Finding the Lost

As someone who had sufficient power to be regarded as powerful, even if she wasn’t currently known around Fiore, the name Fortunita had begun to get around. As one of the most powerful members of one of the most prominent light guilds in the country, even though she was a relative newcomer, it was not long before she began garnering a bit of attention, seeing as the strong would always be attention magnets. While notice was placed on the evil ones in fear and apprehension, eyes were just as equally laid on the good, to be sources of inspiration and hope, as well as a bulwark against the power of evil. Which was why it had not been particularly surprising that the young Pergrandian mage had received a request from a client, expressing hope that she would be available for a rescue mission. From the details of this mission, it was to be carried out in Iceberg. At present, the Ishgaran continent was in a lot of turmoil, and the gears of full-scale war were turning, with the precursor of hostilities being nations closing their borders, Iceberg included. This meant that getting into the country would have to be a relatively illegal act, especially as the institutions replying to this quest were Fiorean, which was currently at variance with Iceberg, as far as the political weather was concerned.

There were a number of advantages to be had, though. First off was that the people of Iceberg were not known to travel about much. As such, there was the hope that even if the Fiorean mages had to speak to anyone, they would not be able to geographically place their accents. If they could, Nita’s accent was unmistakably Pergrandian, and even though she had yet not chosen what side of the war to fight in (the realization that she would have to do so soon had been a major source of distress for her), Pergrande was an ally of Iceberg, and as such, she was sure she would not be regarded with so much hostility. But perhaps her greatest ally was her natural proficiency with languages, which had resulted in her having a grasp of at least every major spoken Ishgaran language by the time she encountered the Primordial that gave her her powers. From there, learning became even so much easier, and by this time, she could speak each one of these languages with native-born fluency, even if her Pergrandian lilt remained. As such, she was hopeful that she would be able to defuse any potential issues with the natives, and cover up for the mage with whom she was going on the quest.

And speaking of the other mage… Nita had almost died from shock after receiving a message from no other person than the Field Marshal of the Knights of Fiore herself, informing the Luminous Rose mage of the time and place of their rendezvous, as they were to be partners on this mission. That she would be not only meeting, but working with Serilda Sinclair had turned Nita into a nervous wreck for a good portion of the time between when she received the message, and the start of the mission. Yet, Nita was no incompetent buffoon, and she had been able to summon enough willpower to do the extra preparation and reading necessary to equip herself with whatever resources and knowledge she would need for this particular mission, which was probably going to be her greatest challenge yet. And just as the case with days marked on the calendar, time passed inexorably like it always did, and the day arrived.

Nita had headed to the waiting area of the guild hall, dressed a lot more modestly than she normally would, for the only reason that the mission was going to be staged in Iceberg, and even though she was sure that she could cope in her usual choice of attire, thanks to the optimum physical condition that her powers provided her, cold did have the habit of casting lethargy on the muscles, and Nita was not interested in even the slightest disadvantage. Still, she wouldn’t appear as though she was dressed for winter, except for the large thick overcoat she had draped over her shoulder. Finding an inconspicuous corner in the room in which to wait, and one that faced the doors of the waiting area, Nita seated herself at a table and kept her gaze on the door, after she had told those at the reception that she was expecting a visitor. She did not wait for up to a minute before someone walked in, immediately gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Nita did not have to be told that that was one of the Gods of Ishgar who had just stepped in. She gulped quietly. Alongside the woman was a wolf, most definitely Serilda’s companion. Nita had seen wolves before, but she had never seen any of the sort. She rose, just as the person whom Serilda accosted pointed in her direction. As her green and cerulean eyes met the icy blue of Serilda’s, the young Pergrandian paused, or more correctly, froze. Not because she was scared, but because of the renewed realization that she had the attention of one of the most prominent mages of Fiore, possibly Ishgar. Then she realized her mouth was agape, and vanished from sight, reappearing in front of Serilda, in a burst of shadow and brightly glowing runes.

”Hiiii!” she said half-cheerily, half nervously, and then paused. Shit, she was making a fool of herself. This was a soldier, and soldiers always seemed to be stoic and measured. She couldn’t remember how many times she had cursed the day she had absorbed the Primordial’s essence far away in Pergrande, but she had that occasion to blame for her apparent flightiness. She had been so much more capable of keeping herself in check before that incident. And yet, to be fair, if the incident had never occurred, perhaps she would never have had the opportunity such as this to work with one of the Gods of Ishgar, and leader of the Rune Knights, no less. ”Uh, sorry. I mean, it’s an honor to meet such an illustrious personage as yourself, ma’am. I am the one you’re looking for. Call me Nita. It’s much shorter and more convenient than ‘Fortunita’. I’m ready to depart when you are, ma’am.”


