Ice

8

"How was the campaign?" Mom asks me as I enter the dining hall, placing my sword on the table.

I grin as I see the eagerness in her eyes. "I think it was my best battle yet. Everything felt so effortless, and nothing went wrong. It was amazing. We did not even suffer a single casualty," I boast proudly.

"Wow that is amazing!" Little Felicity, one of my many cousins, beams beside me.

I mess up her hair with my hands playfully, causing the child to squeal.

"Nivia, no games at the dinner table the same for you Feli," my father scolds.

"Really? Let her have some fun, she just conquered one of the primary cities of the Terra. That's quite a step up from the towns and much smaller cities," my aunt, Winter, steps in.

"She needs to learn table manners."

"For who? We do not have good foreign relations and everyone else in the empire is no different to us. So unlike all those people she will not need it to impress some foreign dignitaries. If anything they need to impress her."

I smile widely at my aunt's argument. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have Winter as the Empress. She is a wonderful leader and when she was a teen she was a wonderful fighter I heard, but that was before she lost a leg and an arm after being attacked by the Terra during a hunting party. The reason for the war. To make sure we are not taken advantage of by the Terra anymore.

"You make a good point Winny. Alister, relax. There is nothing wrong with letting our beautiful crown princess relax and play around a little," mom says elbowing dad in the side, making the whole table giggle.

"But at dinner- Fine," he surrenders in defeat.

I laugh at him whilst dishing up my plate of food. It is cold, I guess that's what I get for losing track of the time and being late to dinner.

The ground shakes. I look down. Cracks meet in the ice. I jump back to avoid falling in the trench. The wind knocks me back and when I rise to my feet the castle is gone. We are outside. All of us. But they are not with me. There is a small crack between us.

"Come Nivia!" They shout, calling me to them.

I run to them, stopping myself on the edge as the crack widens.

"Jump Nivia!" They call to me.

I take a breath, walking back, and I run. I run forward and I jump. My outstretched hand reaching for theirs.

An invisible barrier stands between us all. It stops me.

I watch the trench widening and my column of ice gradually getting lower.

My clenched fists bang on the invisible force. The barrier that separates us. I must pass it. I cannot lose them. They are my life; I cannot live without them. I need them. I need them all. I cannot lose them. Life is meaningless without my friends and family. I would die without them.

The ice begins to do more than drift away. The ice I am on cracks. The shards that fall off, descend down into the darkness of an abyss.

I look at the shrinking figures with their outstretched hands. Why can I not reach them?

The ice crumbles beneath my feet. There is nowhere left to flee. It all crumbles, crashing down.

I end in a cold pit of ice.

They are all gone. They cannot come here. I am alone.

I jolt up in the bed. Beads of sweat drip down my skin. I cannot stop the tears that are swelling in my eyes. I am in the exact same bed as I used to sleep in, but nothing feels the same. It feels so lonely being without anyone.