[center][h2][b]Iron and Ice[/b][/h2][/center]

The snow had buried her head some time ago.  It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, in fact Mel’Issandra found it rather refreshing, but it did give her reason to question just how long it would be before Li’Kalla returned.  Waiting here with only her lizard as company had already gotten to be rather boring.  There had to be other ways to pass the time.  The ice woman heaved a sigh like a cold breeze and began to extricate herself from the snowy tomb.  

Pulling herself to the surface wasn’t too difficult, and Mel’Issandra noted that she didn’t sink into the loose snow when she stood on it.  That was convenient.  The little lizard on her shoulder chirped when it saw the cloudy sky for the first time in what felt like an age and she scratched its chin.  Little snowflakes still fell all around her, but without Li’Kalla stoking it the storm was lackluster.

Well, even if the Goddess was taking a while to return it didn’t mean Mel’Issandra had to be bored.  With that in mind the ice woman looked up to the island’s little peak and resolved to climb it.  It was, she found, a remarkably easy hike.  Now that the rocky outcrop was covered in snow Mel’Issandra seemed to find sure footing with every step, a fact which she was rather thankful for.  Shattering once had been unpleasant enough.  

Once she’d summited the mountain, or if she was being honest, glorified hill, she looked out at the ocean beyond the storm.  It seemed to her like the water stretched out forever in every direction.  Well, all but one.  There appeared to be another little island not too far from this one.  Mel’Issandra found it difficult to focus on, almost as if it was shifting in the distant waves, but when she did she went still.  The peculiar little island was burning.

Had the Phoenix returned?  She looked up and scanned the grey sky above even as she dug herself into the snow below her.  When she heard no cries or wing beats she allowed herself to relax, but only for a moment.  Once her eyes found the little island again she found herself more worried than she’d been before.

After all, islands didn’t have shoulders. And fires didn’t squint so much like eyes.

As she looked, it did not even seem so little anymore. It was as big as the one she was standing on, if not more, and it kept getting bigger. The light of Heliopolis danced on it in spots, like on ice, but it was dim and grey, not luminous and clear. Waves rolled around it as if it were moving - and move it did, in long, steady pulls. Like enormous steps.

The sea churned, and a clawed hand that could have covered her entire island emerged alarmingly close. It went up, blotting out the sky, then dove back down with a thunderous crash that sent water spraying in a column. Moments later, the ground under Mel’Issandra’s feet rocked, and darkness suddenly fell over her as what was clearly not an island pulled itself up from the ocean. From above a towering mass of jagged grey, four flaming pits stared down at her, horridly and unmistakably alive.

[color=#CD2626][b]”Ghrm.”[/b][/color] A sound that was less like a voice than a thunderclap rattled the air around her. [color=#CD2626][b]”This doesn’t look like a place for ice to be.”[/b][/color]

Mel’Issandra stayed very, very still.  At least, she did before a rain of salty slush pelted her.  It so happened that salt was terribly, nauseatingly, infuriatingly, [i]itchy[/i].  She did her best to weather the fallout of the giants emergence from the ocean, but in the end it was hopeless.

She threw herself from the mountain in the opposite direction of the giant and rolled down the snowy slope, scouring the wretched salt off her glassy skin.  By the time she reached the bottom and got to her feet she felt she could breathe a sigh of relief, short lived as that feeling was.  The giant still stood there, towering above the stunted mountain, following her with those appalling burning eyes.  She reflected upon her short life and decided it hadn’t been so bad.  She was glad she’d met Li’Kalla.

Mel’Issandra stared back at the giant and waited for it to make the first move.  If it was Sartavius, if he’d come to finish what his Phoenix couldn’t, then the least she could do was make it difficult for him.

With a loud grinding sound accompanied by the rumbling of a cataract, the colossal body slid down into the sea, sending waves rolling all around it. As soon as its head had sunken noticeably, it abruptly stopped. The eyes now glared at her from just a little above the height of the hilltop.

[color=#CD2626][b]”So,”[/b][/color] the voice rumbled again, now so close that ice crystals tinkled against one another under its blow. For all its magnitude, impatience could plainly be heard creeping into it. [color=#CD2626][b]”It seems I need to spell this out. Are you going to tell me what’s something like you doing in the warmest waters I’ve been through yet, or keep rolling around like a hog in the mud?”[/b][/color]

“Oh,”  The ice woman remarked.  She seemed to relax, her arms falling to her sides, “So you’re not Sartravius?”

The titan was quiet for a moment, the dancing of flames in his eyes the only movement about his form. Then, with a suddenness that sent the ground quaking, he burst into a deafening cacophonous laugh. The waves were whitened with foam far around the island.

