CRACK...
A thin layer of ice cracked beneath Selvaria's feet.
Slowly...
She turned.
The tip of the Claymore followed the movement, hovering close to the ground.
A few strands of her long black hair slid across her face.
Before her...
Alaric remained motionless.
The golden sword rested beside his body.
Small fragments of light still broke away from his silhouette.
For a few moments...
Neither of them advanced.
Alaric watched her.
His expression remained unchanged.
"There are things time should have buried."
His voice remained low.
"Even so..."
His blue eyes remained fixed on Selvaria.
"some people insist on digging them back up."
A brief laugh escaped Selvaria's lips.
"Perhaps time would have succeeded..."
Her fingers adjusted around the Claymore.
"if you had allowed it to end in the grave."
Alaric did not answer.
His front foot slid a few inches across the ice.
His fingers closed around the hilt.
That was all Selvaria needed.
She advanced diagonally.
Toward the armed arm.
The golden sword left Alaric's side.
FWOOSH!
The slash crossed the distance in a single flash.
There was no way to follow it.
When the gold streaked across the field...
Selvaria had already entered inside its arc.
The blade passed behind her.
Crossing the place where her neck had been.
A thin layer of ice ran across the Claymore.
The sword rose close against her body.
The lower third of the ivory-white steel struck the side of the golden blade before Alaric could complete the movement.
CLAAAAANG!
Light and ice exploded between the two.
Alaric's sword was thrown above his own shoulder.
His wrist twisted outward.
The golden tip abandoned Selvaria's line.
It was the space she was looking for.
Too close for the speed of light to decide the exchange.
Alaric's guard was still open when Selvaria advanced her second foot.
The pommel of the Claymore came toward his face.
Alaric did not try to recover the sword.
He followed the deflection of his own sword.
His body turned.
WHOOSH!
The pommel passed before his eyes.
It grazed his cheekbone.
Selvaria continued the movement.
Her hip turned.
The Claymore descended toward his ribs.
Alaric completed the rotation.
His sword returned from behind his own shoulder.
CLANG!
The gold met the ivory-white steel.
The two blades slid against each other.
SKRRRIIING...
Selvaria kept the tip low.
Alaric pressed from above.
Her arms gave a few inches.
Enough for the golden sword to seek her shoulder.
Selvaria removed her left hand from the hilt.
She grabbed the blunt base of the Claymore.
And advanced.
The blade became a shaft between the two.
The lower part of the steel deflected Alaric's sword.
The ivory-white tip advanced toward his throat.
His blue eyes followed the change.
His rear foot left the ground.
His body moved out of the line.
The tip of the Claymore passed beneath his chin.
SHIIING!
A narrow strip opened in the collar of his garment.
Alaric touched the ground beside Selvaria.
The golden sword descended against her back.
Selvaria did not try to turn completely.
The Claymore rose over her own shoulder.
CLAAAAANG!
The blow struck her side.
The force traveled through the steel.
Down her arms.
Her knees bent.
CRACK!
The ice beneath her feet split.
Alaric changed the angle.
The sword slid toward her neck.
Selvaria rotated the Claymore over her shoulder.
The golden edge was guided outward.
In the same movement...
her elbow came backward.
THUD!
It struck Alaric below the ribs.
The air left his lungs.
His body bent just enough.
Selvaria turned.
The Claymore came with her.
Short.
Without room to build speed.
Even so...
heavy enough to break a body.
Alaric raised his free hand.
Light ignited between his fingers.
FSSSH!
A second sword took shape.
Smaller.
Narrow.
CLANG!
The new blade stopped the Claymore before his flank.
His arm gave beneath the weight.
The light flickered.
Selvaria pressed.
Ice advanced across the ivory-white steel.
Reached the smaller blade.
CRRRRACK...
Crystals wrapped around the gold.
Climbed toward Alaric's fingers.
He dispelled the sword.
FSSSH!
The resistance vanished.
The Claymore advanced all at once.
But Selvaria did not lose her balance.
She interrupted the force with her hip.
Pulled the tip back.
The sword advanced again...
now against his chest.
Alaric had already retreated.
FWOOSH!
