Author's Note: Well, thanks to a very friendly and uplifting review, I decided to stop being a lazy oaf all day and start actually working on this a little bit more…this will likely be the last chapter that I put out before my semester starts. If 12 gets out, I'll be extremely happy, but I'm not gonna get too ahead of myself. :)
As usual, hope you enjoy!
Bristle and I marched past the trolls and onto the opposite side of the Howling Abyss, turning back around to look at the trolls who stood patiently still on the bridge. "I'll let you rally them, King Bristle", I told him, a slight grin crossing my features.
He puffed up his chest just the barest amount, as if to give off some sort of kingly presence. "Trollkin, follow me, and I will lead you to the battle that will define this generation, and all the generations to come. Lend me your weapons, and I will lend you my leadership." He spoke with such fluency and confidence that I was actually mildly surprised, even after having been so close to him all this time.
"Bristle, for one that has done nothing but follow orders the past several moons, you certainly show an aptitude for issuing them." I leaned close to his ear as I told him this, keeping the secret between the two of us. We turned back around amidst the sound of the trolls chanting some sort of battle cry, and soon the thunderous echoing of their footsteps reverberated around the empty maw of the Howling Abyss.
Brislte stifled a laugh, nodding. "I've been around the best leader in the Freljord for more seasons than I can remember. If I appear experienced, it is because I am following your example. I burrowed my face into my shoulder to hide the ensuing blush that crept across my cheeks, but my actions only made it more apparent. "Sejuani…there is no shame in being proud of your accomplishments."
"Believe me, I have none. However, flattery…that I am not quite accustomed to yet. Winter's Claw is not known for its warm and inviting atmosphere, after all. I've handily ensured that." While I was not opposed to the way Bristle seemed to be uplifting me, putting me on some imaginary pedestal that only he could see, I almost wished that it wasn't so. In my mind, we were nearly equals, and I had assumed that he thought the same. However, I was beginning to doubt if that assumption was correct.
Either way, I was willing to let it pass, unless it proved to be more disconcerting. We marched out deeper into the Freljord, still in what was Lissandra's territory, which we would be in likely until midday. The territory rightfully should be mine now, though with Lissandra, I wasn't willing to bet on that. Even though she was gone, I had no clue just how many Frostguard were still alive, and how many of them she had ordered to attack us as we left the Citadel. The thought sent a shiver down my spine, a rather unusual sensation for me ever since I had donned the armguard while we were perusing the Citadel.
In fact, the weather felt downright warm, though looking up at the snow that was pouring down overhead and the knee-deep snow we were walking in, I knew that couldn't be the case. The armguard…it seemed to function as some sort of invisible insulation, protecting me from whatever was outside of myself. The thought made me remember the hammer Bristle had likewise taken during our search.
"Have you discovered any more about the mallet since we've been outside? I know it has not been long, I am merely curious. The armguard seems to shield me from the weather entirely, perhaps more. I have yet to find its combat functionality, of course. I doubt Lissandra would keep an item such as this locked behind a stone wall if all it did was keep the wearer warm."
Bristle shivered, looking back at the mallet. "Well, I would hardly fault her if she did. No, the mallet remains a mystery to me. Perhaps its usefulness lies only in its combat strength and not utility. A shame I will not be able to find out its purpose until we are at Ashe's doorstep."
"I would not count on that if I were you. As we saw in Winter's Claw and the Northern tribes, Lissandra has eyes everywhere, likely even in the trolls we have just allied ourselves with. I suspect that we are far less safe than I would prefer to be. Be on your guard at all times, and if something seems out of the ordinary, do not hesitate to warn me."
"Understood, Sejuani." Bristle reached behind him and grabbed his mallet, tossing it absentmindedly in the air as he walked beside me. I watched curiously at his hands as he did this, watching the cool mist trail around the shaft of the weapon as it twirled in the air. Even more surprising, his hands seemed to be covered by ice just after he let go of it, which quickly dissipated moments later.
"Bristle, give me your hand. I have a theory of what the mallet does."
