On Thin Ice Mga Nobela at Kwento

Cleopatra and Anthony stepped into the ice rink, the soft hiss of gliding blades echoing across the polished ice like a distant whisper. The air carried a cool, faintly metallic chill that brushed against Cleopatra’s skin as she paused at the edge of the rink. Her gaze drifted to the endless stretch of ice beneath the bright lights, silent and smooth like a frozen mirror holding secrets she could not name. For a long moment, she simply stood there, eyes deep and distant, as if the white expanse were calling to something buried quietly inside her.

It felt as if every pair of eyes was judging my tardiness, dissecting my every move. I settled into my seat next to Olivia, the hum of whispers gradually fading as the dean began to speak. His voice echoed throughout the packed gym, outlining the university's recent achievements and upcoming events. I tried to focus on his words, but my mind wandered, searching for Logan in the sea of students. He was nowhere to be found. I felt a pang of disappointment. Maybe he had practice early or was running late—after all, he was on the hockey team, and they had a grueling schedule.

W-What is wrong he is scaring me. I make my first move towards him as a turbulent snap has my eyes swell with shock and I directly inspect the ice floor only to notice an enormous crack haughtily mocking me. "Stop. Do not move Theia." He hollers anxiously as my heart springs to pound violently in my chest to the truth of what is transpiring. The ice is breaking. I had been skating on thin ice all along. How could I be so careless? I take a peek at what lies underneath the ice. Freezing waters that shall inevitably slay me. No. Goddess no.

Her hand tingled, numb and too-aware at once. A crackle answered from the stream. For the span of a held breath, the water directly below her palm stiffened. Not solid all the way through. The current still moved beneath. But the very *skin* of the stream turned thin and milky, a fragile film. Ice. Luna’s own breath fogged in the air, a little thicker than the ambient chill warranted. A laugh, sharp and disbelieving, escaped her. “I—” The ember slipped. Her focus fractured.

"There’s a massive deposit of 'Carbonate-Lattice' beneath the ice cap. If we can ignite it, we can trigger a controlled greenhouse effect. We can give this world a blanket." The suspense of the "Polar Expedition" was an epic journey across the sapphire glass plains. The Great Engine, now low on fuel and shivering in the cold, had to crawl toward the pole. Every mile was a battle against "Cryo-Quakes"—the sudden shattering of the frozen nitrogen crust as the city's weight passed over it. "The treads are snapping!" Kael reported, his voice frantic over the short-range radio. "The metal is too brittle for this temperature. We’re losing plates every hundred meters!"

It’s not often I feel the need to use it, but the thickness in my throat only gets slicker with the phantom taste I’m trying to forget. The low peaks or base of the Steep, is where my Uncle’s people gather in the Frost. Not even the gods themselves stay on the Mountain when Frost sets in. The entire structure is a block of ice, during those courses. If not for the cold, or them not knowing what running water, let alone a bed is, I might consider travelling with them more like my father does.

The trajectory still shifted slightly due to deviation, but the storm no longer offered real protection. "Thorgan, move!" A sled rushed up beside him. The man riding it reached out. They all understood how terrifying Cyrus had become. No one dared fight. Panic ruled them completely. Thorgan seized the man's hand and was hauled onto the sled. Cyrus brought the snow crawler to a halt at the riverbank. The river stretched wide, its surface locked beneath more than a month of brutal cold. The ice had frozen solid to a thickness of nearly 20 feet.

•NYMERIA• I leaned back against the pillow and tried to calm my breathing. After everything I heard, I didn’t think I could sleep. I kept feeling scared that someone might break the door down and hurt me. What he said about “the girl” made me nervous. Besides the girl from marketing and me, there were no other girls at the game. The cheerleaders didn’t count because they didn’t really work with us. Still, I shook my head and told myself I was probably overthinking everything.

Yet it is the very jump that once came close to destroying everything. I glide into the setup, heart hammering, breath tight, legs trembling. I bend my knee. I push off the ice. And....

The mountain pass was a narrow, zigzag of black rock and white ice. It was the only way into the valley if you wanted to avoid the main roads. High above, hidden among the frozen pines, Killian and Leo watched through thermal goggles. “They’re late,” Killian whispered. His breath came out in a thick white cloud. He was holding a remote detonator in his gloved hand.