Golden fragments broke away from his body.
His feet touched the ice four steps ahead.
Selvaria did not grant him the fifth.
CRACK!
A crystalline elevation was born beneath her sole.
Launched her forward.
The tip of the Claymore took the center.
Alaric lowered his sword.
Not against her.
Against the ice propelling her.
SHRAAAK!
The gold pierced the elevation.
Selvaria's support broke.
Her foot sank between the fragments.
Her body tilted.
The thrust lost the line of the chest.
Alaric moved out through the side.
The Claymore passed beneath his arm.
Selvaria loosened her fingers.
Her right hand slid along the grip.
The weapon's reach diminished.
The long movement became short.
The edge of the Claymore returned against his flank.
Alaric pulled his elbow in.
The golden sword descended vertically.
CLAAAAANG!
The blades met between them.
The impact pushed Alaric back half a step.
Selvaria tried to follow him.
At the same instant...
a golden point lit up beside the broken ice.
To her right.
Another appeared above her left shoulder.
The third remained behind her.
Alaric had not retreated merely to recover distance.
He had divided the space around Selvaria.
The ice-blue eyes swept across the three points.
Alaric's hand opened.
Selvaria moved before his fingers closed.
SHIIIING!
The first golden line crossed the place where her right leg had been.
The ice exploded.
Selvaria transferred her weight forward.
The second light was already forming above her shoulder.
A crystalline plate was born at an angle beside her face.
SHRAAAK!
The gold struck it.
The ice shattered.
Fragments tore through her black hair.
One of them opened a line across her face.
Selvaria did not blink.
The Claymore remained between her and Alaric.
The third point continued behind her.
Waiting.
She advanced.
Alaric shifted to the left.
Selvaria followed.
She did not try to reach him directly.
She corrected her own line with every step.
Little by little...
Alaric's body was placed between her and the last golden point.
His eyes moved slightly.
Selvaria had once again reduced the field to a single axis.
The point behind her glowed.
Alaric's hand began to close.
Selvaria lunged.
CRACK!
Ice exploded beneath both her feet.
The distance disappeared.
Alaric did not complete the command.
The golden sword advanced against her chest.
Selvaria deflected the line with the base of the Claymore.
CLANG!
The tip passed by her side.
Tore the fabric beside her ribs.
She entered even deeper.
Her shoulder struck Alaric's chest.
THUD!
His body was pushed backward.
Directly into the trajectory of his own point of light.
Alaric opened his hand.
The gold behind Selvaria went dark.
At the same instant...
he abandoned the pressure on the sword.
The blade slid along the Claymore.
His body turned around her shoulder.
Selvaria tried to close the passage with her elbow.
Alaric had already escaped.
FWOOSH!
The golden sword returned along the lower line.
Toward the thigh bearing Selvaria's weight.
Her eyes dropped.
Her body would not have time to follow them.
CRACK!
A thick layer of ice enveloped her leg.
SHRAAAK!
The sword pierced the protection.
Lost depth.
But did not stop.
The golden edge opened the side of her thigh.
Blood struck the ice.
Selvaria did not pull the leg away.
She froze her own wound before the blood could reach the ground.
The wounded foot advanced.
Entered between Alaric's supports.
The Claymore rose inside his guard.
The golden sword was pushed outward.
Alaric tried to twist his wrist.
Selvaria had already trapped his arm between the Claymore and her own shoulder.
Cold spread across the metal.
Reached the guard.
Then his fingers.
CRRRRACK...
The ice began closing around his hand and the hilt.
Alaric dispelled the sword.
FSSSH!
Selvaria was waiting for it.
Her left hand abandoned the base of the Claymore.
A short blade of ice grew over her forearm.
And advanced toward the exposed shoulder.
Alaric tilted his body.
Too late to escape unharmed.
SHIK!
The ice pierced the fabric.
Opened the skin.
Blood ran across the white.
Alaric's hand touched Selvaria's wrist.
Light exploded between his fingers.
FWOOM!
The ice blade shattered.
The impact separated the two.
Selvaria was pushed backward.
SCRRRT...
Her wounded leg faltered on the third step.
The tip of the Claymore struck the ground.
