Ice Phoenix
Chapter 19 - The darkness within

They were flying over the lake and Terrana was trying her best not to look down in case she panicked and fell off. The prince hadn’t said a word and she shot him a worried look.

“Well, don’t you want it back?” She thrust the satchel at him. “It’s clean, honestly!”

“Who brought you from Sector Thirteen?” There was something fixating about his stare — Terrana couldn’t look away.

“Baneyon. Baneyon Ondur.”

He seemed to recognise the name because he looked mildly surprised. “Where’s your family? Are they here with you?”

In her mind’s eye, Terrana saw the fire. Something writhed within; little did she know it was the second crack. The first had occurred earlier, when she had been gawping from the plateau.

“My family,” she said, falling into a strange stupor, “are dead. All of them.”

The prince leaned back in surprise. “All of them?”

“All of them.”

“I am sorry to hear that.” He stared at her curiously. A vacant look had touched her eyes. “Terrana, are you okay?”

She didn’t respond. He shook her. “Terrana?”

Her world had turned dark, sucking her from the bright sunshine and cool wind in the sky. The prince’s voice had faded into nothing more than a distant memory, and Terrana sunk deeper, struggling to make sense of her new surroundings.

In the darkness, a tiny flame flickered. It grew, gradually creating a rip into another world, and she saw a glimmering white light ahead. She walked towards it, stepping through the darkness onto soft, white sand. Clear, warm water swirled around her feet. Terrana knew where she was.

The sharp sound of timber cracking made her turn towards the house — it was burning. Her parents and Archie were still inside. With her heart in her mouth, she sprinted towards it and suddenly found herself standing in the living room. The walls groaned in sadness as raging flames consumed them. A large hole gaped overhead, where the ceiling should have been. This was where she had left Archie.

“Archie!” she screamed. Her eyes, red and burning from the smoke, could still make out her brother’s writhing form trapped beneath the burning beam. He must have heard her because his hand moved.

“Terrana ... get away from here.”

“Archie!” She ran to him, into the smoking flames, and grabbed his blackened hand. Hot, blistering pain enveloped her and she realised she was on fire, but she refused to abandon her brother. Tears sizzled down her cheeks. “I won’t leave you this time. I won’t let you die alone.”

Archie smiled and the skin on his face turned to ash, revealing white bone beneath. “Look at you, Terrana. You’re not burning. You can’t die.”

In the incinerating heat, Terrana turned cold. Darkness welled inside her until her body could no longer contain it, and it spilled from her eyes.

“That’s right,” said the skull that was her brother. “You can’t die. You’re the one who killed us.”

She stumbled back, falling on her bum as she tripped over her feet. The darkness from her eyes spilled across the floor and into her brother.

“That’s not true!” Fire enveloped her but it no longer burned.

“But it is true, Terrana.”

The voice ... it came from Archie, but it did not belong to him. It was, however, a voice she recognised.

Archie chuckled and Terrana started to tremble.

“Who are you?” she cried.

He raised his head and she watched as his skin repaired itself, melding rapidly into something terrifyingly familiar, and when it finally completed, she screamed and backed away.

She was staring at her own face. Every detail, from the eyebrows, nose, mouth, and chin, belonged to her. Only her eyes were different. Black pools swirled in her eye sockets instead of human warmth. Her hair was longer too and reached her shoulders whereas Terrana’s was only a few centimetres off her scalp.

“Don’t you like your new look?” said the mirror image as she slithered like a snake from beneath the burning beam and got to her feet. Her coal-black body glistened in the firelight, completely naked.

“Get away from me!” Terrana cried, her eyes bulging in fright.

“I can’t. I’m you.” She advanced on Terrana, a cruel smile playing about her mouth. Her hair was longer, flowing in the scorching currents of the fire. “We have to be together, as one.”

“Get away from me! You are evil!”

She laughed. “Evil? Why do you think I’m evil?” She stretched out her arms, and blue-orange flames erupted around her. She dazzled before Terrana, a deadly butterfly in the centre of an unrelenting fire, and beckoned. “Come here.”

Terrana was pulled towards the fiery girl. She stopped only when their foreheads touched. A dark hand caressed her face and she found herself drowning in two black pools that were her eyes.

“You and I ...” she whispered softly, “We are one.” And then her lips pressed upon Terrana’s, locking them in a kiss. Fire seeped into Terrana’s mouth.

The prince reached out to shake Terrana again, but he leaned away as she burst into flames. He observed her as she got to her feet, easily keeping her balance on the faar’s back, and obviously no longer afraid of falling. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her darkened skin, the hair dancing across her shoulders in a halo of fire, and the terrible malice spilling from her eyes. The prince sent a warning to his faar: Dragoth.

