Fair warning I don't have a formal education in writing so anything I can change to the story will be a big help. Thanks :)
Prelude
"How many souls did we lose, Anivia?" A woman in heavy white clothing embroidered with golden stitching looms over the once snow-white landscape now dyed in a dark crimson color with mangled bodies littering the area. Her hood is down allowing her silvery hair and white cape to flap in the chilling winds that freezes any skin that is left exposed for too long. A bow made from pure ice hangs off her empty quiver on her back. With every passing second the woman's heart drops a little, the bodies were not only her soldiers but she also considered them her family, just the other day they all were around a massive bonfire singing Freljoridan folk songs and engorging themselves on mead and meat. Tears begin to well up in her eyes at the fond memories they have given her.
Next to the woman is a large bird made of ice that shone in the dwindling sunlight as the sun retreated behind the snow covered Ironspike Mountain range. The Cryophoenix towers over the woman and sees much more carnage than the woman could imagine. On Anivia's back are purple markings on her back and on the base of her wings. The two of them just stand silently watching the bodies get covered in a light coating of snow.
Anivia paused to observe the bodies that litter the snow, some are mangled beyond recognition. She responds in a soft tone "Averosa…"
She knew that Anivia is trying to avoid telling her the truth. Averosa ordered the phoenix in a firm tone "tell me, how many did we lose?"
Anivia thought for a second then said in a grim tone to Averosa who is keeping her gaze on the field "a few thousand at least."
Her words caused an enormous weight of guilt to be dropped on Averosa's shoulders. Thousands men died in a single day of fighting the Watchers and she gave the order to fight. Tears begin to roll down her cheeks, she quickly wipes it away before the harsh cold could freeze the tears in place "each of those lives has a family waiting for their safe return home, I killed them and ruined many more lives than what was lost today, I am not worthy to be queen."
"It is a bad omen to weep during a victory. The men gave their lives willingly to secure a bright future for many more generations to come. You are by far the greatest queen I have ever seen in my many lives."
"Averosa!" a man's voice called out to them. Averosa turned her head to see a man running toward them. Geyor had a large grin on his scared face. He is wearing a suit of armor made from iron and fur. the weight of the armor affected his ability to trudge through the shin deep snow.
Once Greyor reached the two, he placed a closed fist over his heart and spoke, the freezing winds made his throat sting with every word "my ladies, why be by yourselves when you can be with your comrades in this glorious day?"
Anivia respectfully declined the invitation "I would be honored but I must decline, I have other matters to attend to." with that Anivia gave a short bow to Averosa and spread her wings. Her massive wings shown in the sunlight like flawless diamonds. With a few flaps of her wings, Anivia was quickly fading from view as she heads for the other side of the mountain.
Greyor looks to Averosa for her response. Greyor noticed that his queen was acting differently than normally. Averosa is known to be confident, but her expression is full of doubt and is distant. "Is something troubling you my queen?" Geyor asked softly and with concern
Averosa gave the best fake smile to Greyor so he does not have to share the same burden as her as it was hers and hers alone. "No its nothing, and remember you can call me Averosa." Averosa turned her gaze back to the mangled bodies of her iceborn brethren.
Greyor figured out what is bothering Averosa. "Averosa, look to your brethren that are alive and breathing." Averosa turns around and sees a very small fraction of her forces. Even though they sustained heavy casualties in the fight the remaining men are celebrating around a massive bonfire drinking mead and engorging themselves on Frejordian boar. "It is because of you we can have many more nights such as this one, as free people and not slaves. I speak for everyone when I say that there is a price to pay for freedom, and we will gladly pay it with our lives if it means a free Freljord. We can remember the past but it must not stop us from going to a brighter future."
"What about their families that will never see them again?"
Greyor smiled "Their families, as all of us, will mourn their sacrifice, but they will become legends in the Freljord. Now is the time for celebrations and no one deserves it as much you do Avarosa."
Averosa took solace in Greyor's words; the guilt did not completely lift from her shoulders but enough to make her feel better. Averosa could not repay their sacrifice even if she lived a thousand lives just like Anivia. She followed Greyor to the others where she is greeted by cheers and praises.
