Chapter 413: Possessed
In an instant, what should have been a brief formality before a joyous reunion turned into something far more dangerous. High upon the walls of the Frost Walker’s icy fortress, hundreds of hunters and warriors who gathered for the welcoming ceremony stared in mute shock as the ascendant young lord bared his teeth at the very guests they were here to receive and unleashed sorcery more ominous than anything they had experienced in their entire lives.
Before Lady Nyrielle and Lady Ashlynn’s visit in the spring, Hauke had been something of a tragic figure in the High Pass, envied by many for his iridescent horn and his position as the son and presumed heir of Lord Ritchel. But until recently, he had been too young and too weak to command respect that outweighed the bitter envy.
All of that changed as their young lord delved deep into the lost arts of the ancestors. While the Elders who sat on the council were unconvinced about the wisdom of allowing Hauke to carry the horns and lingering spirits of his ancestors, the younger soldiers and hunters standing on the walls now found their bitter envy replaced by growing admiration and genuine respect as Hauke not only gained great strength of his own, but began to share techniques that made each of them more powerful, no matter whether their inclinations were toward snow, ice, wind or water.
The impact he’d had on them was so great that many had begun to look forward to the day that Hauke could succeed Lord Ritchel, believing that they would be part of a new era where the people of the High Pass could fight back against the Tuscans or anyone else who preyed upon them, finally gaining a measure of freedom to travel the world beyond their icy peaks.
And now, their young hero was charging forward, bearing his claws and unleashing icy fury at the supposed ’allies’ who had arrived with Tuscan mercenaries. No one on the walls knew why Hauke had attacked so suddenly, but many of them began to prepare their own weapons and magics, awaiting their young lord’s order to join the attack!
Heila was the first to react to Hauke’s charge. Her days in the arena had left her with a keen sense of danger, and while her fight or flight instincts might calm given enough time, it had only been a handful of days since her last battle in the arena.
Before Hauke’s feet left the ground, Heila’s hand dropped to the hilt of Snow Fang, summoning a flurry of snowflakes and retreating rapidly away from the charging Frost Walker and his murderous spear.
Ashlynn’s reaction was almost as fast, drawing the darksteel falchion at her waist and charging to meet Hauke’s attack head on. There was nothing artful or elegant about her movements, and witchcraft was the furthest thing from her mind as she sought to position herself between the strange, dark sorcery at the tip of Hauke’s spear and her closest friend.
-CRACK- -FWUMP-