I am aware.

Silver scales raced up the faar’s body, covering it completely with impenetrable amour. Feathers disintegrated along its wings to be replaced by silver, pulsating energy, and its majestic mane transformed into a deadly halo of needles that rippled in the wind. Eyes that were previously blue glowed a deep red.

The prince ejected a fine layer of mist around him — the malice he sensed from the girl warned him of an imminent attack. He wasn’t wrong.

The air compressed in front of him, and without any hesitation he leapt off Dagroth’s back into the empty sky. A burst of searing flames erupted, encompassing Dragoth entirely. The flames raged on for several seconds with Dragoth still trapped inside. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the flames vanished.

Hovering just far enough away to see what was happening without getting burnt, the prince tried to collect his thoughts. He quickly came to realise that Terrana was not in full control of her powers, and whoever or whatever she was, was still trying to adjust. Her focus was unsteady as she continued to balance on Dragoth. This gave the prince an idea.

Dragoth.

The faar understood immediately and rolled in the air. Terrana was thrown off and she plummeted towards the lake, her limbs flailing wildly. The prince followed, unsure whether he should save her or whether she would stop the descent herself. He had observed Terrana on several occasions during PT classes and knew she was not capable of weaving anything substantial to save her life.

As he looked at the girl, his reason told him it was not Terrana. Whoever or whatever this entity was, it had just superheated the air to create an explosion — an act that was beyond Terrana’s skill level. Uncertain whether he should fight her with his full strength, he decided to err on the side of caution.

Dragoth appeared at his side and the prince steeled himself against the force of the faar’s powerful qi. A thought reached him.

I wouldn’t suggest holding back against Anarret, young prince. Whatever she is, she is strong.

If they weren’t in a grim situation, the prince would have smiled at Dragoth’s naming of the new Terrana. He had turned her name into a palindrome.

I don’t want to hurt her, Dragoth.

You may not have a choice. She could be after either of us, so we will separate for now.

I will face her, Dragoth.

Dragoth flew off to observe the pending battle from a safe distance.

Anarret was no longer falling. Somehow, she had figured out how to condense the air particles below to create an upward pressure. She was rising ... and seething. Prince Gil Ra Im watched and waited.

Flames licked her body and she looked like a jewel on fire as she flew straight towards him. In a blink of an eye, she was within centimetres of the prince, swinging her right fist at him. He remained calm in the face of her attack, and a barrier engulfed him, a complexity of heavily pressurised air and electric currents designed to prevent any object from penetrating.

Anarret’s arm passed right through, and the electric currents danced along her skin. The wall of pressurised air failed to deflect her attack, and her fist caught him on the shoulder.

The prince recoiled from the impact, shocked by her insane strength. His shield dissipated. There were not many people, especially students, who could counteract his barrier without being hurt in the process. His shoulder throbbed from where she had caught him, and he felt the onset of a painful bruise. Fire surged from her other fist, transforming into a gaping maw that was bent on devouring him. He twisted out of the way and immediately executed his own attack.

He drew moisture from the air and condensed it into fluid bowling balls. He hurled them at Anarret, pummelling her mercilessly. Steam rose around her as the water touched her burning body. Undaunted, the prince recycled the steam back into water and blasted her again.

In a fit of rage, Anarret superheated the air around him, and before he could react, she released an explosion that sent him hurtling through the sky. He had not yet regained his balance when he was surrounded by his own weaving — the fluid sacs erupted, showering him in boiling liquid.

Prince.

I am fine, Dragoth. You may be right, however — I cannot overpower her without possibly hurting Terrana.

Prince Gil Ra Im hovered in the air, his appearance partially transformed. His eyes possessed a piercing adamantine lustre, and his skin had lost its pigmentation.

Anarret flew towards him, and the prince noticed she was smiling. She halted a few metres from him, devoid of the rage he had sensed earlier.

“Thank you for releasing me,” she smirked. “You have a way of reminding Terrana of home.”

Prince Gil Ra Im frowned. “As I thought, you are not Terrana.”

She laughed. “Apart from my appearance, do I, in any way resemble that little cry-baby?”

Prince Gil Ra Im gave a cold-blooded smile. “Had I been certain you were not Terrana, I would not have held back. I had no wish to hurt her.”

“Awww, how sweet is that? Unfortunately, Your Majesty, she and I share the same body, but I’d like to think of it as mine. Try what you want with it!” She giggled.

