#skysea

The Season of Wind had wrapped the Cloudscrape Crags in a swirl of whiteout.  While winter might have been relaxing its grip on more temperate parts of Sornieth, here in the realm of Ice it still held full sway, and at this rate the snow would likely reach a guardian’s head by the Jamboree.  Redi ran through the weather, unbothered by the cold but squinting through the snow-filled air.  The patrol she took was less effective in such conditions, but anyone looking to get into Northslope territory this way was unlikely to be stopped by wind and snow.   Redi was making for a sentinel outpost she had stayed at many times before.  She would stop there for the night, take rest and resume her patrol in daylight.

Redi continued along the ridge of the mountains, high above the rest of the Southern Icefield.  In fairer weather, she would be able to see the Fortress of Ends from here, but in the whiteout it was only a smear of white light for her smaller eyes. The accumulated snow clung to itself, creating new shapes and obscuring the rock below, but Redi placed each foot confidently, with surety born of seasons on patrols such as this.

The storm did not let up as night began to fall.  The swirling snow that had made vision difficult in daylight made it impossible in the dark.  Redi arrived at the outpost glad for the chance to step out of the wind.  The structure was covered with driven snow, so she set about clearing it; however, before she quite finished, the storm began to change.

The swirl of the snow took on a cohesion it had not possessed before, and the white magic that always marked the Fortress of Ends moved in the storm itself. Instantly alert, Redi stood watching, straining for a glimpse of the source of the magic.  She was rewarded soon, as the magic began to trace a large shape moving through the snowstorm.  Something that could almost only be an imperial dragon, one who had apparently been completely concealed only a minute ago.  One who smelled, as the wind shifted slightly, very familiar.

Her father was here.

It occurred to Redi, briefly, to flee downslope. She rejected the idea just as quickly; it was a thought her former self would entertain, brought forth by Skysea’s presence.  Furthermore, the current conditions made a blind dash down the mountains dangerous.   Instead she squared herself, and called out

“Hello, father.”

His response was immediate.  The massive imperial turned to face her directly, taking on magical clarity.  Though still obscured to light vision by the darkness and snow, he was outlined clearly in lines of Ice magic, and when he turned to her, she could see his eyes shine, the ring of Arcane-pink almost lost in a field of Ice-white.  

“What did you do?” Skysea’s voice was thick with horror.

“What does it look like?”  The retort escaped her before her mind quite caught up.  She’d known he would hate her transformation from the beginning, of course, but this was not a confrontation she’d anticipated.   She braced herself in case he should attack, but he responded with words instead.

“You have cast aside your heritage!  A fragment of divinity is not to be discarded like shed scales, whatever god it comes from!” Skysea glared with what felt like a physical force, and the cold of the storm intensified. The snow that had collected on Redi’s hide and clothing stiffened in the chill, but she held her ground.  

“I am stronger without it than I ever was before!  I learned to fight in this form, and I have achieved the top warrior’s tier!  I am faster and more agile and more enduring all at once!  I am one of the clan’s top fighters, and I have been for most of a cycle now!  And further, I never have to fear undeath again…” Redi shouted for what felt like hours, pouring out two cycles worth of anger and frustration with the dragon before her.  

“This cannot stand.”  The imperial’s voice was dark. “You are deceived by Plague, and you have made yourself plentiful for a rotted promise of strength.  You have made yourself less and I will not have you abandon our Lord for Plague!”

Redi glared back up at him, confidence rising even in the face of the Exalt. “I think I would know if I were abandoning Ice for Plague! What are you even doing in Northslope territory?  Surely you are not here only to berate me!”