[center][color=red]The Circle Keep, Elder Mountain, Lanostre[/color][/center][hr]

The world was quiet but for the lashing winds. The descent down the Elder Mountain was an arduous journey for most, but for Father Galahad and Mother Tatiana, it was like a stroll through childhood lanes. The two inquisitors had chosen to ride their ramahks down the mountain, while Elisheva and the meager forces that remained under her command were carried down the Skyway, a massive elevator cut into the Elder Mountain itself decades past by the engineers of Bridgetown. The ramahks were agitated, unusual for them, but something dark was in the air, and the two inquisitors could feel the massive horned beasts tremble under their saddles as they carefully rode them down the mountain path. Even with the strange agitation of the ramahks, the journey had been a sobering one. It had been more than a decade since either of them had traveled down the Mountain, but the miles of stone and ice, the familiar fortresses and waycastles standing sentinel through the path, the scent of evergreens filling their nostrils, and the icy sting of the mountain air, it had all managed to lift their spirits somewhat.

Before they had set out Elisheva had given a fleeting report of the demons that awaited them at the Glacier. She was able to kill several of them, but was overwhelmed after they swarmed her forces and cut through them like a blade through parchment. She also told them the demons holding a defensive position around the Glacier and only attacked after she approached. She wondered if the T'saraen research garrison was wiped out due to them being in too close proximity to the Glacier.

She promised to go into more detail once they reached the perimeter where the demons stood in a defensive formation, but at that moment, Galahad and Elisheva wrestled with the knowledge that these demons were unlike any that had come before. They were intelligent and cunning, capable of organizing into battle formations and seemed to fight under a command hierarchy. What that meant, and how it threw into disarray the understanding of the Glacier-- it was a change that Lanostre was not prepared for. The two of them couldn't help but wonder what the Queendom would look like upon their return from El.

The sun was high in the sky by the time they reached the Circle Keep, the formidable fortress that ringed the Elder Mountain and acted as Sapharan's first line of defense against invaders. Elisheva and the twenty seven shivering conscripts that comprised the rest of their forces had arrived a short while before them. The three inquisitors, together with the force of conscripts, then made their way into the Circle's armory, where Elisheva, Galahad and Tatiana outfitted themselves with ammunition and extra ether vials. It was there that Mother Astraea and a pale-skinned Father Cillian met them.

"Galahad, Tatiana," Astraea spoke their names in greeting, nodding her head at Tatiana. This was the only acknowledgement the summoner would recieve from her that morning. It alone would have to do. It meant that their earlier arguement was behind them now. They would put things aside, and fight together as a warband, as they always had.

"Father Galahad, Mother Tatiana, may I have a word?" Cillian called out. He was sitting down on a bench. Mother Astraea made her way to him and kneeled down beside him, checking his wound. The Protector was gripping his abdoment, trying to keep his breathing measured.

"Neither Elisheva nor myself were the warleaders of our warbands. Elisheva is our senior, but she is more a soldier than a tactician. She will differ to you during this operation. As will I," he said, staring intently at Galahad.

"Please heed what I say. This musn't be a battle of attrition, but a swift destruction. We must kill them quickly, otherwise they will swarm us  and... it will not be a pretty sight. These demons are not invulnerable, but in fact, are brittle like glass. However, they are faster than any inquisitor I have ever faced in the Seminary. If there is a way to destroy them all at once, before they can spread out too far and cause too much damage, we must consider it a prime strategy."

"I will fight in the front. I've hunted the Glacier's spawn before and I will do so again," Astraea said, flashing her eyes at Tatiana.

"And I must uphold the aegis, less we all freeze out there, but I can take a few of them down myself. Galahad, Tatiana, what are your thoughts?" Cillian asked, his golden eyes focusing on the two of them.