I don't have much to say. Life sucks.

Enjoy the story.

In her Icy Embrace

Chapter 18

Lissandra heard the commotion outside and instantly came out of her tent, even though it was in the middle of the night. She had been awake, planning and going over every single aspect of her strategy against the Watcher. And then, there was a growing roar as people outside began shouting. She thought they were being attacked.

As she rushed outside, she saw soldiers rushing around, looking into tents. Her eyes found Ashe, who came running to Lissandra.

"What's going on?" Lissandra asked as Ashe's blue eyes fixed themselves on where Lissandra's eyes were,inside her helmet.

"Sejuani is gone. Along with all of her army." Ashe said with eyes wide with shock and fear as Lissandra felt a weight plummet into her stomach. They couldn't beat the watcher without a strong army. And Sejuani had the most battle hardened army among them. With hers gone…

And then, the roaring of people around her stopped. Like a wave, silence fell, starting from the right edge of the camp people were suddenly surging towards the right edge in an effort to see something. Lissandra and Ashe both noticed it and quickly walked to the apparent source of interest which held the soldier's attention. Everyone parted for them, even when the crowd got thick. Whispers were now all around them as the crowd finally fully parted and both Lissandra and Ashe stopped dead in their tracks at the sight infront of them.

Alan stood next to a tall imposing figure with long white hair, and he looked like he was two feet in the grave. His armor was shredded and burned as if he had stepped into a meat grinder. His right pauldron had already fallen off, along with a part of his upper chest's armor, revealing the hard muscular flesh beneath. He was literally covered in blood, no part of his skin or armor that wasn't red. Even his white hair was dyed red with the amount of blood in it, patches of white here and there. Yet, Lissandra didn't think she ever saw Alan look so… powerful. He literally radiated power, so vast and dense that it was almost a physical presence, waves of strength rolling off of him. And his eyes…

They glowed a bright blue, the color within shifting and churning slowly and lazily like it was filled with molten sapphires. It was almost hypnotic.

And then, Alan stepped forward and drew his sword, the ice coming onto Frig Ascutis to complete its blade. Some of the guards fidgetted uneasily, a few even reaching for their weapons, but then Alan got down on one knee and dug his sword down in the ground in front of him, bowing his head against the hilt of his blade as he said, "My queen, I have accomplished the task you gave me and returned."

Lissandra only blinked, though it was unseen underneath her helmet. "Rise, Alan Frost." Alan complied, standing back up straight. He looked like he had also gotten taller. What the hell had happened in the temple of the seeker? Lissandra's eyes moved to his companion, a man in armor that was scratched and battle worn, yet looked absolutely immaculate. His golden eyes shimmered and shifted just like Alan's eyes. As if he noticed her attention had shifted to him, Raziel inclined his head, but did not bow.

"My name is Raziel. I have come to lend my aid in the battle against the Watcher." He said as he raised his head again, fixing his golden gaze on Lissandra.

"We appreciate your aid. Please follow me into my tent, you two. We have much to discuss and debrief." Lissandra said, still reeling from Alan's abrupt change. She turned around and began to walk back to her tent, Ashe still staring at Alan.

"If there was any doubt we would win this war, Alan." Ashe said, her eyes focused on Alan. "I must say it has been quelled quite a lot."

Alan simply smiled as he got back on his feet.

…

Deep within the void, a body floated. A young man, curled up in a fetal position, completely nude, floating within an expanse of oblivion. His white hair floated weightlessly around his face. All over his pale skin, black tattoos spread like veins and thorns, patterned down his arms, up his legs and all over his torso, right upto the two marks that led up his chin and ended at his lips.

"Awaken, Knight." A dark, baritone voice said as the tattoos on the figure suddenly glowed purple. They spread,changing and shifting into a new design as the figure's eyes opened, light purple in color.

…

Their sleep had been blissful, aside from the small moments in the middle of the night when one of them shifted enough for their skin to touch, which resulted in the sharp burn that woke both of them. But aside from that, they had both been careful to keep their skin from touching. only their faces, necks and arms were in any danger of touching, so it was still a comfortable night of hugging in which they spent their sleep.

The tent flap opened as Lydia walked in. "Analia, have you seen Re- Oh!" Lydia exclaimed loudly, surprised to find Reinhart in bed with Analia, with the sheet pulled up on them, Lydia had no way of knowing they were fully clothed as she quickly covered her eyes and blushed. "I-I'm sorry! I-I had n-no idea!"

"Lydia, it's alright, calm down." Reinhart said as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, roused awake as soon as Lydia had stepped through the door. Analia yawned as she turned around to look at Lydia.

"Oh… Well… Queen Lissandra and Lady Ashe is looking for you two." Lydia said as Reinhart sighed. "Crap… I must've overslept."

"And it's Queen Ashe, Lydia." Analia corrected offhandedly as she also got out of bed. Reinhart snorted as he said, "Let's not get into that right now." He then turned his scarred face towards Lydia, fixing her with his dark blue eyes. "What's the matter?"

"Well… Good news and Bad news." Lydia said.
"Bad news first." Analia said, as she shared a glance with Reinhart.

