First Frost Novels & Stories

It was stretching long, jagged crimson arms downward, creeping over the northern coastline, pushing a massive wall of arctic air directly toward their country. "Aria," Alexander said, his voice snapping her back to reality as he held out his tablet screen toward her. "Look at this. The national weather service just posted an emergency bulletin. They're calling it an unseasonal cold spell moving down from Canada. They're telling people to expect a light frost by Thursday morning." Aria looked at Alexander's tablet, then back at her glowing system radar screen. The national weather service thought it was a "light frost." They had no idea that a seventy-degree temperature drop was riding right

It was coming. As the wind howled through the clearing, a shadow moved at the edge of the forest. Not Ash. Not Kade. Something older. Something that carried the unmistakable mark of her uncle’s power. And for the first time, Raven understood that her awakening wasn’t the beginning of freedom—it was the beginning of war.

I stuffed the last piece of clothing into the suitcase and snapped it shut, then I looked around the apartment. Having lived here for five years, my presence was everywhere, from the paintings on the walls to the throw pillows on the couch and the plants on the balcony. Now, those very details felt like a cruel joke. I wheeled my suitcase toward the living room and paused to look at the calendar. New Year’s Day was tomorrow. A fresh start and a brand-new year. Without hesitation, I reached for my phone and reserved a seat on the first high-speed train heading to Cedar Hollow, my hometown.

The morning of the coronation dawned with a strange, unnatural hush that seemed to blanket the entire capital. It was as if the wind itself had held its breath in anticipation of the day’s significance. By midday, the temperature began to plummet, and the sky began to dim with a cool, silver twilight creeping across the vast expanse of the Midnight Frost. This was the moment of convergence, the day the fragmented, warring lands would finally coalesce under a single, unified banner.

Winter settled over Calloway the way it always did. Slowly. Patiently. By February, the excitement of the first frost had long since faded. The trees stood bare, the mornings stayed grey, and the rain still found reasons to fall. Lucas, however, loved it. Winter meant more data. His prediction from October had been mostly right. The frost had arrived two weeks later than he'd expected, and he'd carefully recorded the adjustment in his notebook. Not as a mistake.

They didn't go home. At least not immediately. Two weeks from a weekend. Two weeks ago a month. And before they noticed it, St. Veyr began the first winter. The first snowflakes fell at the end of November. Slow down. Almost cautious. Like the weather itself is afraid to disturb the silence of the old orphanage. But the house was no longer quiet. Not really. Light burned in the windows every night. The hallways were warm. The dining rooms full of voices.

I did not have everything I needed, but at least I had enough to keep me for months. By 10:00pm, the temperature had fallen further. I watched from a safe distance as the first signs of frost appeared on the glass. I called Keith immediately. “Are you seeing what I'm seeing?” "Yes, it's beginning to freeze.” I closed my eyes, I thought I could reply in my memories but it was becoming useless as time went by. "Keith, I'm going to ask you something, and I need you to answer honestly." "Go ahead." "Have you ever experienced anything like this before?"

He knocked twice before walking into the office. *** The First One was staring at the prettiest one in the group and trying to look interested in the others but it was difficult resisting her charm. The First One made a joke and they all laughed. She was beautiful, gorgeous and perfect. The First One finished addressing the group and left them. He headed for the parking lot. Today had been quite an exhausting day. Just like the others, he was dedicating a lot of time towards knowing her. He already knew her turn-on, turn-off, taste, daily routines and even her bedtime.

I wanted to hunt after the patrol, so I asked Falmer to stay with me. I didn’t plan on staying out for long – I felt frostbitten, from the tip of my nose to the tips of my toes. My hands had suffered the worst, though; they felt hard, like unmoving icicles beneath the cotton of my gloves. As the dawn broke across the sky I hoped that the first rays of sun would bring heat with their light, but I remained cold even as they burned in streaks of pink and gold, blazing through the darkness.

he said, his voice full of quiet wonder. “We built a hearth,” I said, leaning into him. “The universe gathered around it.” The first frost came, silvering the Commons and etching the Tidewater Trail’s rails. Elara experienced cold for the first time, her breath making tiny clouds, her eyes wide at the strange, crunchy white stuff on the grass. We were in a new season, in every way. One final, symbolic task remained. The “Almanac” notebook was full. Arthur had sourced a beautiful, linen-covered blank book for its successor. But before we could start Volume Two, we needed to properly close the first.