Keigan came out of the tunnel behind us, taking a bit longer than everyone else to squeeze through, having to break some of the stone to even fit.

 

My brother gently grabbed my head, pulling my eyes wide open one at a time to closely look at them. “Dark magic doesn’t usually change you’re physical appearance. Black marks on your skin make sense because you have a strong soul and a tiny body. Your eyes changing like this is something else though… More like… Devine protection maybe?”

 

After he finished I shoved him away, rubbing my eyes to try and ease the dry feeling that suddenly overtook them. “What do you think Zu?”

 

He just shrugged. “I don’t know everything, Siya.”

 

My chest sank as I let out a sigh. ‘My eyes glow white? So I’m even more of a freak now… “Honestly I don’t really kno—”

 

I felt a sharp yank as my body jerked and I found myself flying through the air across the cavern. Glistening lights passed before my eyes, and then I heard a loud splash as my body hit the water.

 

It was cold. I quickly gasped for air as a reflex, inhaling it and almost instantly losing any will to move. My lungs froze over in an instant, and my body cried out in pain. It was like it completely ignored whatever immunity I had gotten from my training. At the same time it was nothing like the cold that I knew. The pain was gone in an instant as my spirit was torn from my body and everything went black.

 

“Why would you do that!” 

 

For some reason, I could hear them as if I were still on dry land. I struggled to force open my eyes, knowing I needed to fight to get to land, but as I slowly moved around I felt no survival instincts kick in. ‘I guess… I ran out. I didn’t know that was possible though.’ I continued to slowly move around, but when I saw my body separate from myself I froze. It looked calm, and for once it felt like everything was at peace.

 

My sore muscles stopped aching, my arms felt like new, and the cut on my head slowly healed before my eyes. I could see my hair flow past my head as shimmers fell from the ceiling of the cave. Then my vision began to fade.

 

“What have you done!”

“I… Only…”

“You…”

“IT… Was… good…”

I woke up at the side of the lake coughing all the water out of my lungs. “Siya! Chees… You know if you die mom’s gonna kill me too right? Don’t you know how to reverse throws yet?” Airsidhs voice was still as calm as ever, but his words gave away that for once he was a bit shaken.

 

“Right… It’s my fault…” I groaned, still feeling an odd sensation of my spirit returning to my body and suddenly getting feeling back.

 

“She was only out for a minute or two, of course, she's alive.”

In a single wave, all feeling returned and I was frozen to the bone, shaking more than a fish trying to find its way to the water. “C-cold… I-im…”

Airsidh touched my shoulder, before quickly bringing his hand back like he had just burned it. He grabbed blankets from behind him. And wrapped me in all of them while I lay there shaking, still coughing up the last of the water.

“Siya get up, you have to start moving to warm up.” Keigan came closer, lifting me off the ground with one hand before setting me down on my feet. My legs were so numb I couldn't feel the ground at all, and when my feet hit the stone I almost instantly fell over again from the shivering. 

 

I couldn’t talk straight, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even feel anything, but I was so used to it that my mind was somehow calm.

 

“You sure she’s got ice magic?” Airsidh asked.

 

‘I don’t suppose they would understand the concept of magic penetration would they?’ I groaned, lifting myself back up on my own, repeatedly tapping my thumbs against my fingers as I quickly started to get feeling back. ‘The problem isn’t my magic, it’s the water.’ I quickly rubbed my hands against the blanket to dry them, doing the same with my feet, and sure enough feeling and warmth quickly returned.  ‘Isn’t this kind of a boring solution to a magical problem?’ I sighed, gritting my teeth for what I was about to do.

 

‘How do I even explain this.’ “It’s the w-water…” I squatted down to help steady myself, covering my head with the blankets to try and stop my hair from moving and making it worse. “I-I’m going to change now so I don't d-die…” ‘Not that I have anything to change into…’

 

All three of them stared at me, completely dumbfounded as I stood up again. That was the first time I remembered wishing Mara was by my side.

“Turn around please.” I groaned, spinning my finger.

 

I almost couldn’t believe it. I had survived what I thought were much harsher conditions, but my skin was turning blue, and my fingers and toes were bright red with frostnip after just a few seconds of being underwater, as if the water was cutting through my magic and affecting my body directly.

 

Eventually, they listened and I got undressed, taking a quick moment to appreciate how easy it suddenly was to move. Sure I was shaking from the cold, but my shoulder no longer hurt, and the swelling in my arms and hands was gone. My feet no longer ached from walking, and while I wouldn’t exactly say I was more comfortable… It was nice to not have the tight armor pressed against my skin.

 

It was awkward sure, but seeing the marks on my skin after taking it off finally showed me just how tight my armor really was. In moments the water that was left absorbed into my skin, completely refilling my manna and repairing my circuits, making me start to warm up pretty quickly, so long as I stayed away from any more of it. Obviously, my drenched clothes I could take off, but my hair on the other hand…’

 

“O-ok. Done…” I muttered, holding the blankets around me so tightly my hands started to cramp for a moment before I loosened my grip if only a little.

 

After staring at the lake for a while Keigan pulled out a small knife and began walking toward me. “If the water is that dangerous then we need to cut contact with it. Taking your clothes off was the right call, I’ll cut your hair too–”

 

Airsidh put himself between us and whispered something I couldn’t make out through the shivering of my jaw. Whatever it was though, all it resulted in was a grimace and a quick shove out of the way.

 

I froze time and everything felt almost whimsical, just as it did when I was in the lake. ‘I’m still a little shaky but… Yeah, I think I can move right at this point. The only question is how best to do this?’

 

I suddenly saw several methods of attack playing out before me like movies all at once, outlined in a blueish-white hue. ‘Winning isn’t so much the problem as much as keeping myself covered while I do so…’ I let out an internal sigh. ‘How did I even end up in this situation?’

 

Unlike before though there wasn’t even a strain, not even a slight tug on my mind from holding the spell, if anything it was the opposite. With time frozen I had no worries. ‘I guess I could just let him cut my hair… Realistically it would probably help. No, you know what, screw it, let's throw hands.’