One Shot - A Freljordian Story
(This is a repost of a link)
Just quickly before you read this story, (you have to scroll to the next page) it’s about 18 pages long so it is quite a read (but it’s not heavy text). As a result, it shouldn’t take you all too long.
I would also recommend that you have the map of Runeterra open in a different tab or browser it doesn’t really matter, just so you can get an idea of where this is set.
Feel free to comment on what you thought about it below. And in case you didn’t notice it’s called ‘One Shot’
Without further adieu, Welcome, to the Freljord!
The deer was small, not a baby, not an adult. Looking for the next patch of grass, the blue in its eyes as clear as ice, true ice, all too recognisable. Despite its age, it will still feed us for a couple of nights. The butchers will be happy I didn’t spoil the meat: I mean, it only took me one single shot.
Despite the threat of the even colder temperatures, stronger wind and heavier snow, it was refreshing to know I was in familiar territory, once again. With each step, the weight of the deer bringing the thought of food and the subtle sound of soft snow reminding me, ‘I’m home now’. But home isn’t without its dangers…
Myen confronted me on my arrival, “The Ice Witch has claimed Therin, the remaining soldiers have fled to Windar.”
“Good. Windar is sheltered and well defended. Anything else?”
“Sejuani’s forces have been seen moving towards Formin, and the commanders have ordered they hold their ground given reinforcements have been sent from Menah.”
“How far out are her forces?”
“Roughly a week.”
“How many days ago did the men leave Menah?”
Myen sighed, knowing his answer wouldn’t be received well, “Three... Do you want me to take the deer to the storage hut?”
“Yes. Meet me in the map room in the main hall once you have.”
“Will do.”
I gave the deer to Myen and we both diverged on our own paths through the village. ‘Three days ago. That’s not fast enough. If Sejuani’s forces are a week out and they’re still moving, the men will be late to Formin.’
In the main hall Gorel, Renmar and Armin, also known as the Three Thieves, a name given to them by the butchers, were all having a drink, boasting about their latest hunt and how ‘successful’ it was.
“Mine, he was a big boy. He’ll feed us for five days at the least.”
“How many shots?”
It was clear Armin didn’t want to answer knowing that Gorel would laugh at him and eventually tell the whole village how poor of a shot he was, “Four... I’m still better than you with a sword though let's face it.”
As expected, a loud almost unnatural laugh followed immediately after. It reminded me of Gragas’ laugh. Absurd and loud. But there were more important matters to discuss.
“Gorel, Renmar, Armin, map room.”
Renmar and Armin stood up and followed me and Gorel eventually did after sculling what was left of his drink. In the map room, Myen was waiting alongside the chief in command, Denkal. “Denkal, you’ve met Myen before but I’d also like to introduce Armin, Renmar and Gorel.”
“The Three Thieves, yes I’ve heard of them... Myen, Armin, Gorel and Renmar, The Queen’s Guard, welcome,” Denkal replied.
Myen was quick to mention, “By the way, that was a very clean shot.”
The Thieves suddenly bore a face of surprise, “Shot? A single shot?” Armin exclaimed, their heads swinging in my direction.
“I only needed one.”
Gorel was utterly repulsed by the fact that there was a better shot than him in the village. However, I think he quickly realised he should have expected that it would be me.
Before all of us lay a map of our village, Homden, the surrounding villages, and in the top corner a small map of the Freljord for reference. Homden is situated in the mountains that surround the shoreline of Vathcaer, on the South-West side of Jelmorliss, more commonly known as the village of the Ice Children. I decided here was a good place given how close to Rakelstake we are: within a weeks hiking distance. Rakelstake being an incredibly strategic position given its central location in the Freljord and the strength of the stronghold. Therin is West of Naljaag and is situated right below the mountains, Windar is situated on the Northern side of Ornathem, the mountain believed to hold Ornn’s blacksmith, East of Rakelstake. Formin is situated at the split in the Hjenarm river North-East of Ornathem. Menah is located at the junction where the Hjenarm river meets the Krandes Lake: on which Rakelstake is located. To Formin from Menah would take about eleven days.
Myen started giving present information as to give a perspective of the current situation, “Ashe and Denkal you have already been informed however, Three Thieves, this is the only time I’m going to tell you this;”
Myen proceeded to tell them everything he told me and Denkal.