He looked at me skeptically but reached his hand out nonetheless, holding it there expectantly. I took off my glove and held my hand out in front of me, noting the warm sensation that surrounded it. "Now, place the mallet in your hand for a few seconds, and then remove it."
He did so, and just as I saw him begin to move the mallet, my hand darted toward his, slipping beneath the handle of the weapon and his hand. And what I felt could only be described as one word: cold. I brought my arm back in shock, shaking my hand for a few seconds until I realized it had gone numb almost instantaneously. I put my glove back on, hoping that that might warm it up.
"My hand…I can't feel it. It's not frozen, or so I believe, but it's unbelievably sluggish. Fascinating." I tried to wiggle my fingers but barely managed to get any movement whatsoever, the numb sensation still aching across my palm.
"Does it hurt?"
I shook my head, focusing on the sensation slightly more. "No, there is no pain anywhere, though I suppose that is what the head of the mallet is for. I believe the weapon has some sort of numbing magic embedded in it, likely intended to keep the target from moving. If this were to have hit my foot instead of my hand, I have no doubt I would fail to support my weight." I shook my hand once more, the action looking more like shaking a dead fish than what it truly was. I was able to control my wrist at this point, but everything below that line may as well not exist.
"Interesting, I only feel a slight chilling sensation when I hold the weapon. Perhaps it understands that I am the wearer, and you are not. Very well, I will keep it protected. If one of our enemies were able to gain control of this, it would most definitely mean our end." He put the mallet back on his back, tightening the straps that kept it secure. Meanwhile, I continued to rub my hands together, waiting for any sort of feeling to return to the extremity.
"Yes, please do that. Now that we know approximately what the mallet does, I would suggest refraining from using it during combat. If our enemies know that we have two extremely potent magical items, it will only draw more enemies to us."
"As you command, Sejuani." Finally, I was able to move my fingers just the slightest amount, but anything beyond the innermost knuckle still was lifeless. I cradled the appendage until at last, I could move my hand freely again. The potential uses in combat ran through my head nonstop, the ability to halt an enemy in their tracks an amazingly valuable skill to have on hand.
We continued on for several hours, shepherding the mass of trolls behind us, sharing very little conversation between the two of us. The battle the previous moon at the Citadel was still immensely pungent in the back of my mind, the horrors that were committed there still unbelievably fresh. It would take many seasons for such thoughts to flee my head, just as they had in the past.
I could hear the stomping of one of the trolls drawing closer, and I turned around to see one doing just that. I took a step to the side to allow him between the two of us, curious of his intentions.
"King, Queen…we hungry. Time to hunt?"
I stopped walking and Bristle did the same, and we looked to each other. I saw no problem with taking a short break here, and I could tell that Bristle felt similarly. However, where we were now was rather…desolate. I knew from our journey up here that there would be a forest up ahead in no more than half an hour, and I hoped that I could convince them that it would be a better place to stop.
"Is there something near hear that you could eat?" The forest was in Avarosan territory which would prove to be a slight challenge, but I was getting the feeling that these trolls were mindless without a leader, and would search this area for food that wasn't there.
The troll scratched his head for a moment, taking far longer than I would have thought necessary to answer such a simple question. "New land. Don't know."
I looked over towards Bristle, giving him a nod to speak up, which he took. "There is a grove just south of here, one that we know food is plentiful. If you will wait that long, you can eat there."
The troll nodded, turning back to everyone behind him and shouted "No food here. Eat soon."
Before he could rejoin with his people, I grasped him by the shoulder, gaining his attention. "Stay here with us. I would like to know about your people." The troll seemed confused, perhaps wondering why I was issuing the order as opposed to Bristle, but stayed nonetheless. "First off, your name." We began walking as I asked him the question, figuring that a hungry troll was likely not a good companion to have at your side.
For once, he responded to a question without having to think about for more than a second. "Gadon."
Bristle asked the next question. "Gadon, how did Lissandra treat you?"
The troll paused for quite a while, a droning "Uhhmmmm" filling the void while he tried to formulate his thoughts.
