If you call me, I shall answer

[Hikami]

龍 78th of Frost, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: Voice in my head| Thoughts: I am here!| Mood: Curious

---

龍 The flight to Lover's Pit was rather grueling, fighting against the blizzard that was overtaking the area. Luckily for him, given his proficiency in Elementalism, the cold winds didn't slow him down, but forcing his way through them was a difficult challenge, to say the least. Every time he tried to call out to the natural hailstorm, he heard no voice calling back from the blizzard. Not only that, the harshness in how strong the blizzard was threatened to tear his new wings apart, forcing the Kathar to lower his altitude considerably.

Finally making it to the destination, he found himself standing there looking down into the pit, feeling as if it was alive. Looking around it was just him, as the locals didn't wish to go anywhere near the place. That was good for Hyoga if you asked him, as it allowed him a greater level of privacy. "Well?" he hissed. "I've come as you requested, now I want some answers. Starting with who you really are. I don't think I can go around with a rude disembodied woman speaking in my head."

He began to pace around the edge of the pit that seemed to never end. "Not to mention that vision, what in the fucking hell was that vision you showed me? Was there really female avialae on the otherside of that portal?" And what did you mean when you called me Iceborne? Where you the dragon that delivered me back onto the boat after the diverging the tidal wave.?

He was firing questions off the more he thought about the situation he was in, and finally, he turned back and posed a question of his own. "Was this even fair to me, making me something I never asked for?" there was genuine concern and frustration in each word he spoke. He stood at the edge of the pit as a scowl formed on his face.

"You owe me at least that much, for my troubles and whatnot." 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Aegis]

Despite all of Hyoga's frustrations being built up, in spite of all the questions he was tossing into the world, there was absolute silence in response. That voice that had shown up appeared to be absent now. All there was in the world was this giant hole and the blizzard swirling around him. He was entirely, and utterly alone.

But in such a world, no one ever stays alone for long.

In the distance, several large, hulking figures began lumbering through the storm, walking Hyoga's way. They all stood several feet taller than Hyoga, a fact that was obvious even from such a distance. They were all wearing thick, heavy cloaks, hoods, bundled up tightly against the storm. As they got closer, it was clear they were Moratallen, and each were wielding a massive weapon, largely clubs, carried over their shoulders.

Once within some reasonably close distance, the biggest one, a head taller than the rest, raised a hand. In a deep, booming voice, "Hello, friend. Are you lost? No treasure seekers should be here in this weather." They drew closer, revealing that the five in the group were a mix of men and women. "Do you need shelter? Fire? We have both to spare, if you're a friend."

The leader stood before the rest of the group, protective but welcoming in conversation. A soft smile on his face, "Did the voice bring you here too? We hear that voice all the time. It's so loud and comforting, ever since this storm began. A servant of the voice is always welcome among us."

The winds began to whip up more fiercely now, obscuring the vision of the area even more. And among the winds, a whisper, barely perceptible. A voice that was familiar to Hyoga, but sounded strained, tired, "I am here..."

But there was no one else around.

[Hikami]

龍 78th of Frost, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: Voice in my head| Thoughts: I am here!| Mood: Curious

---

龍 "I'm no servant, simply the recipient of aid from the voice during a dire situation." he shot back at the last statement of the taller Mortallen. "Though I did receive their help and thus I've become what I am now. She told me to come here and she would answer my questions, tell me what exactly an Iceborne was." he heard the strain n her voice as she sluggishly acknowledges she was present.

If what the giant said was true, the rest of them would have heard it too. Then he thought about what the taller had mentioned, that her voice was comforting and loud within the blizzard, but now she seemed to be drained of her energy. He didn't come all this way just for her not to fulfill her end of the deal.

"Are you ok, you sound as if you've overextended yourself. What can I do to help you?" he mentally asked, looking to the mortallen once more. "Is it me or does the voice seem to be out of it? She seems to be exhausted from something?" there was concern in his voice, as he began to contemplate what could be bothering her.

