Ice Phoenix

Terrana stood by the edge of the junk’s deck and stared thousands of metres below, through the wispy clouds to the great lake and mountains that surrounded Minda Yerra. She held onto the kitten, which she had christened Kazu after the ship’s computer, and looked at the others. Mikin, Lorn, Bindal, and Bagruth watched her with what she thought was amusement.

“You’re all mad if you think I’m going to jump!” she barked.

They had finally arrived in Pa Gumpina after passing through Olden Kartath without any mishap, and the ship had reverted to a junk. Despite having activated some sort of energy shield around itself to protect it from the blistering winds of the planet’s atmosphere, the sails flapped wildly.

They were drifting above Minda Yerra and were descending slowly, which was fine until Terrana learned that the students were required to jump from the junk at this point because it could not land on the planet’s surface.

“Here, I’ll take Kazu,” said the big, hairy Bagruth. “He needs to be in his drop-box so he can be lowered with all the other little animals.”

Terrana handed the kitten over reluctantly. As she watched him leave with Kazu, she decided she couldn’t bear staying behind.

“Wait!” she called out. “Put me in the box too!”

She tried to run after him but Lorn stood in her way.

“Don’t be a wuss. Look around, everyone’s loving it!”

That was the problem. Everywhere she looked, students were pushing past each other to climb onto the planks that had been extended from the sides of the junk. One moment she could see their faces, and the next they had dropped away, hurtling towards the hard ground below.

“Here, put this on. You need to protect your eyes.” Lorn fitted a pair of light goggles around her head.

“I know you’re lying to me! There’s another way down and you’re not telling me!”

“Nope. The only way down is to jump, but you have nothing to worry about. Once you reach a thousand metres, the school’s flight-packs will latch onto you and deliver you to the ground safely.”

Deliver? He made her sound like a postcard! Some students passed by and Terrana overheard one say to the other, “Did you hear what happened to Ikaron? His flight-pack malfunctioned and failed to latch onto him. They say he went splat right in front of everyone ...”

Her legs began to wobble. “I can’t do it! I don’t care what you say, I’m not jumping! You’re not even using parachutes!”

“What are parachutes?” asked Bindal. She was stretching on the deck, bending her body into impossible positions as she prepared to leap off the junk. Mikin was right next to her, fiddling around with his goggles, which contained a camera of some sort. Apparently, Bindal had managed to coerce him into taking pictures of her while she freefell, so that she could enter them into the school’s photography competition.

“Parachutes are big pieces of canvas that open up and slow your descent!” replied Terrana. “You attach them to your bodies.”

Bindal laughed, her face crinkling prettily. “Drop-chutes you mean? We don’t use them anymore. They’re archaic and unreliable. Mikin, you ready?”

“All set!” Mikin couldn’t have looked more enthusiastic. He turned to Terrana, a big smile on his face. “Don’t worry, Terrana. Nothing will go wrong. Lorn will take care of you!”

Terrana groaned inwardly. The expression, ‘Famous last words’ came to mind. She held her breath as she watched them walk the plank, balancing precariously in the strong wind. The thought of standing on a narrow board thousands of metres above ground was enough to make her dizzy. Her stomach churned.

Bindal raised her hands, closing her eyes as she prepared to dive. She squatted several times to warm up. Mikin copied her and, despite her anxiety, Terrana thought he looked quite comical — a little elephant on a diving board.

Bindal began counting. “Three ..., two ..., one.”

Terrana was unable to tear her eyes away. Bindal and Mikin were there one moment, and then gone the next — as if the sky had swallowed them.

“We’re up,” said Lorn, trying to guide her to the plank.

“My buta we are!” yelped Terrana, reverting to Fijian slang. She made a valiant effort to bolt towards the upper deck and succeeded in covering at least twenty metres before a hand grabbed her by the collar of her jacket.

“Let me go!” she shouted, her feet sliding across the wooden deck as Lorn dragged her towards the plank. “You can’t force me to jump!”

