With the threat of Iceborn on her doorstep, Ashe wasted absolutely no time in marching her troops to the east, into the Ironspike mountains. Currently, very little was known about the Iceborn; how they worked, how they thought, or what they wanted. And at this juncture, Ashe had no desire to find out the hard way. The only Iceborn that she knew of in existence was Lissandra herself, a strange and enigmatic creature from the mountains. She had seemed peaceful the first time they had met, but some of the icy queen's utterances set Ashe's teeth on edge. To say nothing of her aura; Lissandra felt ancient, she felt dangerous. Something about her simply did not gel with what Ashe considered natural or normal. Perhaps it was something as simple as the cadence in Lissandra's voice, or the simple fact that she moved by creating a shifting mass of ice. Whatever it was, hearing that the Iceborn were a threat and were coming out of hiding was not something she would take lightly.
A forced march over a day was all that it took for her fifteen-thousand strong army to reach the borders of the Howling Abyss. They were still a good distance out, but the air felt colder than ever before. Ice hung low in the air, giving off the impression of snow combined with fog, but infused with magic. The air was eerily silent as well; not even the eagles were shrieking above as they searched for prey far below.
Ashe had her men set up camps on a ridge overlooking the valley before the Howling Abyss. Even though she knew the Abyss was just a few miles away, she had to send scouts in to search for any sign of Iceborn movements. While she waited for their reports, the Queen of Freljord paced around the camp, checking up on her men and their gear. This would be a battle she had no desire to engage in, but if the Iceborn were getting uppity, she had no choice. If it meant breaking the League's rules, so be it; monsters could not be reasoned with.
She wandered through the camp, lost in thought while she inspected the fortifications that her men erected. A small wooden palisade was defense enough when combined with the impossible terrain, though Ashe made sure that her men were digging low trenches around the palisade as well. Digging through the permafrost was back-breaking work at the best of times, but here on this rocky outcropping there was barely ten centimeters of soil before the men found granite. Hardly enough to stop any force from crossing, but it would have to do. Within the camp, her men used what meager wood they had to set up fires and get food cooking, as well as set up long tents for the night. There was no way they could go down to the Abyss in the fog without proper scouting, and until the scouts returned they had nothing to do but wait, sharpen their weapons and pray to whichever spirits they considered sacred.
Once her rounds were finished, Ashe retired to her own tent and threw herself heavily on the pile of furs that had been provided. Nowhere near as comfortable as her bed, she thought with a huff. She lit a small lantern beside her bedroll and pulled an ancient tome from her rucksack. If any of her men were to catch her carrying around something as heavy as this was, they would give her hell for wasting weight on something unimportant. However, this tome was one of the few remaining relics from a bygone age and held vague words about the Iceborn and their purpose, as well as the Howling Abyss itself.
From what she could glean from the tattered pages, she could make a few safe assumptions. The Iceborn were hostile and would have little care about attacking anything that moved. They were human in appearance alone, having surrendered their minds to the icy blackness that the Watchers promised. She then paused and tapped her lip thoughtfully. How could that be? Were the three sisters not Iceborn? Were they not elevated above their humanity and then overthrew the Watchers? That was the story she had always heard, and parts of this tome seemed to support those claims. Avarosa had been the first to throw off her shackles and attack the Watchers; her forces had defeated the ancient beings at the Howling Abyss! She gave a frustrated sigh and flicked the page, brow knit. Great, more puzzles and contradictory evidence. Nothing made sense.
Further through the musty old book, Ashe began to find accounts of some of the things she could expect to face in combat. There were accounts of ancient, frozen weapons ranging from a simple sword to a complicated ballista system, all made from ice. It also seemed that the Iceborn shunned armour because their skin was so thick and durable due to the infusion of True ice. That would be something that her men would have to overcome... perhaps fire would be the best bet? She could probably find some pitch in the area; the Ironspike Mountains seemed to be overflowing with it anyway. If she could find a way to fire it onto the Iceborn forces, maybe it would be enough to get through their skin? Her train of thought wandered further and she considered coating arrows and swords with pitch, but the odds of that backfiring were much too great for her; risking her own men for an unsure advantage was not something she was willing to do.