He looked to the giant race, and then around to the still circulating blizzard, trying to put two and two together. "Was there anything that has become strange around here? Has the voice always sounded like this or is this something new?" he asked curiously, as he flapped his wings ascending a bit into the air as he waited for her voice. 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Aegis]

The voice did not respond to the Iceborne's internalized question, though there did seem to be a feeling that she was close. Tired and close. However, part of his question directed caused the leader to look at him funny, "She? You must not know enough Moratallen my friend. The glorious voice belongs to that of Krigog Lover! He who was trapped in this pit but is now free! And he will use that freedom to keep all of us strong and free and never again enslaved by your kind or any other again!" There was a fanatical edge and a supreme confidence in the Moratallen's voice.

But he was not offended. "My name is Eggog, and I will teach you the ways of Krigog's voice, when he speaks to you properly." He patted Hitami on the shoulder softly, "Strange certainly does seem to be a recent occurrence. This storm is very strange. We've not had one like this for dozens of generations, as our stories tell. Perhaps the elements are celebrating Krigog's escape, as well they should!"

Then she piped in, only so that Hitami might hear her. "You can feel my power in this storm around us... come my Iceborn, I am down below you.... an empty... throne."

Eggog continued to speak, "So who is your voice if not Krigog? Perhaps he's found a mate? I could only imagine the largeness and unending beauty of one who could claim Krigog. You call yourself an Iceborne? That is a name not heard in many a generation, not since the beginning of these lands. Do your people not tell tales anymore?"

One of the females in the group walked up to Eggog, whispering into his hear from upon her tiptoes. A side-eye was slid over toward Hitami, "Unless, perhaps, you are here because Krigog is free? Your kind threw him into this cursed pit, forced us to stand guard over our own kind..."

"Are you trying to enslave him once more? Enslave all of us?"

His fingers tightened around his great club, his gaze turned fierce, and he moved to face Hitami directly. "Is that it, Iceborne False-Tongue?"

[Hikami]

龍 78th of Frost, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: Voice in my head| Thoughts: I am here!| Mood: Curious

---

龍 The mortallen were friendly and this was probably the first time he had ever encountered them in such large numbers or at all for that matter. They seemed friendly enough to where the kathar relaxed a bit. He needed to figure out what was happening here, and if they were willing to help he wouldn't turn them away.

It was becoming clear, however, that the voice in his head and the one that apparently spoke to these mortallen were two different people. Hikami couldn't recall hearing any accounts of the Krigog Lover the leader of the mortallen group spoke of. He quirked a brow as the leader, Eggog, seemed eager to teach Hikami the ways of the voice they were hearing, but that wasn't the plan for the kathar.

The head mortallen made an inference at the voice the kathar was hearing being a possible mate this famed figure could have taken. He pondered that for a moment, before his eyes darted to the side, as the voice he was accustomed to made her request. He was more concerned now, as he could hear the strain in her words. He wasn't certain of the condition of who or what awaited him at the bottom of the pit, but he knew he had to get down there quickly. Luckily for him, the mortallens gave him the out he needed. An expression of pure surprise blanketed his feature as the initially friendly Eggog now turned to suspicion of the lone kathar.

Did they truly believe he alone could enslave them? What could one lone kathar be able to do against five mortallen? Even with his prowess with his pact weapon and elemental magic, Hikami doubted he could do much before becoming overwhelmed by them. They had him in height in numbers, but for the first time, the kathar may have had them in wits. "Have you lost your mind admits this storm Eggog?" he spat back, his eyes glaring, almost illuminated by the raw aether of his body.

Floating up he reached out into the raging blizzard around them, calling for the wind and frigid temperature to come to him. A vortex of ice and snow pooled beneath his feet as his pact weapon came manifesting into his hands, the polearm taking on an icy appearance, a chilled aura mimicking flames trailing from it. "I don't have time to enslave you, nor did I come here to do so, however, I have done nothing to earn such insults and accusations." With a mighty flap of his crystallized wings he sent a blast of wind to blow the ice and snow around them into their field of view.

