Frost and Flame

PART 1: FROST

It was a beautiful morning despite the cloudy blanket of gray that covered the sky. As I tilted my face upward, I could feel the light, small snowflakes fall on my cheeks as they trickled down from the sky. A chilly wind swept by me, causing me to shiver. But I didn't care. The landscape was gorgeous, with a thick layer of snow that covered both the ground and the trees.

My clan was the Ningues clan, the clan that always seemed to have cold weather. The other clan, the Ignis clan, was the clan that followed after the Ignis dragon, and had a land that was warm. I'd always longed to see their world, simply feel what it was like to be warm.

Suddenly a gale of warm wind brushed against my cheeks and it took me a second to recover. It looked like something had passed by in the bushes. I wonder what that was. I squinted and stared at the spot but the shadow was gone. All that was left was a tree swaying slightly.

What the? I narrowed my eyes. A gust of warm wind, and a tree swaying. Had I simply imagined it? I was known for my overactive imagination and cheerfulness but... No, it wasn't a figment of my imagination.

I turned and walked back into my village, where a few young girls were playing, throwing snow at each other and giggling. If only I was that young again, I thought, if only I could be that free again. But instead I have these... her eyes went to her hands and she clenched them into fists. No. I can't think about that now. I saw my mother walking towards me and smiled.

Mother was a beautiful woman, perhaps one of the most beautiful in our clan. Her dark blond hair hung to the middle of her back and her blue eyes shimmered with warmth. Perfect porcelain skin almost glowed from the small amount of light that broke through the clouds. A white dress enveloped her body and a slim gold thread was tied around her waist.

"Hello," Mother embraced me and I swiftly kissed her cheek, "Did the baby come out well?"

Mother was a healer, which included helping out with babies. And one of our mothers was in labor when I left. In fact, that was kind of the reason I left. Honestly, I don't really want to deal with that sort of thing till I have a baby of my own.

"Yes," Mother's lovely smile lit up her whole face, "the baby came and is a healthy little girl named Elina.

"Great!" I tugged at my skirts as another thought came to my mind, about another thing. Do you know who I will be betrothed to?"

Mother's expression hardened, "You know that you shouldn't be asking that question. The girl doesn't learn who she's betrothed to until it's time for the ceremony," she turned away, her jaw clenched. I didn't know what it was but every time I talked about my betrothal she tensed up.

"What is it that always makes you upset?" I asked, "Every time I speak of my betrothal, you get angry and tense."

"What makes me upset is that betrothals are pointless," Mother's eyes flashed with anger, scaring me a bit, "I loved a man," her jaw clenched even tighter, "and now he's gone. I'm married to an abusive husband who only cares about what he can get from the chief and treats me like a piece of trash he just wants to throw away."

I'd never known Mother to get this upset. She was usually a calm woman and always smiling. This change confused me.

"Father?" I tilted my head in confusion."

"Oh no," Mother spat, "that man is not your father!"

"What?" I stared at her, figuring she was just so mad that she just didn't want him to be my father, "He is my father! He raised me!"

"But he's not your real father," Mother insisted, "Your father is someone from the Ignis Clan and I don't want you to ever forget that your father made a sacrifice for me. He ran away, so that both of us wouldn't be killed," tears rolled down her cheeks now.

"What do you mean?" my voice came out sharper than I intended but right now, I was going through conflicting emotions and wasn't in my right mind.

"I mean that your father is my real husband," Mother lowered his voice, "and he's from a different clan. Your father and I-" she hesitated, "we want to reunite the clans. That's one of the reasons we had you. The other reason we had you was because of our love for each other."

This can't be true. She's making it up. Suddenly I felt the warm gust again and I began to get worried. What's happening? There's something happening and it doesn't seem good. Then a thought entered my mind that sent chills up my spine. What if I'm causing this? Am I causing our clans to... collide? What if...? No, it can't be.