"Sejuani left in the middle of the night. And she took all of her army with her.

Reinhart looked pissed as his fists clenched. "Without her troops, we stand a low chance of defeating the watcher…" He muttered as Analia, whose eyes had hardened into chips of emerald, then said, "And the good news?"

"Alan is back. And he's… Different. He also came back with a companion. "

"Alan is back? Was he successful?" Reinhart asked as he quickly began putting on the rest of his clothes on with haste. "You should see for yourself. I have no way to explain it." Lydia said as Reinhart quickly walked out of the tent, followed by Analia.

They arrived at Lissandra's tent, and both of them gasped audibly when they saw Alan. He looked like he had gone through hell and came back, which in a way, he had. His eyes glimmered as he saw them and a smile came onto his face.

"Hey guys, glad you could make it to my homecoming party." He said.

"What the hell happened to you, Alan?" Analia asked.

"Don't ask. You don't really wanna know. Hell, I don't even exactly know." Alan said.

"Regardless, were you successful?" Reinhart said.

"We were about to ask you that ourselves, Alan." Lissandra said as she fixed her masked gaze on Alan.

"I don't know. I saw some kind of armor, but when I touched it… It… Something happened to it." Alan said.

"I believe…" Raziel said, his very voice seeming alien in how eloquent it sounded, yet also ethereal. "... That Alan was successful, but not in the way we thought. There is no choice for us to do anything but see where this leads."

"And that brings us to our current dilemma." Ashe said.

"Sejuani." Lissandra said, her voice venomous, as if the name was a curse.

"What made her leave? Anyone have any ideas?" Alan asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"It doesn't make sense. Sejuani is many things but she doesn't go back on her word, unless something forces her… " Ashe said, her eyes lowered, mind deep in thought. "Unless… She is given an alternative that provides a better outcome for her and her people." Ashe concluded.

"Do you think the watchers somehow got to her?" Reinhart asked.

"It is possible." Alan said, glancing at Lissandra. "Once Lissandra broke free, the watcher still needed someone. And Sejuani seemed to fit his profile."

"Okay, apart from that… What do we do now?" Analia asked as everyone looked towards Ashe and Lissandra.

"Alan, in your visions, you say you saw a castle?" Ashe asked. Alan nodded, frowning as he thought about it. "I think it was Rakkelstake."

Ashe seemed to pale as Lissandra leaned forward, looking down at the map. "Rakkelstake is here." She pointed to the city and castle drawn out on the map. Then she slowly traced her finger from there to the northwest, going to the very edges of the map. "And we are here. We can take the path we took to get here, and we should be back to Rakkelstake by tomorrow."

"Well, what are we waiting for then? Lets tell the troops to pack up and head back." Analia said as Lissandra and Ashe both nodded. The two knights gave a small bow to their respective lieges and walked out of the tent to relay the message. Lissandra then turned around to Alan.

"Alan, I know you said you're not injured… But I must insist you go and have yourself looked at. You don't know what kind of injuries you might even have." She said adamantly as Alan finally sighed, fixing his strange, shifting blue eyes on her.

"Alright Liss." Alan said, turning around and walking out of the tent, leaving Raziel there, who looked at Lissandra and Ashe and then said, "I will go scout the path ahead of us."

"How are you going to do that?" Ashe asked. Raziel simply stared at her impassively as he then said, "I have ways."

…

Lydia slowly took Alan's ruined armor off, dropping them onto a pile on the floor next to him as Alan sat on a stool. His body was stained red with blood as Lydia found it hard to keep her medical composure up, with her emotional distress at Alan being covered in blood flaring. Finally, once all the armor was one, she brought up a bucket of warmed water, dipping a cleaning rag into it.

"Are you sure you're not in pain anywhere?" She asked as Alan shook his head. She began wiping him with the rag, cleaning the blood off of his skin. And then she gasped and stepped back.

"Lydia? What's wrong?" Alan asked, looking back at her. Lydia swalloed, before dropping the rag and picking the bucket. "I'm sorry for this, but…" She said, before dumping the water onto him. Alan was slightly startled by the sudden dousing, but since the cold didn't bother him, it wasn't that much of a shock. As he shook his head and wiped his eyes of the water, Lydia stared at his body.

"Alan… your… Corruption.."

Alan stood up, looking down at his bare torso. He blanched. The blue tattoo marks had spread all over his right arm, over his shoulders and down his back, even going down to the elbow of his left arm. It was spreading, alright.

"Oh." Alan said, shocked as Lydia stared at him, fear plainly written on her face.

"It's… It's going to be okay, Lydia. You don't have to worry about this." Alan said dismissively.

"Are you stupid!?" Lydia suddenly shouted as Alan was taken aback, staring at her. "Don't need to worry? Alan, I always worry about you! I can't help it! I can't help but worry about you! Because I…" She stopped, her voice dying down to a whisper as tears sprung into her eyes. "Because I care about you…. I… I have feelings for you, Alan."

