The Iron Dominion's northern peaks clawed at the heavens, their jagged summits veiled in perpetual snow. Eldrin trudged through knee-deep drifts, his breath crystallizing in the air. The chaos grain on his left arm pulsed faintly beneath layers of fur and steela-constant reminder of the price paid at the rift. Behind him, Nim's spider-mech struggled against the gale, its hydraulic joints sputtering ice.
This storm reeks of *magic*,"Liora muttered, her emerald cloak whipping like a battle standard. She pressed a gloved hand to the snow-crusted ground, her crystalline dagger humming. Ophira's shadow is close."
Tira stumbled, her shard-scarred hands trembling. The mountain…it*breathes*."Her dual voicesone frayed, one feralblended into a whisper. The third shard, now dormant in her chest, flickered in response.
A horn blared.
Eldrin froze. Through the whiteout, armored figures materializedknights clad in silver plate, their helms crowned with antlers of frost. At their helm rode Isolde, her lance gleaming with Holy Light, its tip carving sigils into the blizzard.
Chaos-tainted filth," she snarled, her voice amplified by the storm. You defile the Frostborne's sanctum."
Nim's mech-legs *hissed*,deploying plasma cutters. Fancy armor wont save you from a molten core to the face, *princess*."
Isolde's gaze locked onto Eldrin. Surrender, and Ill make your end swift."
The grain on Eldrin's arm flared. Were not here to fight.
The crack *Lies!*"Isolde's lance erupted with Holy Light, illuminating the skeletal trees around them. Your kind brings only ruin. Ive seen itvillages melted to slag, children choking onChaos-fog. Youre a *plague*."
Liora stepped forward, her dagger crackling. And youre a fool. The real plague festers in your sister's shadow."
Isolde spurred her armored steed, the ground trembling. Enough!"
---
The knights charged.
Eldrin's chaos-fire ignited, liquid shadow coiling around his fists. He parried a Holy Light-infused blade, the collision scattering sparks that froze midair. Nim's mech launched grappling hooks, yanking knights from their saddles, while Liora's crystalline barriers deflected crossbow volleys.
Isolde descended like a tempest. Her lance struck Eldrin's shoulder, Holy Light searing through fur and flesh. He staggered, the grain on his arm writhing as chaos-fire retaliatedaserpent of darkness that clashed against her Holy Light in a blinding explosion.
Youre a *child* playing with fire,"Isolde hissed, her breath frosting the air between them. Chaos consumes all it touches. Even *her*." She nodded toward Tira, now crouched behind a boulder, clutching her shard.
Eldrin's flames faltered. *Riven's face flashed in his mindeharred, crumbling.*
Isolde pressed for her advantage. Your power is borrowed. Stolen. And when it devours you, what then? Who will mourn the *monster*?"
The mountain roared.
---
A fissure split the skyajagged crack, vomiting tendrils of chaos. The peak trembled, glaciers shearing from cliffs.
*Move!*"Liora screamed, yanking Tira backward as a wall of snow and rock cascaded toward them.
Isoldes steed reared, its armor cracking under the avalanche's force. Eldrin lunged, chaos-fire melting a path through the onslaught, but the grain on his arm *burned*, veins of blue ice spreading toward his heart.
A slab of ice slammed into his side. He tumbled, the world spinning whitet- ntil a gauntleted hand seized his wrist.
Isolde hauled him onto her steed's back, her Loly Light lance piercing the avalanche's heart. Hold on, or I drop you into the abyss!"
They rode the avalanches crest, Holy Light carving a fragile tunnel through the crushing snow. Eldrin gripped her armor, the grain on his arm leaching frost into her plate. Why·save me?"
Because,"she gritted, ónly *I* get to kill you."
--.
The avalanche dumped them into a glacial ravine. Isolde's knights were goneswallowed by the mountain. Her lance lay shattered, its Holy Light dimmed.
Tira knelt beside a frozen stream, her shard's glow reflecting off the ice. Th e grain·it's here. Beneath us."
Liora traced a Titan rune etched into the ravine wall. The Frost borne's crypt. Ophira's shadow seeks the fourth shard."
Isolde removed her helm, revealing a face as sharp as her blade. A scar split her browa mirror to Riven's. She tossed Eldrin with a rusted key. The Royal Secret Passage. It leads to the crypt's heart. Use it. *If you dare.*"
Eldrin's breath caught. The key's crest matched Riven's pendanta- wolf encircled by thorns. You knew him."
lsolde's gaze hardened. He was my squire. A fool who believed in*redemption*."She turned, her armor groaning. But heed this,Chaos Child: If you lose control, I *will* bury you in this ice."
As she vanished into the storm, Nim whistled. So allies now?"
Liora smirked. Allies? No. But pawns move in curious ways."
--
The crypt's entrance loomeda-maw of ice and ancient steel. Eldrin pressed the key to its frozen lock, the grain on his arm flaring. The ground shuddered, revealing a staircase spiraling into darkness.
Tira hesitated. Her shadow is waiting."
Then we dont keep her waiting,"Eldrin said, chaos-fire dancing in his palm.
Above them, the crack pulsed. Somewhere in the void, Ophira laughed.
---