Frozen Origins (Book 11)

## Description

(Amazon description)

Cover of Frozen Origins

**A mystery. A great threat. A Frozen Continent.**

The Panthers will have to face a mission they did not expect, one full of dangers and mysteries in a place they do not want to go. There they will discover a terrible threat and mysteries buried in the ice by the passage of time.

Will the Snow Panthers survive this mission? What mysteries will they discover buried in the ice? Will they learn anything about its origins?

Find out while you live fascinating adventures with a group of unique characters that you will love.

## Plot

The Snow Panthers are sent to the Norghanian city of Copenghen to hunt down a group of Dark Rangers. Egil interrogates Sigurd Musteson, their leader, and finds out the location of the last remaining group of Dark Rangers: a fortress in the county of Landesson. Then the Dark Rangers from Copenghen are put in jail, to be delivered to the capitol later. The Snow Panthers continue on to the fortress, where about twenty Dark Rangers are hiding out. Egil offers their leader, Henerik Maltheson, forced labor instead of execution if he and his Dark Rangers surrender, but he refuses. Nilsa and Camu are injured in the battle. The Dark Rangers, including Henerik, are captured, and the Snow Panthers take them to the capitol.

The Snow Panthers report to Gondabar, who tells them that Thoran has ordered them to go to the Shelter to continue Specialist training with Sigrid. The Snow Panthers set off for the Shelter, and meet Loke at the Frozen Peak. They climb it and stop in the chamber of the Frozen Dragon, which greatly interests Egil, and frightens Gerd and Nilsa. Then Loke shows them the White Pearl, a magical sphere thirteen feet in diameter that looks like a gigantic white pearl.

Then they meet Sigrid, who welcomes them all and tells them about the new method of training that Egil, Nilsa and Gerd will be following. The goal of the new method is to create Specialists with multiple specializations; Thoran supports this, and hopes to lease the services of these Superior Specialists to other countries to get more gold, as well as having a formidable fighting force. Later they go to the Lair, where the Specialist candidates and Elders live; the door to the Lair has started closing at sundown, which is strange because it used to close later. The opening and closing of the door is controlled by the magic power inside the Lair, and Sigrid tells them that there have also been other changes in the magic.

Sigrid shows them the Chamber of Runes, and Egil guesses that a gigantic sphere used to be inside the chamber, imprinting the runes on the walls, but was later removed, leaving the runes behind. Then Loke takes them to the Cave of Spring, where a whole quarter of the space has been reserved for them. The next morning, Sigrid and Enduald meet them. Enduald gives them each a metal medallion called a Training Medallion, which he tells them to wear at all times in the Shelter. He has enchanted the medallions to protect them during the training, since their bodies will be under immense strain. Nilsa, Gerd and Egil are sent with Loke for the first part of their training, while Lasgol, Ingrid, Viggo, and Astrid go with Sigrid. Loke shows them a ring that activates their medallions, allowing their bodies to keep going past their normal limits. He also makes them eat an "Improved Ration", a special type of food similar to a granola bar, but made out of dry meat, roots, plants, worms and insects.

Meanwhile, Sigrid, the Elders, and the other four Snow Panthers begin their training. This takes place inside their minds and the minds of the Elders, thanks to a special potion and the help of Galdason, an Illusionist Mage, and Enduald. Loke's group continue their training as well. Egil discovers that Loke's ring, combined with the magic of their medallions, forces their bodies to keep going at maximum speed even though they would normally be too tired to keep up such a pace. In addition, the medallions trick their minds into feeling normal. However, eventually the medallions will blink red, indicating that they must stop or the overexertion will kill them. The healing magic in the medallions is developed by Edwina, working together with Enduald. The next stage of their training is cutting trees down and dragging them up a steep slope, individually.

After a few more weeks, they are allowed to rejoin the other Snow Panthers, having completed their Improved Training. Galdason inspects the minds of the Snow Panthers every so often to make sure there are no negative effects from the training. Over time, they become somewhat confused because of the time difference; in the training, time pass much more quickly than in the real world (according to Gisli, an afternoon in the real world is equivalent to a whole week in the training time). Just before Nilsa, Gerd and Egil are about to start the advanced training to gain Specialties (the Experience Stage), Sigrid calls all of them to meet with her and tells them Thoran needs their help at the capitol, which is under attack by an extreme winter storm that just appeared over it and is staying in position. Before they leave, Enduald gives them enchanted hooded cloaks that prevent the wearer from freezing to death and resist low temperatures.

When they arrive at Norghania, they find it completely frozen over, with massive encampments of refugees and soldiers outside. They report to Thoran, who is furious and orders them to find whoever is responsible for the attack and kill them. In order to track down the source of the magic, Thoran sends Brenda Noita with them. They travel to the Frozen Continent on board an assault ship piloted by Captain Tomason. On the trip Egil and Lasgol talk to Brenda about magic. She tells them that one of the major theories of how humans got magic is that an ancient race of Gods gave it to them. Another major theory is that dragons gave magic to humans. Another theory is that dragons and the Gods were rivals, and fought each other in a massive war. The losers, the dragons, hid among humans and gave them magic. Later Brenda performs the ritual to track the source of the winter storm. When she casts the final part of the spell, an arcane entity emerges, that splits into three parts: one going towards the source of the winter storm, one going towards Lasgol, and one going towards Camu, though he is invisible at the time.

