Part 4
The wind howled louder as the caravan rolled across the frostbitten plains, the sky above coated in pale gray. Snowflakes drifted lazily, yet the chill in the air bit with unnatural sharpness. The fortress was now in sight - old, cracked towers looming like broken fingers against the cloudy sky.
Masashi, riding up front beside a large ground lizard pulling the carriage, narrowed his eyes.
"Elra... you feel that, right?"
Elra nodded, her hand never leaving her staff. "The air's different. Like it's... watching us."
Behind them, Clara wrapped her scarf tighter and glanced at the others. Three commanders from Duskland rode with them - each hardened, armored, and prepared for war. They bore different colored cloaks representing the districts: green, crimson, and midnight blue.
Suddenly-
WHRRRUUUMM...!!
A horn blasted across the snowfield.
Figures emerged from the snow. Dozens. Cloaked in frost-hardened armor, masks hiding their faces, weapons drawn and gleaming like icicles.
The Frozenfire patrol had arrived.
One of the enemy stepped forward - tall, regal, wielding a curved blade made of glacial steel. His eyes glowed faintly through his mask.
He raised a hand and spoke in a tongue sharp and guttural:
> "Haia, beh vessa. Ya graff, o ya tryga. SerNe avangad, o ja graff ya!"
("Hello, to our base. You fight, or you retreat. Do not attack, or I fight you!")
Masashi didn't understand - but Elra's eyes widened slightly. "It's their language called, Rolugen. He's giving us a choice."
One of the Duskland commanders growled, "Then tell him we're not backing down."
Elra stepped forward, projecting her voice:
> "JaSer! Ja graff va Duskland. SerNe tryga. SerNe kod!"
("I do! I fight for Duskland. Do not retreat. Do not stop!")
There was silence... then the patrol leader lowered his hand.
"Avangad."
("Attack.")
-VWOOM-!!
Magic erupted.
Swords clashed. Ice exploded from the ground. Masashi dodged a frozen spear as it blasted toward him. Clara pulled out her dagger, glowing with restored mana, and rolled into cover. Elra's staff flared with arcane fire, hurling bursts into the snowstorm.
Masashi summoned a radiant sigil from his palm - his training complete - and launched forward.
"Let's go!" he shouted.
---
The battle was only the beginning.
Unknown to them, high above the snowy ridges, a pair of pale eyes watched - Aurcelya had sent her shadows ahead.
The Witch of Eternal Frost would not remain waiting for long.
VRAAAAM!!
The snowy field cracked as a shockwave of frost magic collided with Elra's flaming barrier.
"Masashi, to your left!!" Clara shouted.
CLANG! - Masashi deflected a glacial blade with a swift swing of his conjured arcane weapon, light surging from his gauntlets as he countered the Frozenfire soldier.
Elra's voice cut through the chaos.
"Sangga Raltan!"
("Shield Rise!")
She summoned a glowing magic shield just in time to block a flurry of ice arrows.
From across the battlefield, the Frozenfire patrol leader raised his arm.
"Rahap! Graff!"
("Forward! Fight!")
More warriors surged from the snow, and behind them, a creature unlike any other emerged - a frostborn golem, bound by cursed ice, its limbs groaning with each step.
Masashi's eyes widened. "We're outnumbered!"
"No," said Elra calmly. "We stand."
She threw her staff into the air - it floated, pulsing. She placed both hands together.
"Ignara Lux: Astraem Flamma-Burst!"
FOOOM!
A pillar of blinding light-fire erupted from the sky, engulfing the golem and a dozen soldiers in a burst that melted the snow down to stone. Steam hissed violently, and the soldiers staggered back.
But they didn't run.
They kept coming.
Clara gritted her teeth. "This isn't a patrol. This is a warning."
Suddenly, Masashi felt something tug in the air.
Not physical.
Not magical.
A presence.
High above them, between the clouds, ice formed into the shape of wings.
Clara looked up. Her voice faltered. "No way..."
She was watching.
Aurcelya.
Though only her silhouette appeared - distant, floating, serene - her aura blanketed the battlefield in silence.
A voice echoed through the minds of everyone present, like a snowflake brushing against a soul:
"So... these are the ones who freed Duskland."
Elra's hand trembled.
Aurcelya's voice continued:
"Enjoy your little victory, Masashi of the other world. It will be your last."
The shadow vanished.
The snow fell again.
And all Frozenfire soldiers disappeared with her - into the wind.
Moments Later - On the Snowfield
The silence after the battle was deafening. The smell of burnt snow and mana still lingered in the air.
Masashi stood with his weapon lowered. "That... wasn't just a battle."
Clara, catching her breath, nodded. "It was a message."
Elra clenched her staff tightly. "She knows we're coming. And now... she's ready."
One of the Duskland commanders stepped forward. "This fortress ahead... it holds a secret. One of the last remaining war tomes - created by the founder of Duskland - might still be inside."
Masashi's gaze hardened.
"Then that's where we go."
____
They enter the ancient Fortress of Vessa - now overrun by cursed wind and frozen spirits. Inside lies the Tome of the First Light - and a trap that only Masashi can unlock. But the deeper they go, the more the truth of Frozenfire's origins begin to surface...
____
Location: On the road back to Duskland - The Frostveil Path, a narrow trail flanked by jagged cliffs and frozen trees.
The air had grown colder.
Even with the Tome of the First Light wrapped in enchanted cloth and sealed inside Clara's backpack, the icy aura it carried seemed to seep through the fabric, chilling their backs as the group pressed onward.
Masashi, walking slightly ahead, stared at the stormy sky.
