Chapter -48: The Way to a Melting Heart
The sounds of war resound throughout the lands of Cryofloe and Canofloe and once more, the two armies are led into battle by their leaders.
Without a just cause worth making them stop, they can only stand and fight for their survival, or for the glory of victory.
But whereas prior conflicts wound up being more evenly matched between both forces, nowadays the paradigm was shifting more in favor of Canofloe.
And this was despite the fact that the one-eyed demon has been making scarce appearances as of late.
No. Valflame Blaze has found something worth believing in, and that has carried his heart through many battles and helped to bring more of his men back home alive.
And over time that meant something, allowing his forces to overpower the enemy in every scuffle so he could engage Colrez faster.
That stubborn fool fought with ferocity not unlike the bear he rode, every swing of his blades or thrust of his lance reeking with desperation to secure victory.
Valflame recognized that he was not like himself these days.
He was never a pure man, but the warrior he clashed blades with in days yonder at least shone a semblance of honor in those eyes.
Now there was nothing but a bitter descent into pride weighing upon the man's face. He was constantly pressed on the backfoot, stubbornly refusing to fall to his knees even as Valflame's blades burnt his ice to fog.
As the battle was starting to get heated, Colrez's face twisted, showing the wrinkles of his stress-filled age catching up with him, "Fall, you pompous stached buffoon!"
Valflame held his ground as his bones rang with every beastly swing his opponent took against his sword.
Colrez drew in closer and focused solely on the end of this battle, blind to everything but his own victory.
But Valflame, even with his own body aging, had forced himself to learn new tricks to keep up against his enemy.
The moment Colrez grabbed both his blades and tried to close his escape, Valflame swung his hand to strike the man's wrists while also sheathing his blade.
This quick motion put Colrez on the defensive, allowing Valflame to jump back and gather flames within the sheath.
"Crimson Cascadia!" He then moved his hand like a lightning flash to slash the blade down right out of the sheath, unleashing a torrent of flames upon Colrez like a waterfall.
"Ghhh...! You...!" As Colrez struggled to break free, Valflame thrust forward and slashed him horizontally within the flames, sending him tumbling out onto the ground.
Armor broken, and his spirit more or less in the same condition, Colrez nevertheless stubbornly tried to pull his trembling body up.
"T-This isn't over...!" He shouted.
Valflame had nothing but pity in his eyes, and addressed him with a whisper of, "Colrez, quit it. This isn't worth your pride!"
"What would you know about pride?! You're nothing but a feckless coward!" Colrez shouted, "And to think I once considered you worthy of my presence..."
Valflame narrowed his gaze with mild contempt. His pitiance towards this man was wasted...but he did not draw his sword with the intent to finish the job.
Nor would he have been given the chance regardless, as the effigies of the Titans disappeared into the mountain peaks.
Another battle had ended, with minimal casualties on both sides.
Yet Colrez rose and turned hard like this had been a crushing defeat. No more words were exchanged between leaders, Valflame merely assumed that his growing hatred would prove fatal in the future...
As the armies returned to their lands to lick their wounds and rest for the next battle, they had remained fully unaware of another's presence spectating them off to the side...
Cecilia hunched on her knees atop a small rock formation and rose with the battle's end. Her gaze forcefully aimed towards Colrez, murky with hate.
A while ago...
After a long council with the Sage Stonestein, he, along with her and Ezekiel, had pooled their facts together to determine where each Sage was currently aligned.
This was represented through small stone carvings Stonestein created, each one marked with a different trait unique to the Sage.
Ezekiel scratched the back of his head and muttered, "Hoo boy, havin' it all laid out like this..."
They had estimated that five other Sages were allied with Lilith, two had an uncertain allegiance, and all that remained was Borealis himself.
Cecilia was cross towards Stonestein, pointing out to him, "How did this many Sages end up on her side?"
Stonestein's eyes closed and he looked just as unnerved by the results as the others, "Torren, Adderbolt, Vermilion..."
"Their inexperience was no doubt exploited."
Cecilia then said, "You say that, but Vermilion doesn't appear reluctant to help them."
"She is an unfortunate child." Stonestein said with sadness.
"Suffered the worst by her parents' death."
"..." Cecilia was left to ponder that while Ezekiel added his own thoughts.
"If this Lilith character could get a rotten fella like Glade on her side, then I hafta wonder how deep her filth is."
"I knew her capable of such depravity," Stonestein remarked, taking a deep sigh through his nostrils, "But I wrongly presumed age tempered it..."
Cecilia crossed her arms and bluntly told him, "Well your guilt does us no good now. We need to figure out how to expose Lilith's treachery."
Stonestein nodded, "Indeed."
"Well I reckon I ain't fit for that kinda talk..." Ezekiel pointed out.
"You mentioned Atrax helping you out," Stonestein remarked, "I want to know more."
"Him?" Ezekiel rolled his hand around in the air and was reluctant to get anything out, "Guy's kinda weird, but Sarajin trusts him and he ain't done us wrong far as we can tell."
"I still don't trust him." Cecilia remarked.
"Within reason, he is Lilith's brother." Stonestein remarked.
"THAT'S their relationship?!" Ezekiel sputtered out, "...Then why's he helping us?"
"I do not know," Stonestein said, his tone perturbed, "I suspected him as the traitor first."
"Then we should avoid exposing your allegiance to us in his presence." Cecilia stated.
"That I can vouch on." Ezekiel murmured.
"What of Sarajin Stratos?" Stonestein wondered.
Cecilia bridged her hands under her chin and said, "What about him? He's not going to be any help to us."
"Cecilia..." Ezekiel bemoaned, only for her to eye him from the side.
"You know I'm right."
"...Ya, but even his bleedin' heart's gotta have limits. I doubt he'd be merciful to Lilith if he knew what she's been up to."
"It's more than that. He doesn't trust the Sages, Atrax excepted. He won't take kindly to us working with this man."
"True, but if we don't tell him, Auris might eventually."
"...Right, I hadn't even considered her opinion." Cecilia noted with mild shame in her voice.
"I will speak to her in private." Stonestein volunteered.
"After that, I leave up to her."
"Bloody heck, all this secrecy rubs me the wrong way..." Ezekiel grumbled.
"If we don't act carefully, Lilith will find out what we're doing. It's best to keep this information within a small circle."
Ezekiel then finished scratching the back of his head and waved his hand out, "Any chance we could sway some of the Sages to our side? Make it a little easier to pressure Lilith?"
"I am unaware of the circumstances."
"But Glade, Nimus and Vermilion are unlikely."
Ezekiel then tapped the top of the figure with a blindfold, "What about this lass? Carolina, you called her?"
Stonestein opened his eyes to look at the figure, "I am unsure where she stands."
"...I don't necessarily think she's our enemy," Cecilia remarked, leaning in to take the figure into her hands, "Back when I...When the Arctic Knight stood on the battlefield, they noticed a figure hiding in the mist, rescuing the soldiers being hunted down by Vermilion."
Stonestein then remarked, "She is obscuring her presence."
"As a true Sage should behave..." He closed his eyes and nodded with approval.
Cecilia then furrowed her brow and muttered, "Yeah..."
"Something the matter?" Ezekiel asked.
Cecilia laid the figure to rest and pressed down on it hard with her finger, "Saving lives is one thing, but it's who she is saving that makes me question her loyalty."
"There's nothing good to gain out of letting that bastard's army remain as large as it is," Cecilia started mumbling with contempt in her tone, "That kind of tactic feels like something that would benefit Lilith more than anything."
"Maybe if we asked her...?" Ezekiel began to lean towards, only for Stonestein to interrupt.
"That would be difficult."
He looked at them both and said, "She does not speak, even to Borealis."
"A mute Sage?" Ezekiel remarked.
"Seems like it's not worth it then." Cecilia pointed out.
"...Not necessarily," Ezekiel fumbled around trying to muster up the will to say what was on his mind and had to avert his gaze from his wife the whole time, "Sarajin's gone off before about how clashing blades with someone can reveal their true intentions."
Cecilia raised her brows in a stern, disruptive fashion while murmuring, "That's ridiculous."
Ezekiel threw his hands up in the air and shouted, "Either of ya got any better ideas?"
"Anything can be better than THAT." Cecilia remarked.
Ezekiel then turned to his wife and leaned in closer, telling her with a tender whisper in his voice, "Is that really true, or do ya just not want to go back to Cryofloe? Cause if that's the problem, I'll go in yer place."
Cecilia's cocky smile wavered and with a narrowing of her eyes she told him, "You wouldn't survive those conditions, and if that bastard caught you-"
"..." Cecilia closed her eyes. Ezekiel pouted and nodded his head.
The two came to a mutual understanding, and with her eyes halfway open Cecilia muttered, "I'm the only one who can do this."
"Ya know those lands better than any of us." Ezekiel said.
"...I'll go under two conditions," Cecilia firmed her stance and pointed her gaze towards Stonestein, "One, only when Colrez's armies are weary from a battle. It'll make it easier to get around undetected."
"And two..." She deepened the intensity of her gaze until a sheer cold blizzard was nipping at the Sage's armor, "If it turns out this Carolina is not aligned with our interests, I'm going to kill her before she can cause trouble later down the line. Is that ok?"
Stonestein's eyes widened, he proceeded to bury his chin into his chest and cross his arms...
Cecilia stood up from her perch and dropped down the side, immediately breaking into a lightweight sprint towards the village.
Armed only with her twin blades for easy movement, she reminded herself of all the nooks and crannies she could hide inside and attempted to make her way towards the mountain.
"Nothing has changed." She thought with just a cursory glance at the atmosphere of the village.
In fact, if anything, it had only gotten worse since her departure.
Floods of women brought themselves to their knees in Colrez's presence, but he spat in their faces and shoved them off his legs on a one-way march back to his palace.
His men were left with his scraps, but they were beaten and worn down to the point that nothing could replenish them, not even the thrill of a celebration.
It was then that Cecilia noticed how it was mostly younger men that filled that bastard's ranks, and how woefully underdressed they were for battle.
All of Colrez's careless warmongering had gotten him was dwindling supplies for armor and weapons, his men starving in their looks.
This was no army. There was no pride to be worn on their faces. All they stood for was to prop up their commander's presence, shackled to invisible chains riding off his back.
Cecilia scoffed, focusing down on Colrez while drawing one blade from her back.
"It would be easy to take him down now..." She stopped halfway as she saw him twist his head back and look around.
She had slipped back into the shadows, her heart beating fast.
Loathe as she was to admit it, he did not earn that spot at the top without being the best of the worst...
Still, she had a firm hand on her blade, ready to leap out at a moment's notice.
She peeked around the corner of the house and then slipped through the crusty alleyways until she could climb one of the larger houses to get a better vantage point.
There she saw Colrez ending his march at the foot of his palace, where one of his weary men slumped over and, lacking control over his thoughts, groaned aloud, "I-If only the Arctic Knight was still with us..."
Colrez jolted upright and then turned around, his movements as sharp as a blade being drawn.
"Who said that?!" He blurted in a foul, befuddled tone.
That lone soldier froze stiff and Colrez glared at him down, furrowing his brows so tight it looked like he would crush his eyes out of their sockets.
"How DARE you speak those words to me...!" Colrez marched up into that soldier's panicking face and spat and spewed without a pause to breathe, "I am more than capable, how dare you sow dissent in our ranks, stripling!"
"B-But sir, the Knight was-"
"A foul-stench wench, unworthy of anything but the loins of her superiors...!"
Cecilia was grabbing her sword extra tight and digging her fingertips into the edge of the roof.
Colrez grabbed this soldier by the armor and shook him until it started to loosen off. Then with a terrifying grunt he was thrown to the ground on his back.
Colrez's stare went vacant as he snapped his fingers, calling his royal guards over to the soldier's side.
"Strip him of his armor. Let's not see if a little time in the wilds won't kill his disobedience."
The guards pinned the young man down and tore his armor off as he flailed and screamed, turning to the men behind him in desperation, "H-Help me...! Don't let me die...! I don't wanna die...!"
Colrez silenced any wayward gazes from the other soldiers with a thunderous footstep, "Return to your barracks! Tomorrow...we march on those dirt-smearing barbarians...!"
The poor soldier was dragged off by the guards and Colrez returned to the sanctity of his palace, slamming the doors shut behind him.
Cecilia stood up and jerked her clenched sword by her hip, cursing her inability to act...
It was the praise of that one soldier that had made her hesitate. She was still remembered, and in some cases, fondly...
But nevertheless her heart remained cold to the state of this world, as she glared down at this hostile city and its people and muttered, "You want to make peace with this...Sarajin?"
She shook her head and then put the blade onto her back, proceeding to slip away into the thick of icy mist until she no longer had to look back and see this terrible "home" of hers again.
There, she would soon find herself back at the Wilds, close to the base of the mountain.
She crossed her arms and where she once saw a peak that even the bravest of the land would dare to climb, found herself swelling with a desire to make it all the way to the top.
"If Sarajin could manage this with barely any protection from the ice, then it will be a breeze for me."
This was about more than conquest, however. She needed to keep an eye out for a particular silhouette within the blizzard. As Stonestein described her, Carolina wore 'The wings of a frigid butterfly'.
Having never seen such an insect in person, all she had to go on was that said wings had four points.
Apparently that would be enough.
"I am doubtful this will work, but still..." She kept one hand on her blades and began to scale the mountain, "One way or another, this will eliminate a potential enemy."
The frigid winds and heavy snowflakes fought her at every step and it wasn't long before the depth of the snow was dragging her feet forward.
There was nothing to guide her save for pure instinct and a few ice crystals spearing out of the ground, but even that had to be called into question when she swore she wandered past the same one's multiple times.
And if she couldn't make sense of her surroundings, how was she planning on finding the Sage? This was presuming, of course, that this wasn't all a ploy to trap her.
She could escape to the base of the mountain anytime. There wasn't any way she would wind up trapped...
The cold was starting to press against her skin and solidify. Even her own body's natural resistance was failing her.
"H-How the hell did he make it all the way to the top...?" She was bitterly rattling her teeth together and maybe it was the harsh weather lowering her defenses, but she almost felt a smidge of respect towards Sarajin...
She dug her heels into the deep trenches of snow in her wake and looked around until finally, she noticed movement in the distance.
It was a faint shadow with a wide, wavy presence that solidified the closer it got, until Cecilia could make out the appearance of four, pointed wings.
She held her hands close to her swords and braced herself.
The shadow stopped, the mountain went silent.
"...Huh?" Cecilia put her brows up and expected movement, but got none.
Instead, a howl of cold air blew towards her, parting the heavy snow so the two ladies of ice could meet each other face-to-face.
The Sage was gorgeous and ethereal, floating over the snow with an appearance unable to be fully captured into words.
She had all the traits Stonestein described her by, but alas, the deeper meaning of this beauty was something Cecilia would readily ignore for the sake of her mission.
She drew one of her blades at Carolina and declared to her, "Carolina of the Ten Sages...! I have come seeking answers. Are you allied with Borealis Aurora, or does your allegiance lay elsewhere?"
Carolina tilted her head and puckered her lips, not uttering a word, as expected.
Cecilia narrowed her eyes and was patient for a moment or two.
Carolina then returned her head to position and gave it a gentle shake.
"No?" Cecilia was baffled, "That's not an answer."
Carolina put her hands together before her waist and smiled, then raised a finger at Cecilia.
"What is that supposed to mean? Are you asking for my allegiance?"
Carolina nodded.
Cecilia tightened her grip and scoffed, "I am allied with Oreore."
Carolina shook her head and baffled Cecilia, "No?! You can't presume my intentions lie elsewhere...!"
Carolina shook her head again and then waved her hands upward. The ground trembled, and Cecilia found herself surrounded by a series of ice sculptures.
They were lacking in features but were distinct enough in shape for her to recognize them as the other members of the Genesis Samurais. With a dry huff of air out her teeth Cecilia murmured, "Yes, I suppose I am allied with them..."
Carolina then smiled and lifted her hands to raise one more ice sculpture, this one resembling Sarajin.
Cecilia closed her eyes tight and grumbled, "He's part of the same group, but we do not follow the same path."
The sculptures were immediately dragged back into the snow, leaving Cecilia with a clear look at Carolina tilting her head around.
"You're distracting from the point!" Cecilia brandished her sword once more, "WHO are you allied with?"
Carolina froze on a frown and shook her head, slowly turning away.
"What?!" Cecilia grabbed hold of her blades and as the snow began to fall upon her once more, she jumped from her spot and flew at the Sage.
"I'm not done with you yet!" She announced before swinging her blades.
The Sage floated over her and got behind her as she landed, using her wings to kick up a quick, icy gale.
Cecilia turned around and stabbed her swords into the ground before she would go sliding down the mountain. Then, gritting her teeth, eyed the Sage and mumbled, "Guess this conversation is over then...!"
With a twist of her blades Cecilia tried to call forth spears of ice from the ground to clip the Sage's wings, but her opponent proved nimble and seemed to evade them even before their presence could be manifested.
Carolina then flew up close and rubbed her smile in her face, evading the ensuing slash by flying overhead.
Cecilia tried to get a hit in with her elbow but missed and then pulled her swords up and turned around, finding the Sage floating out of reach.
Carolina then flapped back and condensed some of the snow into giant snowballs to drop on Cecilia. Cecilia rolled out of the way and then tried to jump after the Sage, only for them to playfully dangle out of reach.
Cecilia then flipped back and decided to try something different on the fly. She attached ice to the end of her blade and then flicked it out, keeping it thin enough that it could act like a makeshift rope.
This allowed the blade to swing around Carolina's leg, where Cecilia fully solidified it before she could slip out.
Carolina's mouth opened like an "o" and she let herself be tugged towards Cecilia.
Cecilia readied her other sword only for Carolina to summon two frost covered knives from thin air and slice through the chain.
She kept moving forward until over Cecilia, then used icy wind to push their distance further apart. Then she held her knives out and dove, the frost weaving spirals of glittering colors in her wake.
Carolina came in contact with Cecilia but what felt like a tap for her wound up sending the warrior crashing straight down to the bottom of the mountain in seconds.
But she landed on her feet and took control quick enough to see Carolina coming at her again. The Sage was agile and swooped around her, making barely an effort with each attack.
Cecilia kept being pushed back and didn't see where she could force an opening, "I never expected a Sage to be this nimble...! How annoying."
They were matched in strength but by all accounts it felt like the Sage was playing around.
Eventually Carolina ended her little aerial dance and took to flying higher, where she swept her knives through the air to focus a frosty tornado upon Cecilia's location.
This dragged the snow onto her skin to weigh her down, but as she dropped her knees she slammed her swords into the ground and focused her energy into an outward burst of frost to push all outside forces away.
She then stood tall and pointed her blade up at Carolina, slinging an accusation, "I didn't come here to play your games, Sage!"
"H-Help...!" A muffled voice echoed in the distance.
Cecilia glanced over her shoulder and saw that they were near the frigid lake, and the soldier that had been stripped bare and forced out of the village was now caught in the water.
She slanted her brows and focused back on Carolina.
Carolina began to pout and made a quick dodge to the left when Cecilia slashed frost at her.
The soldier could be heard splashing and his cries for help being drowned out by his mouth sinking beneath the surface.
Cecilia trembled but kept her focus on Carolina.
However, the Sage shook her head and then dove right past her to head for the lake.
Cecilia widened her eyes and spun around, slashing twice with all her might. Carolina evaded the strikes, but their path set them on a course to destroy the only solid land the soldier could still grab onto.
But as they began to sink into the lake, Carolina fell to the ground and dove part way off the edge, grabbing hold of them and pulling them up to safety.
Cecilia ran over, pausing to catch her breath at the sheer exasperation of what she was witnessing.
Carolina helped the soldier stand and then took the cloth off her shoulder to dry them off, keeping them steady with the warmth of her smile.
When the soldier was dry and able to acclimate to the normal temperature, he bobbed his head and muttered, "T-Thank you...!"