WC: 1070
TWC: 1870

@Serilda Sinclair

Nita was quite sure that she had fallen lower in the eyes of her partner on this most important quest, when she noticed the fleeting, minuscule but present smile on Serilda’s face. The Pergrandian took the proffered hand, noting the firmness of the Rune Knight’s handshake. Well, it was to be expected from someone such as the Field Marshal of the Rune Knights. It seemed impossible to imagine someone with a more flighty behavior as the head of the elite militaristic group that guarded Fiore with a passion. Of course, there were most definitely people who were charismatic enough to be able to pull such a thing off, but Nita was not so confident that she fell into such a category. She turned her eyes to Serilda’s beautiful companion and nodded at the wolf with a smile. Of course, while first impressions often lasted rather long, they were not always accurate, and Nita’s first impression was that Serilda Sinclair was a hard woman. Still, the guild master obviously had her heart in the right place, with her statuses of leader of the Rune Knights and Goddess of Fiore speaking unworded volumes on her behalf. Perhaps it was personal rectitude of Serilda’s that made the Luminous Rose mage uninclined to try to prank her, as she tended to normally attempt on people who seemed so stiff. Besides, whether she was aware of it or not, Nita wanted to impress her partner, and Serilda did not seem the sort to be amused by practical tricks.

As Serilda glanced around, Nita immediately understood that it was business time. No one was close enough to eavesdrop; even someone with Slayer enhanced senses would have to still be a telepath of sorts in order to hear what the white-haired woman was saying to her blonde partner. Of all people, Nita was very much aware of the political matters in Ishgar, being somewhat personally invested in the matter, thanks to her apparently divided loyalties as Pergrandian by origin and yet a mage of Fiore. She especially understood the importance Serilda placed on not being recognized. As a very popular figure across the continent, not just in Fiore, chances were very real that a random passerby could easily identify the Field Marshal just by looking at her. And since Iceberg, a long standing ally of Pergrande, was thus contrary to Fiore interms of political alignment, Serilda was, in every sense of the word, crossing into enemy lines, in order to save the lives of endangered people, who politically were her enemies as well. Yep, if Nita respected her then, the regard she had for the Ice Queen had increased even more. ”Noted,” the Pergrandian replied. ”While I’m certain I personally might not need them, disguises can never be overrated. Now, let’s go break some rules!” Okay, that last part may not have been the most perfect thing to say, but they were actually going to break some rules, weren’t they? Nita thought it was most productive to not get beat up over such things.

As Serilda created the portal to lead the questers into Iceberg, Nita thought of how it was apparently more… ergonomic, for lack of a better word, than her own. Hers involved a bit of swimming, literally, which many would probably not find comfortable. It was also pretty to look at. Nita was sure her portals looked, at the very least, ominous, but she was probably so used to them by now that they didn’t bother her. Serilda’s portal was also impressive in that if one didn’t pay attention, they would miss it. Which would be great for wherever they had to pop out of, though given Iceberg’s population density and the inclemency of its all year round weather, it was not too likely that they would emerge in any area with a reasonable amount of people in it. Still, it wasn’t always Iceberg that people would have to teleport to from time to time. Nita followed the snow haired mage through the portal, and emerged into a cold, pale, stark landscape. The wind was blowing, but not strongly enough to create a blizzard or make hearing difficult. Still, cold was worse when the wind blew strong, and even though Nita was sure she could have survived without the thick winter coat she wore, she was glad that she had brought it along. It would be a little difficult for someone who had grown up in warmer climes to be able to determine the time of day, and thus the cardinal points from the sun’s position in the sky, but Pergrande was nothing, if not cold, and as such, Nita was able to easily deduce how far along the day had gone, and the direction east, where the mission coordinates lay, according to Serilda. It was good that the sun was quite visible, so they would not run the risk of straying off their intended direction without the aid of a compass, if the sky had been overcast. Nita nodded at her companion, and the trek through the cold lands began.