Armin and Renmar both realised exactly what Denkal, Myen and I were worried about: the men from Menah weren’t going to make it. Gorel, still quite drunk from sculling the pempin, was almost completely unaware of the situation. Renmar mentioned, “If Formin falls then that leaves the Kolen region open to attack.”
“Which would allow them to take Sichem and Rakelstake and ultimately give them a position to attack us from two angles,” Myen replied
Denkal mentioned, “If they take Homden and Lameyh.”
“They can seize the Freljord with a central position within the Avarem region,” I added
The Kolen region consists of the mountains East through South of Ornathem and the Reklinar Lake, South of Ornathem. Sichem is located on the ridge between Medginal, the mountain connected to Ornathem, and Trolingeh, the mountain on the North-East side of the city of Demacia. Rakelstake is located West of Ornathem and almost directly South of Homden. The Avarem region referring to the South-Westernmost end of the Freljord which used to belong to Avarosa. Lameyh is located on the coastline West of Vathcaer.
It was obvious that if Sejuani’s forces were able to take control of Formin, that it would cascade into a series of events which would put the entire Avarem region in danger. This was clear to everyone but Gorel, who hadn’t been listening and even if he had, probably wouldn’t remember it. “How many days are we from Formin?”
“Roughly thirteen days,” Denkal replied
“Why don’t we go help them?” Renmar suggested
“That is what I was thinking about however even if we left now, Formin would fall before we got there…” Suddenly an idea came to mind however, “How far are we from Windar?”
“Roughly nine days,” Myen replied
“Why would we go to Windar if Sejuani is just going to go through the Kolemne valley towards Reklinar?” Armin objected
“I think you’ve missed the point that Windar is still an advantageous position given that Sejuani could attack it or if she does go through the Kolemne valley we can aid in the resistance at Menoyar,” Renmar replied
“We move to Windar tomorrow. Agreed?”
“What if we can’t catch them? What if they make it to Reklinar then to Sichem and Rakelstake?” Denkal was quick to object
“Then we split up, the lesser competent fighters lead a migration to Rakelstake and prepare for a worst case scenario defence and the more competent fighters head for Windar in defence of the Avarem region. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Myen exclaimed
Denkal and the Thieves simply gave me a nod signalling that this was a plan to be enacted. “Preparations begin now. Alert the other villagers, we have a few hours left of light to get ready. On first light tomorrow, we move.”
Myen asked, “Ashe, do you want me to gather the warriors to determine who’s going to Windar and who’s going to Rakelstake?”
“Yes, bring them to the main hall. We’ll be waiting.”
Denkal left the main hall to go pack his belongings given he is not a warrior, just an overseer. Gorel, Renmar and Armin followed me into the main hall. It wasn’t long before Myen returned with all the warriors. “For those of you who do not know, Sejuani’s forces are advancing to Formin, and Therin has fallen to Lissandra,” a sudden hush fell over the men not expecting for me to mention the Ice Witch’s real name, “As a result Windar and the subsequent villages of the Kolemne valley are at risk of falling too. If this were to happen Sichem, Rakelstake and eventually us, Homden, would also fall. So by unanimous decision among me, the Queen’s Guard and the village overseers, our village will be splitting up. The rest of the villagers will be migrating to Rakelstake, given its safety and strategic advantage. However, it is your choice now whether or not you accompany them to Rakelstake and join forces in its potential defence, or you join me and the Queen’s Guard to journey to Windar to aid in its potential defence against Sejuani’s forces. Move to the left side of the hall if you wish to journey to Windar, and the right side if you wish to journey to Rakelstake.”
After some mild discussion, there seemed to be a very even amount of warriors willing to go to Windar, and warriors going to Rakelstake. “Ok. Now that your decision has been made, those of you going to Windar, you have until nightfall to gather resources. Those of you going to Rakelstake, you also have until nightfall to gather resources however, you will also be given an extra pack of someone’s belongings to carry to Rakelstake. You may leave the hall.”
With permission to leave the hall there was quite the commotion as the warriors made their way outside, and to their home to begin preparations. I was about to leave when Myen approached me to bring up a potential problem, “Ashe, the quickest path to Rakelstake requires periodically going through the hunting territory of the Jelmorliss. That would pose a major risk if most of the warriors going to Rakelstake are less experienced and less competent.”
