Spark of War (Progression Fantasy)

El looked down at the foot-square block of ice like a frozen waterfall encompassing each of her hands, the weight of them noticeable even with the magic of her frost armor. "That… didn't work out like I expected it to…"

"You thought you were just going to freeze the whole thing by sticking your hands in the massive flood of gushing water?" Laze asked, actually shouting instead of using the magic of her armor as if to make a point.

"Of course not…" El muttered. Okay, so maaaaaybe I need to think this out a bit more. The water freezes as soon as it touches my flames, but that just builds ice right around my hands. Sure, the flames somehow break down even the ice for a bit, but there's so much water it just gets overwhelming.

El glanced at the blocks of ice again, then flared power around her hands to shatter them in a small burst of icy shrapnel.

"Your plan was to freeze all the water?" Tas shouted up after he jogged closer.

"Just enough to plug the hole in the roof," El said, though looking again at the water pounding in, maybe 'just' wasn't an accurate description.

"It's a good plan," Tas said. "But that won't work. There's too much moving water."

"You sound like you have a better idea," El pointed out.

"Maybe. Have you ever seen a frozen waterfall? A real one?" Tas asked, and El just shook her head. "The whole thing isn't actually frozen—for the big ones—just the outside of it. It's almost impossible to stop that much water when it wants to move, but the mist will freeze over time, creating sculptures and tunnels of ice for the water to flow through.

"With the right amount of finesse and planning," Tas continued, moving his hands as if he were shaping something with them. "You should be able to work around the edges. Guide the water where you need it to go, like a sculptor yourself."

"Won't work," Laze said immediately.

"Why not?" Tas asked.

Laze just looked at El. "Cause you don't know El. Finesse and planning aren't exactly her strong suits."

"Hey," El said with at the same time she threw her 'best friend' a dirty look.

"It's true. You said it yourself. You're the 'act on the spot' kind of musclehead that's great in the moment, but taking the time to sculp an entire waterfall forty feet long? Sorry, not your thing," Laze said bluntly.

"Part of me thinks I should be offended—really offended—but the bigger part of me knows you're right. Though, next time, maybe toss in a few more compliments before you tear me down?" El said.

"You have great taste in footwear."

"I do."

"Ladies," Tas interrupted. "If neither of our plans will work," he pointed back and forth between himself and El, "do you have a suggestion?"

"Yup," Laze said smugly. "Musclehead, remember? Use your big blue arrow," she added a thumb over her shoulder at the tunnel still completely coated in ice.

El slapped her own forehead. "Okay, everybody stand back," she said, ushering the other two further away from the water. Then, taking a few steps back for her own safety, she ignited her bow. Like before, she held her shot, feeding more and more power into the growing arrow.

"You sure this is the best plan?" Tas asked as he jogged beside Laze.

"Playing to El's strengths here," Laze answered.

Tas started to say something else, but El pushed the conversation out of her mind, turning her entire focus on what she needed to do. Within a few quick seconds, the thing in her hand was already bucking like a wild beast, snaps of flame birthing small squalls of snowflakes around her. From an arrow, to a spear, to a ballista bolt, it grew in her hand until she felt herself brushing up against the limits of how much power she could control. Much more raw, untamed energy, and she'd lose it all. So, instead of pouring more in directly, she focused on what she had, condensing it down. Forging it into that terrible plasma her brother—and she—seemed to be able to use.

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The fire resisted her, like it was more difficult to do a second time in such a short amount of time, but one thing Laze had forgotten to mention about El was her stubbornness. Being difficult wouldn't stop her, and if the Spark in her chest thought it might, it had another thing coming.

El glared at the small spouts of flame that tried to escape her creation, forcefully pulling them back in to compact with the rest of the fire. The thrashing pillar of flame in her hands stilled as she dominated it, taking the shape of a true—albeit massive—arrow in her hands.