Alan blinked, looking at Lydia, actually seeing her. He had never really paid her that much attention, yet Lydia had always been the one taking care of him most of the times. He was stupid to have not noticed that and to have said what he said.

"Lydia… I… I didn't know, I'm sorry." He said as Lydia wiped her eyes and shook her head. "No… It's okay, you don't have to apologize. I should, for my outburst… But I meant what I said Alan." She looked at him with her big blue eyes, utterly vulnerable.

Alan looked into himself for her. He had feelings for Lydia, yes. He liked her and cared about her. But that was it. He only liked her as a close friend, someone he would protect with his life… But not someone he could romantically care about. When he thought about that, only one woman's face kept coming into his mind.

"Lydia.. I… I'm sorry… I already… have someone I'm sworn to." Alan said, looking away, unable to see Lydia breaking down at the rejection. She took a step back, blinking and wiping her eyes again as she then fixed a weak smile on her face. "It's.. It's alright Alan, you don't have to feel bad. It's okay… I don't hate you for it." She said as she looked up and down at him. "Well, I see no injuries… So you're fine Alan. You should get going." She said, a little too quickly before she turned around and began busying herself with instruments on the table.

"Lydia…" Alan felt like he should say something.

"Please Alan… Just… Just go… I'm not angry or anything but.. I just need some time alone." She muttered without looking at him. Silently, Alan stood up, pulled on the new shirt Lydia had laid out on the bed beside him and walked out, feeling bad that he had to break her heart like that.

But he couldn't lie to her. That would've been worse. So, consoling himself with the fact that he did the right thing, Alan headed back to his own tent.

...

As everyone scurried this way and that, packing up the supplies of their encampment, Reinhart Sevlras, who was back in full armor and uniform, stood overwatching the actions of his troops.

Analia walked up to him, not in full armor, yet with Frig Dinte stuck against her back in it's broken, inactive form for all to see. That was all she needed to display for her rank of champion to be evident.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked him without looking at him, both of them looking out at the soldiers doing their work.

"All of these soldiers. All these men. Their lives depend on us to lead them." Reinhart said, as he stared. "Some of these men won't make it home to see their wives, or their parents, or their children, brothers, sisters…"

"And none of them will have any wives, parents, children or siblings to return to if the watchers win." Analia said as she looked up at him.

"Analia, I've been thinking…" Reinhart said, but Analia caught the way he was going to go.

"No, Reinhart." She said firmly.

"Analia, I know you're a capable fighter and everything, but you have to think for two lives rather than one right now." Reinhart said as he turned to look at her. Analia glared at him. "No means no, Reinhart. I'm not going to let you go off alone and then have you return to me in a casket… Or having nothing at all return, since from what I know, the watcher is fond of disintegration. I'm either going to fight with you and win with you… Or I'm going to die with you." She said, staring hard at Reinhart. Reinhart knew he could fight until the fight actually came, but she would not budge on this. And so, Reinhart nodded and drew his sword. A flicker of surprise crossed Analia's eyes, but she didn't move in anyway, as Reinhart took a step back, drove his sword into the ground point first and then got down on knee.

"Then I, Ser Reinhart Sevlras, knight to Queen Lissandra and Elite of the Congelate, hereby swear upon my sword and life that I shall protect you and let no harm befall you, from this breath until my last breath." He said as Analia stared at him in surprise and wonder.

"You can't do that!" Analia said angrily as Reinhart stood back up. "You don't know what could happen in a fight, you can't just swear your life away like that!"

"I can and I did. I'm a knight, we do that kind of stuff." Reinhart said, a little smug that his action had flustered Analia.

"Well then I'm gonna do it too!"

"You're not a Knight."

"Ugh!" Analia angrily huffed and crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks up and looking away as Reinhart chuckled at that, before pulling her close and holding her against his side with one arm.

Things were peaceful. For now.

…

As Lissandra stood near the head of her army, there were some collective gasps and sounds of awe as people looked up into the sky. Alan and Lissandra looked up and were equally awed.

Raziel floated in the air, slowly coming down to the ground in front of them. Behind him, were huge wings made of crystal, spreading feathers of ice as snowflakes fell all around them from his movements. A few feet off the ground, his wings shattered into ice dust that was blown up into the sky as he fell the rest of the drop, landing lightly on his feet and digging only an inch into the hard snow.

"Woah. I wish I could do that." Alan said as Raziel only fixed him with that imposing golden gaze of his on Alan.
"I've had hundreds of years to work on my techniques, Alan." Raziel said as Alan shook his head in disbelief. Raziel then turned his head to Lissandra. "We cannot return the same way we came."

"Why not?" Ashe said.

"There is a tempest centered on the path there. A huge storm capable of completely decimating our army. Even I couldn't get too close to it." Raziel said.

"So that explains why it's foggier here than usual." Ashe said as Lissandra shook her head. "We move around the storm then.

"That can take a lot of time." Ashe commented as Lissandra looked at her. "What choice do we have?"

"Wait." Alan said as everyone looked at him. "The storm. It's a snowstorm?"

"Yes." Raziel said.

"I have a plan." Alan said.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review with any thoughts you might have.

~ Wings