“Yes it would. However I did see some members of the Yamnetre decide to go to Rakelstake, they’re very well trained.”
“I do still think it would be wise to send, some more experienced members with them,” Myen was gesturing towards Renmar and Armin.
“Ok... Queen’s Guard?”
“Yes,” was the synchronised response.
“It has come to my attention that the Jelmorliss could pose a threat to the villagers heading for Rakelstake. As a result, Renmar, Armin, you have been assigned as additional escort given your experience and training with fighting. Gorel and Myen, you will still be accompanying me.”
It was obvious Renmar and Armin were hurt by my decision given their love for the thrill of a fight. It’s what makes them such great warriors, and what earned them a spot as part of the Queen’s Guard. However, they eventually agreed. Despite my first thoughts that Gorel was almost unconscious and incapable of receiving information, he seemed to have somewhat, ‘sobered’ up and was ready to pack for the journey. “You may leave the hall now.”
As they left the hall I started to think about what I would need, and how much of it I would need, as well as the ways the the following days could play out, and how I would react to each scenario. When I finally left the hall and went outside, the frigid cold really hit me and it dawned on me how long these nine days were going to be to make it to Windar. I also spotted out of the corner of my eye, Renmar and Armin packing suspiciously more food from the butchers than necessary. I went over and asked them about it and they replied with, “Well what if someone doesn’t pack enough food, then we have some extra to share with them,” They also mentioned the idea that, “It’s good if everyone takes more food than necessary because then there will be nothing left behind.”
Seemed like legitimate and reasonable explanations, so I left it at that. Following on, I went to my hut and spent the next few hours packing. Eventually, out of pure exhaustion I layed on my bed and almost instantly fell asleep…
I woke to the quite rustle of men walking in the soft snow that had fallen during the night. It wasn’t light yet, but the first few orange rays were bursting through the clouds, so I guess it could be considered day. Didn’t take me long to pack my final belongings, get appropriately dressed, and head for the main hall for the final briefing. “Queen’s Guard?”
“Yes.”
“Is everybody awake?”
Armin replied, “All the villagers and warriors heading for Rakelstake are awake and awaiting your orders for moving out.”
Gorel, having completely sobered up, replied, “The warriors heading for Windar are ready and awaiting orders.”
“Good,” I glanced towards Renmar and Armin, “I know you don’t like my decision but it’s for the best of the village.”
“We know. Anything that betters the village,” Renmar promptly replied
We all burst into a light laughter for that was something I said to Renmar a long time ago however has since turned into a bit of an annoying joke. I gave a final nod towards Armin and Renmar as both a goodbye and you’re ok to leave. Armin headed for the door and Renmar did too but not before giving me a nod in return. From inside I could hear Armin shouting, “All villagers going to Rakelstake follow my lead.”
A quick glance towards Gorel and Myen, and we headed outside to tell the warriors it was time to go.
It was going to take us about nine days to reach Windar but nothing interesting happened until the third day outside of people falling into snow holes and pushing each other over accidentally. It came in the form of a Northern Winter Eagle, or as we know them, Umnotril, landing on my arm. When I fell asleep on the night before we left, Myen sent the Umnotril, its name being Myanet, to Windar as a messenger that we were on our way to assist. The fact that it had returned, meant the message had been received. “Myanet! You’re back!”
Myen was clearly very excited but his face turned from joy to dread knowing that the message being received, meant that the idea that Sejuani was going to attack Windar, was most likely to become a reality. Although Windar is a mighty fortress, having stood since the times of the Three Sisters, Avarosa being one, the men who guard it wouldn’t be able to hold an attack from Sejuani even if they tried.
On the sixth day morale was slowly starting to drain so when we set up camp at the top of a small, tree and snow covered hill, we decided to have fight training with Gorel and Myen organising it as a way to stay fight ready. I knew it would be fun to watch given that most of the warriors coming to Windar make up the Yamnetre, a highly trained and elite squad of young fighters whose aim is to one day become part of the Queen’s Guard. I remember when I wasn’t the ruler of our village, seeing Myen, Gorel, Armin and Renmar in the Yamnetre. The fight training carried on through the evening and night with members of the Yamnetre and others testing themselves against Myen and Gorel. Once again I fell asleep easily having eaten another portion of meat and native flowers.
