silvareiel

Hmm ... Apparently Storm’s test didn’t work out exactly like she expected ?