Frankly, the Pergrandian was surprised that Serilda seemed interested in knowing a bit more about her. Surprised, but not at all displeased. She turned to look at Serilda, then smiled and shrugged, before turning back to look ahead with the smile still on her face. ”Well, it’s fun. Gives a lot of room for flexibility and growth without too many restrictions. I’d never had issues with regimented society until….” there was a pause as the smile turned a bit sad. ”Well, let’s just say the freedom is great for me now.” There was another pause. ”Ah, I don’t mean that discipline and order are wrong, but to each their own, yes? In any case, the answer to your question about our guild would be a yes. We seek to grow stronger for the major purpose of protecting those who can’t protect themselves and to shine as beacons of hope, so that people may fear the darkness less and aspire to be greater for the good of themselves and their societies. We won’t stop until we’re the strongest there is! I’d probably have joined the Rune Knights because of the selfless ways you put yourselves out to protect the people of Fiore from dark mages and other criminal forces. But…” she chuckled, ”I wouldd probably have gotten court martialed countless times for uniform infractions.”


WC: 1070
PWC: 2140
TWC: 3902

@Serilda Sinclair

The Pergrandian mage smiled when she heard Serilda’s short but actually amused laugh. She felt this was deserving of bonus points, for making the silver-haired woman laugh, though whatever these bonus points were supposed to do, she could not say. Maybe they would serve as reputation points. That was it! She would put it in her resume when she got home: Made the Field Marshal of the Rune Knights laugh. Yeah, that would most probably raise the value of her resume by leaps and bounds. Nita walked alongside Serilda, listening quietly as her companion recounted how she became the leader of the Rune Knights. It seemed as though the Field Marshal had already had her work cut out for her, and had followed her intention to join the military with unwavering determination. It wasn’t too strange to imagine the silver-haired woman as a Sabertooth mage before becoming a Rune Knight. And even though the manner of her becoming a Rune Knight was not at all what Serilda had expected, it had happened. In Nita’s opinion, there were four types of people: those who desired something and attained it, those who desired but did not attain, those who did not desire but attained, and those who did not desire, and did not attain. Of course, the most fortunate seemed to be the first and last categories, and the third category could discard what they had attained if they desired it… or not. Nita realized that some situations weren’t that simple. For instance, there could be a ruler who never wanted to inherit the throne, but due to politics, destiny, or some other iron-gripped bully of circumstance, had found themselves wearing the crown. And if they dropped the rulership, there would be war or some other terrible disaster that ensured they had to remain in their position to avert it. In the end, perhaps the apparently most unfortunate of the four categories was not so bad off. Because when looked at from a particular angle, one would realize that everyone in the first category (the most blessed of the lot, being those who desired and attained their desire) had, at some point in their lives been in the place Nita presently was: the place of desire without attainment.

If there was anything that had surprised the Luminous Rose mage, it was hearing that Serilda had come late into the use of her magic, a realization that made Nita’s eyes widen involuntarily. It was quite interesting to see that even the most dissimilar people were likely to have mutual meeting points. Nita herself was a relative newcomer to the field of magic, having been actually born without the ability to use it at all, just like the average Pergrandian. She wasn’t even an Esper, though she had actually hoped many times before that she was. Now she thought about it, the Pergrandians would say that the mental powers possessed by Espers was not magic, but Nita, having seen a little of all the things magic was capable of, was inclined to disagree. However, she was sure there would be no point arguing that matter with anyone. Still, she said nothing, just being content to listen, until Serilda accurately placed her accent and asked her if she was Pergrandian. Well, it wasn’t too unexpected. Someone as internationally famous as the Field Marshal would surely be well-traveled, and would have most certainly interacted many times with many world leaders and important members of society. At this point, Nita’s respect for Serilda grew even more, as she realized that there would be a lot of political juggling and hoop jumping that the snow-haired warrior would have to be managing. Nita wasn’t very convinced she would be able to bear the rigors of politics, but then, most people were stronger than they thought. In any case, Nita had no reason to not answer Serilda’s question, besides, from the latter’s expression and tone of voice, she merely seemed to ask out of curiosity, and there was a lot of wisdom that was revealed in seeking the opinions and views of those of a different persuasion than yours.