Though she knew she had to rest, there was still so much to leaf through. A few pages later, there was even a description of some of the tactics that the Iceborn preferred to use. Fading in and out of the mist, using it as a mobile veil, and even creating thick fog to use in offensive or defensive maneuvers. Ashe had to pause at the last line, colour draining from her face. She slipped out from under her furs and peeked through the flap of her tent; it was definitely still very foggy. As night fell, it almost seemed as though the fog were growing thicker. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach. They might be fighting sooner than she had anticipated.
Sejuani grunted to herself in satisfaction as she wrenched the spear from the ground and watched the fallen scout's body shatter, turn into mist, and be absorbed into the spear. Perfect. If Ashe was stupid enough to send scouts in this awful weather, then it would be her own fault for blinding herself. This was the third scout in as many hours, so Sejuani had little doubt in her mind that they were polishing off the last couple nosy intruders. She spun her newly-acquired weapon and smirked wickedly. It felt stronger now than it did in the tomb. As though it were happy to be out of such a damp and musty hellhole and back into the hands of a rightful leader. The pulses seemed to grow stronger with every life it ended.
"Soon, you'll be feasting on the flesh of the pretenders." She soothed, losing herself for a moment in the ethereal glow cast by the blade. Bristle stirred under her and tilted his enormous head to glance at her, curious as to what she was talking to. They were alone, were they not? Had Sejuani gone crazy? His rider gave him a swift jab in the sides with her spurs and he trundled forward, nose to the ground. There was another scout nearby. Bristle could smell the scout from a good distance off, though he was wary.
Since arriving at this ambush site a few days ago, Bristle had been restless. The spring was always a restless time for Ironfur Boars, since they were shedding and shedding was incredibly uncomfortable. But there was something else as well. Something in the air. Something ancient and dangerous. Something that Bristle did not enjoy being so close to. Sejuani had noticed her boar's trepidation while scouting around the Abyss and simply wrote it off as Bristle smelling whatever battles had happened here before. After all, the League of Legends had claimed the Howling Abyss as a battleground and quite a bit of blood had been spilled there in the name of sport.
As the pair crept along, Sejuani twirled the spear around her hand and marveled at its craftsmanship once again. There was absolutely nothing like it in the world. However, if this was every day craftsmanship, it made sense that several of these weapons would still exist somewhere in the Freljord; it would simply take a lot of tomb raiding to find them all. The prospect of being forced to raid more tombs did not exactly appeal to her, but if she could find more weapons of this caliber, she would more than happily do so. It had the added benefit of helping weed the weaker men from her ranks; anyone that could not survive a tomb would not do well on the field of battle.
Sejuani sat up and cast her eyes around the area. Rocky ledges, small patches of low grass, and not much else. She knew that Ashe was camped up on the hill, but even from this distance, the fog obscured every hint of the Frost Archer's army. It was worrying; they could sneak up on the Winter's Claw if they got brave enough, though a night time strike was probably far from Ashe's mind. If she thought she was going up against the Iceborn, the queen would not be willing to risk a disadvantageous fight. With nothing else showing up and no sign of another scout, Sejuani turned Bristle and trundled back to her troops. Time for a good night's rest to prepare for the battle ahead.
The Winter's Claw had camped in small crevices and in the lees of rocks, hiding them from prying Avarosan eyes. Sejuani had made sure to keep all of the fires small just in case someone did decide to poke around, and several guards stood watch over each camp. Thus far, no one had been stupid enough to meander too close. It was just a question of time, however. Sejuani guided Bristle over to her own fire, at the center of the small encampment. When she arrived, Biina glanced up towards her queen and smiled. There was a hint of something more behind her curved lips, but for the moment, she said nothing.
