"Shiver…"

  Shiver slashed an oncoming ice shade as it rushed towards her, the blade of her Phobia finding its neck.

  This one, bore Marta’s face. As it fell to the ground, shattering into slivers of ice, she cast her gaze towards the others. She was in the same nightmare that had visited her on the night after she had first awakened. When she had been on horseback with Vale, making their way towards the Archcity of Fear.

  A blizzard swirled lazily around her, impeding her vision of the dark forest around her. The twin moons of Valefor and Idriel shone down at her, their light reaching her through the air above her, mercifully free from the swirling cold winds.

  She stood in the same nightmare that she had first been visited with, the day she had become a Fearshaper. Her eyes scanned the blizzard that circled her, the bodies of her loves ones faced down in the snow, their throats slit by her own hands. Shiver’s Phobia, her twin daggers of ice dissipated in a shower of frost, having achieved their purpose.

  "Shiver… you need to confront and acknowledge your Fear to proceed…"

  "I know, I know-"

  "I’m glad you do. I was afraid that maybe…"

  Icey paused, her thought drawing onwards.

  "Maybe it had slipped your mind that you were to blame for their deaths!"

  "I told you, I’ll get to it-"

  Shiver stopped. Her head snapped around towards where Icey lay in the snow. The ice cube was nowhere to be seen, and her heartbeat began to accelerate, as she desperately cast her gaze around her in search of her guide.

  "How quickly you’ve forgotten! Silly, you. Their deaths must not have meant much, right?"

  A shade bearing her own face strode out of the winter winds, its lips drawing into a familiar grin. The tonality of the shade changing from its perfect mimicry of Icey’s voice to her own.

  The shade’s cheeks parted to reveal a half-moon of gleaming fangs that ran the entire circumference of her face, from ear to ear. Blood dripped from the orifice, bright red amongst the muted dark grey of her lifeless skin.

  Shiver returned its smile.

  "That must be why everyone looks so terrified when I smile at them. Have you seen yourself? You should really work on that, you know."

  The shade lunged towards her, with all the dexterity that it possessed. Blurring through the ice with twin daggers of black frost in its own hands.

  Matching her.

  Shiver stood still, as her doppelganger rushed towards her. Her Phobia, the twin daggers were absent from her hands. Shiver met her shade head on, pivoting and attempting to surprise it with her sudden change in direction.

  All anticipated by shade-Shiver.

  Its maw widened, as it’s face trailed Shiver’s neck, drawing towards it like an arrow that traced her.

  Shiver swept her empty hand upwards, her palm outstretched as it caught onto the bottom of the shade’s chin. She drove its gaze upwards for a split second. Her other hand caught onto its right shoulder, halting its advance momentarily.

  A hairbreadth away from the shade’s own neck, now fully exposed.

  She called her Phobia into existence into her right hand, and pushed, using the moment of reprieve to sink it into the shade’s jugular. She felt cold, black blood wash over her hand.

  Shade Shvier stumbled back, and cracks rapidly spidered outwards from the point of impact, crumbling into a haze of shards, now laying on the ground, defeated. Confirming that her doppelganger no longer posed a threat, Shiver resumed her search for her guide.

  "Popsicle… are you there?"

  Only the howling gale of the blizzard surrounding her met her ears.

  "Icey?"

  "You said my name!"

  She watched as her guide darted out of the cold winds surrounding her. She couldn’t help but feel a tinge of relief at the sight of her.

  "That shade that looks like you… it’s powerful. It threw me into the snowstorm and mimicked me!"

  "Figures that I would be my own worst enemy."

  Shiver smiled smugly. Then, her thoughts returned to the nightmare before her. Just had she did in her previous nightmare, she watched as the lanky, bespectacled man and beautiful woman with wings of ice walked past her.

  She gazed after them, then began to follow them through the Winterstorm’s gale.

  ---

  Eventually, they emerged into a familiar forest. To her left, was a frozen lake. The same one on which she had awakened as a Fearshaper. They would encroach upon Brimstone, if they continued to skirt the mountainside pressing forwards.

  The pair came to a stop at the mouth of a familiar cave - shielded from the Winterstorm’s winds by the forest. Then, she watched as a girl who looked to be around ten years of age walked in, after them.

  Young Shiver’s hair was long, falling to the small of her back. That was before she had cut it, identifying it as a weakness to be exploited on the streets. She watched a familiar dream, as her parents ushered her into the cave. As they mentioned the girl’s name, their voices came out in a jumble.