On the morning of the ninth day, we could see Windar and the slowly lowering morale raised dramatically. During the eighth night, it became fogged over so seeing Windar was almost impossible. However, now that we could see it, it would only be a few jargs away. Before the sun hit the high sky, we made it to Windar, the warriors got accompanied with their stations, and myself along with Gorel and Myen went to meet with Lorman, the Keeper of the Fortress. “Greetings Queen and Queen’s Guard. Welcome to Windar.”
“Thank you.”
“Before we move on I would like to introduce Rongit and Wasthim, two of the men who escaped from Therin.”
Rongit was quick to interrupt what I was going to say, “You don’t know what you’re up against, we need more men than this.”
“What? We know exactly what we’re up against it’s Sejuani’s forces trying to attack Windar, that’s why we’re here.”
Wasthim added, “She’s with them.”
My heart sunk in realisation, before hardening, “Lissandra… How many warriors roughly came to Therin?”
“Several hundreds at least,” Wasthim replied
“Lorman, do you have any rough estimates as to how many warriors came to Formin?”
One of the men who was waiting off to the side interjected my question, “Several hundred as well.”
“I’m sorry Ashe I should have introduced these men to you too. This is Klamor and Tramden. Two of the men sent from Menah to aid in the defence of Formin.”
I assumed Klamor was the one who answered my question. “I’m surprised you made it to Formin in time, well done. However, I can only assume despite best efforts it still fell.”
Tramden replied, “We didn’t. We were two days out of Formin when the remaining men said to defend it, intersected us and told us to head for Windar if we wanted to help. One of them managed to overhear Sejuani speaking to an unseen figure about attacking Windar. When he tried to escape he got struck by a weapon of dark ice. They were heading for Menah as to heal him of the wound. The more important thing is that Sejuani’s conversation with said figure would imply that they will be attacking Windar. If they are successful, it would mean they can head straight for Rakelstake, they wouldn’t have to go through the Kolemne valley.”
“Do we know how many days out their warriors are?”
“From our information they are about four days out.”
After some more discussion it was revealed that men from Menoyar, in the Northern parts of the Kolemne valley, were also moving to Windar for aid and that they were about one day away. “Do you have any news about men from places more South, like Rakelstake?”
“We have no news from Rakelstake, however it is apparent we are entering the middle of the year-” Lorman was interrupted by Gorel
“Which means men from Valar’s Hollow will be arriving!”
“Better news, they’re already here,” Lorman gestured towards the doorway and on queue the overseers of the Valar’s Hollow expedition came through. Valar’s Hollow is in the Vertih region, also known as the Port Region for its immense ports, which means that these men are well equipped with weaponry from a range of places, particularly long ranged weapons originating in Bilgewater. Given its position relative to Demacia, means their swords are also laced with petricite, known in the Freljord simply as Lissfordun, or the Killer of Ice Magic. Every year expeditions from Valar’s Hollow journey through the Freljord, eventually reaching Windar where they turn and head back.
They simply nodded towards us before Lorman pointed them to a room off to the side, presumably where they can talk.
Lorman then turned towards Rongit and Wasthim, “I think we’re pretty well equipped for a defence of Windar. We’ve good warriors,” He glanced towards myself, Gorel and Myen, “Good weapons,” Glancing towards the rack of petricite laced swords, the men from Valar’s Hollow had placed when they arrived a few days ago, “I’m not sure what more you could want given that combined, Sejuani and the Ice Witch only have, according to your estimates, about a thousand to two thousand men or maybe even less.”
Rongit sighed, “Ok, well now that everything has been explained, I see how this could be a successful defence.”
The conversation continued into the evening about what we were to do in case, this happened or this happened. All I got from it was that if the defence is unsuccessful, head for the vault which has an entrance to a secret tunnel built by Avarosa’s men in case they were unsuccessful. It leads through the mountain and exits near a river that leads to the Krandes lake and ultimately: Rakelstake. Afterwards we all left and headed for our assigned sleeping areas. It was more difficult to sleep tonight rather than the nights before. I was dwelling on the thought that Sejuani and Lissandra’s forces were only four days away from Windar, and the fact that an attack was not only imminent, but inescapable. It was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not.