More and more, she pushed it together, the cold flames brightening until they snapped into place, blue plasma glowing so much it almost looked like a tear in reality with something else leaking through. As her eyes settled on her creation, a forgotten memory slammed into her so hard, the tunnel seemed to vanish.

In its place, a square room of dark stone surrounded her. Within each corner, a bowl of flame provided the only light. No, that wasn't true, lines of energy the color of the sunrise snaked across the floor and walls in a pattern she couldn't recognize—but somehow should. Following the lines, El spotted one of the four braziers behaving differently than the others. Instead of what looked like flickering torches in it, this one held the same bright orange plasma Nexin used.

The thought of her brother shattered the strange illusion, and El was once again back in the tunnel, the arrow in her hand continuing to build in condensed power. Building towards going out of control!

One last expression of pure will pushed the arrow into a completely condensed state, and El finally let go. The release alone tossed her back, forcing her to ignite her wings or end up on her ass. Even then, she shot back fifteen feet before she steadied herself. Directly ahead of her, on the other hand, the roaring tumult of the falling waterfall had gone eerily and suddenly silent. Water no longer poured through the tunnel roof to churn on the floor, instead replaced by a solid block of thick ice. Even the flowing water that'd been rushing down the side tunnel stood frozen, the curves and splashes perfectly preserved in the moment.

Directly in front of where El had started, a cone of thick frost expanded along the floors and spread to the walls, where snow an inch deep now covered everything. And, while El couldn't feel it because of her armor, the temperature had probably also taken quite the plunge.

I hope it's not too cold for everybody to pass… uh…

"Laze?" El said.

"Yes, El?" Laze asked back.

"I did the arrow thing—like you suggested—but how is everybody supposed to get by now? The tunnel is full of ice!"

"She has a point, oh master planner," Tas said.

In response, Laze ignited her wings—taking just over two seconds—then glided ahead with a sword in hand. "El isn't the only one with a Spark," she said, heading over to the left side of the iceberg and cutting into it. With her the flames of her sword gushing loose around the sides instead of focused purely into a hard edge, each slash melted just as much as it cut. With a few quick swings, Laze carved five feet into the ice, then practically vanished as she kept digging away.

"Looks like she's got it covered," El said to Tas.

"I do," Laze said. "I'll cut a way through to the other side while you get everybody ready to move. I see some running water, so while it's mostly plugged, we don't know for how long."

"We need to get everybody up and moving through right away," El told Tas since he didn't have access to their communication magic. "Before the water finds its way back in."

"Yeah… yeah, let's do that," Tas said, still staring at the ice. "At some point, though, you're going to have to tell me why you have blue fire. I thought maybe the others could do it too, and just weren't, but now I'm thinking…" He pointed at the tunnel full of ice. "I'm thinking there's a story there."

"You could say that," El said. "If you have any more of the coffee left, maybe I'll tell you about it when we stop."

"Not sure that's a fair trade," Tas said. "Coffee is hard to come by, and everybody has a story."

El just glanced at him as they jogged carefully down the tunnel, Nidina rounding the corner as they got closer.

"Half done here," Nidina said, then spotted the massive, tunnel-blocking chunk of ice ahead. "Oh, burn it no. I am not…"

"Laze is already working on it," El quickly interjected, and Nidina visibly relaxed. "We're going to get the others ready to move. Think you can get this cleared in the few minutes that'll take?"

"Yeah, no problem," Nidina said.

"You… don't seem particularly surprised by the huge ice cube," Tas pointed out.

"You get used to El being overdramatic if you spend enough time with her," Nidina said while casually dismembering a pair of frozen hangnails.

"That's your definition of overdramatic?" Tas asked.

"That? Pretty minor in the ridiculous things she's done recently. Nothing compared to fighting a city-sized fortress or summoning a pair of angry gods," Nidina said, sword flicking out to sever another arm.

"… pair of angry gods?"

El snapped her fingers between the two of them. "Focus, people. Things to do. Gossip later."

"Nidina, do you like coffee?" Tas asked.