I'm still wondering why none of the peoples from Terrnit knew Lein is a noble. Did her father hide it? Why?

Lein doesn't seem very keen talking about her noble lineage. Not that I could ask about it anyways.

The guys we met yesterday are still staring at Lein and muttering under their breath, but none is openly oposing her anymore.

Lein is really quiet today, it's been two hours since she woke up and I barely heard a sound coming from her. I don't really mind but it's unusual for her. I can't really blame her with all those hostile stares.

Next to us is the door to the room where Veria and Reus planned the battle. I can hear someone raise his voice. Not Reus though. Arius is still openly aggressive towards Veria who doesn't seem to care in the slightest.

Veria is leaving the room. Her cold military aura is fading away. She sat next to Lein.

"So, what do we do now? I believe you don't really want to stay here."

Lein nodded with a sad smile.

"Well, considering the limited choice we have, I'd say we need to go south to a city that is still standing."

Lein didn't react. She was more or less letting Veria choose. I want to go north though. The staff in Yrsrevir should be worth more than some backwater northern town.

I tried to set a telepathic connexion with Veria but it was instantly shut off. Veria looked at me with a curious expression. I tried again and this time it worked. I think I can't force my way in yet but I can be invited.

As usual, I used sugestion and forced empathy together.

{What does he want? Go somewhere? Where? North? North. Why? Because there is something. A pillar of ice? No. An ice spear? No. An ice staff? Yes. For someone. Lein? Lein. I guess that would be usefull.}

I hope Veria is convinced.

"I changed my mind, let's go north."

"Why?" Lein said in a monotone voice.

"Might be something interesting there."

Veria went back in the room to ask Reus for some supplies. She came back ten minutes later with a stamped piece of paper. Befor we went to get our supplies, Lein went into Askan's room to ask if he wanted to come. He declined saying that he needed some time to think about what he's going to do next, maybe look for some new beast in the nearby forest while he's at it.

We followed her to the warehouse where we met Ophelia. She chatted with us while the soldiers put together some supplies for us.

Ophelia kept telling Lein that whe was a great warrior and that she teamed well with me. Lein, who doesn't know how to take a compliment, just smiled akwardly.

Veria took most of the supplies on her back but Lein had to ask for help to carry the remaining bags. Ophelia took the biggest bag and followed us.

When we reached the stables, Reus gave us a new carriage, the older one now back in the hands of it's despicable owner. Once everything was in, Lein did the usual "magic trick" and Veria harnessed me.

As we were about to go, someone interupted us. I expected Arius to come pick a fight but it was Albius. Now that I think about it their names are nearly the same. He stood next to me and stared at Lein and Veria. It took about five seconds for him to finally speak up.

"Ca...om...u" He mumbled.

All of us tilted our head in incomprehension while his face got red.

"Can I come with you?" He finally said.

Lein and Veria looked at each other.

"Why do you want to come with us?"

"There is no more threat to the fort but I don't want to stay here and wait. I heard you were going on a short trip north and then back. I want to come."

Lein is speechless and Veria is muffling a laugh. My mistress finally answered after a good ten seconds of Veria laughing.

"Why would I want you to come?"

"I can help."

"I don't care."

"Please, I don't want to stay here and play card all day."

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"But.."

"Please!"

"Fine but the mutt is not coming in the carriage." Lein relented.

"Thank you!" Albius literaly jumped from excitement. He is now sitting in the back, next to a bag of what I believe is bread and his dog is following behind the carriage. The dog still has a faint smell of burnt fur.

Now that we have our extra teamate we can g...

"Stop right there!"

Not him again.

"You cannot leave your duties like that! Expecially with that vixen!"

"Reus said I could! I am not your subordinate!"

Arius face flared in anger as he unsheated his sword.

"A mere lowly commoner dare to oppose the noble. To side with witches!"

Arius is now second on my to-kill list, right below the king of Amerith.

Veria intervened before anything could happen by pulling out her new sword and taking a battle stance right between the two guys.

I don't know if it's the same problem as Albius, but Arius really has too much time to waste bothering us.

The man didn't think and just slashed at Veria. She deflected it and pulled a dagger from her back, under her travel cloak, sliced Arius's belt and jumped back as his pants fell down.

"Coward! You fight like the weak."

Veria's cold eyes flared with some sort of resent as whe answered.