The prince lunged forwards and punched her square in the chest. She grunted and fell back, winded and perhaps a little bruised, but nowhere close to being out of commission. A network of water belts closed in on her, and before she realised what was happening, the prince coiled them around her, binding her limbs. The water hardened into ice and doused the flames.

The prince flipped forwards and kicked her in the stomach, sending her plummeting. His hope that he could keep her restrained was shattered when the belts around her cracked. Ice shards sped towards him; he melted them, paying no heed as huge drops of water rained down on him.

Anarret loomed in front of him and he found himself staring into her bottomless eyes.

“You have no idea how to treat a girl! I don’t like being restrained in ice, especially when I’m on fire!”

She snapped her fingers and Prince Gil Ra Im doubled over in pain. Anarret slid an arm under him, forcing him to look at her. Then, she leaned forwards and whispered in his ear.

“Cold inside, cold outside. Don’t you want my warmth to reach you?”

Prince Gil Ra Im screamed as tiny fragments of ice erupted through his skin, fleeing his body like bullets. Through the haziness of the pain, his mind reeled from the unimaginable power of the girl in front of him.

“How ...” he gasped, “did you take my qi?”

“Would it kill you, if I told you I didn’t know?” chortled Anarret. “How do I put it? It just ... talks to me.”

The prince groaned. Despite his injuries, he managed to place a hand on her shoulder. “Terrana ... I know you’re in there,” he said softly. “Don’t let her beat you.”

She snarled and struck him on the face. Prince Gil Ra Im staggered backwards. “She’s dead to this world! Let her wallow in her misery where she belongs!”

More ice fragments fled his body and he screamed. Anarret sneered, her eyes cruel and unforgiving. “Cry, my prince. The next one’s leaving your brain.”

A large shadow blocked out the sun and she glanced up. She barely registered the terrifying form of Dragoth before a powerful forepaw struck her on the side of her head. Anarret spun out of control, plummeting towards the lake.

Dragoth swooped beneath the prince and caught him neatly on his back. The boy pressed himself tightly to the faar’s body, and a layer of scales grew over him, shielding him from any threats while he recuperated.

The faar sensed danger racing towards them and its eyes flashed. Braced like a skeleton rider hurtling down a frozen track, Anarret was a raging mass of flames. The air in front of her lit up into a giant fireball, and with the barest movement of her head, she directed it at the animal and its rider. Dragoth lowered his head and met the flames head on.

As the fire raged around the faar, giant silver wings swept through the flames, vanquishing them. Anarret barely had time to blink before Dragoth appeared over her, and before she knew it his powerful jaws clamped around her waist. He shook her like a rag doll as she pummelled the side of his face. Her strength was no match for his and, unlike the prince, Dragoth’s qi could not be harnessed. Instead, it disrupted Anarret’s power and she could not fight back effectively.

This was the strength of the legendary faars of Swiva. Like the ice-phoenixes, faars were born from pure energy, one hundred percent qi. They were masters over themselves, and there were not many things in Dartkala that could disrupt their qi or control them. Many people had attempted to capture a faar so they could better understand its powers, but all had failed miserably.

Dragoth finally released Anarret, flinging her into the lake with a powerful thrust of his neck. There was a resounding splash as she fell flat on her back. He did not attempt to follow. Instead, he hovered above the water, ready to attack if she emerged. However, the water remained deceptively calm and the faar began to feel uneasy.

Prince, how are your wounds?

They are healing but will require further attention. How is the ...girl ... thing, whatever it is?

Dragoth growled. Her silence is disturbing.

Can the real one be saved?

What makes you think that isn’t the real one?

Prince Gil Ra Im did not answer. Maybe he didn’t want to — Terrana evoked strange feelings in him that he was unable to understand.

Dragoth —

Dragoth banked a hard left, narrowly avoiding a boiling geyser as it erupted from the lake.

She’s watching us. Prince — there is something else in the water with her.

What is it?

The scales covering Prince Gil Ra Im drew back and he was able to lean over Dragoth’s side to look down at the lake. It took him only a moment to spot it. A splash of silver cut through the water and vanished into its depths. Dragoth began rising, distancing himself and the prince from the girl hidden below.

Why are we pulling away?

That silver creature does not belong to this world. It is far more dangerous than the girl.

As they soared into the sky, Terrana huddled in a dark corner of a room, banished there by Anarret. She clutched her head, trying to rid herself of the memory of her brother and parents. A voice reached her, pervading her subconscious, and became louder. She blinked.

Terrana. Snap out of it.

Something inside her stirred; the voice was familiar. It was safe.

Who are you?

Who I am doesn’t matter. The concern is you.

Who am I? Why am I scared?

