Chapter 49 - Too Late?

Chapter 49: 49 - Too Late?

The cold spread through the street faster than Ariane expected. [Winter’s Reach] crawled over the stones in a widening circle, frost climbing the walls and locking the overturned cart in place as the men nearest her scraped for balance.

Ariane felt the spell pulling at her Core almost immediately. Winter’s Reach had always been the spell she wanted to master most, and now that she finally had a reason to use it properly, she understood why people warned young Mages about higher-rank spells.

’This is not good...’

She tightened her control and forced the domain wider. The remaining Clairmont soldier stayed close to her left side, sword raised.

She tightened her control and forced the domain wider. The remaining Clairmont soldier stayed close to her left side, sword raised.

"How long can you keep this up?"

"Long enough, hopefully." Ariane glanced toward the road the other guard had taken.

One of the attackers rushed them, and Ariane answered with [Frost Lance]. The projectile tore through his thigh before he reached the carriage, sending him down hard across the frozen stones while another man came from the right and met the Clairmont soldier’s blade.

"Spread out!" someone shouted from behind the masked men. "Stop bunching together inside her range."

Ariane’s eyes narrowed. The voice sounded younger than she expected, and the attackers listened immediately, separating along both sides of the street while two climbed onto low walls to avoid the ice.

’They came prepared for a Mage.’

Ariane raised both hands and cast [Ice Wall]. It erupted across the right side of the street at an angle, cutting off two men and forcing a third back toward the centre where Winter’s Reach had turned the road into polished ice.

He slipped, and Ariane sent a [Frost Lance] through his shoulder before he could recover. The man behind the others cursed loudly.

"I said alive! How difficult is that to understand?"

Ariane looked toward the voice. One of the men stood farther back than the rest, face covered like the others, but his clothes were better fitted and the sword at his waist looked nothing like the cheap weapons around him.

"You don’t want me dead?" Ariane said.

The man paused, then stepped forward. "That depends on how difficult you decide to make this."

Ariane almost smiled. "You just shouted that you wanted me alive."

A few of the men shifted uncomfortably, and the masked man stopped several paces beyond the edge of her domain.

"I’d prefer you came with us without getting hurt. That’s still an option."

"And where exactly are we going?"

"You don’t need to know yet."

"Then I’m going to pass."

His shoulders tightened, and Ariane felt the first real tremor in her hands. Winter’s Reach was still expanding, but much slower now, and keeping the ice thick enough to matter while casting other spells was draining her faster than she wanted to admit.

The masked man noticed. "If you keep resisting, I won’t be as patient as I’m being now."

"You’re threatening to kidnap me. I think we’ve moved past patient."

His jaw shifted beneath the cloth. "I’m offering you the easiest way out."

"For who?"

He didn’t answer, and two attackers came in together from opposite sides. Ariane threw [Frost Lance] at the first and missed when he twisted aside, while the second reached the carriage before the Clairmont soldier intercepted him and took a shallow cut across the arm.

Ariane reacted with [Ice Wall]. It burst from the street between them and slammed the attacker sideways into the carriage hard enough to knock the weapon from his hand, but the effort made her vision blur.

’Too much.’

She swallowed and kept the domain active. The cold had become brutal now, breath fogging instantly and frost covering the attackers’ clothes as every step inside Winter’s Reach became slower and more dangerous.

There were still too many. One man was down with a ruined leg, another had a lance through his shoulder, and two more were struggling to move properly, but that still left enough to surround her.

The masked man drew his sword. "You’re making this much harder than it needs to be, Ariane."

She froze for half a second, not because he knew her name, but because of the way he said it. Ariane stared at him.

"Have we met?"

The man said nothing, but one of the soldiers beside him muttered, "My lord—"

The masked man’s head snapped toward him, and Ariane’s eyes sharpened. There were only so many young nobles stupid enough to arrange something like this, and even fewer who had a personal reason to involve House Clairmont.

"Léon."

Silence settled over the street as Léon slowly pulled the cloth away from his face. The man beside him suddenly looked as though he wanted to disappear.

"That would’ve been easier if you hadn’t worked it out."

Ariane gave him a disbelieving look. "You brought ten men to kidnap me and expected to stay anonymous?"

"You’re here because your brother has something my family needs."

There it was, and Ariane’s grip tightened. "What does Adrien have?"

"Something he shouldn’t." Léon stepped closer to the edge of the frost. "You come with me, your brother gives back what belongs to us, and everybody goes home. That’s a fair exchange."

Ariane finally understood. Her for whatever Adrien had taken from Arquenay.

"You actually think my brother is going to negotiate with you after this?"

"He’ll negotiate if he wants you back." Léon smiled faintly. "That’s the point."

The men started moving again, and Ariane forced more mana into Winter’s Reach. The domain surged outward hard enough to crack the frozen stone beneath them, dropping three attackers at once before two [Frost Lances] forced the others back.

Her knees nearly buckled, and the Clairmont soldier caught her elbow. "Lady Ariane, you’re running out."

"I know." Ariane steadied herself against him, then raised her hands again. "That doesn’t mean I’m going with them."

Léon watched from beyond the ice, patience finally disappearing from his face. "Last chance, Ariane. Come with us now and I can still make sure nobody else gets hurt."

Ariane looked at the men closing in around her, but before she could answer, a voice came from behind them.

"Seriously, Léon? You still haven’t learned?"

Everyone turned. Adrien stood at the mouth of the street, his eyes moving once across Ariane, the wounded guard and the men surrounding them before settling on Léon.

"I gave you one chance already." Adrien stepped forward, his voice calm enough to make the words worse. "You won’t get another."