-Three Years later-
The soft light and the crackle from the fire place fills the room as Averosa holds a newborn wrapped in a soft fur blanket in her arms holding her close to her chest. Averosa is wearing an elegant dress made from turquoise colored silk. Risa had her mother's eyes of a deep blue color and her fair skin. Averosa could not get rid of the smile on her face every time she look at or even think of Risa and what a blessing she is to Averosa. Averosa slowly walks around in a circle slowly rocking her arms back and forth trying to put her daughter to sleep so she can help with hunting with some of the villagers. Once Risa's eyes are closed Averosa slowly puts her in a bassinet trying not to disturb her slumber. Averosa silently went into her room just across the hall to exchange her dress with a light green hood and cape with patterns stitched to resemble foliage. Averosa comes back in to the room with her hand behind her head weaving her snow colored hair into a braid. She grabs a piece of string and ties the end of her braid together so it does not get undone.
Averosa renters the room and gently kisses Risa on her forehead. And whispered in a very soft tone "sleep well young one."
Just as she finished and was a few feet away from the door, it opened. A man covered in furs made from various animals enters the home. Even under the fur it is shown to be very muscular. He is brandishing a iron battle axe that has etchings of Freljordian runes that symbolize strength. The man is Averosa's husband and king of the Freljord, Aldar.
Aldar notices Averosa in her hunting garments. "are you going hunting today?"
"We need to resupply our food; the shaman said a storm is coming soon." she responded
He puts his large hands on her narrow shoulders. Averosa could feel the cold from his hands seep through the cloak. "You are a mother now, you should stay here where it is safe, I'll get some volunteers and we will bring back enough food."
Averosa did not hesitate to Aladr's suggestion "if I can't lead a hunt how I can lead the tribe? I will have guards around so I am in no real danger."
Averosa knew where Aldar was coming from. After the fall of the Watchers a battle for the crown has broken out between Averosa and her own sisters, Serylda and Lissandra. There have been encounters between the tribes but nothing more than skirmishes. After the victory at The Howling Abyss, Serylda went to the further north where the winters are harsh and summers only last a month at most. Lissandra on the other hand just vanished, many speculate that she was killed in the battle, but Averosa knew her sister well, she is cunning and she would never go straight into battle, she would rather work behind the scenes and carry out her plans there. The guards are only a precaution in case one of her sisters shows their faces. The guards often times hinder her ability to catch game by startling the animal.
Averosa grabbed her bow that was resting on the far wall. The first time Averosa touched the bow the ice began to burn her hands from the sheer cold and now to her touch it might as well have been made from wood. Averosa squeezed past the mass of muscle and fur that has a concerned look on his face.
Averosa steps out of her home and into a small village that is covered in a light dusting of snow that continues to fall from the grey clouds. Averosa is greeted by multiple guards on horseback next to her personal horse, a sturdy horse with brown hair and patches of grey hair. The guards each have weapons that range from battle axes to spears to bows and arrows.
Averosa gave Aldar a quick kiss on his rough lips and assured him with "I'll be back before nightfall. I leave Risa with you until then" Aldar gave a nod thus accepting his responsibility. She mounts her horse in one swift motion. She pulled the reigns causing the horse to turn toward the entrance of the village before charging off with her entourage.
A few hours has passed since she set off on her hunting. A few rabbits hang off the side of Averosa's horse. This was unusual since this area would be teeming with animals but it is dead silent. Averosa took off a little further than her guards but they should have caught up to her by now. She decides to turn
back and try to find her guards to see if they had better luck getting game. She calls out the names of the guards but to no avail.
Once she reached a clearing the sight appalled her to the point of vomiting. She found the men but not the way she hoped. All of them are dead, they are either incased in ice or has spears of black ice protruding from their bodies. Averosa quickly hopped off of her horse and ran to the guards' bodies hoping someone is still alive. Just from a quick look at the darkened ice, Averosa knew the person responsible for the massacre, Lissandra.
Averosa quickly readies her bow and aims it at the woods. Averosa constantly turning around so Lissandra does not take her by surprise. "Lissandra, I know you're here, show yourself!" she commands.