The next three days passed like an eternal torture, slow, and painstakingly tense. With everyone getting ready for the defence, they had all come to the conclusion I had on the day we arrived. Despite preparation, this was going to be a fight to go down in history.
Early morning, day five, sun not having risen, Sejuani’s forces were going to arrive today. The watchtowers were manned, no reports of anything moving yet…
“Morning Ashe.”
“Morning Myen. Would you say you’re read--
The loud sound of a ratchet breaks my sentence and that only means one thing:
“CATAP--
Myen and I duck for cover with his shield above us both as the section of wall on our left crumbles in the wake of a large boulder. The boulder, now sitting there, motionless… lifeless.
Before I can get another word out another deep sound is heard. Its less loud, but nowhere near less dangerous. I was trying to wake Gorel but I turn to see him in front of me, and together we each exchange glances before heading towards the sniper tower. Another rumble, closer, yet still a decent way away.
“Myen, bow and quiver for you,” Gorel passes one of the two bows he is carrying and a quiver to Myen. I remember the sun hasn’t even risen yet once I reach the sniper tower, as it’s almost impossible to see where the warriors and the catapults are. It would be, if they didn’t decide to light their arrows on fire. In a synchronised motion,
Take an arrow,
Position the arrow,
Draw the arrow,
Aim,
Breathe out,
Once you breathe out everything seems to slow down, your eyes really focus on what you’re aiming at. You see it clearly, and you know there is just one more thing to do…
Release
There is a subtle whistling noise as all three arrows hurtle through the air and three satisfying thunks as they find their mark.
Then, we repeat.
Take,
Position,
Draw,
Aim,
Breathe… and,
Release
Three satisfying thunks
As my eyes slowly adjust I come to release the estimated size of the force we’re facing was almost a perfect estimation. As I take my next arrow I notice four things, there are eight catapults, each throwing boulders at Windar’s walls, there are many sizable holes in the walls each of which exposing a different area, there are warriors with battering rams made from true ice, and the catapult that is directly ahead of me, is about to fire a boulder made of dark ice, behind it, stands a figure, too dark to identify, but I know exactly who it is. Lissandra. Knowing the dark ice boulder will do much more damage than just break a wall, I need to destroy it.
“Avari namen toju,” I mutter, as my right hand fills with the sensation of cold, as an arrow of true ice forms in my grasp.
I position the arrow,
I draw the arrow,
I aim straight at the catapult,
I breathe out, I close my eyes...
“Avari namen,” I open my eyes, to see the catapult one last time, my arrow glowing with an intense turquoise hue...
“Konamu.”
Release
Time slows, as my fingers are pulling away from the string I hear it snap back into its normal position, the arrow quietly whistling through the air. Glowing bright blue, you could see it from a long distance.
Thunk
I can’t help but crack a small grin as the arrow finds its mark and the whole catapult freezes in a tomb of true ice. Only too late did I realise, the catapult had already done its job.
I look up to see the dark ice boulder flying through the air, emitting a deep blue glow. It hits the mountain side in the area above the fortress. It missed… or was that its intention. Just like how the catapult froze, the boulder smashes and from it erupts huge shards of dark ice, almost as tall as the mountain, like the ones surrounding the Howling Abyss. As they shoot up, they lean over the fortress, before gravity has its turn. Just as the boulder shattered, these massive spikes of dark ice break and fall down. Gorel and Myen both have shields and are both telling me to duck beneath them. I think to myself, how are those shields going to save us?
I close my eyes, before them flash memories of Vathcaer, my mother, the villagers, the times the storms were so violent, I would pray to Ornn that he would smash Volibear to pieces, that he would freeze in a tomb of true ice, never to come out again. The fun times, the sad times, the happy times, the distraught times. I also think about what brought me here in the first place, because I want to help Windar, because Sejuani and Lissandra are going to attack it, because they want to kill me, because I betrayed them both. I realise I’m the one that caused all this, every single person who dies, dies because of my mistake. It’s tough to swallow. When I finally open them, Gorel and Myen are standing, overwatching the carnage that is unfolding, “These shields petricite?” Myen asked
“That’s what the men from Valar’s Hollow told me, so yeah, I’d assume so,” was Gorel’s reply
“That was dark ice, the only reason I could use to explain how we just lived is because the ice is enchanted so the shields must have absorbed the enchantment, and shattered the ice.”
