The flight to Siberia took fourteen hours, with a refueling stop in Germany. Kyla spent most of it reviewing mission files and getting to know their team. Six specialists, all experienced in their fields but new to dimensional threats.
There was Lieutenant Marcus Webb from Army Special Forces—no relation to the burglar from Tides, which Josh found hilarious. Webb was all business, tactical efficiency personified. Then Dr. Sarah Kim, a physicist who'd worked with Dr. Walsh on the resonance amplifier. She was young, maybe twenty-five, with nervous energy and an encyclopedic knowledge of dimensional theory.
Rounding out the team were Officers Dmitri Volkov and Ana Santos—both experienced cops who'd fought creatures in their home cities and survived. Volkov was Russian, which would help with local coordination. Santos was from Miami, tough as nails with a dry sense of humor. The last two were combat medic Specialist Chen—another Chen, because apparently the universe thought that was funny—and demolitions expert Sergeant Martinez—also no relation to Kyla, which was getting ridiculous.
"There are way too many people with our names in this organization," Kyla muttered to Josh.
"At least it makes things interesting," Josh replied. He was staring out the window at the clouds, looking tired. The cold inside him had been acting up during the flight—fluctuating, pulsing at random intervals. He hadn't mentioned the dream, but something was clearly bothering him.
"You sure you're okay?" Kyla asked quietly, so the others wouldn't hear.
"Just thinking about the mission." Josh turned to face her. "What if my powers go haywire out there? What if I accidentally freeze one of our team members or make things worse?"
"Then we deal with it. Together." Kyla squeezed his hand. "You're not alone in this."
"I know. But it's still scary. Having this... thing inside me. Not knowing what it'll do."
Before Kyla could respond, Lieutenant Webb called them forward. "We're approaching Russian airspace. Colonel Petrov from the Russian military is briefing us via satellite link."
The screen in the plane's briefing area flickered to life, showing a stern-looking man in his fifties with a thick gray mustache. "This is Colonel Petrov. You are the American dimensional specialists?"
"That's us," Kyla confirmed. "What's the situation on the ground?"
"Grim," Petrov said bluntly. "The weak point appeared three days ago in a remote area, forty kilometers from the nearest town. We sent a military unit to investigate. Only two soldiers returned. They reported ice creatures—many of them. We attempted artillery strikes, but this only angered them. They are moving toward populated areas."
"How many creatures?" Josh asked.
"Unknown. Estimates range from twenty to fifty. They hide in the ice caves, emerge at night to hunt." Petrov's expression darkened. "We have evacuated the nearest village, but people are refusing to leave their homes in other areas. They do not believe the threat is real."
"We'll need local guides," Webb said. "People who know the terrain."
"Already arranged. My nephew, Alexei, is a hunter. He knows the area better than anyone." Petrov paused. "These creatures... they can truly be stopped?"
"Yes," Kyla said with confidence she didn't entirely feel. "We've done it before. We'll do it again."
They landed at a military airbase near Yakutsk, where the temperature was negative fifteen Celsius. Even with cold-weather gear, Kyla felt the bite of genuine Siberian winter. And underneath that natural cold, something else—the dimensional cold Josh had described. She could feel it now too, a wrongness in the air that made her skin prickle.
"You feel that?" Josh asked quietly.
"Yeah. It's like the air is wrong somehow."
"That's the weak point. It's close." Josh closed his eyes, concentrating. "Maybe twenty kilometers northeast. And there's... movement. Something's active."
Dr. Kim was immediately fascinated. "You can sense dimensional energy at that distance? That's incredible. Our equipment can barely detect anomalies from ten kilometers."
"It's the energy inside me," Josh explained. "It resonates with the weak point. Like recognizes like."
They were met by Alexei Petrov, the colonel's nephew. He was younger than Kyla expected, maybe thirty, with a weathered face and the kind of confidence that came from years in the wilderness. He spoke decent English with a thick accent.
"You are the ones who fight the ice demons?" Alexei asked, looking them over skeptically. "You look too young."
"We get that a lot," Josh said. "But we know what we're doing."
"We shall see. Come, I have vehicles prepared. The journey will take two hours over rough terrain."
They loaded into modified all-terrain vehicles, designed to handle Siberian winter. The landscape was brutally beautiful—endless white plains broken by dark forests, frozen rivers, and distant mountains. As they drove, the dimensional cold grew stronger, making even their heated vehicles feel inadequate.
"There," Alexei said, pointing to a cluster of caves in a hillside. "The demons nest there. Local legends say these caves are cursed, that evil spirits live inside. Perhaps the legends were true."
They parked the vehicles a safe distance away and approached on foot. The caves were massive, dark openings in the ice and rock that seemed to breathe cold air. And from inside, they could hear sounds—clicking, scraping, the echo of something moving.
"Contact," Webb whispered, raising his weapon. "Multiple targets."
Ice creatures emerged from the caves—smaller than the ones they'd fought in Alaska, but fast and numerous. At least thirty of them, maybe more in the caves.
"Light them up!" Kyla ordered.
The team opened fire with flame units. Creatures shrieked and melted, but more kept coming. They were adapting faster than before, some barely slowing down when hit with flames.
"They're more resistant!" Dr. Kim shouted. "The dimensional energy here is stronger—it's reinforcing their structures!"
"Then we adapt too!" Josh stepped forward, and Kyla saw his eyes begin to glow with that blue light. He raised his hands, and ice spikes erupted from the ground, impaling three creatures at once. But these were Josh's ice spikes, and somehow different—when they touched the creatures, the monsters shattered instantly, like the ice was toxic to them.
