Chris

As the walls of my city finally came back into view, I knew something was wrong. The snow was piled high, and people walked to and fro outside the walls like normal, but something was different. There was something off. I wasn't sure what, but I could tell.

I hurried the last few miles back at just under a sprint.

As I jogged, I picked up more information both through sight and my aura settling over the city and using [Aura Detection]. The Orders were unnaturally active, and people seemed... tense.

My largest worries were mostly abated, because if something large happened, Abigail would have said something or said something. The fact that she hadn't meant it wasn't too bad, but it was still worrying. The few Order members I passed on the way back gave a salute and a smile, but I didn't spend much time greeting them. I wanted to figure out what was going on, and to do that, I needed to get to the Castle.

It eased my worry to see that no one seemed overly scared or fearful, just tense. A tenseness that seemed to ease as they saw me and felt my aura wrap around them once more.

With all the practice I had gotten trying to use it for over half a year, I could control it better and keep it from smothering the citizens of my city.

Even though from the feelings I was getting from [Aura Detection], I really wanted to just to check everything I could.

The Orders had over 2,000 people in them when I left, which should have only increased during my sojourn. Sure, some of them may be out scouting or in a dungeon, but I felt just a fraction of the amount I should.

Inside Frostheim, there were only around 500 members.

Something had happened, and Abigail had kept it from me.

Elliot

The Great Hall had seen more use in the past few weeks than it had since its construction. Maps were strewn everywhere applicable, markings covered most of them, while small figurines were on others.

It detailed a campaign that had yet to begin, but could explode any day now.

"I still think you should message him about this," Elliot said, which had become common ever since things had become... like this. Not heated, but escalated with the potential for more on the horizon.

"He is on his way either way. He'll be back in a few weeks at most, before the Yuletide at the latest." Abigail said tightly, "If I message him, he'll come running back. If he comes running back, he's going to do something stupid. I just know it."

"Keeping it from him is worse," Elliot said.

"Look at this," Abigail said, waving a hand over the figurines and markings, "We are still just waiting, always waiting. Nothing will happen until it happens. I don't see the point of having him rush back just to wait. He's spent months advancing, and he could use this time to recover before the next problem drags him away."

"I understand that we are waiting and we have been for weeks," Elliot kept his tone neutral, "But this is still something he should know. We are preparing for this without him, and it feels wrong."

"You have made your point, Elliot, repeatedly. I have taken it into consideration," Abigail said tersely.

"Yet you still refuse to contact him," He said.

"Yes." She stated, "We are not helpless sheep that need him to swoop in and protect us. When Marcus finally does call, I will alert him, and he will be here swiftly. I see little difference in those two outcomes."

Elliot held back his retort. He had gotten nowhere on that same front for days now, and today would be no different. It didn't help that Hal and Gabriel, his two fellow Guard Captains, sided against him. He'd stood his ground alone, but it had gone nowhere.

Even Jonathan, the Guard Commander, had sided against him. Whether it was him just taking his wife's side or his honest opinion, Elliot didn't know, but he was outvoted.

Before the conversation could move on, a weighted chill washed over them as an aura made itself known. A familiar, powerful, and wintery aura, Elliot knew all too well.

He's back.

Abigail's lips thinned.

"It seems we are about to find out," Elliot said.

He would have expected that Abigail would be glad that Christopher was back, but he wasn't surprised at her reaction after feeling the aura's deeper intricacies.

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It didn't hold any anger, but it was close to that. There was displeasure and confusion. The more time went by, the more extreme that displeasure became. Besides the emotion, the aura was more powerful than Elliot remembered it. Sometimes he thought it was impossible for that to happen, but he was wrong every time.

It was heavier and pressed on them harder, but it was also better controlled, if that made any sense. Colder than it had been before. If previously it had been a nice winter morning, it was now a cloudless night during the heart of winter.

It wasn't hard to feel him getting closer, and neither Abigail nor Elliot spoke until a figure walked through the door.

A gruff, hairy, and particularly wild figure. Long, disheveled hair matched a growing beard on his face littered with ice crystals. His armor was punctured, rent, and there were visible scars underneath, but the man himself looked vibrant, bordering on vitalic. He'd gained a sizable amount of levels, Elliot could tell, and his pace much faster than everyone in the Order.

Elliot [Evaluated] Chris.

[Human – Level 116 (Warrior)]

He didn't get as much as Hal's little wolves, but he got level and Class archetype, not that he didn't already know the man was a Warrior. That was well and truly known and had been ingrained into Elliot from the first time he'd seen him fight.

Level 116.

It was... a lot higher than he expected the man to be at. It made him question what the hell he had fought to get so much essence. If the rents and damage done to the armor weren't enough to confirm the many fights, the essence gain was.

"Abigail, Elliot," His voice was gravely from disuse, "What is going on?"

