Frost

From the memories of this body, I was painfully aware of the strained relationship between the previous Yun and his father. It wasn’t that Eden Frost had failed to love his son; instead, if anything, the opposite was true. He had always cherished his family, perhaps even more than his noble lineage and the weight of his house’s responsibilities. Eighteen years ago, when Yun was born, it was the perfect family. They led the Frost clan, and the entirety of the kingdom had looked up to them for protecting the north. But it was just three years after his birth that things had gone downhill for them.
Eden Frost was a Formed Ascendant, one of the rare tier 4s who still walked the earth, and the current patriarch of the Frost house, one of the seven great noble houses of the Elyria Kingdom, each supporting the king’s rule and being integral to the autonomy of the kingdom. The Frosts were charged with guarding the kingdom’s northern frontier, the icy wastelands that stretched into oblivion. He was a man renowned for his strength and unwavering loyalty, but very few, perhaps only Yun and his sister, truly understood the depths to which the death of his wife and Yun’s mother had carved into him.
Mae Veil, once of the Veil house, another prominent noble house, one that was tasked with espionage and assassination-related tasks, had been lost in a rift incident when Yun was just three. Since that day, the family had been splintered. Eden buried himself in duty, blaming himself for her death, while Yun and his sister Lyra poured themselves into training and striving, doing everything to please their father and fill the void their mother had left behind. Of course, it was already too late for such things.
All of this had once seemed alien to me, the longing for love, the desperate need for recognition that filled Yun’s memories. Family was a luxury I’d never been granted. As an orphan forced to survive on the streets, those emotions were foreign, and yet I couldn’t help but pity the Frosts. Like so many others, their lives had been broken by the rifts. And apart from pity, it was something more. Seeing those memories as if they were my own, going through the experiences like they were my own second life, I had come to cherish them, my heart had come to yearn for better times for what was left of this family.
Last night, after returning from my soul forge, Lyra had burst into my room, excitement radiating off her as she sang my praises and hugged the life out of me. It had been a strange night, to say the least. Apparently, every awakened in the house had sensed the shift in the pulse, a sign that I had formed my first core and survived the trial, rather than dying quietly in my sleep.
Because of that, I was summoned at dawn to my father’s study, where I knew I’d be interrogated about the trial and my new affinity. Yun’s mark, the two black gashes on his forearm, had always been a source of confusion and even secrecy. Eden had hidden their existence from the other noble houses for years, claiming Yun’s mark was just like the others in the Frost family. In reality, it was nothing like the ice sigils that marked the rest. And from what I could guess, he had done it to protect Yun from the scrutiny and whispers of the wider family.
It was common for affinities to follow bloodlines, each noble house known for a particular element or power, ice for the Frosts, shadow for the Veils, and so on. Yun’s mark, so different from his father’s, had always been attributed to his mother’s side, which only deepened the family’s internal divisions. The politics within the Frost clan were intense. The house was made up of many branches, not just Eden’s family; the inner and outer families constantly vied for power. Eden’s branch had led for nearly a century, but the others were growing restless. Yun’s shadowy mark was a bargaining chip for their ambitions, proof that the heir was not a true Frost. Only Lyra’s prodigious frost affinity had saved them from their advances so far; her rapid rise had taken the house by storm. Yet, these fools could not grow past their decision of having her take on the throne, arguing that since their inception, they had followed the patriarchal division.
Eden, it seemed, was gambling everything. He couldn’t make Lyra head of a patriarchal house, but if Yun possessed enough talent, enough strength, even a mark not of frost could be overlooked. Strength and achievement could silence the doubters, at least for a while.
What puzzled me was how my affinity, always thought to be shadow, had turned out to be darkness instead. The mark of shadow usually appeared as an inky patch. Where shadow was the simple absence of light, a blot born from blocking light, darkness was the total eradication of light, an existence unto itself. The Veil house’s powers had always revolved around trickery, stealth, and confusion, thus earning them the right to lead the kingdom’s dirty work, but the things I could now like cloaking myself and my weapon in true darkness to enhance them didn’t seem attuned with them at all.