  Of all of her memories of the night, this one troubled her the least.

  The name they had given her mattered not, the moment they had abandoned her. She had no interest in learning of it or reclaiming it.

  She watched as the man crouched, kindly cradling the girl’s face in his hands as she wept.

  "It’s going to be ok, darling."

  "B-but… our home! What will we do daddy?"

  He nodded at her, as the woman kept her vigilant gaze on the cave’s exit. She gave her a soft smile.

  A sweet lie.

  "Sweetie. Your father and I are going to get it back."

  Her mother’s gaze hardened, piercing cerulean eyes meeting hers.

  She extended her hand, drawing an elegant sword of frost into existence. Its blade was thin and narrow, and a fine mist peeled off its surface. With her other hand, she pulled her daughter into an embrace.

  "We’ll be back for you. Wait here for just a moment, ok?"

  "Shiver…"

  Shiver peered down at her guide, who had interrupted the moment. She gave her a small smile and reproach.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Hush."

  Shiver, all of ten years of age, watched as her father and mother departed, leaving her in the cave. Words, that had escaped her, all those years ago, returned to her.

  "…if we don’t … message to…Ventra."

  "... can’t… her… here."

  "...trust...her."

  The mans lips moved, and he cast a small glance back at his daughter, who was draped in his cloak. The little girl, clung desperately to the remnants of his warmth that it held.

  Then, they left. Walking out of the cave, never to return again.

  Shiver blinked, and she went from watching the scene unfold to shifting into the perspective of her younger self. Only this time, she didn’t succumb to the sadness.

  She wiped away tears and snot, that threatened to drip down to sully her father’s cloak. She took a deep breath… And leaned against the cold surface of the cave with a smile.

  "Shiver… are you alright?"

  "Perfectly fine, Popsicle."

  "They… left you-"

  "Abandoned, me. Let’s call it how we see it."

  "B-but it looked like they had left to defend their hom-"

  "Then they should have taken me with them. We could have died together."

  Yet, for all of her nonchalance, Shiver frowned as a pang of abandonment and betrayal blossomed within her. Followed by shame, and anger.

  Shiver’s memories of her parents were scarce. Occasionally, she was visited by nightmares of the day, where they had left her in the cave she had made her home. Before the nightmare, it had gone a long time since she had seen them – barely remembering their faces.

  The dreams born of an elf’s Fear often circled matters of significance to them. That had been the reason they had disappeared. They no longer mattered to her.

  Shiver smiled as she felt the biting cold begin to sink into her. The residual warmth mercifully contained in her father’s cloak eventually running out.

  On the day of her abandonment, she had held his cloak tightly towards her, naively believing it would halt the interminable advance of the cold.

  This time, Shiver made a different decision and discarded it.

  She opened her arms to her Fear, welcoming its advent as it enveloped her. The feeling of abandonment accompanying its bite like a spear of ice through her chest.

  After that day, she had cried, raged, broken a door or three in the orphanage at the unfairness of it all. Thrown popsicles from the rooftops at the children walking hand in hand with their parents, in the lower and upper circles alike. With undeserved happiness.

  What had she done to deserve this?

  She came to realise that there was no reason to it.

  That some elves got to live in warmth while others were denied it.

  Shiver settled her back against the cave wall, letting out a sigh as the chill gradually made its way into her bones.

  Her resentment remained, but it had waned with the passing years, just like her hope.

  "This was where your Fear of ice was triggered. You made it your home."

  Then, Shiver smiled a true smile down at her guide. One bereft of artifice, or vain attempts to conceal her sadness or resentment.

  "You have my permission to bask in my brilliance, popsicle. It’s alright, don’t hold back. You mean to say that not many would be Insane enough to live where their Fear was awakened."

  Icey’s cold heart ached for her charge.

  "Why would I? To be constantly reminded of the choice that my parents made, to abandon me."

  Shiver closed her eyes.

  "To tell you the truth… I was… I am a useless, worthless street urchin. And yet some people thought me deserving of love."

  Shiver grit her teeth, as the tears finally came unbidden. Not at the thought of her birth parents, but as they wandered to the people she had come to love. The memories of Marta, disciplining a rogue little demon with few redeeming qualities. Pov, who would approach her after she was reprimanded, with his kindness. Imparting gentle wisdom to a girl undeserving. Blaze, the little orphan who naively came to look up to her as an older sister. Being offered a place to live.