CRACK!
The steel supported her weight before her knee touched the ice.
On the other side...
Alaric slid until the base of a crystalline formation.
THUD!
His shoulder collided with it.
Cracks spread through the ice.
For a few moments...
neither of them advanced.
Blood descended from Alaric's shoulder.
On Selvaria's thigh...
the frozen layer was beginning to take on a dark-red hue.
Around them...
crystalline fragments covered the ground.
The golden points had disappeared.
For a few moments...
Only the wind crossed the field.
Selvaria pulled the Claymore from the ground.
Firmed both feet again.
Ahead...
Alaric moved away from the ice formation.
Blood still descended from his shoulder.
His eyes traveled across the reddish layer surrounding Selvaria's thigh.
"You have less Eso left than I imagined..."
The blue gaze returned to hers.
Selvaria narrowed her eyes.
A drop of blood broke away from Alaric's shoulder.
It fell.
FSSSH...
Before reaching the ice...
the red became gold.
Selvaria's eyes followed the small light.
Another drop fell.
It did the same.
FSSSH...
The blood covering Alaric's shoulder began to lose its color.
It transformed into light.
The contours of his silhouette trembled.
Small golden fragments broke away from his body.
First from the wounded shoulder.
Then from the arm.
The face.
The rest of the silhouette.
Light...
they were carried away by the wind.
As the figure disappeared...
another emerged a few meters behind.
Between two formations of ice.
Alaric remained motionless.
The golden sword rested beside his body.
"You did not even notice."
His voice remained low.
FSSSH...
The last fragments of the manifestation crossed the space between them.
Alaric did not even follow them with his eyes.
Selvaria remained silent.
Her eyes passed over the space where the other figure had been.
Then returned to Alaric.
For a few moments...
she merely watched him.
A brief laugh escaped her lips.
"I understand."
The Claymore rose beside her body.
"You couldn't make me chase your lights..."
Her fingers adjusted around the hilt.
"so you gave me something else to chase."
Alaric remained motionless.
Selvaria held his gaze.
"Seraphyne must be satisfied..."
Alaric did not answer.
"The years at her side were not wasted."
Selvaria calmly spun the Claymore in her hand.
The tip descended.
CRACK...
Touched the ice.
"Even so..."
Her voice remained serene.
"allow me to remind you, Alaric..."
The cold around them intensified.
"of the price of dishonor."
Selvaria's fingers closed around the Claymore.
"Fimbulvetr. (Winter That Precedes the End)"
WHOOOOOOOOOM!
The world around Selvaria turned white.
The storm exploded.
It did not advance in a single direction.
It expanded.
In every direction.
The wind struck Alaric like a wall.
His cloak was violently thrown backward.
The golden fragments that still floated across the field disappeared inside the white.
Alaric reacted in the same instant.
The golden sword rose.
His arm cut through the wind.
FWOOSH!
An arc of light tore through the storm.
Straight toward Selvaria.
She pulled the Claymore from the ice.
Turned her body.
CLAAAAANG!
The gold struck the ivory-white steel.
SCRRRT...
The force dragged her backward.
The frozen layer around her thigh shattered.
CRACK!
Blood crossed the fissures.
Selvaria tilted the Claymore.
The golden arc slid along her side.
SHRAAAK!
It struck the ice a few meters ahead.
BOOOOOOM!
A crater exploded across the field.
Alaric was already moving.
FWOOSH!
A golden streak crossed the white.
Advanced directly toward Selvaria.
CRRRRRRRRRAAAAAACK!!!
The ice answered.
Not only the one beneath her feet.
All of it.
A crystalline formation broke through the ground between them.
Alaric did not interrupt his advance.
The sword descended.
SHRAAAK!
The crystal was split in two.
Fragments exploded around him.
Behind his passage...
CRACK...
a white layer traveled across the first cracks in the field.
Another spike emerged from the right.
Alaric twisted his wrist.
The golden tip pierced through it.
SHRAAAK!
Crystalline fragments disappeared inside the blizzard.
A third one broke through the ice beneath his next step.
Alaric withdrew his foot.
Braced himself against the side of his own formation.