"Lissandra bossy. She order Trundle, Trundle order us. It simple, but Lissandra order often." He spoke with a sort of sadness, a curious sound given his gruff tone, but he seemed to genuinely dislike thinking back to that time. "Glad you free us. Don't be same as Lissandra." There was a sort of pleading to his voice that took me by surprise.
"You have my word as your queen, we are nothing like Lissandra…that is why she is now dead and imprisoned by the Citadel she held so closely to her. No, Gadon, we will give you a choice in most of what we do, my goal is simply to have you believe enough in us that you will not need convincing." I paused for a second, before continuing the questioning. "Tell me, what was Trundle like as a leader before he was under Lissandra's thumb."
Again, Gadon took a long while to figure out what he would say, but finally began to speak. "Trundle strong and proud. He always fight first, but he fight smart."
I nodded, deciding that I'd issued enough questions for now. The way Bristle seemed quiet signaled that he felt similarly. "Thank you Gadon, you may go back to your kin if you would like." With a slight nod, he did so, slowing down until he caught back up with the front line of trolls.
We continued our trek through a narrow ravine, the other side of which we had made camp two moons prior. It was strange…so little time had passed, and yet so much had happened during that time. My army was comprised humans of Winter's Claw, not trolls gathered from the remains of Lissandra's army. Bristle had, at that point, still been moderately human, not what he was now. I took a sidelong glance at him now, observing his hulking frame. In truth, he looked more like the trolls that followed the two of us than he did a human, which slightly worried me.
His back was permanently arched forward and his head sat low between his shoulders, the boarish tusks and nose starting to become extremely prominent features on his face. His arms seemed to have stretched some, the opposite of what I would have expected to happen, but they almost reached the ground now…I knew that at some point they would finish their journey. His legs, on the other hand, were beginning to crouch down with a sort of animalistic bend to them, which I knew would soon straighten out to the legs that used to carry me. His skin had grown a slightly darker shade of gray, not that it was very noticeable behind the thick mat of fur that covered the entirety of his body. I could tell that he would be fully reverted in only a matter of days.
However, I had accepted the changes that were happening to him. To think differently would be selfish, considering the blood he had shed for me so far on our journeys together. While nothing would be able to change the fact that I would miss how he is now for many seasons to come, we would share those seasons together while he was a boar. Plus, by that point, the trouble in the Freljord would be quelled and united under my rule. There would finally be peace without war, and we could just enjoy a relaxing life for once. The thought brought a slight smile to my lips, but I focused back on the arctic before me.
I wormed my way through the tight crevices of the ravine that separated us from the forests, where we would likely stop for the night so that the trolls could go hunting. Thankfully, due to our scavenging in the Citadel, we still had plenty of fresh food stowed away in our packs, more than enough to get us to Rakelstake, and then back to Winter's Claw once we were finished there.
Finally, I could see a parting in the icy rocks up ahead as we neared the end of the crevice, my arms and legs sore from being tossed around due to the unstable footing and random protrusions in the rock face. Behind me, Bristle seemed to be doing even worse, his abnormal size and proportions doing him no favors in the tighter parts of the passageway. Thankfully, his armor still fit him due to the magic of the Vortex, otherwise I was sure his shoulders would be in terrible shape.
Once the two of us slipped out of the crevice, I looked over to my right, seeing the first vegetation in days. The forest was rather small and sparse, but it was the only place that the wildlife would be able to survive in a large area around us due to the isolation, and I hoped that the trolls would find enough to sate their appetite.
One by one, the trolls made it out of the crevice, and Bristle simply pointed towards the forest to the first few. "You have traveled far today. Eat as much as you can, we will rise early in the morning." Without another word, the first few began bolting towards the woods, those coming afterwards simply following in the actions of those before them. Eventually, the last ones made their way out, and the two of us began walking towards the forest.
"We should make camp at the edge of the forest, in case trouble arises in the middle of the night. I have seen the trolls in battle many times…I have plenty of reasons not to trust them, even if they call me their queen."