"The preparations are complete. We're ready for what the Avarosan can throw at us." she huffed, dismounting and guiding Bristle into his place at her side. The boar, for all of his grit and girth, was actually rather playful and furry - he made a good bedmate. When he was not expecting combat, Bristle was rather affectionate with Sejuani, and once she had him laying down, he immediately lolled onto one side and let her rub at his soft belly fur. The queen scowled at her boar and then sighed. She could not argue with that. "You're too soft, Bristle. Do I have to turn you into a ham?" Hollow teasing. There was no way she could.
Biina's plump lips turned as she heard Sejuani's words. "I don't doubt we're ready for the Avarosan... but I have a feeling that they're not the only threat we'll face tomorrow."
Removing her armour with little care for either the cold or Biina's eyes, Sejuani turned with her greaves half off. "No?" As much as Sejuani hated to admit it, Biina had not steered her wrong yet...
The seer shook her head and sat up, her blanket falling off her nude torso. "No, there's... something different here. Something ancient. I can feel it in the air, Sejuani. Whatever is here isn't happy that we're here... and it will be coming to fight us."
After a moment of hesitation, Sejuani merely shrugged the warning off. "Then it will die."
The fog did not lift in the morning. If anything, it was thicker than before and proved almost as treacherous as a snowstorm. Men tripped and fell over unseen rocks and roots, a couple injuring themselves on their weapons as they fell. Once they arrived in the valley, things began to take on an even eerier air. With the sun up, Ashe could see the ancient statues that littered the path they were walking down. Cracked with years of freeze and thaw cycles, their harsh stone faces judged the Avarosan soldiers as they walked below. Ancient kings and forgotten generals were the last holdovers from a by-gone age.
Unlike many generals, Ashe preferred to lead from the front. Her pace was brisk, but calculated. Visibility was still rather low, but there was no sign of any Iceborn activity. Nothing save... she held up her fist to signal a halt and then jogged a short distance ahead and knelt by a pile of scrap metal. Armour from one of her scouts, with no body nor blood in sight. Unless he had stripped naked and run off between the statues, something was very wrong here.
"Fan out. Search the area." She snapped as she whirled to face her troops. They nodded and immediately began clamoring over the rocks and massive shards of ice. Ashe knelt to inspect the armour to try to determine what had happened to this hapless soldier. A single thin entry hole marked where the weapon had gone in and it was covered in small crystals. She tried to break one free of the iron breastplate, however, it was the iron that gave before the ice did. Startled, Ashe lifted the sliver of iron and took a closer look. The ice glimmered in the low light and matched the colour of her bow perfectly. Dread gripped her stomach immediately. Could the Iceborn have slipped past them in the night? Was the entire Freljord in danger now?
Questions clouded her mind for a few moments before she felt a solid impact from behind and found herself face down in the arctic permafrost. Crying out in anger and surprise, she tried to struggle, only to hear an arrow whistle over her head. Her eyes flew upwards, ignoring the soldier that had saved her life, and towards the barbarian that stood just a few meters away. Knocking another arrow, he drew and let fly. The arrow arced through the air before impaling the soldier that, until a moment ago, had been on top of her. Blood spouted from his newly perforated throat and he fell to the side gurgling incoherently. No time to think, Ashe's body reacted on muscle memory. She drew her bow and willed a frosty arrow into existence. Draw, aim, fire. Her arrow did not whistle in the air, but her arrows were perfect - no gaps to make those irritating sounds. The arrow hit true, piercing the barbarian's helm and dropping him on the spot. She barely had time to check if she had hit dead on before the sounds of a battle broke out behind her.
