52 Out in the Cold

The blizzard from the mountains have reached the plains of the Stormfall, and most of the folks now lock themselves inside their warm and cozy houses for the winter. But In the midst of the raging snowstorm, two lone figures brave the cold, as though running from something.

The valiant soldier was in knee-deep snow already, but it still had a mission to fulfill. Sera was safe at the moment but it knew it won't be long before their enemies start looking for them. They need to find help immediately. However, the snowstorm is quickly getting strong, and the soldier knew they had to stop for shelter. It hastily scanned the surrounding area and detected a nearby shrine.

'That will have to do...', the soldier thought, as it looked at the unconscious girl held in its arms. From out of nowhere, a flash suddenly flickered in the soldier's mind, and faint memories started to play.

'...water...the sea...a ship.'

'...bright flash...darkness...pain...'

Before it could react, the memories zapped away as if they never came. Shrugging it off as a nuisance, the soldier held Sera more closely and trekked on to it's destination.

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Chrion had already left the howling blizzards of the Ice-shard Peaks, but somehow, the snowstorm had managed to follow him down to Stormfall.

"What a pain. Even down here, the weather still sucks.", Chrion grunted as he continued walking. "On top of that, I've almost never been down here anymore, I think I don't know which place I am now."

He softly chuckled at his misfortune. It has been long since he had left the Watch and went to live in the mountains, and it seems he missed a lot. He began to regret not bothering to take a map.

'Well, no use whining about it anymore.", he thought. "But, this blizzard sure is cranking up. Need to find cover fast.'

He was lost in the middle of a blizzard. The nearest house could be just a few meters away from him and he wouldn't notice. It was a bad day for-

"Oof."

Chrion rubbed his nose as he recovered from bumping into something hard. Reaching out to it, he felt a solid barrier right in front of him.

"Well, I guess its my lucky day.", he said cheerfully, but he still didn't get his hopes up. Whatever this structure in front of him, he still didn't know if it was occupied or not. There's still a possibility that the owners might be hostile.

Moving with caution, Chrion carefully circled the structure, while trying to figure out what it is.

"From the looks of it, this might be some of those old shrines..."

Seeing what seems to be an entrance, he noticed a soft glow coming from the inside. Slowly approaching, he took a glance inside.

Beside a makeshift fireplace, the frail body of a young woman lay curled up in a fetal position wearing scanty clothing. Chrion didn't notice he was already staring as he was mesmerized by the figure in front of him. Even the howling of the blizzard was drowned out by the gentle crackling of the fire. He was about to enter the shrine when he was knocked facedown to the ground by a strong force and he grunted in pain.

A heavy foot pressed down on his back, and he was surprised his strength was not enough to fight back. Still struggling, he was suddenly yanked to the air as his assailant held him at the collar of his shirt. His eyes started to focus at the figure in front of him, which made him even more surprised. He expected to see a heavyset man, but instead, the figure that held him was a thing made up of shattered and broken pieces.

"A Construct, how fascinating…"

Other people might have fainted from such an unnatural sight, but for Chrion, it only sparked his interest. He was, after all, a man of science.

Chrion grabbed the hand that was squeezing his neck, and activated a button on his wrist. The fabric in his gloves peeled away and a mechanical gauntlet was revealed. Once again activating another button, an electromagnetic pulse was released from the mechanism which caused the soldier to lose its grip. They both fell on the snowy ground, the soldier unmoving, while Chrion massaged his neck.

"I'm not one to go down easy, you know? Now, to see what you really are." Chrion said as he moved towards the construct.

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Sera was awakened from her sleep from a loud thud and the crunch of snow. She slowly opened her eyes to see the valiant soldier sprawled on the ground, and a man reaching out to it. Fear immediately gripped her heart, thinking that the Stedores had sent someone after them.

As though her mind reacted on its own, her hand grabbed a wooden log that was meant to feed the fire, and rushed at the man. Before he could react, Sera swung the log and smacked the man in the face, and he fell to the floor unconscious.