Glorious End

In a vast red desert made of hard ground and dizzying rock canyons, a caravan moved forward at snail's pace.

The sun glinted off the bronze tassels of the guards spears. Their armor shone with a strange antique beauty. The guards would have looked majestic, if not for their slouching posture, and the disinterested way they held the spears.

A single carriage rode in the center of the caravan, too conspicuous in it's feminine beauty with ivory carvings and silk curtains.

" Your grace ! We are making camp here." The guard captain informed the beautiful princess sitting in the carriage.

There's no respect in his voice. His tone indicated it did not matter whether the princess agreed or not. Guards wanted to rest, thus they will camp here.

The carriage stopped.

Yet the woman in the carriage did not get down immediately. The princess's maid came to the carriage's side, tapping it in a code. The maid held a silver white umbrella with snow flake pattern in her other hand.

" Your grace." She called lightly.

The carriage curtains opened in response. A beautiful woman walked out, her steps not even making a sound as she jumped down the carriage.

Immediately, the maid beside her raised the umbrella, protecting the princess from glaring sun.

The princess is in prime of her youth. She was dressed in a sky blue dress, light as clouds, and her midnight black hair cascaded behind her like a waterfall. There was a simple topaz hair pin in her hair, and she wore no jewelry. the entire outfit was finished with an embellished gossamer veil, with dangling crystals keeping it in place.

Despite her simple outfit, there was an unmistakable grace and elegance to her.

"Suse. Bring out the white shoes. " the princess ordered her maid.

"My princess? " her maid asked her in doubt.

"Bring them out, along with the scepter. " the princess ordered, taking the umbrella into her own hand.

"A..Alright." The maid stuttered, before leaving to bring what the princess asked for. The white shoes are the ice skating shoes, while the scepter is a magical weapon from the divine ice clan, which the princess belonged to.

Obviously, there's no use for the ice skating shoes in the desert, and the scepter is even more useless, given how much power it's needed to activate in this steaming desert full of heatwaves.

All the same, the maid brought her the scepter.

An eagle screeched in the air right above them just as she handed the items to the princess.

The next moment, the guards who were protecting them until now had jumped atop the horses which were freed from the carriage.

Two guards sat per horse, the last one kicking the horse with a "Hiaia" sound.

"Hey ! Hey! What are you doi..ng? ..?!!!" Before Suse's words were even over, the guards ran away.

Soon, the thudding of horses sounded once more, making the ground around them tremble.

Zzzzzz ... Zzzzz .. zi the sand grains around them trembled, in concert with sound of horse hooves.

"Thud ...Thud .. Thud.." The distant thudding of horse hooves echoed within the valley, bringing a deep sense of crisis to anyone listening to the sound.

"My lady! Let's run. Even if we do not have horses, if we run for it, we could make it. We only need to run till we meet the main host. " The maid Suse started pulling her hand.

" It's futile, my sweet friend. " The princess Ise Frost answered, tying on her skating shoes carefully, neither rushing, nor dallying needlessly.

It is only then it dawned on Suse what her princess is trying to do.

"My husband has the entire camp in his control, down to the minutest detail. Do you truly believe the guards betrayed us ? From the beginning, they were not protecting us. They were only here to execute their master's orders." Ise explained gently.

"I will die here today. If I am destined for death any way, I would rather die like the Frost princess I am. Suse! If they capture you, do not resist. You have fulfilled your duty to my family. You have more than paid the debt owed to us.

Now, I release you from all oaths to the Frost family. When they ask you for the information about frost kingdom, do not refuse to give it. Above all, survive." Ise advised her servant.

" No. " Suse said, as she backed off from the princess.

" No. If I were to die, It would be by your side. It is my life you saved, and it is only in death my debt is redeemed. " Suse said, looking at Ise determinedly.

Ise did not confront her, nor did she try to dissuade her out of this suicidal decision.

After all, there is no chance of survival even if one runs away.

This is the Red Death desert, which is structured like a maze. To walk atop valleys, you would be dried to a twig, to walk through the tunnels, you must know the way. People wandered through the desert their entire lives without getting out of it.

It won't be any different just because they have magic.

Ise tied her shoes on, while Suse moved to put her leather armor on. Unlike the women of the fire kingdom, they were trained in weapons.

If they do die, they would die like warriors they were, not some powerless women.

The thudding kept nearing them more and more.

Ise closed her eyes, and concentrated her all on her magical core.

'Now.' She decided, jumped in the air, fracturing her magical core with a single slice.

Cold rushed out.