"What the hell?" Santos stared. "Since when can you do that?"
"Since about ten seconds ago," Josh said, looking as surprised as anyone. "I just... felt like I could, so I tried."
"Focus on the mission!" Webb ordered, taking down two more creatures with precise bursts from his flame unit. "Explanations later!"
They fought their way toward the caves, Josh using his newfound abilities to create barriers of ice that actually harmed the creatures while protecting the team. It was bizarre watching him manipulate the same energy that powered their enemies, but it was working.
Inside the main cave, they found the weak point. It was smaller than others they'd seen, maybe the size of a door, but pulsing with energy. And around it, arranged in a circle, were bodies—frozen solid, positioned deliberately like some kind of ritual.
"Those are the missing soldiers," Alexei said quietly, crossing himself. "May God rest their souls."
Dr. Kim was already setting up the resonance device. "This weak point is different. It's not trying to expand—it's stable. Almost like someone or something is maintaining it deliberately."
"You're saying the creatures are keeping it open?" Kyla asked.
"Or something is directing them to." Kim adjusted her equipment. "This is more sophisticated than what we've seen before. There's intelligence behind this."
A roar echoed from deeper in the cave system. Not the shriek of regular ice creatures, but something bigger, older. The ground shook with heavy footsteps approaching.
"Fall back to the entrance!" Webb ordered. "Establish defensive positions!"
They retreated just as something massive emerged from the darkness. It was an ice creature, but enormous—at least twenty feet tall, with multiple arms and eyes that glowed with intelligence. Unlike the mindless drones they'd fought before, this thing moved with purpose, studying them.
"A commander," Josh breathed. "The King sent a commander to maintain the weak point."
The creature spoke, its voice like grinding glaciers. "Humans. You close our gates. Kill our soldiers. The King is displeased." Its eyes fixed on Josh. "And you. You carry the King's gift. You should not exist."
"Yeah, I get that a lot lately," Josh said, stepping forward despite Kyla grabbing his arm.
"The King wishes to speak with you," the commander continued. "In dreams, he has already begun. Soon, you will understand. Soon, you will serve."
"How do you know about my dreams?" Josh demanded, and Kyla felt ice run down her spine. Dreams? What dreams?
"The King sees all who touch his power. You are marked, Joshua Reeves. Claimed." The commander raised its massive arms. "But first, you must survive."
The creature attacked with terrifying speed. Ice spikes erupted from every surface, forcing the team to scatter. Webb laid down covering fire, but the flames barely scratched the commander's thick hide.
Josh's eyes blazed blue, and he threw up an ice barrier that blocked the spikes. But Kyla could see the strain on his face—using his powers was taking a toll.
"Josh, don't overdo it!" she shouted.
"Not much choice!" Josh created more barriers, protecting the team. "Kim, how long until the device is ready?"
"Two minutes! But I can't activate it with that thing so close—it'll destroy the device!"
"Then we move it!" Josh ran back toward the weak point, using his ice powers to create a path. The commander tried to stop him, but Kyla and Webb provided covering fire, keeping it distracted.
Santos and Volkov helped Kim carry the resonance device deeper into the cave, away from the commander's reach. Martinez set charges along the cave walls—if they couldn't kill this thing, they'd bury it.
"One minute!" Kim shouted.
The commander realized what they were doing and roared in fury. It charged toward the weak point, but Josh intercepted it, creating a wall of ice between them.
"Not today!" Josh poured everything he had into the barrier, making it thicker, stronger.
The commander smashed against it, cracking the ice. Josh reinforced it, but Kyla could see him weakening, the glow in his eyes flickering.
"Thirty seconds!"
The commander broke through the barrier, sending Josh flying backward. Kyla caught him, both of them hitting the cave floor hard.
"Device activated!" Kim announced. "Everyone out! NOW!"
Martinez detonated the charges. The cave entrance exploded, rock and ice collapsing, sealing them inside with the commander and the weak point.
"Are you crazy?!" Santos yelled. "We're trapped!"
"Trust me!" Martinez pointed to a side tunnel. "Alexei showed me another exit! Move!"
They ran as the resonance device hummed to life behind them. The commander shrieked as the dimensional energy tore at it, the weak point beginning to collapse.
The side tunnel was narrow and treacherous, but it led out to another part of the hillside. They emerged just as the main cave system imploded, the weak point collapsing and taking the commander with it.
Silence fell over the frozen landscape.
"Did we get it?" Webb asked.
Dr. Kim checked her handheld scanner. "Weak point is completely sealed. No dimensional energy readings. We got it."
"And the commander?" Kyla asked.
"Either dead or sent back to the Frozen Realm. Either way, it's gone."
They trudged back to the vehicles, exhausted and battered. Josh was barely standing, leaning heavily on Kyla. The blue glow had faded from his eyes, leaving them normal but haunted.
"You were right," Josh said quietly to Kyla. "The dream wasn't just a dream. The King really did speak to me. And now his creatures know about it. Know about what I can do."
"We'll figure it out," Kyla promised. "Together."
But she was worried. If the King could reach Josh in his dreams, what else could he do? And what did it mean that Josh was "marked" and "claimed"?
On the flight back to DC, Josh slept fitfully, muttering in his dreams. Kyla stayed awake, watching him, wondering what nightmares he was facing. And in the Frozen Realm, something ancient and powerful smiled.
The game was just beginning.
End of Chapter 24