  Finally a place to call home.

  "I live in this Feardamned cave, Icey, to remind me that while I was abandoned, there were still people stupid enough to value me. I never wanted to forget it."

  It was all too easy to forget the cold, when you basked in warmth.

  She vowed never to take their kindness for granted.

  Shiver closed her eyes with a smirk.

  "Besides what better way to so utterly confront your Fear, than to turn the site of its inception into your home."

  She leaned back, her head touching the cold, bare stone behind her. Even as her heart ached from loneliness and the freezing wind, Shiver’s lips stretched out into a viscious grin.

  She felt her Fear flowing within her, suddenly brought within the bounds of her awareness. That sickly chill, that had wormed its way into her heart, all those years ago from her greatest betrayal, suddenly tangible within her body.

  "What better way to dominate it."

  Icey watched her with sadness.

  The young were meant to be filled with hope, ambition and reckless curiosity.

  Yet despite the strength of her words, all that burned in Shiver’s eyes was bitterness, anger and dogged determination.

  She searched the depths of her Fearshaper’s eyes.

  The little ice cube felt a chill.

  For all amidst all of those dark emotions that swirled in the depths of Shiver’s eyes....

  Fear?

  Fear was nowhere to be found.

  ---

  Vale paled, as Shiver recounted her nightmare to her with a casual grin.

  I don’t think I’ve ever felt sorry for someone’s Fear before… if I was Shiver’s I’d be looking to hand in my resignation.

  "I wouldn’t expect anything less, you crazy orphan."

  Vale ran her fingers through her hair, and frowned, a thought coming to her.

  "Did you ever try to search for your parents? What about your memories of where you had lived before?"

  Shiver shook her head, her eyes lingering on the gentle golden suns above them..

  "I didn’t find a thing. Back when I stayed at the orphanage, I would sneak out of Brimstone to search. I never found any hints of them. Inside the city or out. As for my memories… they never returned to me."

  Then Shiver returned a cheery smile.

  "Not that it mattered! My parents are just as dead to me as they’re likely to be in reality – dead. So are my memories of the past. Nothing I would want to rediscover."

  Then, she turned her gaze to her guide. Icey had been silent for a while now.

  "You ok there Popsicle? You look a little shaken."

  Shiver and Vale watched on in surprise as the little ice cube darted away from them.

  "Shiver… I think something’s troubling her."

  Her friend turned to her.

  "I’ll… give her some time. If I’ve learned anything about our favourite Popsicle, she has a heart that’s too big for her. Seeing it can’t have been easy."

  From within the folds of Vale’s cloak emerged Quietus, who inclined his body in agreement.

  "It is never easy, for a guide – at least those with a heart – to witness your challenges unaffected. We are your greatest supporters. Give her some time, Shiver."

  "Why thank you, Lord Quietus. I will."

  Vale pushed Shiver lightly.

  "I will say though… living in the place in which your Fear awakened… Utterly Insane."

  "I didn’t like being beholden to it."

  "Thus the popsicles… huh. There’s a method to your madness."

  Shiver and Vale exchanged a smile. They sat in peace, enjoying the serenity of the academy’s courtyard. Shiver’s voice broke the silence.

  "There was something though."

  "Hmm?"

  "Something about this city that felt familiar to me, when we first caught a glance of it. It feels… familiar to me."

  Vale’s eyes widened at the revelation.

  "Not only that, my mother… she looked similar to the academy’s guardian."

  "Perhaps your parents are linked to this academy… Your mother, a Fearshaper of ice. Maybe you lived here!"

  Shiver gave her a look, and squeezed her legs closer to her.

  "What? Surely it must have occurred to you."

  "It’s has occurred to me. Who knows? And frankly who cares. Even if there are answers here, they abandoned me."

  The silence grew between them.

  "Well, if you ever decide to uncover this secret… I’ll help you."

  Vale’s eyes glinted with mischief.

  "In exchange, help me take down my father."

  Shiver raised an eyebrow.

  "Who cares about equivalence... am I right? Deal. Oh, and Vale? There’s something I want to show you. While our favourite lordling is still off in sleepyland."

  ---

  They stood before the golden gates leading to the Floors of Trepidation. Vale supposed her brother had gone onwards, in his own attempt to descend.

  "What did you want to show me?"

  Shiver placed her palm on the glowing ward, hovering before the gates.

  Then slipped through.