Ashe whirled and drew another arrow, designating a target in half of a second before releasing another arrow. Her aim was true and she impaled another Winter's Claw soldier, knocking him backwards and causing him to lose his grip on his sword - recently run through an Avarosan archer's back. With a few seconds to assess the situation, Ashe put everything together instantly. Sejuani had laid a trap. The scout was either a spy or too stupid to tell the difference between the Iceborn and these barbarians. Neither scenario mattered at this point, but it helped put her mind at ease, even for a split second. The Frost Archer's lips parted and she screamed in rage at the deception before drawing the bow once again. Seven arrows all formed at once and she let fly, a surge of violent satisfaction filling her heart as seven Winter's Claw fell dead. Her men glanced at her, gave a nod of thanks, and then turned their attention to the battle ahead.
As soon as Ashe paused for the armour, Sejuani knew it was time to strike. She nodded to Biina, who cast a signal charm into the sky. The charm caused the Winter's Claw emblem to flash in the fog for a heartbeat, and the moment it disappeared, the tribe struck. Hidden in the rocks and snow banks all along the path, they had the Avarosan completely encircled. When the signal went off, they struck. Starting with a hail of javelins that struck from the sides and followed by a two-pronged charge, the Winter's Claw, though badly outnumbered, found an advantage both in surprise and in tactics.
By forcing the Avarosan into a small corridor, the Winter's Claw stretched the Avarosani numbers as thinly as possible. Unable to form ranks or even use their weapons properly, they were easy meat. Winter's Claw berserkers tore holes through disorganized archers, their bladed axes hacking through light leather armour and spraying gore over both sides equally. The couple archers that did manage to draw and fire were disorganized at best and dangerous to their comrades at worst. More than once, arrows pierced Avarosan armour as opposed to Winter's Claw, leading to even more casualties as the front lines disintegrated.
Meanwhile, at the front of the battle, Sejuani had moved her cavalry into position. A single charge would be enough to end this, she figured, but she would wait until the very last moment to launch the charge. For now, she was happy to sit atop Bristle and watch the battle unfold all around her. Her eyes flicked from skirmish to skirmish, watching the Avarosan bodies beginning to fall. Numbers meant nothing in a battle such as this one. In fact, the more troops Ashe committed, the better it would be for Sejuani - she would not have to fight them later. A small smirk of satisfaction crossed her face and she chuckled darkly. Soon.
In the middle of the battle, Ashe tried to rally and direct her troops. The clamour of swords meeting armour was deafening and caused her shouts to fall on too few ears. Seeing another archer taking aim, she drew her bow and squinted, launching yet another arrow into his face. Thus far, her aim had been true. As she reeled through the battle, trying to help wherever she could, she tried to piece together what had pushed Sejuani into taking such a foolish risk. She could not win this battle and the League would punish her violently for an unprovoked attack, especially against another champion. Breaking from her thoughts for a moment, Ashe glanced around the battlefield. All of the skirmishes were going in favour of the Winter's Claw and she could see her troops withering under the assault. Another volley of arrows helped alleviate the pressure in one place, but there was no way she could make her way from one end of the battle to the other. All around her, she could see sprays of blood and gore as axes and swords tore through light armour. Her heaviest troops were all at the front; her flanks and archers were completely exposed. Gritting her teeth, Ashe gave the order she never wanted to give. "Fall back!" She shouted and threw her arm in the direction that they had just left. There was no way they could get out of this without pulling back.
"Everybody, FALL BACK!" Her voice rose once more in an attempt to be heard. Several Avarosan units around her did manage to begin pushing back against the Winter's Claw. A pair of Legionary units formed around her, using their physical weight to shove the lighter Winter's Claw berserkers out of the way. Heavy, segmented armour protected them from all but the heaviest axe blows, and their kite shields were more than enough to turn away the Winter's Claw archers. Forming a fighting phalanx, the Avarosan began hacking their way through their attackers. Ashe, at the center of the formation, guided her archers to fire over her phalanx and into the Winter's Claw that still poured over the rocks. Finding their footing, the Avarosan managed to fight back.