"When the one from beyond fuses light and loop, the frost shall break-or the world shall..."
What does that mean?
Does it mean me? Does it mean Elra?
"Elra..." he muttered under his breath.
She glanced over from beside him. "You said something?"
"Nothing. Just... thinking about the prophecy."
Clara walked a few paces behind, keeping an eye on the frozen ridge.
Suddenly-
CRACK.
The snow beneath them shattered like glass.
Masashi, Elra, and Clara plunged into darkness.
Scene Shift: Underground Ice Cavern - The Whispering Hollow
The world turned to blue.
They landed on thick snow, their torches flickering with magical flame. A cavern of pale crystal surrounded them - ice walls glowing faintly with trapped spirits swirling in the frost.
Kehla va Rungsohd...
(Come to the city...)
A whisper, in Rolugen.
Masashi's eyes widened.
"Elra... did you hear that?"
Elra shook her head slowly. "I only heard wind."
Clara tilted her head. "It said something. That language again..."
Sudden Appearance - The Whispering Wraiths
From the ice, glowing silhouettes emerged - wraiths in silver armor, their forms flickering between solid and ethereal. Their eyes gleamed blue-white, and in their hands were Talem - swords forged in magic and snow.
A voice echoed through the chamber in Rolugen:
"JaSemm graff va ska Rungsohd. SerNe rahap."
(I fight from the city. Do not advance.)
Masashi stepped forward.
"We don't want to fight... but we will if we have to!"
The wraith raised its blade.
"Avangad!"
Clara unleashed her wind magic, summoning a spinning vortex to deflect the first wraith's swing. Elra raised her staff, casting a barrier of flame that pulsed out in a circle.
Masashi stepped into the center of the battle.
His hand glowed.
The Astra Glyphs returned.
"Lucem Pulse: Mirror Shatter!"
A burst of light exploded from his palm, fracturing the closest wraith like ice hitting metal. The others recoiled, hissing in Rolugen as the walls around them began to melt.
"Tagoh!"
(Hide!)
They fled into the walls.
Aftermath: A New Threat Revealed
The cavern began to collapse.
The three ran through a narrow tunnel, finally bursting out of a mountainside cliff and sliding into a shallow snowy valley.
Elra coughed. "We need to get back to Duskland... now."
Masashi looked down at the tome in Clara's arms - the lock on it now cracked open.
A new passage had revealed itself on the final page.
Written in both English... and Rolugen.
"When the frost queen breathes her second breath, war will follow the white ash. Seek the Ember Relic buried beneath her throne."
Masashi: "Her throne...? That means..."
Clara: "We have to infiltrate Frozenfire."
Elra narrowed her eyes.
"The real war starts now."
Part 5
Masashi, elra and clara and the whole group of the infiltration party was having a meeting at a beer house, it's a house for celebration and important meetings for parties like masashi's.
Chief Dovren of the Second District finally speaks.
Chief Dovren: "Everyone, we finally have the map of the facility where the frozenfire hides, me and chief mira of the fourth district, recently spied on their base, and you know what we found?..... "
"....."
Everyone was in silence.
----- "The ember relic.....", chief dowren said, it sends chills to everyone in the party.
Masashi: " Now that we know it exists.... Lets go and infiltrate their base as spon as we get ready!"
Chief mira: "masashi was right, we have no time to waste, the world depends on us now....it's not like we're famouse or anything... But the people in dusk-land trusts you.. Be their hero once more....can you do that?", her voice was calm and gentle.
Masashi: "right i will, and please, don't say that we're not famous, its not about that, everyone in this party are equal.", he said smiling.
Chief mira: " Thank you masashi, you made me remember that i am a chief, i should be the one thinking mature here.", she smiled.
Chief dowren: "Okay back to the ember relic.... It's being guarded by non other than, the witch of cryo... the witch of ice, she have w lot of names but one only stands out, the name "Crytella", the name when someone hears... They literally freeze.", another silence from the whole party.
Masashi: " Hold-up... Now that i defeated the witch pf time loop., and now there's a new one called the witch of ice?, can i ask..... If there's more witch out there?.... ", he was lconfused, knowing that he will know more about this world's history.
Commander vellia stepped in to the conversation.
--- " Sorry but i have to tell the story myself.", she sits down besides masashi, in the middle of masashi and elra.
Commander Vellia: " Long ago, there's four witches in total, the witch of sun who lives and guards the desert continent, the witch of time loop also known as elra, who controls time around the world, the witch of ice,also known as crystella, the baddest wotch of them all....and finally, the witch of darkness.", another silence from the party.
Everyone heard the story.
Masashi: "I've noticed.... You named the other two, but the witch of sun and darkness.... You didn't said their names....", he asked.
Commander vellia: " Their names shouldn't be spread or spoke to anybody, a myth said, saying their names will leave a curse that will follow you to your death.", she said while drinking her beer.
Commander rauth set aside his cup of beer.
Commander rauth: "Now its time to discuss the plan but first, we should name our new party.", everyone thinks of a good name for their alliance.
Elra: " What about.... Dawnfall?", elra suggested.
Clara: "it gotta have a meaning....", she thinks.
Masashi: "Dawn means the first appearance of the light or sun in the morning, fall meaning can be, the the down fall of the frozenfire, overall the meaning when you combine the two words it should mean.... The down fall before dawn, DAWNFALL.", he stated, the official party was finally created.
"Now, time to discuss the plan for real.", Everyone is ready for the infiltration, the plan was now set, time to stop the witch of ice crystella before she use the ember relic and before she believes whatever the frozenfire leader will say to her.