“You’re overreacting. It’ll be over quickly.” They had reached the steps and Terrana dug her feet into them, straining against Lorn with every particle of her strength.

“You mean my life will be over! I wanna live, you hear me? Live!"

“Stop being so melodramatic.”

"Me? Melodr—”

Lorn plucked her off the steps, tucking her under his right arm like a barrel of beer. Then he climbed onto the plank, noticing how still she had become. He released her and watched in amazement as she dropped to her knees and wrapped all four limbs around the plank.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the plank was your boyfriend.”

“Take me back,” she said hoarsely, clinging on for a dear life. Her stomach had shrunk to the size of a walnut as she eyed the dizzying heights below her, and for the first time in her life, she regarded vacuity as something to avoid whenever and wherever possible.

“Hey, aren’t you jumping off already? We’re waiting here!”

Terrana raised her head to see who had spoken. Unfortunately for her, it turned out to be one person speaking for several students who were waiting impatiently on the far end of the plank.

“C’mon, we haven’t got all day!” they called out.

“Wai-wait,” she stuttered. “I’m coming back!”

They looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

“Nah,” said a short, turtle-faced boy. “You’re getting off now!” He grinned. “Everyone?”

To Terrana’s horror, they all jumped onto the plank and under their combined weights, it began to dip.

"What are you doing?” She could feel herself sliding backwards. “Lorn! Lorn. Help!”

Hands reached out, grabbed her by the shoulders and helped her to her feet. Lorn’s green eyes pierced her own.

“Close your eyes.”

“Ta-take me back!” she ordered. The plank dipped further as the other students inched closer towards them. Lorn sighed.

“If that’s what you want.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. Then he stepped off the plank, taking Terrana with him.

"Mnnnnnnnnn gaiiiiiiiiiiii . . .”

Her screaming baffled the other students.

“What did she say?” asked the turtle-faced boy.

“Dunno, my language detector couldn’t translate it,” said a yellow blob.

“I have it,” said someone else. He looked a little more human, with green skin and big bug eyes. “It’s Fijian for ...” His face pinched a little.

“Well?” asked the turtle-faced boy.

“Put it this way, she wasn’t thanking us.”

Silence.

Then the green kid spoke. “Well, if she didn’t want to jump she should have taken the landing shuttle.”

Terrana couldn’t hear herself screaming against the rush of the wind. Lorn had been a right bastard — he had disentangled himself from her by wedging his knee between them and pushing off. She could see him freefalling about thirty metres to her right, grinning and waving at her. He gestured with his hands, trying to tell her something. Spread out. She was so spread out that she looked like the broken spokes of an umbrella.

Her initial terror gave way to exhilaration as the wind rushed by and the ground loomed closer. Unlike her dreams, exhaling did not slow her descent. A gust caught her, sending her tumbling. Her world spun crazily, and that was the end of her freefall fun. All around, students were shouting and spinning, enjoying the thrill of the fall. Terrana hated them all.

She could clearly distinguish the lake and buildings below and, in particular, the dragon emerging from the mountain. She gulped nervously and looked around for Lorn. He was nowhere to be seen.

A dark cloud on her left caught her attention. Even as she watched, it came closer, humming and whirring ... growing louder. Realising it was a flock of flight-packs, she wanted to shout in relief, but her throat had dried up from her earlier efforts.

The flight-packs resembled gigantic prehistoric dragonflies as they approached the freefalling students. One by one they flew over to each student and latched onto their backs before carrying them off, their brilliant wings whirring and gliding on the air currents.

Where was hers? She looked around in panic. Students above her were already being secured and there weren’t any others remaining below. Had they forgotten her? She prepared herself for an almighty scream.

She jerked suddenly as something clamped around her hips and shoulders, and she was no longer falling. Relief flooded her — her flight-pack had finally arrived! It carried her smoothly through the air, gliding towards the ground and, for the first time, Terrana lost her fear.