Ashe swallowed her fury and narrowed her eyes, beginning to line her shots up on several targets. She fired as fast as she could draw, frosty arrows firing into targets on all sides. More than once she drew a fan and felled several hostiles in one motion; unlike the steel arrows her men fired, Ashe's arrows had more immediate effect. Those that hit armour too thick to penetrate shattered like glass, spraying shards of ice into everyone around. When her arrows hit lighter armour, they penetrated. At least once, her arrows speared two soldiers, pinning them together at the point of impact. It gave her grim satisfaction to watch blood spraying out of these savages, though in the pit of her stomach, she still felt as though she was murdering her own people.
One step at a time, the phalanx fought its way out of the death corridor. There was very little distance to cover, but the combination of rough terrain, corpses of the fallen, and the blood that they had left on the field made it a treacherous trip at best. Every couple yards they were forced to stop to help someone up or to fight more barbarians as they dove into the fray. None of the soldiers had expected the Winter's Claw to be this numerous, and they fought like cornered animals. Luckily for the Avarosan, they were the cornered animals - their flashing blades felled wave after wave of Sejuani's men. As they advanced, Ashe saw more of her men beginning to fold in behind her fighting wedge. The more troops they gathered, the stronger they became; the added weight of her wedge made pushing forward easier, and the resistance began to falter.
Sejuani growled once she saw the Avarosan beginning to get more traction. There was no way she was going to allow that soft pretender to escape. She urged Bristle forward and twirled her spear. "On my mark..." she snarled to her men. All around her, she could hear their boars pawing the ground impatiently. The second Ashe's phalanx pushed past the halfway point of their ambush corridor, the Winter's Wrath raised the spear high. "For the Freljord!" she screamed and spurred Bristle hard, setting the enormous boar into a charge. Her hand felt oddly empty without her enormous icy bola, but this spear would do the trick.
Ashe turned once she heard the distant rumble of cavalry and her eyes widened with horror. Sejuani and her Companions. There was nowhere for her men to scatter, so they would feel the brunt of the assault one way or the other. And, worse still, her lightest troops were facing the boars; there was no way for them to stand against this. She cried out in alarm and her men tried to wheel, but there was absolutely no room to maneuver. As soon as their advance was stymied, the Winter's Claw fell upon the Avarosan once again - and this time, they had backup.
Sejuani spurred Bristle once more and hauled back on her reigns, driving the boar to leap. His thick fur and thicker hide protected him from whatever the Avarosan could throw at him and his sheer weight and mind-numbing momentum carried him through their ranks. Several cries of agony flew up around Bristle's heavy head as his sabre-like tusks gored their ranks. One particularly unlucky soldier took a tusk to the chest and his ribcage popped like an overripe tomato. Sejuani's body tingled with a rush of adrenaline as she laughed at the gore that splattered her torso and Bristle's face. She relished the moment for a heartbeat more before she began swinging the spear. A single cut proved fatal to the Avarosani below her. Ice bloomed from their wounds and began erupting out over their bodies as their blood froze solid. In the worst cases, the ice managed to impale other Avarosan, causing a chain reaction to wash out from in front of the Winter's Claw charge.
Watching in horror, Ashe could only fire a handful of arrows into the advancing cavalry. She saw her men fall from the heavy bolas of the boar riders. She saw Sejuani's relic weapon carving a wide swath through her men. And worse still, she saw destruction all around her. A force of almost fifteen thousand had been utterly obliterated. There was no way she could let this end here. Screwing her eyes shut, the Frost Archer took a deep breath and drew her bow.
"Avarosa, lend me your strength!" The words burst from her lips and her eyes flew open. Sejuani faltered for a split second as she saw Ashe's bow glow brilliant blue and heard a hawk scream overhead. Time seemed to slow, then stop. All movement ceased and Sejuani could feel an ancient power fill the air. Avarosa. Where a normal arrow would've been, the Winter's Wrath watched as an enormous icy bolt began to form. Pulsing with magical energy, the arrow seemed to inch back as Ashe drew. Once she had fully readied the shot, the queen's eyes flashed the same crystalline blue that her bow had, and she released. Sejuani barely had time to raise her arms to block the shot.