“I would have never thought that to be possible!”
“Neither, if I’m being honest.”
I look out over the field in front of the fortress, still hundreds of warriors, waiting to get a piece of Windar. Then I look down, I see the main gate has been breached, Sejuani’s warriors and Lissandra’s warriors alike pouring in. The secondary gate, the entrance to the next level of the fortress, thankfully, has been sealed. But the warriors are trying to breach it too. “We need to get down and help the defence.”
“I don’t think we’re going to be of much help if those catapults are still firing,” Gorel points towards the three that are still standing.
Myen then points out, “Ashe you took out one, but how’d the other four fall?”
Before either of us can reply a sharp bang is finally brought to our attention in very close proximity to us. We duck with the shields above our heads as we stare out onto the field. As I look towards one of the catapults it gets hit by a cannonball and explodes into a huge ball of fire, like when Ornn first lit his forge. We all look behind us on our right to see the men of Valar’s Hollow manning what looks to be a mighty cannon with cannonballs capable of exploding on impact. Before I can look back at the field, I find myself staring at the sun. Knowing it is daytime, I’m filled with valiance like never before. “Follow me, we head for the sniper tower on the fourth level,” as I point towards the particular tower I’m speaking of I remember we’re on level six, thus, we are not far away.
We reach the fourth tower and I have an idea that could help in the defence, “If we can seal off the main entrance, we can create a cage in which we can fight with numbers.”
“How?” Gorel asked
“Just keep shooting, let me do my thing.”
As Gorel and Myen both took arrows out of their quivers, I began muttering for the second time,
“Avari namen,” the same feeling of cold running through my hand and arm.
I take the arrow,
I position the arrow,
I draw the arrow,
I aim,
I breathe out…
“Konamu.”
Release
The same snapping sound as the string returns to its normal position. The same whistling sound as the arrow flies through the air. The same distinct bright blue glow. This time, it hits the ground in the centre of the main entrance and from it bursts true ice, completely blocking it. I look up to see the other two catapults have now been dismantled and the canon manned by the men from Valar’s Hollow, just like I am, is now aiming just outside the entrance.
Without needing to tell anyone about the plan of making a cage, the moment the warriors are sealed off in the first level, the entrance to the second level is opened, and the warriors of Windar rush in the finish the kill.
Gorel, Myen and I continue firing arrows from the sniper tower until I see a figure. It couldn’t be Lissandra, given how close she was to the catapult I froze, she has probably sustained some injuries. Also given its daytime she has probably left. She would much rather work during the night, which would explain why she rarely leaves the dark halls of The Frostguard Citadel. The figure steps into the light of the morning sun, Sejuani. Her boar right by her side. Her true ice bola hanging to the ground. Takes me a moment to realise she is actually swinging it. Then it starts glowing a bright blue like my crystal arrows, and before I can say much else to Gorel and Myen apart from “Take cover,” she throws it at the base of the fortress.
It connects, and just like my crystal arrows, true ice bursts from the point of impact encasing the first and second levels in ice.
Myen fires an arrow at the ice,
Thunk,
It sticks, but nothing. I look down at the first and second levels and I can make out that the warriors of the Winter’s Claw have been killed, and the men of Windar are retreating to the second and third levels.
Smart.
What we couldn’t see is that Sejuani and the warriors of the Winter’s Claw were regrouping at the main entrance and all the ice just formed by Sejuani’s bola was about to be shattered. By striking it once with her bola all the ice simply crumbled and through the raining ice shards came charging herself and her warriors. Despite the entrance to the second level being sealed, it was no match for a charging boar. It simply got knocked down. Thankfully no one was in the way so despite the Winter’s Claw pouring through the second entrance, the warriors of Windar were able to put up a great fight with assistance from the men of Homden, Menoyar and Valar’s Hollow as well as the sniper towers on levels three all the way through to eight.
Even though her warriors were slowly moving through the levels killing as many people as possible, Sejuani only had one goal: killing me. She could care less about the men guarding the third level, she simply knocked them to the ground and kept charging.
With a glance left, I see her, she sees me. With eyes locked I draw an arrow as she charges. Myen and Gorel both fire arrows at her and she knocks them away with her bola. But she opens herself for a split second. A split second of vulnerability where a clean shot would kill.