”It’s that obvious, huh?” the blonde mage said with a wistful smile. ”Well, really I must say that I’m quite frightened about the present state of the world. To put a few things in Perspective, most citizens of Pergrande, myself included, have been raised to be rather patriotic. I mean, I’d even joined the military, although my intention was more aimed at international diplomacy, rather than warfare itself. It had been my desire to end the hostilities between Bellum and my country, because the fighting claimed my parents, and a good number of people I know. There is nothing pleasant about war. Only the leaders have some degree of insulation from it, because they’re expected to command from the comfort and safety of home. While most Pergrandians believe our grievance with Bellum is justified, I don’t believe most of the common Pergrandians jumped for joy when they heard the declaration of war. From experience, a good number of folk living at the border are tired of war, but they hope Pergrande will win, because we have a lot of faith in our military might. I suppose it is why the government of Pergrande was so quick to declare war. I find it surprising though, because if anything, from the disaster at Joya, Pergrande seemed to come out of it better than Bellum did, as I heard in the news that the envoy of Bellum was assassinated in the crisis. And I personally believed that Bellum was going to be the one to bare fangs, only to hear Pergrande’s declaration of war on the news. I love my country but…” there was a pause, as Nita stopped walking, unconscious that she had stopped, as her pain-filled eyes stared out across the bleak vista of ice, snow and whispering winds around them, ”but I don’t know if I can take their side in this war. Even though Pergrande seems to be much less inclined now to punish magic users who side with them, and I am most desirous to re-ingratiate myself with my homeland, I cannot fight for a cause that deep down I have no ability to justify. But is the cause of Bellum right? The charter of the Luminous Covenant sounds fair and just, but in the thick of war, no one remembers fairness and justice.”

Nita suddenly realized she had been crying when she felt the cold more strongly on the rivulets of moisture on her face. She shook her head, hurriedly wiped her eyes with her sleeve with a sniff, and resumed walking. ”Sorry, I’m embarrassing myself, when there are more important things to do. We should keep moving.”


WC: 1130
PWC: 3270
TWC: 6083

@Serilda Sinclair

While Serilda had seen her question as an insensitive one, given Nita’s emotional response, the Pergrandian mage did not feel that this was the case. If anything, the Field Marshal’s question had made her internally face a question she had been personally avoiding ever since the Bello-Pergrandian War had begun in earnest. And while many people liked to prioritize comfort over many other things, it was neither comfort that got the job done when something needed doing, nor did comfort get anyone far in life, unless said person had been shielded and spoilt all their days, and expected to exist in such a state until they died. The difficult question of where she stood in the war had been triggered by a question of identity. And Nita had realized, and now understood that she would have to figure out who, or what she truly was, in order to be ready for the future. Because she had had that premonition for a long time now, that she would eventually find herself on the field of battle, whether she desired it or not, and most times, when Nita had premonitions or gut feelings that something bad was going to happen, she wasn’t wrong. The details were never what she expected, though. Facing the question of who she was and where she stood now meant that when the question arose again, she would have a ready answer for it. For such questions arose unsought for, and at times when mental fortitude was most needed. Being unprepared could be disastrous, fatal even.

”It wasn’t you that made me upset,” Nita replied with a smile. ”I’ve had my own internal battles for a while. Your question reminded me that I need to sort myself out on time. You have my thanks, Serilda.” The two mages trudged in silence through the snow, until Nita detected Xiuh stop, sniff the air, and begin to growl. There was definitely movement; something was slinking around, hunting them, as Serilda stated. The Rune Knight then drew two swords from their sheaths, and prepared for battle. Nita took a moment to observe the swords, while her psychic sense kept tracking the beast as it tried to circle them so that they would be downwind of it. She liked the shape and feel of the silver one; it reminded her a little of her magic, to which she was beginning to get used to. The other sword, not so much. It felt a little uncomfortable, but certainly not anything strong enough to bother her. It did remind her of her giant sword, Sirius, when the blade was in Godslayer mode. As though in response to Serilda’s preparation for battle, Nita squatted and gathered snow in her hands, compacting the droplets of frozen water to make a snowball. Then she rose and prepared herself, looking as serious as she could afford, as though she had a dangerous weapon in her hand.

And then came the cat, just as Serilda issued her warning. Snow leopard, its white fur coat useful for granting it natural camouflage in this frozen terrain. It flung itself at the two mages, snarling and extending its claws. Nita responded by flinging the snowball into its face. Normally, such a flimsy missile was meant to just spatter against the snarling leopard, and in the worst case scenario, temporarily impede its vision. However, this was not the case. The snowball struck the cat with unnatural force, enough to kinetically stop its midair approach, as if it had been smacked with something heavy that had absorbed the kinetic energy of its jump. It twitched a bit where it had fallen, and then remained still. Of course, a snowball could not have stopped the leopard in flight, much less kill it. Nita had used her Divine Arms spell, which had the technical advantage of requiring no magic power to cast, making it very efficient in battle, especially in one in which there was no known duration of time in which hostilities were expected, and as such, conservation of energy was the wisest course of action. ”It might be profitable to skin this thing and make a loincloth out of its pelt,” the Pergrandian joked, poking the dead cat with her boot. Leopards hardly ever hunted in groups, so it was not likely that the cat’s tag team partner would be anywhere about, or show up any time soon.

