The Iron Maiden by Resa Nelson

Author:Resa Nelson [Nelson, Resa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781606592
Amazon: 1606592823
Barnesnoble: 1606592823
Goodreads: 13437109
Publisher: Mundania Press
Published: 2011-12-31T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Six

* * * *

Astrid stared in wonder at the dozens of ice people blocking the entrance to the forest. Frozen in place, each one held up their hands and arms, seeming to warn the living to stay away from the forest. Many of them showed open mouths, shouting silent caution to those with warm flesh. The ice people stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a startling barricade. Hail pellets still rained down, adhering to the ice people, making them more solid and real.

"What is this monstrosity?” Vinchi said.

Margreet shrieked at the sight of the ice people, flinging her hands across her face in horror.

Fascinated, Astrid took a step forward. It looked as if a master carver had created statues from ice instead of stone, an impossible task. Although the weather had been growing increasingly cold, the temperature hadn't been cold enough to freeze blocks of ice the size of people, and there certainly hadn't been enough time to carve dozens of lifelike statues.

Margreet cried out, pointing at the ice people. She spoke rapidly to Vinchi, who translated for Astrid. “Margreet says she saw them move."

"That's impossible.” Astrid approached the ice people slowly, watching them closely with every cautious step.

But then she saw it, too.

One iceman appeared to lead them. He stood in front of the group with a sword held high above his head, looking ready to cleave in two anyone who dared come close. Astrid didn't see his frozen body move. Instead, she witnessed the hail striking the iceman's skin and running down before freezing into place.

But she also saw movement within the iceman like fog rising on a warm spring morning after the rain. Like a mist drifting behind his transparent skin.

Understanding hit Astrid like a punch in the gut. Turning to Vinchi, she said, “Step closer and look at his face."

"I'll stay where I am.” Vinchi wrapped an arm around Margreet's shoulders. “Are you mad? Don't you recognize danger when you see it? This is the work of a powerful sorcerer."

"No,” Astrid said. “It's not. It's the work of someone who knows we're being followed. Someone who knows how to scare the living away from the forest we need to enter."

Vinchi shook his head, rejecting her opinion. “We have to go back."

"Look at him,” Astrid said softly. “The man in front. The one with the sword raised over his head."

Vinchi squinted. “I am already looking at him."

"Look closer.” Astrid reached her hand back toward Vinchi, hoping he would take it. “They aren't made of solid ice. They've been coated with a layer of ice. The same would have happened to us if we hadn't been shaking it off."

Vinchi's arm drifted down from Margreet's shoulder and he took a step away from her. His face strained in disbelief. “That's impossible."

Astrid walked up to the first iceman, smiling and taking in every detail of his long and lean face. The curly hair cropped close to his head. His lanky limbs. And the icy replica of the sword hanging by Vinchi's side that had once belonged to the dragonslayer.

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