A fair maiden dressed in crystalline ice waits along a river's edge, anticipating a rune to spawn. Watching her timer count down to zero, she hears horns blare from a far off land- calling for the start of the battle. She looks around, up and down the waterfront, searching for other heroes- though she sees none. Tossing a ward upon the cliffside above her, she extends her vision and still sees nothing but fishes. A rune appears- of sparkling gold, magically rising from the river’s waves. Being the maiden of ice, she freezes the water beneath her as the rushes for the bounty. Feeling the extent of her solitude, she truly feels alone on the field which is usually filled with clattering weapons and twisted laughter. Hearing the waves crash along the stony steps, she hears another wet sound.
“Uwahahahaa~” the maiden hears a masculine cry. Heading towards it, her scan confirms that another is nearby. Heading up the stairs to the enemy’s side, she prepares her icy staff in her hands well aware that this could be a bait. Hiding behind a tree, she spies the rogue warrior sitting in the dirt- his blade stabbed upright into the ground.
“Sven?” The maiden recognizes him.
“Uwah- Crystal Maiden!?” Sven recognizes her, “Ah! You see me like this.”
“Why do you cry, Sven?”
Wiping the tears from his mask, “I no longer aim to fight.”
“But you are so strong, you should love fighting.”
“Wah~ Maiden… but we are enemies on this battlefield.”
“So we are.”
“I will not fight you.”
“Sven you must-”
“Ryali,” Sven’s use of the maiden’s real name in hopes of reaching her, “Do you not see that all this fighting amounts to nothing but pain, greed and destruction?”
“I know of all the cruelties of ice. On this battlefield, every fine sculpture must shatter.”
“Let us start a change!” Sven stands up in a rage, his blue skin turning red, “We don’t have to fight. We don’t have to die!”
“Oh Sven, your heart is truly warm,” she inches closer, “let me freeze it up for you!” Casting an icy spell, Crystal Maiden freezes Sven’s feet to the ground.
“Maiden don’t!” Receiving a few blasts from Ryali’s scepter, Sven grows weaker, “Beautiful mistress of ice please… I love you!”
“What did you say?” Her aggression ceases.
“War is not what I seek, it is you who boils the blood in my heart!”
“Oh Sven…”
“This land is a curse, please- let us leave it together, as friends and not foes.”
Sven extends his hands as the ice around his feet melts away. The maiden stops and perches her scepter upright on the ground. Looking behind her, she sees nothing but the frozen path that she has trailed. Feeling her crystal heart grow warm, she steps towards the rogue warrior looking at the amber eyes beneath the mask. Dried of tears though still exhausted by them, she sees that the fighter truly to abandon the battlefield.
“Quickly,” she takes hold of his hand, “then take us away from this terrible place.”
Sven grabs his cleaver and leads Crystal Maiden through the trees.
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