Wolves, however, were a different matter. A distant howl carried on the wind, and a closer one answered it. The wolves were closing in gradually. Soon, the grey coats of the wild dogs would be seen, as they warily tried to surround the mages, snarling as they did so. ”It seems the creatures here are rather hungry,” the Pergrandian said with a sigh and a shake of the head. ”Why can’t you guys be like Xiuhcoatl here? I blame this on very poor home training. You should be ashamed of yourselves.” Of course, whether the wolves understood or not, they didn’t seem to care about good behavior and its rewards. Meat would be a sufficient reward for them this evening. A reward that they would very likely not have. Certain that Serilda would not need any assistance, Nita stood so that she was back to back with the Field Marshal. This way, there would be no incoming attacks from behind, although even those were made much less effective by the powerful senses of the two mages. A big grey brute with snapping claws lunged at her, and she simply kicked it in the side of its head, the attack strong enough to break its neck. Another tried and suffered the same fate, as did the next two which tried to attack at the same time. After a few minutes of the wolves failing spectacularly to succeed in their hunt, the animals suddenly stopped for a moment, then broke off, fleeing. And the reason for their escape was just as easily sensed as it was seen: two huge primates in white shaggy coats traversing the landscape with speed, charging towards the mages, their eyes bloodshot with rage, and fangs bared.

”Apes! Of all things, it just had to be apes! I refuse to take this seriously,” Nita said, though her battle-ready stance betrayed that she was not being truthful about tackling the ape problem with due diligence.


WC: 1060
PWC: 4330
TWC: 8320

@Serilda Sinclair

Although Nita could easily track what Serilda was doing with her heightened magical senses, she turned to look at the Field Marshal of the Rune Knights, when the latter released her black sword, which hung in the air, as though being held by a loyal vassal waiting to return the weapon to its mistress, or even use it in her defense. But it wasn’t the floating sword that Nita was most interested in. It was Serilda’s stance that informed the Pergrandian that something worth documenting was about to be revealed. And while an outstretched arm, with the fingers of its hand splayed in a given direction, seemed to be a worthy sign that a spell, most likely dramatic, was about to be cast, Nita sensed that her companion was more of the ‘no frills’, ‘less showing off’ sort. A dramatic gesture from a relatively undramatic person was bound to produce a spectacle for the annals. It was somewhat like a particularly serious person suddenly cracking a joke. Unless the joke cracker was extremely hopeless at delivering punchlines, the resultant joke would be sure to carry, along with the expected jollity, a sense of awe. Awe at seeing the unexpected, which was what Nita suspected was about to occur.

And it did. What were hulking, living, raging, savage masses of muscle and animalistic fury suddenly changed into a shower of guts, gore and garish grandeur. More spectacular than the Luminous Rose mage had expected, and while it did look rather messy, Nita was certain that it was a rather effective way of stopping the gigantic primates. ”Wow,” Nita said, awestruck by the sudden spectacle of carnage before her. ”Eww, but wow.” She grinned as Serilda apologized for the carnage and shook her head. ”No need to be worried about me. I’m above 18, so the sex, violence and strong language doesn’t need censoring.” Of course, she was just joking, comparing Serilda’s destruction of the Vulcans to movie ratings. No matter how old a person was, seeing such garish things could leave lasting scars on the mind. But in spite of Nita’s appearance, she had actually seen a lot; some things even worse than what Serilda had done to the two hapless apes. While there was really quite a lot of blood (and that was to be expected, given the large size of the Vulcans), Nita was quite understanding, and even approving of the swift massacre. Every second spent without rescuing the victims could result in more of them, if not all of them, dying. She was not sure she would easily forgive herself if there was no one to be saved by the time they found the missing expeditioners.

After gratefully affirming that she had not been injured in the wolf attack, Nita continued to tag alongside Serilda, as the two made their way to the campsite where communications had been last made with the home base. It was a mess. And a bloody one too. The Pergrandian mage’s heart sank as she studied the scene before her. But there was no time to mope; they had to figure out what exactly had happened, and on doing so, find out perhaps if there were any survivors. Nita helped Serilda with gathering the fallen, and Xiuh’s nose proved incredibly useful in the unpleasant but necessary exercise. There were four dead bodies here. Not enough. Perhaps what was most unsettling were the wounds borne by the corpses. It was almost as though something heavy had been dropped on them. Despite her initial flippancy at the mess Serilda had turned the Vulcans to, Nita realized that she could not stare at the corpses for long. Perhaps it was more of the fact that four human lives had been lost, and the Pergrandian suspected that it was more likely due to murder than accident.

