The Angel with Green Eyes

He must be dead.

Yes, Reed was convinced that wherever he was, he was no longer in the living world.

There was no logical reason to support how he was confined inside an iceberg without breathable air available and with a temperature below zero.

What's more surprising was that he wasn't even struggling for air, and although he could feel the biting cold against his skin, it didn't have a great effect on him, defying the expected consequences of prolonged exposure to extreme cold. Hypothermia should have already claimed him by now, and he should not be in the right state of mind to assess his situation.

Besides, where on earth could there be an iceberg in the middle of Arizona where he spent living his nineteen years of life?

Reed couldn't move his body against the ice so he had no idea what his position was. He assumed, though, that he was in an upright position since his eyes were in front and he had a good view of the hazy figure of the girl beyond his prison. It was as if his body was perfectly molded into the ice, with only a small gap allowing him to lift his eyelids.

Nothing made sense so he must be somewhere in the afterlife.

'But what kind of afterlife is this?'

And who was this girl trying to break through the ice? Was she trying to free him, or was she planning to kill him?

But how could she kill him if he was already dead?

Reed groaned internally and squeezed his eyes shut.

When he opened his eyes, he was met by a strong shudder from the girl's next strike.

He couldn't see her clearly but he could see that her slender and petite body was clad in black clothes, and her long sword was more than half her height and had a thick blade, which made him think it was rather heavy to carry.

As seconds passed, the girl continued to strike on the ice, as if determined to break it.

Then suddenly she stopped and took a few steps back.

Reed's eyes squinted, straining to pierce through the hazy ice that obscured his vision as he attempted to discern the girl's intentions.

He focused intently on her, observing every movement with rapt attention. Her sword she held firmly ascended above her head, forming a perfect ninety-degree angle with the ground beneath her feet.

Then again, something he did not expect happened.

The thick blade of the girl's sword began to emit a radiant blue light, dancing along its edges as it enveloped the entire blade. The glow seemed to pulsate and flicker, as if alive with mystical energy.

It was something Reed had never seen before. Not in reality, at least.

It was like a scene from those fantasy movies he paid little to no attention to, and with all the strange things happening to him since he fell into the lake and drowned to death, he was beginning to think that the afterlife was a world of extraordinary things. An enigmatic world.

Reed was a little annoyed by this, though. As someone who always relied on the principles of Science, he found himself at a loss in the face of a phenomenon that defied rational explanation.

The next thing happened very fast. In a fraction of a second, the girl soared three meters above the ground. Her movements were executed with remarkable precision and strength, and how she propelled herself up into the air created an impact on the snowy ground, causing the thick carpet of snow to drift up along with her body.

Holding her sword with both hands, she was ready to strike…

However, Reed's restricted mobility prevented him from witnessing the exact sequence of events, limiting his sight to a narrow perspective.

The next thing he knew, a powerful impact reverberated through the ground beneath him, rippling through the air like an explosion.

The sudden force threw his body somewhere, sending him tumbling and rolling uncontrollably through the thick blanket of snow.

The jarring impact and chaotic motion left him feeling disoriented and overwhelmed. The sheer intensity of the experience was truly overwhelming, leaving him gasping for breath and struggling to make sense of what had just happened.

As Reed lay against the cushioning embrace of the snow, his eyes fluttered open, revealing a misty, snowy sky above him.

A surge of relief coursed through his being as the realization washed over him like a welcome wave.

At last, he was out of that iceberg and he could finally draw in a deep, satisfying breath of fresh air!

Reed flashed a triumphant smile, but it quickly disappeared when he remembered the sword girl.

He was about to try to sit up and assess his surroundings, but before he could do that, a girl's beautiful face materialized in his field of vision, her striking sea-green eyes peering down at him.

An angel with green eyes?

The girl then asked in a soft yet cold voice, "Are you alright, master?"