Ash. The Legends of the Nameless World. Progression Gamelit Story by Kirill Klevanski (essential reading .txt) 📗

“I’ll be damned if it isn’t the Ice Queen,” Blackbeard spat, tightening his grip on his mighty ax.

“My servants,” the cold voice rang out again, “please, welcome our guests.”

Hundreds of zombified heroes simultaneously raised their heads, and their eyes flashed. The darkness hid in the cracks on the walls, retreating before the bright blue, leaving strange azure patterns playing on the arches.

“Beautiful,” Ash thought. “Deadly beautiful.”

“What do you want?!” Mary shouted.

Ash was going to tell her that it was impossible to negotiate with Anna’Bre, but he didn’t have time. He felt his chest and head ache as he sensed the upcoming danger.

Ash turned on his heel, spoke the Word, and struck the ground with his staff. The gust of wind that broke free swept the Stumps away like dust from an old book. He lifted them off the ground, whirled them around in a mad waltz, and carried them away in the opposite direction from the zombies. As the adventurers disappeared into the darkness, Ash smiled slightly and raised his head to look at the ceiling.

A huge cage was falling on him. He didn’t have time to cast a spell, nor to embody one of the Forms. All he could do was face his fate.

With a deafening roar, the icy fangs bit into the masonry, but even the thickness of the black marble didn’t stop the power of the great witch. Ash felt the support disappear from under his feet and he fell into the blackness. Clutching his staff to his chest, he let the cloak wrap around him.

The last thing he saw before the gray flap covered his face was the blue light of a hundred pairs of eyes growing dimmer.

Chapter 54

Some time later, Anna’Bre’s Chambers

A sh was sitting in such a cramped cage that perhaps only his stature saved him from the ache in the rear and the stiffness in his legs. He could stretch them somewhat, but he had to press his head to his shoulder. He could perhaps shrug but then he’d have to bend his knees a little. However, all these inconveniences paled before the lack of a staff in his hands.

As soon as the cage stopped its rapid descent, the staff, as if by magic (and most likely by it) flew out of his hands and floated into the corner of the chamber.

If Ash had once thought that the king had put him in a bedroom the size of a small house, he was now ready to take it back. These chambers were larger than even the most ambitious architect could have imagined. The bed alone took up as much space as Ash’s entire house. Not to mention the boudoir, the giant cupboards, the magic window that opened to up a mesmerizing view of the endless mountain range. And all of it was made of ice. Even the curtains on the wide canopy were made of snowflakes held together by threads, where frozen drops of water were used instead of fiber. It constantly chimed and glittered, making Ash grind his teeth.

It was so bitterly cold that he didn’t even notice that he was shivering. The scanty cloak and his simple clothing couldn’t retain even the smallest spark of warmth. And without his staff, even he was no more powerful than an ordinary human. The name of the fire in his chest slowly faded, wasting the last sparks of his life.

“You know,” said the mystically beautiful voice. It was cold and emotionless, but indescribably melodious. “I expected more from someone named Ash.”

Anna’Bre was as beautiful as her voice. Clad in a sparkling dress made of ice silk, she looked no less mesmerizing than her castle. Her white hair tinkled slightly as he walked. Slightly transparent thin hands, whose skin was more like a crystal of unthinkable purity, played with snow dust that her being emitted. She had blue eyes, thin, white lips, and two arches of miniature snow crystals for eyebrows.

“Helmer said something similar,” Ash said wearily.

“Pfft, that stinking half-breed.” Anna’Bre snorted. By the Gods and spirits, even that contemptuous snort was more like the trickle of a spring brook.

“You two would get along nicely,” Ash mumbled, and immediately regretted it.

“How dare you?!” she screamed, losing all her beauty in an instant and turning into a banshee. “What would I, the great sidhe, the queen of the Winter Court, do with a mediocre half-breed who sold his soul to a demon master?”

Ash paused, watching the reverse metamorphosis. Ice beings weren’t violent or hot-tempered by nature, so he must’ve really struck a chord if he had made her this upset. In less than three heartbeats, she returned to normal.

“Pardon.” She smiled, making the ice melt and form a new layer at the same time. “The fact that I had to put up with him during the Cherry Feast was enough to drive me mad.”

“I understand,” he mumbled.

He was so cold that he had to put a lot of effort into moving his tongue. His throat burned with every word.

“Interesting,” Anna’Bre said, her fathomless eyes flashing. She slowly circled the cage, running her fingers over the icy bars. The dress swayed with her movements, hugging her curves. “I’d warm you, but I can’t.”

“Y-You c-coul-could g-g-giv-e-e m-me b-ba-ack m-my s-ta-a-aff.” His body and teeth trembled, and words moved to the beat of their own drum.

The witch laughed. At any other time, Ash would’ve given anything to hear a woman laugh like that but now he just grimaced and tried to move as far away as possible in his little prison.

“Fire and ice are a beautiful pair only in ballads,” she said. “But I appreciate my neighbor’s attempts to keep the dry wind and warm clouds away from my home. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you your staff back.”

“Is the great queen