I aim,
I breathe out,
Release.
The arrow flies and like an all too familiar sight, time slows. I watch the arrow as it pierces the air flying towards Sejuani’s head. This time, there was no satisfying thunk. Just the sound of shattering ice as the arrow skims the side of her helmet.
I missed. I missed the one, single, shot.
I think about the deer I usually hunt. How they move so much faster and are just as vulnerable as Sejuani in that moment. Yet I only ever need one shot.
Bringing myself back to the moment, I draw another arrow and release it.
It connects… in the shoulder.
Sejuani being used to the cold and being used to the pain, doesn’t even budge.
We had to jump down from the sniper position as to fight her in the safest way given that if she knocked it down, we could easily be crushed.
She keeps charging, Gorel fires a shot at her boar and connects in the shoulder however the boar is also somewhat resistant to pain. Myen then lands a great shot that hits the boar close to its left eye. Despite its resistance to pain, a shot that close to the eye can’t be taken lightly, as a result, he winces, and stumbles launching Sejuani towards us.
She is quickly on her feet however and swings her bola towards me. I duck and shoot then duck again as she swings it around for the second time. On the third swing the bola starts glowing again, so Gorel steps in front of me to block the swing with the petricite shield. Despite absorbing most of the shock, Gorel is knocked into the wall behind him, and subsequently, knocked unconscious.
While I run to check he’s ok, Myen draws his sword and goes toe to toe with Sejuani. Despite her strength, he does well to hold her off while I tend to Gorel. I realise that he was only concussed however I move him to a safer spot behind the wall on level five. Before I come around the wall, I draw an arrow ready to shoot and I turn to see Myen blocking a swing. I aim for the head.
Thunk
This time it sounds like a good shot, turns out it only pierced the layer of ice on top of her armor. It is known as her Frost Armor. As the layer defrosts slightly, the arrow falls to the ground, and shatters. Thankfully, that same spot is now vulnerable.
She turns her attention to me.
She swings downwards. I tumble to my right and shoot her on the right side of her chest. Again I only puncture the frost armor.
She swings left. I duck and shoot her on the right side of the chest again. This time I puncture her armor. She winces slightly which signals to me that I punctured her skin, but not deeply.
She swings left again. This time I tumble to my left underneath the bola but when I turn to shoot an arrow, I’m punched in the left cheek. I get a metallic taste. My taste buds sensing the iron from my blood, in my mouth.
She draws her sword but before she can stab me I hear tumbling. Myen tackles her to the ground and they engage in toe to toe combat once again. This time Myen manages to slice her left calf however he is eventually knocked to the ground with a punch to the gut and face.
She picks up her sword which she dropped when Myen tackled her.
Footsteps.
I can hear two people’s footsteps. They’re running. Towards me. Sejuani turns before she is once again tackled to the ground.
“Ashe!”
I turn to my right, and of all the people I could see, “Armin?”
“Get up. The ground is no place for a Queen!”
I turn to my left and Renmar is squaring off with Sejuani. As Armin helps me to my feet I have multiple questions for him,
“How’d you guys get here?”
“It was our plan all along. Whether or not you wanted us to come, we were going to come here. However the main reason we came is that men from Rakelstake were coming to Homden to warn us about the potential invasion of Windar and whether or not Homden was going to be involved. So half of their warriors came with me and Renmar and the other half are escorting the village to Rakelstake,” he took a deep breath, “Anything that betters the village. Or in this case, the Avarem region.”
“How’d you get to the fourth level. The Winter’s Claw surely have complete control over the first two levels?”
“There is a more secretive entrance in the side of the mountain we knew about that leads to the third level.”
“How’d you know about it?”
“We used to live here.”
“What’s it looking like on the first two levels?”
“Okay for now. The Winter’s Claw are advancing slowly, however the warriors of Windar as well as the warriors from Rakelstake, Homden and Menoyar as well as who appears to be the men from Valar’s Hollow, are doing a good job holding them off for the moment.”
Once he’d explained everything, he drew his sword and together with Renmar, faced off with Sejuani. Amid the chaos Renmar dropped his sword so he picked up Sejuani’s and used it instead.