As soon as the enchanted crystal arrow had been fired, the battle ceased. Men from both sides fell silent as they watched Ashe floating a couple meters off the ground. Their eyes followed her trajectory towards the Winter's Claw cavalry. In a wide arc around Sejuani, each and every one of her men were frozen solid. Almost half of her cavalry had been decimated by a single shot. She glanced from left to right, eyes wide with shock and horror. How had she survived...? An icy pulse in her hand caused her to glance down at the spear.
One relic weapon was dangerous enough. Ashe's bow and Sejuani's bola were the only two known in the world before the spear had been pulled from its final resting place. Now, Sejuani was to bear witness to what could happen when two of these weapons clashed without the restrictions of the League. While the arrow had frozen her men, the ancient arcane energy had simply infused the spear. Both queens watched as the spear coated itself in the same crystalline skeleton that Ashe's arrow had. Every powerful pulse caused the crystals to grow from the blades and the haft, beginning to coat Sejuani's arm as well. She tried to release and toss the spear aside, but the crystal gauntlet that had been called into existence kept the spear firmly in her grip.
Once the transformation was complete, Sejuani found herself covered to the shoulder with enormous Iceborn crystals. Though they should have weighed a ton, she found the ice weightless and spun the ancient weapon with ease. A smirk crossed her face and she swung the blade. It whistled through the air and crackled with energy, causing her smirk to grow further. Her eyes flicked up to Ashe's horrified face. "May the true queen win." Sejuani breathed before spurring Bristle forward once again. Her cavalry charged around their frozen comrades, preparing to resume the assault.
However, for the second time in as many minutes, a loud noise caused the battle to come to a screeching halt. This time, however, it was the sound of ice cracking. Louder than a glacial shift, the crack shook the valley and threw more than a few of the combatants to the ground. Sejuani turned to follow the sound, and what she saw changed the flow of the battle immediately.
Unleashing such powerful magic in the field of battle was always dangerous. Doing so when one of the forces involved was a complete unknown was far beyond dangerous, especially in such an ancient place. When the arrow had caught the spear, the combined Iceborn energy had been enough to shatter a gate that had long since been locked. From high in the Ironspike mountains, the Iceborn came. Lissandra had long watched and waited for this moment, and it had finally arrived. Both queens, so puny, so mortal, together at the same place. With a simple brush of her hand, she could destroy them both. She could take Ashe's body and rule a united Freljord by herself. Opportunistic? Very. Was she going to pass on such a simple task, especially when it had been delivered to her? Of course not.
But she was not about to dirty her hands with such pedantic matters. Instead, she sent her Iceborn. When the trolls had allied with Lissandra, several of them had offered to undergo the transformation from troll to Iceborn. Their bodies had been mutated and changed beyond recognition. Large spikes of ice had burst from their skin and their hide had grown thick, glossy, and crystalline. Every breath caused mist to form as their sub-zero core temperature met the warmer spring air. They were taller, stronger, and faster. Their once-crude weapons had become refined killing machines. Their loincloths and leather armour had been replaced with near-impenetrable icy carapaces. Tiny, beady eyes glared out from under frozen manes, and in several of them, their tusks had grown so long that they could not even close their mouths. And though they pretended to follow Trundle, their only true leader was Lissandra.
And now, she had sent them to deal with the two queens. The trio of trolls unleashed the most blood-curdling screech that any of the amassed armies had heard and then charged down from the mountainside. Ashe could see them rushing Sejuani's cavalry and made a split-second decision. There was no way that they could fight against the trolls, especially in such a narrow corridor. The only thing that they could do was fall back. So, she ordered a full retreat. Even the Winter's Claw seemed willing to listen to Ashe, as they broke ranks and ran. Then, wading against the tide, Ashe struggled over to Bristle. She hoisted herself up onto the saddle beside the stunned Sejuani and slapped the other queen in the face. "Fall back!" She ordered, glaring at Sejuani's cavalry. They seemed too stunned by the appearance of the trolls and Ashe's sudden brazenness to react. Sejuani blinked, confused, and rubbed her cheek where Ashe's hand had connected.