All of a sudden a large claw made from ice charges out of the woods heading right for Averosa. Averosa quickly rolls to the side to get out of the claws path. At the sight of the claw the horse rears back and takes off away from the claw moving toward them. Out of nowhere it dissipates and Lissandra takes its place. Lissandra is slightly taller than Averosa. Lissandra's headdress covers her eyes her braided silvery hair to flow freely. She dons her blue armor that was bestowed on her by The Watchers, her legs are surrounded by black ice.
Averosa pulls back the string of her bow as an arrow of ice forms fully nocked. She keeps the arrow aimed at Lissandra's heart as she speaks "why did you kill them, they were your people."
Lissandra yelled at her sister. Her words were full of anger and resentment toward her. "they are not my people; my people were thrown into the abyss because you had to be a spoiled child and wanted freedom."
Averosa appealed to Lissandra "The Watchers are gone, why do you still serve them?"
Lissandra did not respond to her question but instead she raises her right hand and a shard of ice breaks off from the ice surrounding her feet. With a swipe of her hand the shard rockets toward Averosa. Averosa dodged the shard; once she had regained her footing she fired an arrow at her sister. The ice around Lissandra jumped up to form a wall between the arrow and her. Lissandra places her hand on the wall causing shards to break off and fly toward Averosa but she managed to dodge most of the shards but some made contact tearing parts of her clothes and her flesh underneath. Lissandra only have to make a few movements to use her magic while Averosa requires much more to form an arrow and fire it. The wall around Lissandra is imposing, almost daunting. Averosa had to take down the wall if she is to stand a chance at defeating Lissandra. Averosa wills an arrow and fires it once it takes shape. Th arrow proceded to get larger until it was massive. The arrow makes contact and explodes in a cloud of ice crystals. The little amount of sunlight causes the ice crystals in the cloud to sparkle brilliantly and making it harder to see through it. From the cloud an ice claw rushes toward Averosa once again. Averosa swiftly moved away from its path. Just as it past Averosa, Lissandra took the claws place. In an instant Lissandra froze the area around her including Averosa's legs. Lissandra moved behind the now immobile Averosa to avoid her arrows.
Averosa tries frantically to break free from her icy prison but hitting it with one the limbs of her bow. Her heart begins to pound furiously in her chest each time she strikes the ice but nothing happens.
Lissandra stops right behind her and speaks in an ominous tone "I still serve them because they are not truly gone."
Averosa was in disbelief at that statement her sister made. She saw them being thrown into the bottomless crevice, nothing could survive a fall like that. Lissandra grabs Aversoa's hands and holds them out away from her sides. Lissandra's grasp is void in any warmth whatsoever.
As Lissandra tightens her grip on Averosa's wrist the ice around Averosa's legs being to crawl up her body slowly. Averosa is in a panic state, violently trying to break free from the ice and Lissandra's grasp but to no avail. The ice has made its way up to Averosa's torso and shows no signs of stopping. The thought of not seeing Risa growing up pushes tears from Averosa's eyes down her cheeks. The Ice has reached her throat making any communication impossible as the ice puts pressure on her neck. Averosa's lungs burn with the need for oxygen but none can get there to quench it. Averosa tries her hardest to maintain consciousness but it feels futile. Averosa eyes close as the ice covers her mouth preventing any air for her. Her hand containing the bow goes limp and drops it on the grass before being incased in black ice.
Lissandra moves back from Averosa and looks at her with no remorse. Averosa now stands in a block of ice in the middle of the field amongst her companions. Lissandra navigates her way through the field of corpses as she makes the trek toward the Citadel that is in the northern region of the Freljord. Just as she entered the tree line she could hear the trotting of numerous horses. Out of curiosity Lissandra decides to look through the ice that litters the clearing where Averosa remains. She sees many of Averosa's followers looking for her. They finally found her. Many are weeping while other hurries to break her out of the ice that imprisons her. They managed to break her out of the ice over the course of a few minutes but Averosa is as lifeless as the ice that incased her. What remained of Lissandra's humanity died with her sister this day.
Lissandra thinks to herself "The Watchers will return, and I have an eternity to wait."