That night, Brenda asks to talk to Lasgol; they discuss his Gift, and he also shows Camu to her. The next day they reach the Frozen Continent and begin tracking the source of the magic. Brenda repeats the Tracker ritual and a patrol of Wild Ones find them. As they escape, Lasgol develops a new magical skill: Trail Erasing, which allows him to cover up footprints. The Snow Panthers continue, and find a large group of Glacial Arcanes, Tundra Dwellers, and Wild Ones chanting a spell in a frozen valley between glaciers. As they chant the spell, they are dancing around a white monolith, similar to the one from Lasgol's vision when he saw his mother uniting the People of the Ice and the leaders of the Western League. Lasgol uses his Hawk's Sight skill to see that Hotz is leading the group. A gigantic reptilian creature is with Hotz, and helps him by transferring magical power to him while he is casting the spell to make the winter storm. Lasgol also sees Jurn, Sarn, and Asuris, who come to congratulate Hotz after he finishes casting the spell, and to arrange to meet at the same place in a week.

As the Snow Panthers are watching, they are suddenly attacked by a patrol of Tundra Dwellers. They manage to kill most of the patrol, and escape by hiding in the glacier. They are saved by Asrael, who has a home inside the glacier. Asrael tells them that the creature with Hotz is a Draconian with great magical power. Asrael examines Camu, who has not been feeling well, and says that they need to take him to someone who can help him, or else he will die. Asrael takes them to Izotza, who tells Lasgol that Camu is not sick, just going into hibernation; unfortunately, since he has a birth defect, the hibernation is not going properly. Izotza also tells Lasgol that she considers Asuris, Jurn, and Sarn to be traitors to all the People of the Ice, and offers to help Lasgol with his Gift. She tells Lasgol to take Camu to the Serenity Valley, a place where many Creatures of the Ice live and hibernate.

Asrael leads the Snow Panthers and Brenda to the Serenity Valley. They have to go across the tundra for part of the way, and Asrael camouflages them with a small magically generated snowstorm; the rest of the way they travel in the glaciers. When they arrive at the Serenity Valley, Misha joins them; as she is a Matriarch of the Creatures of the Ice she can grant passage into the Valley for Lasgol. Misha takes Lasgol, Asrael and Camu into the Valley. Inside the Valley, they meet Drokose Ilargigorri, the leader of the Higher Drakonians, who are species of Creatures of the Ice similar to Camu. Drokose tells Camu that he is much more powerful than a dragon, and takes him into a chamber in the Valley set aside for Higher Drakonians so he can hibernate. Then Misha, Lasgol and Asrael leave the Valley and rejoin Brenda and the Snow Panthers. Misha tells them that the creature with Hotz is called Suge Edur, and it is very powerful.

Then Asrael takes them back to see Izotza, and Lasgol asks for her help in dealing with Hotz and Suge Edur. Izotza promises to help Lasgol with his Gift if he kills Jurn, Sarn and Asuris. She tells him that Hotz and Suge Edur are simply carrying out Asuris' orders, and if Asuris is killed Hotz will stop attacking Norghania. Lasgol says he must first consult with his friends, but that he wants to help the People of the Ice. Izotza, impressed by his loyalty, creates a connection between his mind and his Gift, which is now three times larger than before. Lasgol tests out his Hawk's Sight skill and finds that his Gift is also more powerful than before. Izotza warns him that the connection is only temporary, and he will need to work on making a permanent connection himself. Izotza tells Asrael to use a talisman called a Glacial Star to help defeat Asuris and the other traitors.

They meet at the area near the monolith with four Glacial Arcanes who have gone into hiding like Asrael, as they are opposed to Asuris. As the traitors and their allies are casting the spell to send the storm to Norghania, Asrael and the Glacial Arcanes with him send in a mist that causes most of the Wild Ones, Glacial Arcanes, and Tundra Dwellers there to start attacking each other. Once Hotz and Asuris have dissipated the mist, Lasgol goes into the midst of the traitors with the Glacial Star and a talisman called an Ice Pearl; Brenda camouflages him with snow magic so that the traitors don't notice him. The Ice Pearl explodes like a massive magical grenade, killing all the traitors' forces except Hotz, Asuris, Jurn, Sarn, and Suge Edur. The Snow Panthers go in, and in the fight Hotz summons a winter storm overhead. The Snow Panthers pretend to be dead from the storm, and then attack, killing Hotz, Sarn, and Jurn. Lasgol manages to kill Asuris and develops the Fast Shot skill he has been working on for so long (releasing three shots very quickly).

Afterwards Misha arrives to take care of Suge Edur, who doesn't attack the Norghanians, having decided not to obey Hotz after the explosion of the Ice Pearl. Asrael tells Lasgol he will let him know as soon as Camu finishes hibernating, and the Snow Panthers return to Norghana using a small boat that Asrael gave them. They first report to Thoran and Gondabar, and then return to the Shelter. At the Shelter, the White Pearl is giving off strange flashes. The Snow Panthers go to investigate and find that Camu has appeared on top of the Pearl. He has gotten larger, and his scales are much brighter. Camu tells Lasgol that the White Pearls are portals for Creatures of the Ice. Camu then activates a glowing silver aura, magical silver wings appear from his sides, and he flies.