Suse, who had been her friend and maid from the time she was a little girl, knew what to do without even telling.

The water rushed out of the barrels within the carriage, and spread all around them, creating an ice field in the midst of the desert.

When Ise landed, the ground under her feet was perfectly smooth ice.

The horses stopped short of the ice field in shock, and the bandit leader, a man with thousand scars, squinty eyes and rotten teeth, glared at her.

Ise stared back expressionlessly.

Instead of coming in, all the bandits retrieved their bows.

Ise still watched them without any expression.

The moment they released the arrows, she moved.

In that moment, she hooked her arm around Suse's and skated out of the arrow's range, and hid behind the carriage.

However, bandits have plenty of arrows. Only, they were unable to touch Ise even after ten volleys.

The bandit leader's face soured.

Two of his subordinates retrieved their machete's, strode into the ice field.

Ise was still standing idle, while Suse's hands moved.

Two half moon shaped sickles attached to twin steel ropes flew out, before the bandits could even lower their hands, their heads were rolling on the ice.

The sickles flew back to their owner who caught them by the handle.

The bandit leader's eyes changed.

From the beginning, he was willing to go light on them because both the women are beautiful. They could bring in a lot of money if he sold them. Even if he could not sell them, he would be happy to play with them in his own bedroom.

It is only now did he understand, he could never catch these women alive.

They are going to fight to their last breath. This assassination's attempt was not a lucrative deal but a loaded bomb from the beginning.

This junction has five roads joining in. Only one road among them leads out of the deadly desert.

One, the entrance they used, from which they were ushered in, with all their weapons, by the army of the fire king himself.

Simply put, if they go back to that entrance, they are dead.

If they want to go out, they must go through another exit, which is past these two young women.

Now that he has shown his aggression, these young women would not take any deal from him, neither would he would keep any end of his deal when he had to stay away from such pretty women.

Thus, they could only go forward.

All the bandits dismounted and joined their forces together to kill the women.

The half moon sickles in hands of Suse danced, while the halberd in the hands of Ise claimed multiple lives with a single swing.

The women moved like liquid silver among the wintry landscape.

The corpses piled up. In time, only talented warriors remained alive.

Soon, the bandit leader and his two compatriots were the last people alive.

Ise's back was scratched, while Suse's both legs have suffered debilitating injuries.

Ise stood strong in front of the men, while Suse remained glued to her back, her right hand holding a sickle, left hand holding the rope tied to sickle.

Ise held her metal scepter, the shape of a two way pommel. The original icy blades of halberd around it melted away leaving the chipped poles of ice. Now, the broken staff forms an icy 'S' shaped double bladed sword staff, both of sword edges sharp as diamond.

The ice looked like it had a life of its own, and each movement of the weapon looked powerful and dangerous.

The bandit leader attacked to the right of Ise, given she is left handed.

Suse's sickle came backwards to block the sword from behind. Her weight is braced against Ise, back against back, giving her ability to block a strike with higher strength.

At the same time, the ice halberd which was over two meter long, shrank to the length of a dagger. Ise stabbed with her left hand into the bandit leader's unprotected stomach.

The ice halberd reverted it it's original two meters length, through bandit leader's stomach. Ise twisted. The bandit leader got separated into two, like a sliced cucumber, revealing Third leader waiting behind him.

Suse swung her sickle rope at the ankle of the second leader , who was able to block it with butt of his spear. The rope twisted around spear, the sickle dangling uselessly. captain slammed spear butt in to ground with his weight, stopping Suse in her tracks. Suse pulled at the rope again and again, but the captain's strength was greater.

The third leader followed in shadow of the first leader to avoid fighting. Before Ise could bring her hands to original position after slicing bandit captain, he stabbed his sword towards Ise's heart .

The sword pierced her heart, but it did not stop her movements.

The ice halberd in her hand continued it's path, ice reversing the edges of the halberd in Ise's hands. Ise brought the Halberd back in the same motion she used for slicing first leader. The third leader was sliced in to two.

His sword stabbed into Ise's heart, and came out of Suse's ribs.

Yet, Suse freed other sickle and swung it once more, this time, at second captain's neck. The other bandit captain was too shocked by third leader's death to respond in time. He was beheaded cleanly. His head rolled down like an ice boulder. The gushing blood froze into icicles resembling rubies, raining all over the place.

With Ise's death, a bone shattering chill spread all through out the valley, freezing the entire place.

like that it remained, forever frozen, till the army of fire prince arrived.

The scene of the battle sent a chill down the spines of every soldier who came to verify the death of the frost princess from the divine ice clan.