She actually took the time to appreciate the view, and as she got closer to the ground she paid close attention to the other students as they landed, detached their flight-packs and walked off. She was no higher than twenty metres when her flight-pack spluttered and coughed. Alarm bells went off in her head.

“This is so not good,” she muttered.

As her flight-pack continued to choke, the students on the ground noticed her plight and began pointing.

It happened without warning. Her flight-pack flipped over and shot towards a copse of trees located between the school and lake. It flew really low, dragging her across the ground resulting in bruised and scraped legs.

"Help me someone please! Heeeeeeeeelp!”

She broke through the trees and the flight-pack accelerated towards the lake. It dragged an absolutely terrified Terrana through the water. At one point she was completely submerged, staying under for at least a minute before shooting vertically into the air. She must have climbed at least four hundred metres when the flight-pack suddenly cracked down the middle. The bands around her shoulders and hips snapped off and in that one, split-second moment, Terrana found herself suspended in the air, free of the flight-pack. And then she fell.

She could no longer scream or move. Her mind barely registered her predicament as she stared into the cold face of the lake. She wondered whether she would feel the stinging pain of the world’s largest belly flop or whether it would be more of a bone-breaking sensation.

Someone — she sensed it was a male — grabbed her and threw her face down over a sort of saddle behind him. Then he twisted around to sit astride the creature that was carrying them, and that was all Terrana could make of the rider. The sound of powerful wings beating filled her ears, but she was too weak to lift her head enough to see what manner of creature it was. They were gliding, returning to the school. As a token of her appreciation, Terrana threw up, spilling most of her waste on the creature and some on the mystery rider’s pants. The rest splashed back into her face and hair.

She heard cussing from the rider, and even the creature growled. Tears slowly crept down her face as the humiliation of her first-day-at-school-appearance sunk in; she was soaked to the bone, her legs were bruised and bleeding, and her face was covered in vomit. No matter what, she did not wish to land in front of all the other students like this. Her rescuer may have shared the same thoughts because they swerved away from the school towards a small clearing in the nearby forest. The creature took a few running steps as it landed, and then came to a complete stop.

She knew she had to dismount, thank her rescuer, and walk away, but doing that required raising her head to face him, and shame prevented her from doing so. Instead, she kept her head lowered while trying to wipe the tears and vomit away.

The rider laid a coat over her shoulders, wrapping her tightly before pulling her into his strong arms. She felt herself being carried from the animal, and then she was laid gently upon the ground. She listened to his footsteps as he walked away.

"Terrana!”

Lorn burst into the clearing, looking frantic. He spotted her and rushed to her side.

“Terrana.” He attempted to raise her from her lying position but she resisted, clutching the coat tightly.

“Are you hurt? Can you walk?”

Terrana didn’t answer — her stomach had decided to play havoc again and she threw up.

“Terrana —”

“Get away from me!” She pushed him violently, still hiding under the coat. Lorn went very still. It hurt him to hear her anger, but he didn’t blame her. He felt he deserved it after everything that had happened. He retreated a few steps, unsure of what to do, when he noticed the boy for the first time.

He was around the same age as Lorn, only slightly taller and broader. Long black hair reached his shoulders, framing a finely chiselled face and electric blue eyes. He wore a navy blue, double-layered, fitting jacket with a wide collar, which was the latest thing in high-street fashion The inner layer was zipped to his neck while the outer remained unbuttoned. Dark jeans, gloves, and high boots completed his look.

“Who are you?” Lorn called out. Something about the boy seemed oddly familiar.

The boy’s eyes bored into Lorn, taking their time to assess him. He didn’t seem interested in answering Lorn’s question. Instead, he nodded at Terrana.

“Who is she?” His voice was confident and refined.

“Why, what’s she to you?”

The left corner of his mouth pulled up a little. “She owes me a new coat.”

“What?” Lorn couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Her name, so I may send her the bill.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll have it cleaned and delivered to you.”

The boy shot Lorn a cold, condescending look.

“The coat is ruined, contaminated by an alien.”