"What are yo-" she began to retort, but her words died in her throat when the first troll hit the flank of her cavalry. What had appeared to be a club at first glance was actually an enormous battle axe forged from a True Ice slab that could've easily been a wall in a longhouse. It came up, glinted in the air, and then smashed down onto the boar rider with such force that the huge Ironfur boar exploded in a shower of gore. There was not even enough time for the rider to cry out in terror - a single blow reduced them to their organic components. The troll then threw its weight behind the axe and clove through a pair of boar riders, smashing one into the other and then into a giant statue; the statue gave out well before the axe did, and another shower of gore, rock, and iron bits rained down on the stunned riders. Crimson stained the ground and any of the boar riders too close to the impact zone.
"Fall back!" Sejuani screamed, wheeling Bristle around and charging off down the valley that had, until recently, been the battleground she had waited a lifetime for. Though her mind screamed at her to shove Ashe off her saddle, her heart could not do it. There was no way she could leave Ashe to these monstrosities. This was not how this was supposed to end. Bristle slammed through the bodies that littered the ground, tossing a few carelessly into the air like ragdolls. Behind her, the trolls had given up the chase for some unknown reason. When she glanced back, a chill filled her veins.
Iceborn were not born, they were created. And, before Sejuani's eyes, she watched the Iceborn begin the process. The trolls formed a perimeter to defend their fourth member. It was hard to tell what, exactly, the member was - it looked human, albeit with four arms. Cloaked head to toe in heavy black armour inscribed with ancient runes, the monstrosity immediately set about its grotesque work. Sejuani only had time to catch sight of a dead corpse being infused with energy and then shift on its own before she tore her eyes from the scene and guided Bristle towards Ashe's camp.
Ashe scooted back onto the saddle as the pair trundled up the steep cliff towards Ashe's camp. She almost fell out of the saddle several times, but managed to catch herself before she completely tumbled free. Sejuani did her best to ignore the queen stuck in the saddle with her, though the tension in the air was thick enough to be cut with a knife. Neither queen wanted to admit what had just happened. Sejuani had baited Ashe into a battle that had cost both of them hundreds, if not thousands, of men. And, from what Sejuani had seen, those forces had just been picked up by the Iceborn. Up until today, she had not believed that the Iceborn were a real threat. She had not entirely believed that they even existed. Words circled her mind as she tried to figure out what to say to Ashe. An apology? An offer to help clean this mess up?
When Bristle finally managed to waddle into the camp, Sejuani bit her tongue. The Winter's Claw were not at fault here. It was Ashe's stupid arrogance, her unwillingness to turn over the crown, that had caused this. No. The Winter's Claw were leaving, and they would not waste their time with this.
Seeing her men, Sejuani halted Bristle long enough for Ashe to dismount. Ashe paused to speak, but her dry mouth caused her to pause and lick her lips, trying to find words. Instead of waiting, Sejuani turned towards Ashe, pulled her new spear free, and used the haft to bodily shove Ashe clear of Bristle's back. The boar huffed audibly and turned to face Ashe, blood-stained tusks gleaming in the low light.
The Frost Archer grunted when her body slammed into the hard-packed permafrost and she barely scrambled away from Bristle's lunge. Once Ashe had put distance between herself and Sejuani, she glared up at her rival. Sejuani returned the glare, cold and uncaring, before she turned to her men. "Pack up. We're leaving."
Several of her men hesitated at her order. After a day of fighting, they were abandoning the Avarosan to their fate? After a day of fighting, they were expected to be able to march off into the tundra? Sleep had not come easily the past nights, and Sejuani was met with exhausted looks from every corner of her troops. She had ridden into battle with a few thousand. Before her, she had maybe a few hundred. Even her cavalry had been almost completely annihilated.
