The Dance of Ice and the Cry of Thunder

Ice, she dances so mystically, so majestically, like the very wind itself. Lightning bites, so vicious, but Ice just dances away in flight evermore. . . . And both are consumed in flames.

The Dance of Ice and

the Bite of Lightning

A deep, crystalline lake, surrounded by white-fur deer and the telltale hooting of snowy owls nestled in the encroaching trees, beheld something wondrous you might think was simply odd.

The animals were there for a reason, gathered about as if waiting for the rising of the Holy Sibling. A single man, ragged as crumpled trash, paced along in the wintry forecasting in his shoddy clothing, his scruffy beard flapping along in the terribly-chill breeze. Torn leather boots, one missing a lace, plodded deep through the snowy dunes with difficulty, and his frostbitten nose stood out black against his elseways-colorless face.

He'd not a coat to buffer the harsh climate, and his fingers had stopped shivering about three minutes ago. He could feel the coldness creeping down his spine, as his body began to shut down, though perhaps there was another reason for the crawling cool. Perhaps he'd finally found her.

He came to crawl into the midst of the lake, into its very center, staring into the wintry-white skies with their glowing blue rune alit. It blazed, a raging lightning bolt throwing itself savagely along its prison of light, and the man smirked. "Stay there, where you can cause no more chaos," he growled, his lip quavering at once.

A light tinkling was audible then, and the man turned down, to the icy sea beneath him. "My Lady?" he asked, bowing to the surface sheen and pressing an ear to the chilly hold. "I returned, and I've come to free you. Please, give me your blessing."

He stood then, tearing his chest-clothes off in one strong gesture and exposing himself to the elements. His body was pockmarked in a tumult of runes and symbology, and completely hairless, as a series of coughs tore through him to remind him of how little time he still had left.

Each one, as a pattern, began to ignite in a green glow, the flames in his body ripping him apart their last time as he let the magic kill him. "I give all of this to you, my Lady!" he shrieked, his madness and devotion coming forth as his fear was crushed. "Take me, all of me, and do with me as you will!"

The runes continued to blossom, and sudden streak of flame began to redden his flesh as they popped out of their lines and hovered over him, as red embers. The man began to laugh, to cackle sickly, and the animals gathered did scatter in terror. "Burn me, and freeze me, and make me all yours!" he madly proclaimed. "This pain is all for you!"

His scraggly pants caught in the fiery torches which had burst from his veins, and in moments he felt the pain as the inferno crawled below his waist. "Show me your fury, the rage he caused, and let it destroy them all!"

The heat brushed his heart, the pain worse than anything else thus far. He couldn't stand it, couldn't stand at all at that point, and crumbled to his knees as they too became engulfed. In moments, even the black tips of his toes suffered.

Yet, defying all, he stood with great difficulty. "Please tell me you love my gift, my Lady," he whispered, his voice no louder than the squeal of the fires as they burned all moisture from his flesh. "Kin Fire Shumasen!" did the final throes of the man's life cry, and he exploded and was immediately engulfed in the tremulous power of the Holy Sibling.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading!