Author's Note

I've moved the chapter order around so now we can alternate between these two! This is the first chapter in the later time period, I hope you enjoy it!

It was strange how differently the siblings were seen by the soldiers, despite holding equal status. They were both respected, but for different reasons.

Lumine was born to command. Her white jacket was already adorned with badges and insignias, and her bright uniform was pristine; even in the wet highland region, they had trekked through for days. She had taught them, helped them, and lead them. She had earned their loyalty.

Aether had never tried to be in charge. He was, technically, but he almost never enforced it. The siblings had always led their units together. Lumine ran drills and enforced regulations, but according to the pattern the siblings had fallen into, that was never Aether's job. He participated, but he didn't take charge.

When they passed through a town on patrols or simply stopped to rest during a larger mission, Aether would lead crews into the towns to offer assistance. They would assist in local construction, they would hunt as a party for both the town and their own stores, and they would take groups to trade en masse with every bookstore they could find.

They had never pressed into the frontlines. According to the higher chain of command, it was too dangerous considering the target on their backs, so they had been allowed to this liberal method of leadership for a long time.

Until now. They had been called away from training Knights of Favonious in Mondstadt to help take a pass through the northern mountains. Most mountains were northern, really, but the Northern Range itself was what Mondo-liyueans called the second ring of peaks that marked the other end of the unclaimed territory between Mondstadt and Snezhnaya. If they could secure this route, it would let them hold a passage into Snezhnaya itself- something that the military had not been able to achieve in quite some time. Right now each country controlled one range, and the space between was just a zone of potential chaos and a few townships that bore no country's flag. That area was where the siblings had come from, actually. But they had been through every town in the region. Twice. There was no use dwelling on it.

This pass was supposed a stalemate-breaker, Aether needed to focus on the battle. But then again, that's what anything was called when the high generals needed it rallied behind. Whatever. It was a good plan, and this place sure seemed important. Even if it had little impact, it should be an easy victory.

Aether continued alongside his sister through the camp. He stared up at the snowy peaks above them. It wasn't unlike the academy, really. It was kind of nice.

His reputation had spread even outside of military circles he had operated within directly, and normally soldiers would invite him into card games or try to coax him into drinking and gambling among them; but not today. Today the camp was preparing to descend towards the Snezhanan fort. The summer army was readying for battle. Even so, many still clapped him on the shoulder or simply nodded at his passing.

He felt like he was betraying them, just a little bit. He would, in all likelihood, never touch the field today. He was barely at risk, and all the same has was cheering for these people's potential sacrifice like he was among them.

They would be fine. They had healers, and the winter army might just surrender after all. That would be nice.

The siblings had reached the command tent, and they ducked inside. Standing around the central table were Generals Rhinedottir, Zhou, and Gunnhildr. Each was adorned in a fine uniform, and they were impressive despite the layer of dirt and snow dusting them and the anxious looks of their wearers.

Beidou's hair was shaved on one side of her head now, and the other fell over to the other in ric, black waves. Her sparkling trident's pommel was boring a hole in the carpet as she spun the shaft in her gloved fingertips. She was wearing the maroon, loose-fitting, heavily-layered uniform of a naval officer. Aether and Lumine had been on another ship for some time; the northern waters were cold and unforgiving. Aether didn't blame the Navy for dressing heavily.

Beidou's ships had landed nearby just the previous morning to aid in the effort of the coming night, but Aether hadn't seen his former captain much.

Albedo had donned a mage-general's equipment. He had a tight-fitted set of clothing, personally designed and specially enchanted to be imbued with a layer of arcane protection. Most mages couldn't wear standard armor while still performing the languid movements necessary to cast and manipulate spells, and Albedo himself had originally designed this alternative. He had pulled a long, heavy, gray jacket on over his lab coat. The alchemist's eyes were as shockingly blue and his sandy-brown hair as strangely immaculate as they always were whenever Aether met with him.

General Gunnhildr was wearing the navy-blue dress of an academy general under a warm, wool-lined jacket. Her bright eyes looked tired in the wisp-light, but her stance was attentive as ever. She barely glanced up from the table in front of her to greet the siblings: "Oh, hey. How are things out there?"

"You can just send out Aether to start another pugilism tourney if you need to raise morale," Albedo suggested.

Was he joking? It was hard to tell. He really must have gotten along well with Qiqi before he graduated.

"The ranks are lively enough, despite the cold," Lumine informed the generals before them.

"Then maybe we should keep them in good health as well, for now," General Gunnhildr suggested. "We don't have long to deliberate here, but I think our plan will hold. We had to readjust a bit, they had another few units of brawlers pulled in an hour or so ago."

"Which probably means that they know we plan to make our move soon," Beidou added.

"Which, in turn, ultimately means little but that we should continue our plans to move as quickly as we can in order to circumvent the threat of any further reinforcement to their defenses," Albedo finished, in a confusing fashion.

"Dude. Either talk slower or simpler," Beidou scowled. "Please."

Aether circled the map on the table. It had been labeled with pins and strewn with wooden figurines. Different layers of colors demonstrated elevation, and a proud label was scrolled across the top; "Herja Pass".

"We don't have much to worry about. It all still relies on the hammer. If we can flush them out, we'll be properly positioned to take the whole pass for ourselves. We have the numbers to guarantee victory here, so long we get them out of those fuckin gates," Beidou relayed, waving figurines around in the air to indicate the details of her oh-so-specific explanation.

"The hammer? Did you just call yourself the hammer?" Aether asked, grinning.

"No, I mean the fuckin avalanche itself! And I didn't come up with the name, Kazuha started that. He was talking about like the anvil that is fear or some shit, I forget. Everybody just remembers the part where I'm the hammer."

"So you admit, General Zhou, that you are referring to yourself as the hammer," Albedo challenged, gazing out of the tent and over the real battlefield that their model map displayed.

"Hey, I-"

Lumine cut in: "So, from the top; where does that leave us?"

An hour later they had made it most of the way up the mountain. Aether turned around to wait and took a moment to look out over the pass. It ran north-to-south, with sheer and uneven cliffs rising sharply on either side. The winding flat area in the middle was rocky and full of freezing pools, but in these mountains it was just about the only option for moving en masse, as it was mercifully wide.

That is- it would be the only option. However, directly north of the tightest section a massive stone wall rose in the pass. This was the Herja Garrison, a Snezhnayan outpost which had stood for quite some was a gate, but it was firmly shut and frozen over in some places. There was a second wall, deeper in, and from this height Aether could see between them where there were a handful of barracks and storage buildings strewn around bonfires.

There were no eastern or western walls, the gatehouses extended right into either side of the col.

Up on a ridge maybe 600 feet to the south down the pass was where the Mondo-liyuean forces had gathered. The summer army had amassed maybe twice as many soldiers as Snezhnaya had been able to move here, but unless they could take this fight outside the walls it wouldn't be enough. It was a well-defended bottleneck, and they would need twice the numbers they had now to take it by force. Even then, it would be bloody. He had heard all this in the Academy, but he had never seen it in practice.

Their forces were already moving down into the pass. Each unit formed groups of 10-20 in formations around their captains and champions, and there were about fifteen such packs on their side.

The Snezhnayans didn't typically fight like that. They formed larger battalions of fighters, and their champions, if any were present, would be hidden among them. It prevented them from being targeted, but also didn't compliment their strengths in the way that the summer army's formations could.

All in all, there were around 130 people at the garrison. The summer army had 240 on the battlefield, and two more 15-man units of racers from General Rhinedottir's forces had joined the siblings on the mountain.

A gloved hand clapped Aether on the shoulder.

"Hey! Aether, good to see ya',"

Standing beside him now was a captain of one of the aforementioned racers, Razor Harleston.

He had grown his silver hair out longer since they had graduated, and it was tied back in a long ponytail. He was wearing a heavy snow-camo jacket, and his gravboard was poking over his shoulder from where it was strapped to his back. His eyes were a deep maroon, and they looked a little bit like pools of blood. It didn't help that there were ripples moving outwards through them slowly, as if his pupils were stones falling onto the surface. Aether honestly didn't remember his signature's name. Abyss-something? It didn't matter much.

"Yeah you too! How are you feeling?" he asked. It was pretty hard to think of anything to talk about but the impending battle.

Razor grinned, looking down at the outpost below them: "I'm psyched. This mountain is insane, we might even make it down faster than the avalanche."

He pointed to a harsh drop-off halfway down the side.

"I believe it. I wouldn't want to be going with you," Aether noted.

"I think I'm morally obligated as a racing champ to jump that, as a matter of fact. It might be in my contract," Razor joked.

"Your record wouldn't count if you died on the way," Bennett chimed in, passing them on the trail.

The pair of captains raced off further up the mountain, just as Lumine and General Gunnhildr caught up to where Aether was standing.

"Is it the area just up there, where we're headed?" Lumine asked.

"Yes. It lines up with the first gatehouse, the racers decided on it this morning," the general responded.

"Alright, gotcha," Aether replied, setting off up the last stretch of the trail.

"It's so cold," Lumine commented, looking intently at the ground in order to avoid the ice.

Aether bumped her shoulder with his, and she yelped as she stumbled into the snow.

She scowled at him and shoved him back, and he laughed. At least she was smiling too now.

Aether got to the top, so he dusted off a snowy rock and sat down, rubbing his gloves together and pulling his coat tighter around himself.

A few of the racers kicked on their engines, and a steady electric hum cracked into the winter atmosphere. Aether watched Razor jump up with the board, swiveling in the air and adjusting the magnets connected to his boots before locking them in. His board hovered about a foot off the snow, sending bright purple light over the top of the snow.

Aether would have expected the snow to push away from the underside of the boards, but the snow from the top layers of the field near the boards was being pulled towards the undersides until it spun in one of a dozen or so wide circles under the board before falling away. Each of the 30 racers was warming up now, and the small vortexes were churning up the ground even though none of them were actually touching it.

"Is everyone set?" Bennet asked. He had pulled a hood down over his white hair, and his emerald eyes were looking from person to person.

A chorus of responses came up from the units, and Razor turned to General Gunnhildr: "You heard them, General. Specialty vanguards v and vi are in position."

"Very well. Let's make this as bloodless as can be, with any luck they'll come out with their hands up," she hoped.

"You have good seats," Razor commented to the siblings, hovering over the edge of the cliff. "I'll try not to show off too much."

"You couldn't stop yourself if you tried," Lumine challenged.

The general raised her hand into the sky, and muttered soft words of power. A corkscrewing ball of bright purple light shot up, winding high into the sky. As Aether followed it's cloud-bound course, the sky darkened around them. Clouds pulled over the pass and seemed to condense harde until a churning, black storm had been pulled over the mountains.

The racers howled and clapped with anticipation, and a few of them pulled up into flips and spins and they circled on the snow. Aether saw that Lumine was watching over the garrison, where he could hear alarm bells echoing out.

At that moment, bright light ruptured the dim atmosphere of the evening. A blinding white bolt shot down to the peak opposite their position, and thunder exploded into the winter sky. Aether's vision had gone spotty and unreliable for a moment, and he was blinking rapidly to clear it when he heard the second rumble start. Many would mistake it for residual echoes from the thunderclap, but a sheet of white was already cascading down from where the lightning had unleashed a rock pile. The human-made avalanche was barreling for the northern section of the garrison.

Aether stood and walked to the edge of the ridge, and he saw that a few Snezhnayans were already pouring out into the pass. They had purposefully rigged the site so that the snow took some time to get there. The winter army was amassing together quickly, but they were few in number.

Very few in number actually. There was still movement in the camp, but soon enough white mist had rolled over everything beyond the southern gate. Snezhnayans continued to exit until the hammer itself impacted, shaking the ground as the rocks and ice came to a grinding halt in the outpost.

It worked. Aether was kind of surprised. He had never seen a skirmish on this scale, and it already seemed like they might bring it to a close. He was never getting on Beidou's bad side.

Razor and Benett plunged down the cliff. Bennett called something but his words were taken by the wind. Hollering and cheering, 28 other racers zipped over the edge. Some of them tipped slowly and let themselves fire down while others just went full speed off the top and roared with excitement as they competed for airtime. It was a bit disorienting to see them moving that fast, seemingly without a care in the world. It was hard to remember how much control they really had, it just looked nauseating. I mean, he could fly, so… it wasn't incomprehensible. But something about the gravboards made racer dives just more nerve-wracking to watch.

"Wait, how many just got buried?" Lumine asked.

She was right. Aether hadn't really thought of that, but there couldn't have been more than 80 of them there.

"I- well it can't be that many. They had time to move out, surely. The traffic just- trickled off. Like there was nobody… else… there…" the general trailed off.

"They moved. They knew, and they evacuated already," Aether declared. He didn't know for sure, but what else could it be? The general seemed nervous. Wasn't this a good thing?

"But why are any of them still here? Even Snezhnaya wouldn't just sacrifice them for a diversion, right? Wouldn't they just give up the garrison and come back with more men later?" Lumine wondered.

The three of them were alone now, standing watch over the battle from the mountain.

As the summer army surged across the snowfield, units shifting like a marching band into adapted formations, arrows flew over their heads to arc towards the winter soldiers at the gate. Arbalists and archery men were positioned at stations partially up the mountain, and the winter army was forced to stay as out of range as best they could.

Still, there were no signs of surrender. The general frowned, and stared intently down into the col.

"There's one very likely explanation," she finally spoke.

"What are you thinking?" Aether asked, summoning and dismissing his sword from thin air nervously.

"They still think they can win. And that means they're hiding someone. I think you two might actually have a target today, we might have to use you."

Lumine and Aether looked at each other. They knew why they were being held in reserve, they were basically assassins, but this shouldn't have been the kind of battle where they were needed.

"What should we do?" Lumine asked.

"Just wait. We'll have to see what happens in the next minute or so," the general answered.

Aether paced back and forth over the ridge. Every second they didn't do something they were just letting their forces inch closer to what very well might be a trap.

Three huge, opaque walls sprung up to stop the archers. They were about half as high as the actual garrison walls and left only moderate gaps between them as they were around 100 feet wide. They were barrier spells, a technique widely used by the north. Aether figured they would use them, but now they had to stop their advance and defend. That was a little disadvantageous, but the archers had done their job. They were forced to. Trying to learn the spell's details so it could be taught was actually a major objective of both foreign operatives and academy researchers; nobody below the border had figured it out yet.

Aether looked back to his right to see that Razor and three others had just hit the jump. Bennett had, very predictably, almost fallen many times but he somehow managed to stay on his feet. The racers, some of them still airborne, plunged between the garrison's walls and into the camp. The clouds of snow thrown up by the landslide were still blocking most of the inside, but the purple flashes from the boards were visible through the haze. Under cover of the walls, twenty or so Snezhnayans plunged back through the gate and suddenly magic lit up the encampment.

Bolts of fire left trails of dark smoke, bursts of lightning snapped through the mist, and the sounds of earth churning and weapons clashing emanated into the battlefield.

The racers were there to deal with stragglers, and now there were twenty rearguards. Who had the advantage? It depended on how many Snezhnayans hadn't left, and there was no way to see.

The summer army stopped as General Gunnhildr released another flare. Both sides were now just waiting for the conflict to resolve. The summer army needed the racers to hit the northern troops from behind, and they were in control. Barrier spells couldn't be moved, so they could wait as long as they wanted.

After a pause, racers exploded out from over the end of the wall. Five of them continued over the side walls of the pass, towards the summer army's camp, retreating with five more wounded companions guided on their own boards behind them. The other twenty fighters turned down into the snowfield and plunged into the back of Snezhnayan lines.

Snow was kicked up into the faces of the closest soldiers, and the racers were moving so fast that they were already gone by the time most of their enemies had reacted. They were expected, but they were just moving with far too much speed. Aether saw Razor swung in a 180-degree turn, knocking one fighter in the head with the back of his board at the same time that he knocked another one down with his quarterstaff. Bennett had somehow managed to ride up above the Snezhnayan mass and was intermittently knocking soldiers down as he careened over them.

At that moment, one of the barriers dropped. Another racer had snatched up a shieldmage and thrown him against the side of the cliff. A woman rode up the side of the garrison and flipped at the top. As she dropped she turned, a crossbow bolt already loaded, and fired at another caster. Only one barrier was left.

General Gunnhildr snapped her fingers, and a pulse of electric blue light rippled out from her opposite hand over the field. The racers pulled back out, disappearing as fast as they had come, and arrows began to fly once more into the gap as the summer army charged through the pass.

"That worked. Wow," Lumine commented.

"Only five racers down… and all of them were together enough to stay on their boards all the way to the tent," Aether mused. "That's great."

As the first units from the summer army moved through the snow down the far cliffside towards the gap, the Snezhnayans pulled back, retreating towards the outpost walls. Aether relaxed, and then the ground started to move. What was happening? There was no noise, who was doing it? Wait, it was just the snow on top of it. But in front of the area of the exposed soldiers the dirt was slowly coming into view. Snow was piling up where the wall had been, and soon enough a huge foot section of snow had risen to a 30-foot high, vertical wall of hard-packed sleet and ice.

That was new, Aether had never even heard of that before. A barrier spell itself required immense skill, and even with it's volume it wasn't even a physical barrier. Anyone could walk straight through it, it would only stop light projectiles and magic. Small-scale physical constructs could be made from ice and rock, but manipulating this much water at once? That was a huge spell. The wall was at least 120 feet long. How many mages were focusing on it? ANd where the hell were they hiding?

"There's someone there." Lumine pointed out, concern audible in her voice.

Aether walked over to where she was standing, and saw that a single figure was touching the wall. Just one. He wasn't dressed in the typical uniform, he looked to be wearing all grey and red, and his bright, ginger hair was visible against the snow even from where Aether was perched on the cliff.

"How is that possible?" Aether wondered.

Just as Aether noticed him, the strange man pulled his hands away from the wall, and it melted instantly. But it didn't fall away, it simply became crystal-clear water held to the same proportion.

Just as Aether noticed the winter army preparing to charge, the tidal wave fell towards his allies.

The chaos was immediate. As the wall of water slammed into the southern units who had already made their move it crushed them downwards. Their weapons were snatched away from them, their formation thrown into disarray, and each one of them was thrown to the ground and dragged with the water backwards, tumbling over the rocks. Many of them struggled sideways to the edges of the pass, or maneuvered carefully with the water as it lost strength, but many others were no longer moving as they were hauled along.

"Go, he's your target," the general shouted, but the siblings already knew.

The water had dropped in height and it was actually condensing back into snow it it's wake, yet it was still barreling for the rest of the army.

Aether threw himself off the edge, and he heard Lumine take off after him. He hung there for a second, and then he fell. He angled towards the ground, dropping down nearly head-first at a ridiculous speed.

It was hard to see much of anything as the rest of the world blurred, but he certainly noticed the lightning strike the Snezhnayan lines. The thunder ripped through his ears and he felt it just as much as he heard it.

The cliffside was approaching quickly, so Aether threw out his wings. He saw their golden light flash over the snow beneath him for a second, reflected against the churned-up surface that someone's gravboard had thrown about, but then he caught himself and he was thrown forwards into the winds.

Lumine shot past him, but steadied herself a moment later. Their downward momentum became a forceful glide that carried them far over the field.

A few mages had managed to erect small walls of stone for their units, but almost the entire summer army had taken the force of the wave. Aether could see that it broke against the ridge separating the pass from their camp, and as it drained backwards the rest of it seemed to fall away fully into snow.

Many of the units who had been further back had dealt only with a much smaller impact, and they were, for the most part, still alright.

He could also see the mage. He hadn't moved with the charging army, and he was creeping upwards behind his own, letting them outdistance him as they thundered through the pass, louder even, than the thunder itself.

How had he done that? Surely he didn't have the strength to do it again, but Aether couldn't be sure after that. So many broken figures were strewn around the units. Some of them were struggling to get up, but others were still in the fallen snow. It was horrifying.

He would just hit his own people in the process, so at least they were safe right now, surely.

The wavemaker looked directly upwards at the siblings. Aether but stayed aloft, wheeling around. He was separating himself on purpose, why? How much range did he have? Aether knew that he and his sister could dodge almost anything at this range, but they needed to engage at some point. Aether narrowed his eye just the smallest bit, and he felt his signature engage. He should be able to identify and shut down any other magic, he just needed to be careful.

The racers exploded once more over the gate and dropped down to ride over the ground. The Snezhnayan whirled, as if he had forgotten about them, and slowly turned as they rapidly rode into a circle around him. Aether landed inside the ring, and Lumine dropped down beside him.

This was good. As long as Aether could stop the spells for long enough, Razor and Lumine alone could probably fuck him up.

Aether squinted through the drifting snow to get a better look at the newcomer. He was only like fifteen feet away from them. He wasn't dressed for the cold, as if it was just no bother to him. He was wearing a light gray jacket over a simple white shirt and gray denim pants, and a red scarf was fluttering from his neck in the winds of Beidou's storm.

To that note, Aether heard another thunderbolt strike somewhere in the line, and over the ear-ringing rumble, he heard the two armies meet. A cacophony of shouts, metal striking, and magic igniting began all at once.

"Hi, you must be-" the stranger began to speak.

He was interrupted very quickly when Razor punched him in the face at 30 miles per hour. Despite the fact that he had been clearly rocked by the impact, the Snezhnayan made no sound. Razor darted back into the circle without dropping his speed, and he was lost to the blur of snow and motion around them.

"How rude," said the stranger, stepping back to face the siblings.

Aether could barely hear him over the sound of the battle and the hum from the gravboard engines.

Lumine flicked her wrist, and a slender sword appeared in her hand. The golden blade shone brightly, and Aether did the same to produce his blade. They were nearly identical, and their golden-and-porcelain blade drew the water mage's attention.

The stranger's hair was curly and bright, and his eyes were a bright, electric blue. They shifted and wavered, like sunlight cast on an ocean floor.

"So, who are you?" Lumine challenged.

While the man was momentarily distracted; another racer broke from the line, and the siblings lunged. He had no weapon, but he seemed strong. Still, all they needed was one good hit and when he was staggered from-

The stranger turned on his heel and as the racer, a young woman with long black hair and an oversized maroon coat, barreled down towards him; the snow melted beneath her. All in one motion it burst upwards like a popped bubble and the racer was thrown into the air. She spun higher, and the newcomer flicked his gloved hand. As the siblings closed the distance towards him a tentacle-like column of water rose and slammed into the racer with a cacophonous crack.

Aether realized it hadn't been the actual slap, but the sound of bones pulverizing.

He hadn't seen that. Had he missed it? No, he had watched it. But his eye hadn't so much as read it, there was no window to interfere.

The racer made a strangled cry and Aether heard the sound of bone snapping. She managed to engage her engine and slow the fall, but she hit the ground hard, about five feet outside the ring of racers.

It wasn't magic. Suddenly, he was useless. He couldn't do anything to that. Was it a signature? It was far too powerful, it couldn't be. What were they supposed to do?

He was only feet away from the stranger, but Aether threw his wings back out and launched upwards into the hurricane winds above them. Lightning struck once more into the ranks of the winter army and Aether could hear shouts and screams from the forces had met. The clashes and arcane pulses were loudest, but the sounds of human pain stood out in their own, disturbing way.

Aether tried not to look at the broken body of the racer.

Lumine pulled up into the air as well, following Aether's leave.

"Nice try, girlie," the stranger laughed, smiling broadly up into the night. "But it looks like I still have time to answer."

He circled slowly, watching the ring of soldiers speed around him.

"I'm Childe. It's nice to meet you."

What a stupid-ass name. Ginger piece of-

"Hit him when they break off, right?" Lumine checked. She spoke quietly so that her words carried only to Aether.

"Yeah. We just need to get him once and then interrupt any more of whatever he's doing," Aether answered.

Lumine must have realized as well. Her left eye was flickering with wisps of golden flame.

As if on queue; two racers from behind Childe exploded towards him. Between them they were carrying a chain that was stretched taut across a waist-level line.

Aether dove once more and the wind whipped against his face, he pressed downwards to get there quick enough, but with merely a nod of Childe's; two horizontal sheets of water burst forth towards either rider and while one ducked in time, the other was thrown to the ground by the impact.

Aether slashed downwards towards the man's arm as he landed and Lumine lunged forwards. The chain, even though it was now carried by only one racer, shot through the air like the good little bone-crushing whip it was.

As Aether was about to make contact in his attempt to debilitate the man, the stranger spun around and brought his left fist down on the flat of the blade. It was knocked down to the ground and layers of ice suddenly locked it down, leaving only the hilt exposed. As Aether felt his heart race faster and looked upwards, a snow-covered black boot slammed into his chest. The wind ripped painfully out of him through his throat, which was already dry from breathing freezing air, and he was thrown on his ass into the snow.

The stranger laughed aloud and abruptly pivoted so that Lumine staggered past him. At the same time, he reached out and grabbed the chain from where it was flying through the air. The speed was ridiculous and it should have at least broken his wrist, but he wrenched it from the racer regardless, and before Aether could register what was happening; the other end cracked down onto the spine of the soldier. The board didn't disengage immediately, but the woman crumpled in an instant.

A scream of rage tore through the air, and another woman broke from the ring. In an instant, icicles had exploded from the ground. They were through her stomach before she had time to stop. Blood exploded backward onto the snow behind her body and her board was crushed against the base of the macabre sculpture.

Lumine leapt away and into the air. Aether hesitated, this was a disaster. What could they do? He flicked his wrist and the ice shattered as his sword blinked from the ground to his hand. He threw it at full force, and as it spun in the air Aether ascended once again. It was really just a diversion. If they could keep him busy…

No. He had no ideas. More people were going to die.

The snow beneath Childe churned and a smooth column of ice rose rapidly from under his feet, bearing him upwards. Aether's sword struck the side of the puller and spun away uselessly, so he tensed his fingers to retrieve it. It teleported again and he felt the cool weight settle in his palm.

"You can't blame me for defending myself, can you?" the stranger grinned. "After all, you attacked us first. Your friend almost buried me alive!"

The snap of the racer's spine and the sound of the icicles ramming into the other woman's gut flashed in Aether's mind. He was shaking, and it wasn't just the wind. He had seen battle, but not this. This was so quick. So meaningless. The death dealt here carried no warning, no chance at survival.

He pulled higher in the sky. He didn't know what to say, he didn't want to say anything. He couldn't. Not now.

Red light washed over the pass for a moment. The snow already held bloodstains in many places but they disappeared in the light for a moment, washed away for one, pleasant second. Aether took in the smiling face of the Snezhnayan, washed in red. His hair had darkened in this color, but his eyes shone all the same.

That was the sign to retreat, so Aether did. Everything that might have happened here had to end now. They had failed. Their fallen allies were left to the snow, and Childe's laughter faded in the wind.