Chapter 9: Bellicose
(Kullervo)
I walked with Taiga out of the castle.
"So, let me see if I am understanding you correctly. You believe the Void Clan are preparing to do something drastic?" The Empress of Frost nodded.
"Yes, there has been a notable rise in their unrest. They have been entering the city by force or in secret. If I had to guess, I'd say they're looking for something."
"That's preposterous, Taiga. The Void wants for nothing just as you and your subjects do, what could they possibly ask of Cryox?" Our conversation abruptly ended as Eris walked up with her entourage. I smiled, knowing full-well what was happening. I had talked to the queen earlier about the current status of Cryox and no small amount of other things of little consequence. Aside from this recent discovery, all was well.
Eris ran up and hugged me while the crowd bowed respectfully to the three of us. The queen curtsied back to them with a smile, a common greeting. The people then disbanded and began walking their separate ways. Eris told me of our conditions and I nodded knowingly.
“Father, the people have given us a room that Fantasia and I both believe unsatisfactory.”
“And in what way is that, my child?” I asked with a frown.
“It has no furnishings that benefit our status, we have been given a room fit for commoners!”
“Is it warm?” I queried to which she stopped and thought before answering that it was. “Then it is the best these people can give to us. Since we’ve brought your brother with us, we need to keep him warm regardless of how or where. It’s one thing for the two of us to be alone in this frozen city where we can choose wherever we wish knowing full-well we can just ignore the cold all together. It's another for your mother and baby brother to be with us in a place like this.” Eris nodded in understanding.
A roar from across the square riveted our attention as a band of very large, brutal-looking, Imaginarian gentlemen came forward. They held their wings out in an attempted display of intimidation.
Their apparent leader walked up to us with stormy steps, “Listen here, Skyforth! We’ve got a thing or two to teach you about ruling this world! You’d better listen and listen well! We’ve got spells and guns from a Witch on high who will tear your miserable ass to pieces!” The man spat in my face.
I scowled and Eris forcibly pushed him away from me. “Have you no respect for the Emperor?!” She shouted at him before being hit viciously by one of their number.
“See, people of the Frozen Wastes! This is your 'king' and 'queen'! These dictators of your very lives! These war-mongers and villains! See how weak they are!” The band shouted and hooted raucously as the cityfolk took cover.
Taiga scowled, “Yugor, you have been exiled to the outer rims of the city, how dare you come back before me!” She drew her sword, but I motioned for her to stand down; this had become personal.
“Leave now or you’ll pay the price for laying a hand on my daughter.” The words came out more from being a father than what I knew. Eris lay in a bank of snow, entirely unconscious, but I knew she would be fine. She was undead after all. Yugor drew a twisted, wicked blade of pure ice with a snarl. It was then that I saw why my champion had fallen. A magical artefact, crafted so to look like brass knuckles gripped around the offender's hand with markings of blazing magenta.
“We'll kill all of Cryox if you don't meet our demands, Skyforth.”
I’d had enough of these people and so I finally decided that action was called for. I told Taiga on the side to move the citizens a good distance away, we didn't need anyone else involved in this fight. I drew my blades with telekinesis, raising my hands to accept those of fire and darkness, wielding my blade of the Mind's Eye like a massive, floating shield.
I lowered one blade to the ground on top of a goon’s shadow and he fell with a cry. I flicked the blade over it and he crumpled into a ball, unconscious. Yugor came toward me with a grin on his face as he drew a weapon I'd only seen a rare number of times: a firearm. He fired and I partially melted the first bullet with my heat shield before another nailed me in the shoulder, passing through the shield like light through glass. I moved out of the way and narrowly avoided four more.
I barely had enough time to catch my breath before a length of frozen chain whirled around my wrist and dragged me to the ground. I rose up and incinerated the unfortunate cretin that had the nerve to bring chains to a sword fight. My Mind's Eye cleaved the shooter's hand clean off while I threw my dark blade through another one's chest viciously, calling it back to me as I finally began using my mind to increase gravity in the surrounding area.
I spread my wings as the rest crumpled before me with even Taiga finding it difficult to stand. I ignited my sword of flame and held it to the leader's neck.
“I can take this to the air while you mongrels are struggling to breathe. You’re outmatched, leave now or regret the day you were born.” I released my hold on gravity and they got up and skulked away disdainfully. It was fairly obvious to me now that there was certainly something remiss within my kingdom if Void miscreants such as these were bold enough to face me head on. I took the artefact from the snow that the goons had dropped and torched it to slag. It had symbols on it that alluded to the ancient, Nocturnian god of sleep.
Taiga was already tending to Eris but I fumed both at my daughter’s poor performance and at the nerve of these people. There was a lingering taste in my mouth. Something wasn't right. I dismissed it as nothing but the aura of wrongness still lingering on the corpses of the decimated beings of the Void Clan.
The icy queen in her blue and silver dress lifted Eris with a strength that seemed contrary to her elegant frame. We walked back to the hotel in silence and with no train of curious eyes following us.