I could tell Bristle was slightly hesitant, but eventually he nodded. "Yes, the situation still seems to be far too convenient to be without repercussion. If you think it safe to distance ourselves from them, I will respect your judgement." The two of us stopped just outside the edge of the forest, and I watched as Bristle began rifling through his back to retrieve his tent.
"The trolls did not seem to have brought anything with them…I suppose that means that they will be sleeping outside, or in a cave if they can find any. I do not know how active they are at night, but I foresee that they might make sleep challenging." Once Bristle had found his tent I knelt down and began to help him set it up. He looked over at me, curiously, but didn't say anything.
"What? As soon as I remove this armguard all the cold of the Freljord will be just as real to me as it ever has been. You wouldn't want to leave your queen alone in the cold, would you?" I spoke with a playful, mocking tone, letting him know that I wasn't too serious, and he simply laughed.
"When you phrase it that way, I suppose that no, I cannot. You are welcome to stay with me, if you wish." I nodded and began dutifully helping him erect his tent, before finally the two of us climbed inside. I reached into my pack and pulled out some food and my bedroll, setting the former between us and the latter beneath me. Even from inside the tent, I could still hear the sounds of the trolls hunting in the woods, maddening cries echoing through the trees as they hunted their meal for the night. It was slightly disturbing, but that word had quite a new meaning to me after recent events.
As we ate our dinner, I pondered our actions for the next day. "I'm considering going around Anivia's lair. It might add half a moon to our travels, but there's a very high chance that we will be able to avoid her. Do…do you think you have that long, Bristle?"
My companion set down his food, placing his hands on my shoulders as he looked me in the eyes. "Sejuani, I likely only have two moons, at most, until I am fully reverted, and I know we will not be at Rakelstake by that time. Adding more to that will have no effect on me." I could tell that, deep down, even he was having a tough time coming to grips with that information, and so was I. I had raised Winter's Claw to hate Ashe as much as I did, and I knew that he would want to be in that fight attacking with his hands rather than his tusks. The thought that he would merely be my mount…well, it would have disheartened me if I was in his situation, too.
"Understood, Bristle. You will still be instrumental in the fight…you understand that, correct?"
"I do, Sejuani, I do. I am aware that you have trained to fight atop me far more than you have trained to fight beside me, and I know that together we may be a bigger threat than we are while we are apart. Still, I wish that I was able to participate in a more…meaningful way, I suppose."
To this, I had no encouraging words, much to my chagrin, which only seemed to worsen his emotional state. I decided to try and turn the conversation away from the battle, and back to tomorrow. "Anyways, what is your opinion on the proposed actions for tomorrow? I have only been in that area of the Freljord a handful of times. It is heavily wooded, which leaves us vulnerable to an ambush. I doubt the Avarosan forces will know to look for us, unless Anivia suspected that we would march for Rakelstake once we were finished at the Citadel."
"I…I do not have a preference, Sejuani." He laid back on his bedroll and turned away from me, his armor still on. He had been rather silent for most of today, I suppose the circumstances of the battle had been weighing on him for quite a while.
I scooted closer to him, grasping his shoulder as I talked into his ear. "Bristle, I know that you wish to slay Ashe with your own two hands, but there is no reason why you cannot as you are. Do you not remember how fearsome you are as a boar? What about the Avarosan forces we repelled before we made our way to the Vortex? You are a mighty beast just as you are a mighty man, Bristle, and that will forever be true to me. Please tell me you believe this too."
He rolled back over to face me. "I do Sejuani, I truly do. Just please…let me process this on my own for a little while."
I nodded, bringing my hand back to myself. "I will do that for you, Bristle."
I climbed into my bedroll, removing my armor one piece at a time. Once I got to the armguard, however, it seemed the straps to tighten it had completely vanished. I tried tugging on it to slide it down my arm, but the armor piece seemed impossibly tight, secured to my arm by whatever magical force was in the armor. I eventually stopped trying, finding that, even while bare, the warmth provided by the armguard still kept me cozy. "Goodnight, Bristle." I spoke barely above a whisper, unsure if he would hear me even in the confined area of the tent. I never got a response before I quickly fell asleep.
