Seth's POV:
Rital gave me one last look and our eyes locked. She gave him a desperate smile. "Goodbye Seth."
Like that, she collapsed next to me looking as pale as a ghost.
"No!" I shouted. Tears streamed down my face as I held her lifeless body in my arms. I pulled her in my embrace and pressed my forehead to hers.I felt as if though my own heart froze seeing her in this state.
Snow began to circle around Khione as she stood up in her godly form. Her beauty was undeniable, looking like an older version of Rital.
"Hello heroes." She spoke in her enlightening voice. She soon noticed Rital was no longer conscious and turned into her mortal form.
She walked over towards her and brushed her thumb against her cheek. "My daughter." She whispered with a smile. But something was weird about her smile, it wasn't warm and sincere like Rital's, it was a cold smile filled with sadness.
"How can we save her?" I pleaded to her.
She shot an angry look at me but it soon turned to the sorrowful look it once was. "This is out of our hands hero."
"No, that can't be." I said squeezing her body even more.
Khione looked up at me and her jaw dropped. "A son of Hephaestus with a daughter of Khione?" She questioned.
"Ya, but there has to be a reason why I was chosen to go with her. I know I am the one to save her, but how?"
"Well, there is a way but it is dangerous. The only way she can survive is if she was a true warrior inside her." Khione rustled Rital's hair and lightly smiled.
"Anything, what is it?"
"You have to thaw her heart, with fire. But the amount of heat applied to her body can easily overwhelm her."
"Are you kidding? I will burn her to ashes!"
"Then consider her dead." Khione said disappointedly.
"Can't you get rid of her frozen heart?"
"Then I will be the way I was before. Rital would absorb it again."
I would want Rital as a person if she was gone and not as ashes. I knew I had to try my fire on her, even if it meant she would be left as cinders.
"I'll do it."
Khione nodded approvingly. "I should go before you use the fire. If she does survive... tell her I am so proud of her and the women she has become." She said stroking her hair once again. Her fingers trembled and a grin appeared on the tips of her lips.
She then disappeared into snow and was carried out of the cave.
I was left with Rital in my hands.
I could never forget the look on her face when she looked at me one last time. It was a haunting smile that would stay with me forever if she didn't come back.
I brushed my thumb against her pale cheek and a rush of sorrow feel over me. I placed her down on the floor and lifted my hand up. Fire ignited from my palm and the flames danced along my fingertips.
I knew that if Rital was here to tell me what to do, she would want me to try and save her. If I couldn't, I don't think I would ever be able to life with myself.
I brought the flames down to her chest and instantly heat came up to her cheeks leaving them a bright crimson red. Seeing the color appear on her face provided me comfort and I intensified the heat I applied on her body.
Still unconscious, she shuttered and her body began to tremble. I didn't know when I was supposed to stop, but I knew that I couldn't now.
Seeing her laying on the floor like a dying fish resulted in me looking away. I was tempted to stop right there, but I endured looking at the way her body reacted to the heat.
Her body began to violently blister and her eyes watered.
The flames from my hand began raveling around her small, slender figure. They danced over her causing her body to shake uncontrollably.
"Holy Hephaestus." I mumbled.
I soon saw a breath escape her lips and I released the fire encircling her. I pulled her body into my embrace while she was still insensible. 'Ice heals.' I thought. But how can it heal if it almost killed her? But he knew he needed her to get serious medical care back at camp.
The question is, how? He barely had any money left and he couldn't just carry an unconscious girl in his arms from train to train.
"Khione!" I shouted. "If you are still here, or if you are listening. The least you can do for us is get us to camp safely."
At first, there was nothing but silence and I picked Rital up bridal style and walked out of the cave seeing Kelly and Kendric at the entrance both in terrible condition. I lightly set Rital down and ran up to them. "We all thought you were dead back at camp!" I shouted. Kelly let out a light chuckle still resting on the ground.
I was confused on how they were here, but I pushed out all those questions. My main concern was Rital. "Do you by chance know a really fast way to get to camp?" I asked desperately. Kendric sat up and I pointed to Rital.
He instantly stood up and went up to her. She observed her before turning to me. "She is in a coma and needs to get to camp fast."
He put his index and middle finger in his his mouth blowing to produce a loud whistle. For a moment, there was only tranquility in the air until a faint gallop came striding towards them.
"No way! You are letting us take Oakley!" I screeched running towards the gorgeous stallion. Oakley was the fastest horse known to demigods. He could run hundreds of miles an hour.
His mane has as white as snow, matching the dress Khione was wearing. "Wait, why are doing this for us?" I asked. Kendric and I have never gotten along well. The real reason we hung out in each other's presence is because of Kelly.
"I am not doing it for you. I am doing it for the girl. She saved me and Kelly. This is how I will repay her." He said gesturing me to get on the horse. I straddled it still keeping Rital in my embrace.
"How will you and Kelly get back?" I questioned.
"We will find a way, if anything we will call Oakley after he took you to the camp."
I nodded and the horse began to trot at a slow pace. I lightly loosened my grip on Rital's body but soon clenched on tighter as Oakley bolted off down the mountain making clumps of dirt fly everywhere.