Given the distraction, once it cleared they would find him gone, as Hikami used that chance to dart into the pit. Upon his descent, the denizens of the pit wasted no time in greeting him. Grotesque insects and reptiles lept out at him at every chance they could only to be dispatched by the cold steel of his guan doa. Carefully maneuvering he found his way down to the bottom of the pit. "Im here now! Please I need answers to all of this." he called out to the voice. 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Aegis]

The Moratallen horde bellowed at the distracting attack on them, but they did not follow Hikami into the pit. He was attacked by hungry creatures just looking to eat during this brutal blizzard, but they were afterthoughts. The descent was long, the air grew warmer and more humid as Hikami went. This pit seemed to be impossibly deep, and it just kept going. The sides were smooth, gave off a feeling of intention rather than something formed by nature.

And as Hikami descended, he passed through something that he could not see. But he felt it. And it would feel... familiar. Hikami had enough experience to know that he'd descended into the Warrens. And soon, the bottom of the pit arrived. A chamber, nearly a quarter mile wide, the floor unseen for all the bones that were picked clean, bleached, and laying about. Millions of bones, from so many different beings. Human, elf, animal, monster. And across the chamber, an archway in the stone, a tunnel, with a soft glowing coming from it.

Should Hikami head toward the light, he'd find himself entering a room, one clearly sized and built for a Moratallen. Within the room, a massive collection of furs serving as a bed, candles all about, and on the opposite side, a balcony overlooking an abyss. And standing there at the balcony, a woman. Her skin was dark, but her hair was perfectly white. Both of her hands rested on the railing, and she wore a simple dress, a shimmering of blue and silver, never staying the same color for more than an instant. And on her back, a pair of feathered wings, silvers and sapphire feathers adorning them.

"Hello, Hikami Iceborne."

It was her voice. She turned and looked over her shoulder at him, revealing her icy blue eyes, "I'm glad you came."

She turned fully toward him, revealing a beauty and youth eternal. She smiled softly at him, but she was tired. "I need your help, Iceborne. But I will answer anything you ask first, you've more than earned it, Champion of Udori." She held out her hands before her, "Come, let you see that I am real, and I you."

[Hikami]

Company: Mysterious Winged Woman| Thoughts: I Dont Know where to Begin| Mood: Cautious, Curious

---

龍 He didnt even know where to begin with his questions, but he figured the most pressing would be to figure out who she was and what she had done to him. Once he gained that information he would go from there. "Well let's start with the basics, who are you, and what did you do to me? I'm not even mortal anymore. They said after the avalanche's destruction was stopped and I passed out in the Udori, they said I was delivered unto a boat from the mouth of a dragon. Was that you and if so does that make you a dragon or are you someone with a dragon's power?"

He was concerned, but these were the questions that burned into his head. He looked at her, and her ebon skin. She was beautiful, a true gem hidden away down in the depths that by the looks of things connected to the Warrens. He walked over to the balcony and looked out to see if he could recognize the area, but the Warrens no matter where he was all seemed to run together and look the same to the warrior. Turning back to her, he had more to ask her.

"Why are you even down here? More importantly this blizzard, why?" He began to realize he had been bombarding her with inquiries, so with a sigh and a breath, his facial expression softened and allowed her to answer him. He had to admit it was rather strange all of this, but he had come this far so there was truly no turning back at this point. He would see this through as his pride and curiosity wouldn't allow him to do otherwise. Tucking in his crystalline wings he awaited to see what she had to say. 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Aegis]

She took his hands in hers, giving them a comforting squeeze as she looked him directly in the eyes. "You're so young, my dear. You are on the second name of your lifetime. I have lost count of my own, the original lost to time." She smiled tiredly, pressing a hand against his jaw, "You can call me Friya."

She watched as Hikami peered over the balcony's edge. She joined him, looking down at a sea of perfectly crystalline ice, glacier-esque, reminiscent of those found in the river valleys around Kalzasi. And within the center, covered by feet of ice, yet clear as day to see, was a woman in Kalzasi military leathers, and wrapped around her, a red dragon, full grown. Both were encased in the ice, eyes closed.

"You still haven't realized yet." She squeezed his hand once more at the beautiful, eerie sight before him. "I did nothing to you." Gesturing softly at the black dragon, "Can you feel his heartbeat?" Turning toward him, she pressed his hand on her chest, "Can you feel my own?"

Her eyes flared cerulean, showing that they were not human or Avialae seeming, but rather something else.