He greeted the two, but after taking them both in, his eyes shifted to the maps covering the Hall. It was easy to see his mind work through the information as he took everything in everything in sight. Elliot watched as conclusions were drawn.

"So far? Nothing," Abigail began, "But soon, Marcus will be under attack by the Reservation and the Heartlands Alliance."

"Both of them?" He asked, even though it was clearly delineated by the markings. The three Factions were represented, and their forces were color-coded on the map. Marcus's in deep blue, Mikayla's in verdant green, and Tasuka's in grey.

"Yes, both of them," Abigail explained, "They have made an alliance for his treasure..."

She hesitated and grabbed at a letter that had been tucked away. Elliot remembered laughing when it first arrived.

"Mikayla sent you a message through Alaric." She held the parchment out, but he didn't rush to take it.

"What does it say?" Chris said slowly, still standing in the doorway, taking everything in.

She cleared her throat, "'Dear Viscount Zalenski, I hope this reaches you promptly and in good tidings. It is our understanding that you and the Gemini Faction have a standing alliance, and that alliance is built on the use of his treasure–"

"What is the Gemini Faction?" Chris interrupted.

"The people of his city got tired of calling it the Twins and started referring to it as Gemini, so he changed his faction name to match," Elliot explained.

"Okay," the man said and turned back toward the letter, "Does that say what I think it says?"

Abigail nodded, "They're asking what it would take for us not to interfere. Even offering to keep our current deal in place, with a few bonuses, after they are in control of the River Heart."

Elliot still thought the notion was absurd, which was why he had laughed the first time he'd heard it. It seemed Christopher did as well, because he slowly started to laugh. "It seems they do not understand," Chris said. "And what was our response?"

"That in no uncertain terms, there was nothing they could offer, bribe, or threaten for Frostheim not to keep its word," Abigail said assuredly.

"Good." Chris nodded, "Now, why don't we back up to what's going on. Over half the Order is missing, people are tense, and the city feels off. Based on what I see, I can see why, but I don't understand why I am just learning of this now."

"That's because I decided not to tell you," Abigail stated.

His face stiffened, "And why, pray tell, did you do that?"

"You were already on your way back, and things only started moving into place a few days ago. The Order moved south of Emberhold to be closer if we were called, but so far, Marcus is set to see this through himself."

"He's not calling upon us?" Chris asked, confused.

It wasn't the anger Elliot had been expecting from learning he had been kept in the dark. It was bewilderment at Marcus's decision.

"No," Abigail shook her head and dug around for the few correspondents between her and Marcus as of late. "He wants to prove that the Twins, now Gemini, can stand on their own. I've informed him to do otherwise and offered our aid already, but his response has been the same no matter what I do. 'Gemini stands ready and will only call on us when it becomes necessary.'"

"So we are to just stand and watch? That doesn't make any sense. Marcus isn't that dumb. I understand pride, but he didn't seem like the type to do something like this." Chris worked through the new information slowly, trying to understand.

"I can't answer to what his reasoning is, but we're preparing nonetheless. As of right now, nothing has happened, which is why I didn't say anything. We aren't sure when it will begin, and we can only wait." She said.

Elliot took this time to explain the current situation better, "Of those already prepared and gathered in the South, Hal and Gabriel are both leading their particular Order while Anders is leading mine, while I've stayed here. Jonathan is also down there, acting as the overall Commander. They're stationed here, southwest of Emberhold, and only a few days away from Gemini. If we're called, they'll be able to respond in days, a week at most.

"Tasunka and Mikayla are only just now getting back and gathering up their people, which has been slow and deliberate. The build-up of forces is mainly here," he pointed to the southern edge of Marcus's claimed territory, "Where Marcus has spent weeks fortifying his position and readying for an attack. By the time the Heartlands leaves Velmara, we'll be ready to face them if it comes to that."

"If Hal is there, who is in Emberhold? Has Rachel returned?"

"No, she's still a few days away. Carrie is in Emberhold taking care of things." Abigail answered. "The Lake is too dangerous to sail in this time of year, which forced her to go around and delayed her return."

The tenseness of the aura finally dissipated, and the displeasure and confusion eased. Chris himself seemed to almost deflate when he realized there wasn't a fight for him to go rushing off to.

Then he seemed almost disappointed.

"Elliot, ready whoever is left, we leave once I can fix up my armor. A day, two at the most." He commanded, "Abigail, I entrust the city to you."

"Whoa, wait," she sputtered, "Why are you rushing off? Marcus hasn't called on us?"

Chris eyed the maps, "Watching while your ally is attacked is not the actions of a friend at all. I don't care if he's called on us or not; we will show up regardless. If he's worried we will ask for more, he understands us just as poorly as those who tried to bribe us."

His piercing eyes bored into him, "Gather the men, Elliot."

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