I woke up fairly late the next day, rolling over to find…and empty tent. I sat up in a panic, looking around the enclosed space again just to make sure I wasn't missing Bristle…not that I could. Hurriedly I began donning my armor again, struggling to maneuver around the armguard that was still secured to my skin. Once I was fully armored, I rushed outside to see if I could find Bristle.
Much to my surprise, the search was far easier than I had anticipated. I found him lying on the ground just outside the tent, in what I would call a very awkward sleeping position. I could tell that he had changed more overnight, becoming even more bestial than before, perhaps to the point that he considered himself more beast than man. It would certainly explain this behavior.
I looked up at the gray sky, seeing enough light to know that Bristle would want to be woken up so as to prepare for the day. I walked over to the slumbering body and placed my hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Bristle…why are you out here?"
He was slow to respond, but eventually he started moving, standing up before stumbling down, catching himself with his arms. He remained like that, on all fours, resigning to crane his head back so that he could see straight ahead. "My shoulders…they changed. I do not fit in the tent anymore." The voice that spoke to me was so far from the Bristle I had spoken to three moons prior that I would barely believe it was the same person now, but my eyes did not deceive me. His armor had shifted as well, moving to cover less of his torso and more of his shoulders and back. The way things were going, I didn't know if he even had today left in him.
"That's…that's understandable. Besides that, do you feel well?"
He nodded, struggling to control his enlarged head. His hands and feet had fully reverted as well, his thumbs even having receded into him overnight. Still on his back was the mallet, a weapon he would never be able to wield in battle. "My animalistic instincts are coming back to me, Sejuani, albeit slowly. I will still retain all I have learned during this path of my life, I do believe, but I do now know if I will have the intelligence to act upon it."
I knelt down, wrapping my arms around his. "I have faith that you will. Now come, let us find the trolls so that we can begin our march." I walked over to the tent and began tearing it down alone, seeing Bristle's distraught look out of the corner of my eye as I did so. Before I could even finish that one simple task I couldn't take it anymore, and walked back over to him, speaking softly. "Bristle, you convinced me to see you as the same person no matter what you look like. Now, it seems you are having trouble coming to grips with that very same challenge. Please, for me, believe in yourself, like you got me to."
"I…I do, Sejuani. I just wish I could help more."
I gave him a wry grin, looking over at the tent. "Well, it is yours. I hope you do not think I will be carrying it." I walked back over to the tent, finishing its deconstruction before stuffing it in Bristle's pack, patting him on the side. "Perhaps tomorrow you will be fit to ride, but not quite yet. By then, you will be extremely useful. We have not waged a campaign this long for many seasons, and my body is beginning to ache."
"The strength of the transformation is keeping me sustained. I will gladly be your mount as soon as you see me worthy. Now, as you said, let us go find the trollkin."
I nodded, walking back out into the forests, immediately finding our army. They were scattered around the entire area, blood dried onto their mouths and their weapons, as they had seemingly passed out right after their meal. I looked over towards Bristle, patting his head. "Perhaps the king would like to wake them up?"
I watched in awe as Bristle inhaled deeply before letting it all out, emitting a low rumble that shook the entire forest, something I didn't think him capable of. Immediately the trolls began rising, scratching themselves as they were forced from their slumber. They began crowding around us, attentively awaiting instructions. I could tell by their confused glances that Bristle confused them, though it didn't surprise me. He spoke up, issuing their orders.
"Today, we march further towards Rakelstake. We will bypass Anivia's lair, but we must still remain cautious while near her nest. If she were to hear us and attack, it would be the end of us all. Now, march!" He turned around and began plodding towards our destination, due south so as to take the left at the Ironspikes.
Once again, travel was fairly quiet for the first few hours, and I could tell Bristle was deep in thoughts that I didn't dare interrupt. I knew that he was processing a lot right now due to his changes, and I was willing to let him do that on his own like he had requested. Still, it pained me to see him like this, separating himself from me, but I knew that it was for the better.