"You opened yourself to a higher power in order to try and save your people around the lake." A teasing pull of her lips as she looked up at him from beneath her thick lashes, "I am not that power. I, too, have opened myself to that same power. It is how we could communicate while apart. As for the dragon..."

She pressed her hand over his heart, "You'll discover him, in time."

She turned back to the woman and dragon encased in ice. "But we have more pressing concerns at this moment. This blizzard is a blessing, but not one of my own creation. I'm using its power to keep her alive. Keep them both alive."

She turned to gesture at the room behind them, "As for why I'm here, it was the only shelter in the storm for me to find for her. And the previous occupant is gone, it seems."

Looking back at Hikami, "I have some tasks to ask of you, highly dangerous ones, if you are willing. I need your help to save her. I can slow the decay of mind and body, but I cannot stop it alone. Nor can I leave this place while protecting her."

She looked bashful now, "I have no one else I can ask that is capable."

Watery eyes locked on him, "I need your help, Hikami Iceborne."

[Hikami]

Company: Mysterious Winged Woman| Thoughts: I Dont Know where to Begin| Mood: Cautious, Curious

---

龍 His eyes widened upon seeing the woman and......was he really seeing a dragon with his own eyes? They were encased in iced, and he glanced over at the ethereal woman as she was able to do all this, but unable to leave the cave herself? Her answers to his inquires didn't really give much to ease his concerns, but he figured if she assured him he would get them, he would have no choice but to take her at her word.

That being said he was having a hard time doing just that. He had been lied to and swindled before, and she wasn't being fully upfront with him. Well, at least that's how it felt like she wasn't telling him everything he needed to know. He could sense the urgency and concern in her tone however and decided that any other pressing questions he had for her could wait till after he heard her out.

Looking into her eyes as she took his hands, and then glancing down at the woman and her dragon, he sighed. "What do you need me to do?" he asked, his eyes never leaving the frozen visage of the dark-skinned woman, the large red beast nestled around her as they both seem to be frozen in time. "I wish to help you if it means finding out how I came to be how I am and helping them. I don't know why, but I feel as though someone wants me to aid them."

His grip in her hands tightened slightly as he spoke. 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Aegis]

She squeezed his hands in return, "I'm going to need more power than I can muster to recover them. The storm is helping, but it will fade soon, with how much I am draining from it."

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, "If I take as much energy from this storm as I can hold... and I conserve my energy, I can keep them alive for maybe... a season, a season and a half at best."

She looked up at him, her hand settling on his jaw, tilting his face to look down at her, "I need you to find me the most powerful Frostrylyth you can. A fresh one, untouched and untainted by others." She closed her eyes, turning her head away, ashamed, "I wouldn't ask this of you if I had any other choice."

She opened her eyes, watery now, "You won't find a shard of that strength in the first or second levels of the Warrens." A deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, the hand of hers that rested in his own was shaking, trembling, "You'll have to go to the Haunted Reaches to save them."

She pulled away, as tears began to pour down her cheeks, as she looked over the banister at the frozen dragon and rider. "They must be saved, they are too important. Let me show you."

Through their shared mental bond, she shared a memory. It was in the blizzard raging above them, on the side of a rocky outcrop. A woman of dark hair and skin was splayed out on the snowy stone, the scarlet dragon, one wing damaged and crumpled, hunched over her. Blood stained the snow everywhere. The memory showed Friya moving closer to the snarling and defensive dragon. She spoke in a language that Hikami wouldn't know, but he understood the meaning of the words through their bond. "I am kin. I can save her."

The crimson dragon roared, weakly at her, and she repeated the words. Soon, she took a step forward and the dragon allowed it. "I can save you both." She got in close, seeing the face of the Rider, a face Hikami, and all in Kalzasi knew well. She was Kisorika, Prince Talon's sister, dragon rider and defender of the lands.

The memory cut away as Friya turned to Hikami, "Go, find the dragonshard to save her. You won't be able to hear me while you're gone, I'll have to save my energy for her. If you can't find it by the middle of Searing... I fear my energy will give out, and all three of us will perish."

She smiled at him softly, "I wish we had more time to get to know each other, Hikami Iceborne."