The Frozen Beginning (Elemental Diamond Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

heavily. Glacier watches her father’s still body with intensely wide eyes, waiting for movement. A slow puddle of dark red pools, past his neck and around his shoulders, soaking his shirt.
    Glacier’s chest heaves as she tries to breathe past the anguish, but her lungs refuse.
    I can’t breathe. Someone help my dad!
    Glacier briefly glances back to Thomes. He lowers his hover gun back to the disk on his belt, his eyes blank. The pungent metallic stench of blood fills her nostrils. Glacier gags for fresh air.
    “Dad!”
    Glacier hears the loud scream before her throat starts to ache. She smells the saltiness before she feels the gushing tears.
    Struggling against Officer Bogg, she kicks and screams, her eyes trained on her fathers’ unmoving body.
    Glacier throws her head back, ignoring the brutal pain she feels resonate through the cut on her forehead and her aching nose. She hears a sharp crack, and at the same time her head feels like it has been kicked. Glacier hears a wail close to her ear, a vicious growl following. The arms around her torso move up, dropping her feet to the ground. The same arms wrap around her neck in a chokehold, pulling tight. Glacier scratches at the arms like a vicious animal, throwing her legs about wildly.
    Dad, help me!
    When the air refuses to pass her lips, Glacier’s eyes droop close. The last thing she sees is Thomes pointing to her father’s body, speaking to the recovering guards behind him.
    ~
    A harsh irritation across Glacier’s wrists wakes her from the hazy darkness. Her mind remains as foggy as her sight.
    Her back is set straight by the backrest of an uncomfortable chair. Her arms rest on thin armrests. Glacier blinks a few times, trying to clear the fog over her eyes before she tries to rub them.
    Her wrists snag on what feels like a smooth, plastic tie. Through the fog clouding her sight, Glacier can see thick white cable ties holding her wrists down to the wooden arm rests. Tugging a few times, the sharp ties dug into her skin harshly. She hisses at the burning discomfort.
    “Finally, you’re awake.”
    Her head shoots up, flicking her frizzy curls back past her shoulders. Everything spins around in her head like a tornado from the swift movement.
    Squeezing her eyes shut until she doesn’t feel sick, she slowly opens them again. This time her vision clearer. Standing in front of her is a man Glacier had only seen a handful of times on the projections around the region.
    Chancellor Gord Staren.
    He has been Chancellor of Hydren for the past twenty-four years, elected when he was twenty. His light blonde hair is highlighted with grey streaks. His sapphire eyes are surrounded with worry lines and crows’ feet. His white dress shirt is loose over his frame, but his white-spotted blue tie hangs from his collar respectfully.
    His desk is large, easily too big for a small man like him. Despite it dwarfing him, he has attempted to match its size with unnecessary accessories to make it seem smaller than it is.
    After a quick glance across his desk, Glacier’s eyes latch onto a family picture sitting on the corner of the table. In the corner of the photo is a girl Glacier has run into in the past, under the arm of the Chancellor before her.
    Aleena Staren, an astoundingly awful girl from what Glacier has experienced. Remorseless, and brutal. Beauty like Aleena’s, with her long mahogany waves and crystal blue eyes, is effortlessly overshadowed by her foul personality.
    Glacier’s eyes shift back to the Chancellor, her eyes empty with the memory of her father.
    Dad…
    Glacier crushes her eyes shut, trying to block her last image of him, so stiff and unmoving. A lone tear escapes, trickling down her cheek quickly. Using her shoulder, Glacier wipes her face awkwardly, taking a deep breath.
    “I am sorry about your father.” The Chancellor’s unapologetic voice sounds through her ears.
    Glacier takes no interest. Her only thoughts are of her somehow dreaming up this