After a while, we finally made it to the mountain, taking a left so as to avoid Anivia's nest. From here until late tonight, I would be in fairly unknown territory, a feeling that did not sit well with me. However, between that and being frozen solid by a wrathful Cryophoenix, I was willing to depart from the known. Further up ahead was a small valley thick with snow, easily enough come up to my waist, which meant that Bristle wouldn't be able to see. As we neared closer and the snow grew higher and higher, I put my hand on his head, giving him a knowing look as I lead him through the valley.
Walking became extremely difficult not much later, each step forcing me to move large amounts of snow just to move my leg forward, carving a trench through the snow that Bristle and the trolls would be able to walk through. However, Bristle was nearly blind behind me as he followed my trail, the snow up above his head on all sides.
After perhaps an hour of slow work through the valley, I began to hear shaking, and I looked up at the mountain to our right but failed to see any sort of avalanche. I continued on for another few feet before I heard it again, and this time I stopped.
"I hear it too, Sejuani. I have a feeling we are being watched, but I cannot tell from where."
I looked around the valley, unhindered snow all around us as I shouted out "We know you are here. Show yourselves." I withdrew my flail as anticipation grew high, knowing that Lissandra's death may have put a target on our backs that might be being targeted right now.
I heard the sound of movement and looked up the valley, seeing snow caving in on itself. The path continued, and I quickly put the pieces together in my head. "They are under the snow. Prepare for attack!"
Suddenly, the entire valley caved in as unknown people began charging towards us, causing snow to begin piling down on us, filling in the floor of the valley until it was up to my shoulders. Behind me, Bristle was nearly submerged in the snow, and behind him, the trolls were swinging wildly at whatever movement they could see.
I felt a sword run across my chest from beneath the snow, whoever was attacking me somehow able to navigate from underground. I moved forward to find the tunnel that the attacker had made, giving me a little room to move.
"Bristle…I can't swing at them, but you can. Please, help me." As another blade ran along me I swung my bola forward, the thick layer of snow making the movement sluggish enough that I didn't even land a hit.
Bristle swung his head to the side, throwing up a massive cloud of snow as his tusks crashed through the walls that surrounded us, throwing up a person in the process. I only could get a brief look at him before he fell back into the snow, but I could tell that he was a Frostguard from his armor, and young, perhaps only ten.
"Bristle, it's…it's the children. The Frostguard children are attacking us."
Bristle swung his head to the other side, taking another assailant out. "Then I will slay them just as I have their mothers and fathers. If they wish to kill me, they will pay for their lives!" He went into a rampage, sending his tusks crashing into any movement that I saw, frequently tossing up an assailant in the progress.
Meanwhile, I continued feeling the swords running across my armor, failing to leave any sort of meaningful damage behind. I looked down at the armguard, which was currently emitting a slight chill around my arm. Perhaps it was protecting me?
I swung my flail into the snow once more, managing to lodge it a few feet into the snow before it was slowed to a halt, and so I raised my arm and swung again, this time making it all the way through. I was still unable to see any of the Frostguard children as they sneaked through the snow, leaving me mostly helpless as their weapons bounced harmlessly from my armor.
As the fight raged on, I noticed everything getting colder around me, perplexing me. I looked at the armguard again, finding nothing different from its exterior. I did not know what the details of its magic were, but so long as I remained unscathed, I did not care. Next to me, Bristle continued managing to slay foe after foe, his complete disregard for tactics having tossed up a massive amount of snow around him, clearing a fairly sizeable area. I walked over to join him, tired of being unable to fight the Frostguard.
By his side, I finally had enough time to see the children before they struck out at me, sending my flail through head after head long before their weapons could touch me. During the lulls of the combat, I looked back over towards the line of trolls that were still swinging helplessly at the snow, having stirred up enough of it that I could barely even see through the snowy air. However, there seemed to be few, if not no, casualties, so I continued to let them fight, hoping that their wild swings would eventually kill whatever was attacking them.