Nita turned to look at the Goddess of Conviction who was apologizing for something the blonde mage could not yet identify. ”Why are you—oh…” she said, as she saw the Rune Knight taste the blood of the dead. Well, that was freaky, but Nita was sure she understood. She did after all have a form of scrying with which she could determine events that had happened in the future, and while it didn’t seem to be as visually bothersome as Serilda’s, it could get quite tacky when dealing with the dead, as was the case here. At least the bodies weren’t zombiefied. Nothing was worse than zombies. Nita stood silently, watching as Serilda stayed kneeling beside the corpse, eyes closed as though she were praying. Then the Field Marshal opened her eyes, a look of sorrow on her face, as she identified the cause of the deaths. A frost giant. It all became clear. These people had been trampled and smashed by the frost giant, and the rest that were missing had been probably taken away by the monster. Why the frost giant would leave the corpses here was a bit puzzling, but it suggested something to the Pergrandian. ”Your divination makes a lot of things much clearer, Serilda,” the blonde mage stated pensively, as she watched her companion. ” My suspicion is that the frost giant must have taken the other explorers from here to its lair, but it left these four bodies here because they were killed when it attacked the camp. Now I’m no expert in giant behavior and customs, but I suspect that in a land as cold as Iceberg, warm blood would be quite the commodity. With these four already slain, by the time the giant had returned to its lair, they would already be frozen. With the living, one can expect them to remain warm, but if I am correct, then they might already be lining the giant’s stomach. We need to know which way the giant went. I guess this is where I should prove useful.”

Unlike Serilda, Nita avoided the bodies, instead checking around the camp for apparently random pieces of debris. She found one that seemed suitable for her task, and picked it up, concentrating as her mind began to track its history, as she utilized her Aspect of Knowledge powers. ”A sword handle this is, obviously…” the young woman said as she frowned at the redundancy of her supposedly special ability telling her what a normal child could easily discern. But she still persisted. With sufficient concentration and patience, she would be able to step beyond the obvious, and draw out what was concealed by the murky mists of time. ”Ah!” She turned sharply in one direction, and stared out into the apparently bleak wasteland. ”This belonged to one of the dead. He was stationed for guard duty, then the giant came from the north… this is sickening.” She let the sword handle slip from her hands, as she turned to face Serilda. ”The giant went in a roughly north-northeast direction,” she said pointing. ”It came from that direction as well. Poxy bastard came during a wicked blizzard, so these poor fellows were practically blind to it until it attacked. Shall we set out? I guess we’ve found all we need here with which to continue, and the sooner we can get to deliver that giant its comeuppance, the safer our explorers might be. I just hope they’re all still alive.”


WC: 1220
PWC: 5550
TWC: 10775

@Serilda Sinclair

Even though Serilda managed to maintain her calm and graceful poise, the Rune Knight showed that she was not without a sense of humor. Nita mentally bumped the Field Marshal some rungs higher on whatever scaling of respect she had for the snow-haired woman. Although the realization that Nita had just insinuated that she was fine with seeing… improper happenings in public made the Pergrandian’s cheeks slightly flush. She’d simply used the ‘sex, violence and strong language’ as a metaphor for her being mature enough not to be bothered by the gore, and Serilda knew that, but the older woman’s response made Nita realize that she herself might seem somewhat lewd to the soldier. And even though Serilda seemed to be the sort of person not to judge others so superficially, the fact that, contrary to public opinion, Nita was a lot more innocent than she let on was the ironic twist here. She giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. ”Ah, I most definitely agree with the private situation stipulations,” she attempted to clarify. Still, she saw the twinkle in Serilda’s eyes with the brief glance the Rune Knight cast her way. It was interesting how she’d been a little bit scared of this woman before now. True, given the Goddess of Conviction’s prowess in battle and her reputation, the Rune Knight deserved to be feared. But Nita was really beginning to like the person she really was.