You are Terrana Lee. Your home is on a small island in . Your family died in a fire but you survived. Now, you must learn to control your powers.

I saw myself. She came out of me.

Your powers are consuming you. You must control them.

She’s me, isn’t she? Archie said I killed them! I didn’t die because I killed them.

Terrana, those were your powers. They are trying to control you. Don’t listen to them.

Are she and I the same? Is it true? Did I kill my family?

There was no answer.

Tell me! Did I kill my family?

When the voice spoke again, Terrana detected restrained anger. She pulled back, suddenly more afraid of it than the darkness from which she had been hiding.

Are you such an evil child that you would have harboured thoughts of murdering your family? You were raised in a loving home. If you harboured a single thought of hurting them, then yes, you killed them.

Terrana trembled. I never wanted to hurt them! I love them!

So?

I ... I didn’t kill them.

Then stop hiding, or I’ll smack you so hard you’ll swallow this lake.

Terrana froze. She had no wish to swallow the lake but ... she had done something similar a long time ago.

Puddy? Is that you?

Hurry up. The voice was fading.

Terrana panicked. Wait! Please don’t leave me! She ran around in the darkness, desperately searching for the crack that would let her out. Finally, she glimpsed a thin blade of light and raced over, her heart beating wildly. She buried her hands into the tiny tear, forcing it to come apart. Light flooded in. A hand reached in from the other side and shoved her back.

There was no longer any trace of the benevolent voice. Instead a version of her own voice echoed through her brain. Where do you think you’re going?

The mirror image materialised and Terrana stared at the dark face that was her own. “I’m getting out of here,” she said defiantly. “And you’re in my way.”

“I can’t let you do that. You’re a murderer who killed your family.”

“I did not kill my family. I had no reason to.”

Anarret chuckled. “No, you may not have, but I did. For years they locked me away in you, and so I killed them.”

Terrana’s resolve faltered, which did not go unnoticed by her dark twin. “That’s right. I killed them. I started the fire while you were sleeping. I’m the other side of you, Terrana. As I said before, we are one person. If I killed your family, then you killed your family.”

She edged forwards, pushing Terrana back into the centre of the underwater room. “That’s right. Go back in there and hide. All your pain will go away. I’ll take care of things on this side.”

She didn’t expect the fist in her face and she staggered back, hissing in surprise. Terrana circled her, fist clenched. Her brown eyes blazed fiercely.

“If I ever see you again, I’ll kill you. Now get out of my way.” She stepped through the rip, after pushing past the other girl. Her world was suddenly overwhelmed by rushing water. In her panic she choked on it until she realised that she was in the lake and she was almost out of air.

Her feet and hands struck out automatically, but instead of swimming to the surface, she delved deeper into the lake’s depths. She had to be sure. The voice in her head — it had felt like Puddy. The reprimand, the threat of a smacking, the feeling of being safe — she told herself it couldn’t be possible. Terrana would have screamed if she could. She wasn’t losing her mind, she wasn’t! Puddy had abandoned her in and was probably swimming around in the great big ocean on Earth. There was no way he could have reached out to her — after all, he was just a dolphin. There was no way he could be here in the lake with her. And yet, some part of her hoped desperately that he was.

Something flashed ahead in the distance and she recognised the sleek, powerful form of a dolphin gliding through the water. Her heart nearly burst with joy and she swam harder, trying to reach him.

Puddy! He was getting farther away from her, fading into the distance, and try as she might, she could not catch up to him. Her limbs had become dead weights, and the water was as thick and sticky as glue; she could barely move through it. Terrana could only watch as the dolphin faded from sight. Puddy, wait!

The last of her air fled her mouth and she drifted into the depths of the lake, her consciousness fast fading. She was drowning. As the blackness clouded her mind, she failed to notice a lithe form swimming towards her. An arm hooked around her chest, tugging her towards the surface.

When she finally broke through the surface, she felt another arm encircle her. She thought she was being crushed until she felt water spurt through her nose and mouth. As soon as the water stopped gushing, she inhaled. Sweet air filled her empty lungs. Then, she was towed to dry land. Someone laid a coat around her and raised her into a sitting position. Electric blue eyes bored into hers. Prince Gil Ra Im was soaking wet, and he didn’t look pleased about it.

“How do you feel?”

“Pu-Puddy,” she mumbled.

“Who’s Puddy?”

Terrana leaned forwards. “I must replace him. He’s in the lake.”

“I think you’ve had enough of the lake for one day.”

She giggled like a drunken person and tried to stand. “I could have told you that ages ago.”

The prince reached out to steady her and she leaned into him gratefully. His face remained impassive as, without any warning, she threw up onto his chest.