Vane pressed his back against the cold metal of the turbine housing. His breath came in shallow, ragged gasps. The moisture in the air was already freezing on his eyelashes.
Isaac Glacium did not move. He stood in the center of the frost-covered room with his hands deep in his pockets. The ice spreading from his boots wasn't magic in the traditional sense. It was a thermal void. He was a sinkhole for heat.
"You are staring," Isaac said. His voice was quiet. It sounded like cracking glass. "It is rude to stare."
Ashe Razar was the first to break the paralysis.
The Warlord let out a low, guttural growl. Her pride was a physical thing, a volatile fuel that burned hotter than her mana. She was a Rank 3 Elite. She was a predator. She did not freeze just because a Rank 2 walked into the room.
"You think you can look down on us?" Ashe hissed. The black aura around her flared back to life, melting the frost on her armor. "You are just an ice cube, Isaac. I will shatter you."
She moved.