Moving forward, with the two mages carefully examining the devastated camp site, and gathering the corpses of the slain, Serilda cast a spell on the bodies, and they vanished. Nita wasn’t too surprised, seeing as she was aware that her partner possessed powers that involved manipulation of the powers of the void, thanks to the transportation method that had gotten the two women to Iceberg. It was a good call, what Serilda did, seeing as the dead bodies would most likely be ravaged by prowling snow carnivores, if they were left behind. It was impressive to note that animals in the snow seemed to have even adapted teeth for tearing frozen meat off bone. It would be very unlikely to find the corpses, by the time they returned. But the fact that the mages had met corpses unbothered as of yet by the local fauna was a good thing, because it indicated that the frost giant’s murder of the unfortunate individuals in the camp had been recent. The suggested likelihood of the frost giant having caused the storm did make a lot more sense, given that not only would the storm have easily hidden the approach of the giant, but it would have also made following by conventional tracking methods a problem. Nita had to admit that she felt proud of her magic in times like this.

In any case, now was not the time to gloat. People needed saving. Even though the general direction of the frost giant’s departure was known, its exact location was not. It would probably take a bit of time to locate the monster, especially if the creature may have decided to change direction for whatever reason. It would not be above the beast to do so, seeing that the frost giant did seem intelligent, much more than the average hunter that roamed the frigid icescapes of the land of the Vikings. The trek through the snowy wastes resumed, and though the two mages and the wolf moved rather quickly, for a bit of time there seemed to be nothing of note to be had. Nita kept her senses peeled, but there seemed to be nothing but wind and snow for miles in all directions. Until Serilda slowed down. Give the Rune Knight’s effective nature, she was not stopping in vain; she had found something. Nita followed the direction of the Marshal’s gaze to the chain of mountains lying eastward. According to Serilda, things were moving in the distance. Probably ice elementals. That sounded dangerous. Even though these creatures were more spirit than flesh, that did not make them any friendlier than the Vulcans that had been encountered some time ago. To get past them, there would definitely be another battle, but it was one that had to be fought. Nita waited until Serilda was done talking, then she nodded. ”Get closer we must,” she replied. ”But I suspect that presently we may have the element of surprise, given that the ice elementals would probably have been on their way to attack us by now if they were aware of our presence. We should try to creep closer and get an idea of their numbers, then ambush them. If we can take them out all at once, that would be great. If we cannot, an ambush will give us a much needed advantage in the battle to come.”

So saying, Nita began moving in the direction of the mountain range, trying to maintain speed while moving stealthily. She had no idea whether the ice elementals had senses analogous to mammals, or if they were even mammals for that matter. It was very likely that they would be something she had never encountered before, so it was best to be as prepared as possible. Her plan was not to come as close as possible, but to approach until she was able to get a reading on how many there were. It seemed that there were six of them. And if she had expected them to be strange, she was not disappointed. Like snowflakes, no two of them were the same. Ranging from anthropomorphic forms to floating chunks of crystals in the air, they just seemed to be idly milling about, doing nothing. Nita drew a black card, which summoned to little white guns, before turning to Serilda. ”I think attacking from two different angles will be strategically advantageous. I’ll change direction to a few hundred meters to the north, and start sniping at them. They’ll most likely move in my direction, which will give you the time and space to launch your own attack from another direction. Two ambushes at once, if I may say so. If any more still remain after our initial assault, it’s lasers blazing time.”

Waiting to hear Serilda’s thoughts about the ambush, Nita selected a position that seemed advantageous to her purpose. Then using her Misere spell, she teleported some distance to an outcropping or rock to the north. Her little derringers transformed into a hi-tech sniper rifle, as she laid flat on the rock and took aim at the biggest elemental. With the lay of the land, unless anyone was looking for her, it would not be very likely that they would see her, at least until she fired. And her sniper was designed to be quiet, so they wouldn’t be able to initially tell the direction of her attack from sound alone. The young Pergrandian took careful aim as she exhaled, lining up her target within the scope of her firearm. Then she pulled the trigger. There was a faint plink, and a small erosion of snow erupted from the creature’s head. A perfect headshot. It was still alive, though. The elementals immediately whipped themselves into a frenzy, as they sought their hidden attacker, who aimed another shot.


WC: 1210
PWC: 6760
TWC: 13170

@Serilda Sinclair

Serilda approved of Nita’s plan, which, in the blonde mage’s opinion, was quite a morale booster from the Rune Knight. Even if others would probably consider it vain, the fact that someone as celebrated as the Director of Fiore’s primary military force would ask her opinion on the strategy to use to engage the enemy, and accept her choice of what to do was uplifting. Nita waited until Serilda had stopped moving towards the unaware forms, taking that as a sign that Serilda was now waiting for her shot, before she pulled the trigger. Even though the fired shot had nailed its target perfectly, she would probably have to take another shot as it was still alive. Even as the ice elementals began to work themselves up, the leader of the Rune Knights and her canine companion stepped into the open. At a command from the snow-haired mage, the wolf let loose a reverberant howl, as it seemed to set itself alight with the radiance of a star. Without coming in contact with the fire, Serilda directed these brilliant hot flames onto two of the elementals, who seemed to have momentarily forgotten the threat created by the presence of their distant attacker.