On my feet once more, I had my bow in hand so every time an opportunity arose, I would take a shot at Sejuani’s head or chest.
Despite being outnumbered and injured, Sejuani displayed incredible valiance as she kept fighting on. As she was fighting however, Renmar showed a moment of vulnerability and Sejuani was able to capitalize on it. Despite that, she also showed a vulnerability to me. So whilst she was able to stab Renmar in his right shoulder, I was able to shoot her in the left shoulder. Renmar fell but Armin kept fighting.
At this point a couple of things happened, the remaining men from Valar’s Hollow came running up from the third level shouting at us to head for the vault, Gorel had recovered enough to hold his ground and was shooting at Sejuani with not terribly much luck given his concussion, and Myen who was knocked to the ground, got up again and was fighting with Armin.
I realised that if the men from Valar’s Hollow were running we probably needed to do so too however Armin and Myen were locked in combat with Sejuani. The opportunity arose to halt the fighting however when Gorel finally hit Sejuani in the right shoulder. Armin and Myen realising we need to go, both stopped fighting and sheathed their swords. I also picked up Renmar’s sword and sheathed it for him. Sejuani, despite being heavily injured but not in life threatening danger as a result of her injuries, was still moving and was getting closer and closer to her bola as a last chance to knock me down so the warriors of the Winter’s Claw could kill me.
So to seal that fight for good, I shot a crystal arrow at her right foot freezing it in place. Given her left calf was cut by Myen, she became almost motionless.
Myen put Gorel’s arm over his shoulders and together they ran, Armin put Renmar’s uninjured arm over his shoulders and they ran, and in front of them, I ran. I tried my best to follow the men from Valar’s Hollow and despite losing them I still managed to find the vault, thankfully.
The men from Valar’s Hollow mentioned that all the warriors from Windar had fallen and the Winter’s Claw had won. What was more important was that we, alongside the men from Valar’s Hollow and the archers from levels five through eight, were the last people inside the escape tunnel Lorman informed us about. So when we finally made it inside, Lorman was able to seal it shut. Given it was built by Avarosa, nobody would be able to break it open by brute force or magic. They would have to break the mountain before they could break the door, like Braum did.
Once we were inside, we were able to safely assess our injuries. I was fine outside of bruises mainly to my left cheek and a loose tooth that would return to normal. Myen’s injuries consisted of mainly bruises but his jaw was fractured in two places. Gorel was confirmed to be concussed, which would mean he’d be fine as long as he walked with his arm over someone for support in case he stumbled. Armin had multiple cuts to his arms and his left leg as well as bruises. None of them were lethal injuries. Renmar was very lucky that Sejuani didn’t strike any crucial blood vessels or he would be dead. Thankfully, he is alive, although he will take the longest to recover given he lost a substantial amount of blood.
There was only one person who died in the tunnel. He was a member of the group from Valar’s Hollow, and a close friend to their leader. He was stabbed in the leg but unfortunately a major blood vessel was completely severed. He had bled out before we arrived in the tunnel because we didn’t notice he was rushed past us to the tunnel while we were fighting Sejuani. We held a brief silence to commemorate his bravery and valiance when we made it to Rakelstake, and he got a proper burial and send off. It tooks us three days through the tunnel to make it to the exit. Another four days to make it to Rakelstake.
The fact that we lost the battle at Windar is incredibly significant. However the fact that Sejuani was severely but not mortally wounded means she will have to retreat temporarily. Which gives us a window to prepare. That doesn’t negate the fact that she will almost certainly make it to Rakelstake eventually, whether she does or doesn’t go through the Kolemne valley. Lissandra will almost certainly be returning as well. If they take Rakelstake, although it’s not their plan at the moment, they wouldn’t need to kill me to seize control of the entire Avarem region in the end.
Once we made it to Rakelstake, we had to break the news to the people there, including the people from Homden. Over dinner that night, I was thinking about a lot of different things. Mainly the idea that all of this happened just because of me. To think all those people died, all those lives lost, just because of me. Particularly those from Homden, some of which followed me blindly thinking it would be an easy success, whose families now have to deal with their absence. To think that Sejuani could take over the Avarem region, all because of me.
What’s worst is to think about is that I could have stopped this from going any further,
I could have stopped it with a single shot…
One
Single
Shot.