Alliance in the Ice - The Guardians of Noindaith

Copper Heights - Soldier Paul

The battle against the demon had taken the Western Empire and its allies to the limits of the imaginable. Now we, a disparate alliance of soldiers and guards, lined up in the San Antonio valley station at the foot of the glacier, its eternal ice glistening blood-red in the dawn light. Although it was pointless, the kings had taken it upon themselves to send two hundred and fifty soldiers each to emphasize their participation in the mission. They would be of no use, but that was politics.

In front of us was the glacier, behind us at a safe distance so that the demon could not harm them, the soldiers. An unusual silence hung over the scene.

We had set up Pax in front of us, with the guards standing next to us. They were positioned so close to us because the machine was safest in their immediate vicinity. We all had one goal: to neutralize the demon and force it back into the ice from which it had crawled.

Lars and I checked the machine's measuring devices and controllers one last time, while Eduardo kept a close eye on the dial gauges. Our fingers moved deftly and confidently, there was no time for mistakes. The copper tubes hissed and hissed, and the glowing glass spheres on the side of the machine pulsed to the rhythm of the increasing energy.

Meanwhile, the guardians prepared their ancient rituals, drawing symbols in the air with their staffs. The formulas they used to invoke the ancestors and the wind spirit formed a strange contrast to the mechanical drone of the machine.

I looked at Kaya. She was dressed in furs again, holding a staff in her hand and wearing the mask of the wind spirit. At that moment, she also looked over at me. We raised our hands in a silent greeting to wish each other luck.

A dark stripe appeared on the horizon, which seemed to grow in all directions. A cool wind arose, which grew stronger and stronger until it tugged at our clothes. The sun slowly darkened. The soft whirring turned into a roar.

Suddenly the first flash of lightning in the thickening darkness. The demon announced its appearance imposingly. He may have been weakened, but his rage was all the stronger, a seething storm rearing up against the end.

Eduardo gave us a signal, we turned up the controls and the machine finally came to life. Its surface began to tremble, small lights along the energy paths lit up and created a pulsating glow that steadily increased in intensity. The machine emitted a deep, almost palpable hum that vibrated the air around us. The light cut through the sky and discharged itself in a powerful beam against the demon.

The guardians raised their voices. Their songs pierced the air, strengthening the machine's energy beam and guiding it.

The demon flashed and thundered so that the mountains shook. We soldiers covered our ears, but the guards remained steadfast, unwavering in their will.

The black cloud above the machine bubbled and hissed as it released lightning in all directions. The rising sun bathed the clouds of mist hanging in the valley in a bloody red.