While Nita was quite interested in finding out what would become of the ice elementals, she was not so undisciplined that she would leave off doing her job of attacking the elementals in order to know how they fared against the brilliant flames of Xiuh. Quickly lining up the same elemental she had hit before in her sights, the Pergrandian pulled the trigger again, the faint ‘plink’ of the gun informing her that she had loosed another high-powered bullet. The struck creature shattered like glass, on taking the second hit, but Nita did not have the time to celebrate the kill. For even as three of the creatures made of ice swarmed after her colleague, the last two elementals that remained seemed to be more avidly searching for her. Then by some strange, eldritch sense that Nita had no idea how it functioned, one of the elementals turned in her direction. Or at least it seemed to; it was difficult to say, when the creature in question seemed to lack a face. In any case, by the way it seemed to frantically demonstrate, it seemed to have found her. Immediately, it began flowing in her direction. Since she was close to three hundred meters away, Nita was simply going to attempt to keep shooting at it until it drew close enough, if ever it managed to come near, but the second elemental seemed to disintegrate into snow. While the Pergrandian was not too conversant with the powers of these creatures, something told her that the one that had just disintegrated had not died. The sudden feel of cold emanating from behind her made Nita realize with shock that the creature had manifested itself right behind her, managing to cover the distance between herself and it in such a short matter of time.

”Teleportation?!”

Even though Nita was young, she had been in her fair share of battles. Also, she did presently have a goddess of war fueling her combat abilities, so she was no wash over in combat. A mixture of battle reflexes and her Aspect of Knowledge informed her that an attack was imminent, and the young mage quickly rolled to the side, as a giant club smashed into the earth where she had just been less than a second ago. It seemed that this creature could make its ice plastic, allowing it to mold its form into varying shapes and structures. Quite a useful ability. There was, however, no time to admire it. Even as she ended her roll, lying on her side, Nita pointed two little white guns at the creature, and pulled both triggers at the same time. Knowing that she could not fight close range effectively with her M.A.D.A.M.s in Penetrating Enquiry form, Nita had transformed them back to their base state, in order to engage the present threat. Her fired shots found their marks, causing the elemental to reel backwards, and giving Nita enough space to roll onto her back and do a kip up into standing position. She reloaded the guns in record time, and emptied them into the elemental again, just before narrowly dodging a lance of ice thrust at her. Its companion had arrived. Nita’s guns transformed again, this time into ornate flintlocks, and she crossed both arms, so that she was pointing her guns at her targets which flanked her on either side, before pulling the triggers. The first elemental, which she had already shot twice before, juddered violently before exploding into chunks of inert snow and ice, but the second one came on relentlessly, swiping at her.

Nita performed a graceful side flip over the creature’s attacking limbs, aiming at it with both pistols while upside down and emptying one firearm into the elemental. The recoil of the shot sent her into a half spin, so that she landed backing the ice monster, but even as her feet were about touching the ground, she fired with the second gun, its own recoil serving to reduce her forward motion and stabilizing her. It was likely that fire wouldn’t melt their ice, as she had seen with Serilda’s case. In any case, as far as the Field Marshal was concerned, she seemed quite in charge of her own situation, even if she was facing off against three elementals. Nita had no idea where the girl with braids had come from, though. A summon, perhaps? In any case, Nita was not going to get distracted by Serilda’s own affairs, seeing as she knew the soldier would be more than capable of taking care of herself. Having lost the advantage of long range, Nita felt her guns were no longer of much advantage, and sent them back to her dimensional armory. With the damage her guns had inflicted on this second elemental, it was still in fighting form, but it would probably not take too much to destroy it. The elemental lunged at her, but Nita flipped over it, extending a hand at what seemed to be its head as she crossed directly over the creature. ”Night God Shard!” A long, jagged spike of wood burning in violet flame materialized and skewered the ice elemental to the frosty earth beneath. As Nita landed spryly, she noted that, just like the others, the being disintegrated, instead of melting. Weird stuff.

Turning in the direction of her partner, she held up both hands in a thumbs up sign. ”I’m good. Shall we proceed?”


WC: 1110
PWC: 7870
TWC: 15439

@Serilda Sinclair