All Chapters of THE ICE ALPHA RAIDER : Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

Aira, wake up.The words drifted through the darkness, soft and cracked, worn thin from repeating for too long.Aira, wake up.Pain hit first from a deep throb pulsed behind my eyes.My ribs burned with every shallow breath. My calf was torn open and crusted stiff with frozen blood.Snow had glued half my face down. My hair was frozen in clumps against my cheek.The only warmth left was the silver pendant pressed between my chest and the icy ground.Aira, wake up.I knew that voice.My eyelids were sealed with frost and exhaustion. I forced them open slowly.Gray dawn sliced through the haze. Snowdrifts, jagged rocks, and pine branches bowed under heavy frost.The world blurred at first, then sharpened into painful focus.Mira knelt over me.Her braid was half unraveled. Black strands were matted thickly with blood and pine sap.A fresh gash sliced across her left cheekbone and still wept slow red. Her cloak hung in shreds.One sleeve was gone entirely. Her left hand clamped hard agai

The first week blurred into fever and hunger.My calf throbbed like a second heart under the crude bandage. Infection set in fast.Rhea’s healer, a gaunt woman named Lira who smelled of bitter herbs and resentment, cleaned it once a day with something that burned worse than the wound itself.She never spoke to me. She just worked with her lips pressed thin, as though touching Hollow blood might taint her.Food came in portions so small they mocked the word. A strip of dried venison, a handful of pine nuts, and watery broth from bones boiled until they gave up all flavor.The rogues ate in silence around the fires with their eyes darting to anyone who took more than their share.I learned quickly that taking too long to chew meant someone would growl that I was wasting what little they had.Mira stayed close. She gave me half her rations when no one watched.She slept between me and the tent flap with her knife under her pillow. But even she grew thinner. Shadows carved deeper under he