Perhaps an hour later, I wasn't entirely sure, it had been several minutes since any commotion had been heard, and I assumed the battle was over. Bodies were piled up around Bristle and I…young bodies, far too young to be in combat. I suppose Lissandra had ordered them to attack us here, knowing that we would move this direction, and without the aid of the trolls, they might have killed us. Or, perhaps more frightening, they children had done this of their own accord. The Winter's Claw army had slain all of their mothers and fathers, after all…I suppose I couldn't fault them if they wanted revenge for the death of their parents.
Bristle turned towards the line of trolls. "Are there any casualties?" Utter silence followed his question for quite some time, until I heard a troll shout back "No dead." The words sent a wave of relief through me, and I collapsed onto Bristle's side. If the trolls could survive an ambush like this with no death, perhaps the battle at Rakelstake would be more winnable than I had originally thought.
Satisfied, I holstered my flail and continued walking, making our way through the rest of the valley. The snow was much less thick the rest of the way, although without bodies underneath it, that made sense.
Once we were out of the valley and room for two abreast, I returned to Bristle's side. "You do realize you saved my life back there, yes? That is not something you would have been able to do even two moons ago. Were it not for your reversion, we would have been easy targets for the Frostguard."
I felt his massive head nod in recognition. "Yes, I suppose you are right. I did only what felt natural to me, but that has changed very rapidly over the past few moons, as you said. Two of those ago, and I would have still been fighting with my hands." He looked down at his arms now, which were permanently configured for walking, not fighting. "Now, such an act would be impossible for me."
I patted him on the side of the head, running my hand forward to his tusks. "However, one thing does not change, no matter what form you are in. You fight with your tusks, and you fight with them well." Again, he simply nodded, as we continued onwards.
By the time we stopped for the night it was pitch black outside, the delay of the fight forcing us to march longer in the night to maintain progress. We had wrapped around the back side of Anivia's nest today, and we had remained unseen, which took a great burden off my shoulders. Tomorrow would be a short journey, and we would make camp not far from Rakelstake, and the fight would begin the following morning.
I pondered approaches to attacking Rakelstake. It was heavily fortified, and Ashe always had a plethora of guards on watch. We would be noticed long before we reached the walls, and by that point, she would have her entire forces in the city, ready for whenever we breached the walls. The odds seemed heavily against us.
As I began setting up the tent, another thought crossed my mind…why must we attempt to use stealth and trickery? Ashe and I had always had our differences, there was no denying that. But, when I compared her now to Lissandra, I saw no reason to treat the two women the same. This journey…it had changed me, softened me, which was not altogether a problem. Admittedly yes, I was still as vicious as ever in the throes of battle, but outside of that…I couldn't attack Ashe the same way that I had Lissandra. To do so would belittle the wretched acts of Lissandra, something I was not willing to do. At the same time, however, I couldn't not attack Rakelstake. Olaf, Volibear, Udyr…they had died for me to get me this far. To not attempt to finish the fight would be an insult to their deaths.
I stopped preparing the tent as an epiphany crossed my mind, and I turned towards Bristle. He had already half fallen asleep, but he raised his head curiously when I stopped moving.
"Bristle…we're going to negotiate with Ashe."
Author's Note: So, that lofty idea of having Chapter 12 out before I leave for school…nope.
Anyways, chapter stuff. I'm thinking 2 more? Seems like there's just about that much plot left, I don't think I'd be able to fit it into 1 without leaving out some really big details, and if I did 3 chapters there'd be some really long, drawn out stuff that would get boring.
Also, I thunk a thought, and I want it to run it by you folks which means I will need feedback otherwise I won't do it (likely). I tossed around the idea of a happy ending and a sad ending…and I want to see which one you would prefer reading (without giving any spoilers whatsoever on what happens in either). It wouldn't affect Chapter 12 at all, so you'll have plenty of time to get back to me (please do reviews are awesome).
As far as this chapter goes, I hope y'all liked it. I'm going to try and crank the rest of this out when I can, but school is hard and it takes priority. Anyways, thanks for reading!
