Etched In Ice And Blood

20260107

Written for Luna Asli Kolcu’s “Myths of Winter - Week 6” event.

I spat blood and hauled myself up once more. I wouldn’t let this thief escape! Nothing would stop me from retrieving the holy barrier crystal! My family will be safe again!
With my last scraps of magic I hurl a net around us, halting the cloaked figure. Now they’ll rue their arrogance, trying to walk away while I still breathe. For Wiseoak!
“You won’t escape.” I croaked, wishing my voice sounded threatening rather than tired. “I. Will. Kill. You.”
My words crackled with holy power… and dissipated.
What?
Why didn’t they freeze? Did our guardian reject my oath?
Did… did that mean I couldn’t beat the thief? That it’s impossible for me to win? But, no, if that were the case, surely my oath to retrieve the crystal would’ve failed, yet it’d frozen into a perfect gem which would be hanging above the altar, awaiting my return.
“They didn’t tell you anything about me, huh?” The stranger’s voice was soft, raspy, dripping with an eerie weariness that made my neck prickle. Even before they pushed their hood back I knew something wasn’t right.
But I wasn’t ready for their face. Skinless warped dry flesh, mouth twisted by missing half a jaw, glass gems shoved into empty eye sockets - surely granting no vision, and only serving to distort rather than conceal the sickening mess within.
My lack of scream was due to exhaustion, my mind numb with shock trying to comprehend what I was seeing. It had to be an illusion. Surely…
“Your elders killed me long ago, child of the blood-fed oak. A lone traveller, no threat, dragged to the dungeon beneath your temple so my soul could be drained to fuel your wicked barrier, protecting the monsters within from righteous wrath.”
Blasphemy. I tried to condemn them, but my mind couldn’t form words, leaving my lips twitching mutely.
“Fear not, I bear no ill will towards you. You are… well. Not an innocent. The misfortune of your birthplace denied you such. But you’re not to blame. You’re merely misled. Not wicked. Not yet, at least.”
They pulled their hood low again, hiding their nightmarish visage. “I wonder how long that will last? I doubt you’ll listen, but… please. Leave your village. Find another. Any other. Settle there. Never speak of where you were born. Live a happy life, free of that demon tree.”
“That-” I sucked in air, words finally coming. “You’re lying! Liar!”
“Hmph. Look beneath your temple. See what your elders preside over. And know this-” They jabbed a finger at me, the digit unnaturally thin despite their heavy gloves. “I swore I would be the last soul eaten by this crystal. I will find a way to destroy it. Whatever the cost.”
A flash - their other hand - oldest trick! The punch floors me. My magic fades. I… I must…
“Go home, child. I’d rather not kill you.”
Boots crunch away as darkness swallows my roiling mind.
Li…ar…
The temple.
The guarding oak.
Have
To
See.

Prompt was “You spoke a promise that should have turned to ice like all the others. But the air stayed warm where your words hung. Winter refused it. That means either the promise is already true—or it’s too dangerous for even cold to touch.”