They then sprinted as far away from the lake as their feet could carry them, disappearing into the white air.
Carolina then put her cloth back on and froze up as Cecilia forced the tip of her blade towards the side of her face.
Cecilia then glared at her down and remarked, "Make any sudden moves and I won't hesitate."
She then proceeded to ask her something new, her eyes trembling with reluctance to face the fleeing soldier, "Why did you save their life?"
Carolina faced her blade and then gestured her hand out towards the lake before pointing at Cecilia, and shaking her head.
Cecilia picked up on what she was suggesting and narrowed her gaze further, letting out a scoff, "Why didn't I save them? Why should I? I have no obligation to help these bastards anymore."
Carolina continued to shake her head, the softness of her movements leaving Cecilia feel like her character was being attacked.
She nudged the blade tip closer, "Now answer me...who are you allied to? Borealis, or not?"
Carolina once more shook her head.
"That is NOT an answer...!" Cecilia was losing her patience.
Carolina brushed her hand down her chest and snow parted from it to form a poncho across her shoulders. Cecilia stiffened with a gasp and then clenched down on her sword.
"ANOTHER bleeding heart..."
She squeezed her eyes shut and swiped her sword to release it onto the ground, then crossed her arms under her chest and glared at the Sage.
"Do you have...ANY awareness of the depravity those men in Cryofloe have committed? They're ravenous, and if given the opportunity they wouldn't hesitate to grab you and force you down, stripping you of all your will until you're nothing but a mindless sex slave...!"
In the face of Cecilia's outrage, Carolina calmly nodded her head, causing Cecilia to clench her teeth and hiss, "Then why...?!"
She lashed her arm out and stood directly in front of the Sage, pressing foreheads together to growl at her, "People like them don't respect kind acts. They won't stop until the source of their corruption is torn out from under them!"
"...T-Then...what?" Carolina whispered, her voice gurgling and clicking.
Cecilia's heart skipped a beat and she leaped back, swiping her sword off the ground and placing herself in a defensive stance.
Carolina shook her head and held her hands side by side before her chest. From her palms came a small fountain of snowflakes that she used to etch out words.
"Your aura is sharp...it wounds you. If you define your life by revenge, what will happen to those wounds when there's no longer someone to fill them?"
Cecilia spoke this out and was listless in her breathing, "...What?"
Carolina closed her hands and the snow fell. She shook her head and looked straight at her, "Killing...wrong."
Cecilia narrowed her gaze and shouted, "If killing is wrong then what? Am I supposed to show that bastard...mercy?!"
Carolina nodded and even Cecilia's own mental fortitude nearly failed to keep her from drawing her blade to the Sage's neck.
"No. NEVER. That man's lust for glory has been a shadow over these lands for TOO LONG...! I will not...I can not let him ruin any more lives...!"
Carolina created more snow to form words, "If you kill him, all you'll do is prove that his way was right all along."
"...Khhh...!" Cecilia's body trembled, forcing her blade out of her hand.
Carolina then laid her hands atop her chest and whispered, "Trust...Sarajin."
Cecilia grabbed the side of her aching head and glared at the Sage, "Why...? He could never understand how I feel...!"
Carolina shook her head some more and then hovered off the ground, gliding straight back for the mountain.
"S-Stop...!" Cecilia shouted, and so the Sage complied.
Cecilia took a few steps closer and laid her hands down by her hips, "Where do you think you're going? We're not done here!"
Carolina performed that accursed head shake, leaving Cecilia with a pitying remark of, "Can't...help...you."
"Help...yourself...first."
She then bowed her head and retreated backwards up the mountain.
Cecilia was left in isolation with no understanding of what just went down...Only that she may very well have lost whatever battle she was fighting.
Carolina was no enemy...not to anyone but her.
So by any means necessary, Cecilia swore that she would force this Sage to see things her way...
Gritting her teeth, her anger reached a boiling point, causing her to burn out and then whimper in a stiff tone, "...I-I can't let that bastard live, not while he threatens my family and home..."
She dragged herself away to pick up her blades, and then muttered as she began to leave these lands behind once more, "I CAN'T..."
Next Time: Progress