Lorn’s face darkened. “She’s not an alien. She’s a student here like you and I.”

“Student? Like you and I? What strange people you are, trying to place yourselves in my league.”

Lorn had a bad feeling about the boy. Not only didn’t he like him, but more importantly, he had never seen him in the school before. It nagged at him like a tiny worm gnawing at his brain. He felt he knew this smart ass, but he couldn’t place him. Perhaps, he was a model or interplanetary celebrity.

The tall bushes nearby rustled, and a large animal stepped out. Lorn took one look at it and finally realised to whom he was speaking. He fell back, his face paling. The boy was none other than Prince Gil Ra Im, son of one of the most powerful Imeldors of all time. The animal with him was a feiyed — a winged faar of Swiva. It was the first time Lorn had ever seen a faar.

The faar stepped forwards and Lorn found himself trembling. It was taller than a full-grown horse. It had the body of a wolf, with powerful shoulders and chest, and a thick mane that wrapped around its neck. Like the boy next to him, it had brilliant blue eyes, and from its forehead grew a pair of straight horns. Its jaws were heavier and stronger than those of a normal wolf, its coat darker than the night. Magnificent wings spanned the entire length of its body, its wingtips lined with silver fur. The boy reached out and stroked the faar’s side.

“You, you are the prince of Swiva,” Lorn blurted once he managed to overcome his initial fear. He would never be rid of it completely — he couldn’t afford to, not around a faar. “Why are you here?”

“I ask myself the same question,” replied the prince, looking annoyed. They were both interrupted by the sight of a tall, powerful woman hurrying into the clearing. A thick mane of red hair quickly identified who she was.

“Headmistress ,” uttered Lorn, paling even more. Degra Marl, the headmistress of Minda Yerra. Had she come personally to look for Terrana?

Her green feline eyes swept over the boys before noticing the motionless form hiding beneath the coat on the ground.

“Don’t move!” she barked. Lorn gulped. When the headmistress ordered him not to move, nothing short of a cyclone would get him to move. He valued his life too much. Headmistress Marl was Magarkan, a feline race renowned for their physical prowess and exceptional strength, and Lorn had witnessed her bring down a small tree once, using nothing more than her claw-like fingers. She wore light-soled boots, matched with a pair of black trousers, and a red jacket that emphasised her full but powerful figure.

Headmistress strode over to Terrana, her tail flicking behind her. When she reached the motionless form on the ground, she stooped to remove the coat. Naturally, Terrana smacked her hand away and buried herself deeper into the coat.

“Terrana, it’s me, Degra,” the head teacher spoke softly. No response. She smelled the vomit and felt the wetness of Terrana’s tears through the coat. Her face turned dark.

“The two of you, get to your lines, sort out your rooms and classes!”

They didn’t question her. The prince leapt onto the faar and left the clearing while Lorn turned around and ran through the trees. The head teacher watched them leave before turning back to Terrana. She bent down and scooped the girl into her arms, holding her firmly before leaping up into the trees. Then silently and quickly, she bounded from tree to tree, back to the school.

Lorn didn’t stop running until he had almost reached the school lines. Out of breath, he slowed to a walk and kicked at a rock angrily. He had been careless; after his fight with Bogath, and Terrana’s encounter with Misa, he should have expected retaliation. A flight-pack didn’t just malfunction. Each one was vigorously tested before being sent out to fetch the students. Someone had tampered with it.

He was about to kick another rock when he noticed the ripped wing of the flight-pack lying on the ground a few metres ahead. He ran over, staring at it in surprise. He thought it had fallen into the lake, but this was clearly a piece of it. He bent to pick it up but dropped it almost immediately.

“Urgh!” The tips of his fingers had numbed. So he had rescued her. Lorn felt even worse. Staring down at the internal wiring of the wing, he noted the ice-packed cavities and realised the prince had done the only thing he could to save Terrana from being dragged to her death by the malfunctioning flight-pack. He had used his frigid touch to freeze the damaged unit so it shattered and released her.