Of Gods and Warriors ✓

Chapter 55

Silence ruled over the terrace. The surrounding woods fell into an eerie calm, the midnight breeze coming to an abrupt halt. A faint crackling filled the air. Overhead, leaves of the elm tree froze up, becoming white-rimmed with frost. Underfoot, a thin, silver patina of ice spread across the planks of the platform with a frizzle. Fractal patterns bedecked its surface, merging with the whorls of the wood.

Snowflakes hovered in mid-air, as though frozen in time. If spring had begun to grace the forest with her gentle touch, it faded away beneath the chill, newborn leaves crinkling and shrivelling up in the cold.

Lord Edis, the King of Winter stepped out of the portalway, ice thickening where his silver boot landed on the planks. White and turquoise robes adorned his tall, imposing form, frost-white hair billowing in the harsh winds blowing out of the portal from his realm.

He raised a hand. The trailing sleeve slipped down to reveal the image of a fanged, thorn-tailed dragon inked into his muscular arm in hues of dark blue, breathing jets of frost: his true form.

Behind him, inside the portalway, snow-laden tundra plains could be seen--a brief glimpse into the Winter Realm before the portal vanished at his command, dissociating into a flurry of snow crystals and whipped away by the wind.

Xenro braced himself. He squared his shoulders and rose to face him, fingers clasping and unclasping, hesitant as to whether to reach for his sword.

"There you are!" A look of immense relief washed over his ethereal face at the sight of Xenro, which he masked at once with a neutral look, as though he hadn't been plundering the land in search of him for centuries, as if this meeting was no special than casually bumping into his brother down the street.

Xenro knew why. Such familial emotions made him look more human, more mundane. Father resented that. And Edis ever sought to please Rhilio.

"I...see you are unharmed. That is a relief," said Edis after a moment when Xenro said nothing. Shoulders tense, he placed himself between Edis and Farren-- but he had already seen her. She crouched, hands clasping the side of the planks so as not to slip off the edge, eyes weary and well-aware that this reunion between the brothers was not exactly a pleasant one.

Edis' thin, bluish lips curled in annoyance. "Ah, you have yet again associated yourself with--" he waved his hand, like he couldn't find a word to describe such lowly creatures, "--these, mortal...beings. No wonder you are not even pleased at the slightest to see me. You have new allies."

"Glad you figured it out yourself," said Xenro frigidly. "Such distaste towards humankind...Father must be proud of you. The Apocalypse went well, I hope?"

Edis glared at them both, a cruel gleam in his silver eyes. He slashed two fingers through the air, and a sceptre of solid ice materialized in his hands. "You know full well I had no choice in what roles His Majesty decided for us. The Apocalypse was his decision, and whoever was to stand in his way, would do so at their peril."

"Indeed. And thus my fate was to sit trapped in a pile of rocks for centuries. Perhaps for all eternity-- had she not assisted me."

The Winter God pretended not to hear the last part.

"It was an act of mercy, you idiot!" spat Edis, and a gust of ice cold wind blew forth in all directions. Xenro heard Farren's sharp intake of breath. "You know what fate befell his courtiers who disagreed with him? Obliterated from existence."

Xenro let out a bitter laugh. "I would much prefer that than living at his mercy, yet here we are. And what about you? Ravaged the land of Stormvale with your blizzards? Tossed around frozen corpses? I am sure you did not disappoint Father like your wretched brother did."