"Your pride is meaningless when you are dead. The strong are the ones who survive."

Arius took a step back at those words and Reus put his hand on the man's shoulder.

"What did you miss? I told you to stop bothering her, you don't stand a chance anyways."

"But.."

"Do not make excuses. You are to wash the stables as a punishment. Dismissed"

Arius lowered his eyes and walked away. Reus turned toward Veria.

"I see you agreed on teaming up. Try to get the kid back in one piece."

"Will try. We should be back in one or two weeks. We'll see if he got any better then."

Reus smiled and waved at Lein and albius before going back inside the fort. I then headed toward the Massive harrow. Once it was up, we left.

The cold wind isn't much of a problem for me or the dog, but the kid in the back forgot to bring winter clothes. So the moron is hiding from it between two bags of food. Even rolled up in his cloak , he keeps shivering. After an hour, Lein felt sad for him and lent him her traveling cloak. The other clothes she has are enough.

The fort's shade soon dissapeared in the horizon. We are now in the middle of Yrsrevir. The desert of ice is as empty as you would expect from it's name. Though it actually is far less lonely than you would think. Countless creatures can hide under the snow or in the water under the ice we are standing on. For now it seems we are out of trouble.

And a blizzard is coming. I should learn how to shut up. Considering how clear the sky is everywhere else, I can conclude that the incoming wave of hail and snow is magic. And my sight can confirm. There is a source of magic in the middle of that snowstorm. I wish we could avoid it but there is no way I can rush fast enough to dodge it. The whole thing must have a diameter of a kilometer.

Soon the snow curtain fell and seeing further than where I put my hooves is but a dream. Even the dog had to come back and stay closer to the carriage and avoid being lost. The cold also affected our sense of smell and the sound of the wind prevent hearing from being useful too. Veria used her cloak to protect her and Lein's face from the snow and ice.

The eye of this storm doesn't really seems to care about us. Or it didn't notice us. If it's the latter, I hope it'll stay this way.

Or so I though until the illusion faded away and I realized we were right next to it.

Overwhelming. There is no other adjective for that.

It's both physically and magically above everything I've seen before.

Towering at the same size I had in my mana induced rampage in Terrnit.

It's a herald of winter.

In old tales of the north, those come to bring winter so that nature can rest. They are also fabled to freeze the unfaithful. They are chosen of the frost giants, one of the few peacful tribes you can meet in Yrsrevir. They are tasked with pilgrimages where they walk around Yrsrevir to keep the layer of ice and snow big enough for giants to walk on. They won't attack anyone but the hail in the snowstorm can be dangerous to whoever comes unequipped.

This one is, just like the others I suppose, standing in the eye of the storm, where we can clearly see the blue sky above. He is holding a staff made of gray wood and ornate with blue gems. Above it, a shard of pure ice is levitating. It's the source of this storm. The giant is wearing a grey robe with white patterns depicting snow and ice in all the forms it can take. This one seems old, he has a long white beard on his chin and no hair.

He doesn't seem to have seen us yet, the illusion he uses to protect himself must be a way to prevent thieves from finding him. A lot of creatures from the north would envy the power to summon a blizzard.

I'm glad I decided to go north, this is not something you see everyday.

Then the giant noticed us. He stared at our group. The dog and veria were completely ignored. Even I just got a hold of his attention for less than a second. Lein on the other hand could look into his giant yellow eyes. He then spoke up.

"Kerl survith! U otr yrsmaiplutar!"

Lein didn't understand. None of us did but he kept speaking.

"Velom ura trovadipton iv teh raimeht na develisiom"

As he pronounced those words, he waved his staff and the ice on top of it. Some magic left it and rushed toward Lein, entered her chest and dissapeared. Lein stared at the giant with a surprised stare.

"Thank you, lord of ice." She said while lowering her gaze.

Being apparently done whith whatever he did, the giant walked away, in the exact same direction as before.

Lein kept looking into nothingness, even when we left the blizzard, she was still staring at the snow, lost in her thoughts.

When she finally came back to her senses, Veria asked her what happened.

"It was a blessing, the power of true ice. I believe he gave me that power because I use ice magic too. He was really powerful. Heralds of winter really are powerful."

This journey started really good. Let's hope Yrsrevir's fauna won't ruin it.