"No." Ashe's stern voice silenced the murmurs floating up from the Winter's Claw. Sejuani reeled towards the other queen and narrowed her eyes.
"What makes you think you have any right to speak to me, whelp?" Sejuani spat, fingers clutching the relic weapon with all their might.
The Frost Archer glanced around Sejuani's men, and then her own. She saw exhaustion. She saw exasperation. And she saw the very real possibility of mutiny. So, instead of trying to argue with the Winter's Wrath, she turned to her tribe. "Listen to me. You have traveled far. You have fought hard. You have slaughtered mine, and we have slaughtered yours. Each and every one of you has lost something - someone - to this endless conflict. And now, you have all seen the real threat that we face. The Iceborn are coming. They will come from this valley unless we stop them here and now. They will come to kill everyone you know and love."
Ashe's voice wavered for a moment and she paused long enough to catch her breath, though she was exhausted. "Your queen will lead you away, back into the tundra. You will continue living off the land as you always have, and your numbers will continue to dwindle. Your injured will be left as food for the wolves. Your sick will be sent off so they don't infect the healthy. And soon, the Iceborn will come. If we cannot stop them here, they will kill you later. You have a choice." She turned to face Sejuani, her eyes glinting with barely contained rage. "You can follow the pig and leave us behind and trust that we can save your lives, or you can fight. For glory. For your ancestors. For your children as yet born." More than a few of Sejuani's men snorted at Ashe's words. Trust in the Avarosan? Turn against their beliefs?
However, more yet glanced from one to the other. They had seen the trolls. If this was simply a trio of scouts, what would the actual army look like? How could they stand against it when it did come? It started with a single man stepping forward, removing his helm and placing his kite shield's point on the ground.
"I will follow, Ashe of the Avarosan. You are not my queen, but if Sejuani would rather let us all die for pride, she is not my queen either." A bold move for someone who would've killed Ashe in a heartbeat just a few hours prior. However, his words rang true. The Freljord was a harsh place, it was true, but running from a battle was not the Winter's Claw way. Several soldiers stepped forward as well, bowing their heads to Ashe.
Though her heart was hammering away in her chest, Ashe felt relief welling up from the pit of her stomach. Maybe there was still a chance for this to work. Maybe she could actually fight the Iceborn and push them back. After the first few soldiers spoke up, the wave grew. Even the most stalwart and hateful Winter's Claw understood that what they had awoken here could not be allowed to spread. The trolls were enough of a threat to make them worry about the future; the thought of an entire army of these beasts chilled them to the bone.
Sejuani's eyes flashed with rage as she glared at her men, trying to use her glacial stare to silence them. To no avail, as, by the end of it, the remainder of her shattered forces all took a knee before Ashe. Turning to Sejuani, Ashe offered a hand. When Sejuani refused to take it, the Queen of Freljord spoke.
"Sejuani. What happened today will never be forgotten, nor forgiven. But we do not have the resources to fight you and the Iceborn at the same time. You do not have the resources to fight us and resist the Iceborn. Join us for one glorious battle, and we will go our separate ways." Ashe pleaded, her hand still raised. Sejuani watched the limb and took note that the queen before her was shaking from exhaustion, but Ashe refused to lower it. After taking a deep breath and exhaling, Sejuani slid from Bristle's back and pulled her helm off.
She stepped forward and took Ashe's hand, her fingers curling around the slighter woman's bracer. "We fight together, we destroy these beasts, and we part ways." Sejuani laid her conditions on the table immediately.
Ashe could have collapsed with relief once she heard the queen of the Winter's Claw accepting the terms. Her hand squeezed Sejuani's bracer before she turned to the assembled soldiers. "Rest for tonight. We will send scouts down to watch the Iceborn, and assemble you if you are needed."
Her eyes then turned to Sejuani. "Come. We need to talk strategy."