As the first rays of sun spilt across the ornate corridors, I made my way through the Frost manor, the golden light painting the walls with warmth even as a chill lingered in the air. Soon, I stood before a pair of heavy wooden doors, their gilded handles cold beneath my touch.
Knocking once, the echo reverberated through empty halls. A gruff, commanding voice responded:
“Enter.”
Here goes nothing.
I stepped inside. At once, the temperature seemed to drop, as if the very air recoiled from the presence of a Formed. Even with the world outside already frigid, the chill inside his study was enough to make my breath turn to mist.
Eden sat behind a polished wooden desk, posture rigid, eyes focused on the papers before him as he scribbled with a quill. The study was exactly what one would expect: shelves packed with books, thick and ancient, walls matted and ceilings ornate, with a chandelier hanging overhead, casting golden light across the room.
He looked up, his expression unreadable. His white hair and a grizzled beard glimmered under the morning sun. I felt it again, the same sense of insignificance I’d experienced at breakfast the previous day, almost as if I stood before a mountain that could crush me with a thought. The oppressive pressure of his presence threatened to buckle my knees. Even maintaining my composure seemed to be an insurmountable effort.
“Is it shadow?” he asked, his voice heavy and unyielding. No greeting, no warmth, just the question that made it clear why I was called.
“No, Father. It’s darkness,” I answered, my voice barely above a whisper. The words seemed to hang in the air. Eden’s face twisted in confusion, his eyes narrowing as if searching for something, almost doubting my words. For a moment, he continued looking at me in confusion, but then he returned to his usual, stoic self.
“I see. What happened in the trial?” he continued, resuming his scribbling.
“I just died a few times and kept finding myself back at the start. Like a loop,” I replied, almost before I realised how strange it sounded to say it aloud.
He cast me a long, searching look almost tinged with a subtle sense of protection, then glanced at the sunlight streaming through the window as if ignoring what he had just heard.
“I have called for Kieran. Since he is attuned with shadow, it’s best if he oversees your training, at least until you join the Academy.”
From the memories, I knew Kieran was my uncle, my supposed mother’s only brother, and a renowned member of the Veil house, the one most likely to be the heir, famous for his mastery of shadow. He had always been close to Yun, and though I hadn’t ever seen him first-hand, from the memories I knew his reputation. Training with him wouldn’t be easy.
I nodded, preparing to leave, but Eden’s voice stopped me.
“One more thing. The new semester begins in six months. But before that, we have the annual frost trial. Now that you’ve awakened, you’re participating this year.”
The trial. In my memories, it was a tournament of sorts, pitting the youth of all Frost families against each other. On the surface, it was meant to foster growth among the newly awakened, but in truth, it was politics, an opportunity for the lesser branches to challenge the authority of the ruling house and for the current leaders to reinforce their dominance.
I already sensed where this was going.
“The inner families have been challenging our authority for some time now. You may not have a frost affinity, but regardless, I expect you to win. We must show them who leads this house.”
“Yes, Father. I promise I won’t disappoint,” I replied, bowing my head slightly.
“Good. That’s all. You may go.”
With another nod, I turned and left, the door clicking shut behind me. Only then did I let out the breath I’d been holding, my heart pounding. Just standing in his presence was exhausting.
Taking a moment to collect myself, I made my way back to my room, mind racing with everything he’d said. Winning the trial was going to be anything but easy, especially with every family in the house likely to see me as a target. If I wanted to survive and prove myself, I’d have to get much, much stronger. And that meant mastering my new abilities as quickly as possible.
Maybe Kieran coming here was my saving grace. Training under him for the next few months was sure to help me by leaps and bounds, but even before his arrival, my hands seemed to be itching. The darkness within me seemed to churn, almost as if it was calling for me to unleash it.

Chapter end