"The legend," I whispered, talking more to myself than my mother. But she heard it and looked straight into my eyes with a piercing gaze that made me nervous.

"Yes," she said, "the legend."

Mother had told me the prophecy so many times that it was ingrained in my mind. It was a prophecy, but was in the form of a story. So maybe that's why she's told me it so many times. She wanted me to believe it.

The legend went like this:

In a land where strife never ends,

Truth will rise about the past

When peace reigned and magic ruled

In hopes that the peace would last

The people set up special laws

But the peace was not to stay,

Driving bitterness into the heart of the clans

Leaving it up to frost and flames

The two forced to find a way

To unite the clans once again

But darkness is coming to take the clans

Into the murky depths of destruction

And only two can win the day

With the power of frost and flame

The words echoed around in my head and I began to feel dizzy. It was too much to process. I glanced at my mother one last time before running out of the clan, my hair whipping around in the wind.

"Jasi?"

I turned from where I was sitting by the lake. My friend Maia was walking towards me, her own long, strawberry blond hair whipping in the wind. She was beautiful; with bright blue eyes the color of the sky and pale, freckled cheeks. Along with her red blonde hair, it made her look like an angel.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to keep my anxiety hidden.

"I saw you run out of the village," Maia tilted her head at me, "You looked to be having a heated conversation with your mom and then ran out with a look of terror on your face."

"Was it that obvious?"

"Yes," Maia, sat down beside me on the snow covered log. I looked back at the lake, hoping to hide the different emotions that flickered across my face. Should I tell her what Mother told me? No, she'll only think I'm crazy for believing her, which I am. Why do I believe her anyhow? I knew she was a bit crazy in the head but this, this is nonsense.

I twirled one of my blond ringlets around my finger and cherished the few moments of silence.

"What is it?" Maia asked quietly.

"Nothing," I answered much too quickly.

"There's something," Maia said, "I've been your friend too long to not know when you're upset. What is going on? Does it have to do with your parents?"

"Possibly," I said, "But I'm going to say possibly to everything you ask me, so don't get any ideas."

Maia sighed and folded her hands in her lap, "Why won't you tell me what's going on? We tell each other everything. What's so different now?"

I wanted to say, because you'll think I'm a maniac or that I'm crazy, which I probably am.

But I didn't answer. Instead I pressed my lips firmly together and stared at the lake. Maia went silent beside me and we sat there for a moment, neither of us talking. All my emotions spun around in my head for a second before I finally spoke.

"Have you ever had information told to you that had to be absolutely false," I asked quietly, "but yet you had a faint belief that it was true?"

"No," Maia tilted her head at me, "Why?"

I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. My tongue felt dry. After quickly closing my mouth I turned away, afraid that I would give in and tell her. But when I felt her hand touch my shoulder, my resolve crumbled.

"My mother told me that my Father isn't Tani," I could feel tears pricking at my cheeks, "That my father is..." I choked on the words, "...is from the Ignis Clan."

"What?" Maia's hand recoiled from my shoulder and I turned to face her. She was staring at me as if I had some sort of disease and I couldn't really blame her. I was supposed to be an outcast; a fugitive. But here I was, one of the best treated clan members.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, "I didn't know."

"Are you sure that your mom is being serious?" Maia was still looking at me strangely, and I desperately wished that she wouldn't. It only made me feel worse.

"It seems like it," I said softly, "I've never known her to lie, especially not about something that could get her daughter killed."

Maia went silent at this.

"Please understand that this is why I didn't want to tell you," I said, "I knew that this would happen. I knew that you would reject me."

"Reject you?" Maia echoed, but it was almost a whisper.

"Yes," I turned away, "That's what is happening, right?"

Maia didn't respond, so I turned back to look at her. Her head was down, her strawberry colored hair hanging around her head like a curtain, hiding her expression. But I knew exactly what the expression was.

Rejection. The word tumbled around in my head and was all that I could think about. I'm destined for rejection.