And launched his body over it.
FWOOSH!
The storm opened before his silhouette.
Selvaria emerged a few steps ahead.
The Claymore already raised.
Alaric descended upon her.
CLAAAAANG!
The two swords met.
The impact crossed the field.
BOOOOOOM!
The ice gave way beneath Selvaria.
Her knees bent.
The wound in her thigh opened again.
Even so...
the Claymore did not lower.
Around the two...
CRRRRACK...
the white continued advancing.
Entered the craters.
Traveled through the grooves opened in the stone.
Climbed over the debris.
Alaric pressed.
The gold intensified at the point of contact.
The light began to pass through the ivory-white steel.
Selvaria twisted her wrists.
Guided the blade away from her center.
The wounded foot remained still.
The other advanced.
Her shoulder drove into Alaric's chest.
THUD!
The pressure between the swords broke.
Alaric retreated half a step.
Selvaria drove the Claymore into the ice again.
CRAAAAACK!
A mass of crystal exploded between the two.
Alaric crossed the sword before his body.
SHRAAAK!
The ice shattered against the gold.
SCRRRT...
The impact launched him backward.
His feet touched the ground a few meters ahead.
Alaric firmed his stance.
His eyes moved.
Behind him...
the path he had crossed was already disappearing.
The craters were being filled.
The debris disappeared beneath the white.
The grooves left by the confrontation were swallowed by the ice.
CRACK...
CRACK...
CRAAAAAAACK—
The layer of ice advancing close to the ground broke upward.
The spikes scattered throughout the passage grew all at once.
Broken formations rebuilt themselves.
Others burst through the craters.
BOOM!
BOOOOM!
CRAAAAACK!
Enormous crystalline masses pierced through the debris.
Rose over one another.
Swallowed blocks of stone.
Covered the last traces of the clashes.
Reached the base of the walls.
And continued.
The white surpassed the fortified passage.
Spread across the plain.
CRRRRRRRRRAAAAAACK!!!
Kilometers of land disappeared beneath the ice.
Everything took on the same white.
Alaric raised his free hand.
Light spread across his arm.
Descended through his body.
A golden layer enveloped his silhouette.
FWOOM...
The ice beginning to form over his garments melted.
Turned into vapor.
For a few moments...
winter retreated around him.
CRACK...
The vapor froze.
It did not fall.
Small crystals remained suspended before his face.
Alaric's eyes followed one of them.
Above...
the daylight began to disappear.
The sky closed.
Black clouds advanced over the passage.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The first thunder crossed the walls.
Snow began to fall.
First...
a few flakes.
Then hundreds.
Thousands.
The wind took them.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
Within a few seconds...
Selvaria disappeared inside the blizzard.
Alaric remained surrounded by light.
His golden sword illuminated only a few meters ahead.
Beyond them...
nothing.
White.
Ice.
Wind.
The temperature continued to fall.
CRACK...
A thin crystalline layer appeared over the guard of his sword.
Alaric lowered his eyes.
The gold intensified.
FSSSH!
The ice dissolved into vapor.
For an instant...
only vapor surrounded his hand.
CRRRRACK...
It froze again.
This time...
before it could even disperse.
Another layer began covering the guard.
Thicker.
Alaric raised his eyes.
Inside the storm...
something began to take shape.
Behind Selvaria...
two enormous silhouettes emerged through the white.
One on the left.
Another on the right.
CRRRRRRACK...
Crystals joined together.
Layer after layer.
The snow was dragged into their forms.
Until...
CRRRRRRRRAAAAAACK!!!
two enormous wings of ice opened behind her.
The tips stretched to the sides.
Wide.
Imposing.
Framed by the great crystalline formations that dominated the field.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The opening of the wings tore the blizzard in half.
For a brief instant...
the white pulled away.
And Selvaria emerged between them.
Small crystals ran across her ivory-white armor.
Her long black hair whipped violently around her face.
The Claymore remained driven into the ice.
Behind her...
the two wings remained spread amid the storm.
And around Alaric...
the gold continued resisting.
Surrounded by white.
Over the fortified passage...
Over the walls...
Over the plain...
winter had arrived.