[color=#CD2626][b]”Sartravius? Me?! This is a good one!”[/b][/color] He almost seemed to choke on his cachinnations. [color=#CD2626][b]”That’s the first time someone’s taken me for that bag of hot air!”[/b][/color] The laughter died down, though something still gurgled in the giant’s cavernous throat. [color=#CD2626][b]”Make sure it’s also the last. He hasn’t earned a comparison that flattering.”[/b][/color]

An immense gleaming fist rose from the waters. [color=#CD2626][b]”I am Narzhak, lord of strife, sovereign of blood and iron.”[/b][/color] The colossus sounded unabashedly pleased with himself. [color=#CD2626][b]”Now,”[/b][/color] with a light motion, the fist came to rest right above Mel’Issandra’s head, [color=#CD2626][b]”are you finally going to make yourself worth my time?”[/b][/color]

It was then that Mel’Issandra realized, rather abruptly, that being Sartravius was not the only quality that made a person dangerous.  It wasn’t, on reflection, a shocking conclusion.  The ice woman racked her mind in an effort to remember the enormous god’s earlier question, he’d asked her what she was doing here right?  Because it was… Warm? 

Mel’Issandra hadn’t known there were colder places.  She’d have to see them for herself.  If she survived, of course.  The ice woman figured the best way to accomplish that was to be honest with the god holding a mountain sized fist over her head.  She spoke carefully, her voice a great deal quieter but no less unnatural than the titan’s, “I’m here because I was born here.  After Sartavius killed me.”

She paused and thought to add, “I’m glad you’re not him.  Now we don’t have to fight each other.”

[color=#CD2626][b]”I wouldn’t say [i]fight[/i] in either case.”[/b][/color] The earth-shaking laugh, having briefly died down with Narzhak’s question, flared up again in a subdued rumble. [color=#CD2626][b]”But, if he’s your enemy, we have that much in common.”[/b][/color] With as slight a shift as the one that had raised it, the gargantuan fist moved aside and disappeared into the sea, lifting its shadow from the islet.

[color=#CD2626][b]”Knowing who you fight is a fine start,”[/b][/color] the god mused, mirth lingering in his words, [color=#CD2626][b]”But that’s all it is. What do you do to battle the one who killed you?”[/b][/color] He gazed blankly at her, as if waiting for an answer, but then spoke again, as an obvious afterthought, [color=#CD2626][b]”Better, what can you do?”[/b][/color]

What [i]could[/i] she do?  Mel’Issandra pondered that question for a moment.  She knew she was sustaining the storm Li’Kalla had brought to the island, and she knew she could reshape her body, but what else?  She recalled the little statue she’d made.  She could reshape more than her body, couldn’t she?

The ice woman carefully sunk a toe into the soft snow she seemed to float on.  For the first time she realized she could feel the snow all around her almost as intensely as she could feel her own body.  All it took was trying.  She focused on a specific patch of snow and [i]pulled[/i].

Almost at once an ice spike as thick as an old tree trunk erupted from the ground and stretched into the sky.  The spike was clean, a perfect cone, and it stood taller than any of the burned or living trees left on the island.  She smiled, “I can do that.”

On her shoulder Kalla, the undead lizard, chirped at her.  She looked over to it and held up a hand, which it climbed onto.  She looked at the little creature and amended her previous statement, “And this.  I can also do this.”

Narzhak’s right lower eye narrowed appreciatively at the monstrous icicle. The tip of a clawed finger, like a gleaming metallic rock, prodded out near the shore. The iron on its peak grew and stretched like an animate fluid, lengthening into a narrow, tapering barb that reached the base of the spike. It tapped on the ice with apparent lightness, though cracks spread through the cone where it touched down.

[color=#CD2626][b]”Not bad,”[/b][/color] the god nodded, before another of his eyes fell on the lizard. [color=#CD2626][b]”You’ll need more than that, but it’s something. This, though...”[/b][/color] The spike swung away from the icicle and pointed at Kalla and rose further, poking it before stopping. The lizard glared at Narzhak and gave an indignant chirp before crawling up Mel’Issandra’s arm and into her gown of snow. [color=#CD2626][b]”Strange one. Can you do this to bigger things? Many of them?”[/b][/color]

“I don’t know,” Mel’Issandra admitted with a little shrug, “I don’t see why not though.  It was easy, I only had to touch Kalla to do it.  He’s better now.  You think I should make others better?” She asked.

[color=#CD2626][b]”Making things better is how you prove you’re worth a spit. What’s more, better for us is worse for Sartr. Let’s try it now.”[/b][/color] The spike withdrew, and the god’s bulk slowly careened to one side, as if he were reaching for something below the surface. After some splashing stirred by his fumbling in the water, eerily contrasted by the stillness of his shoulders, the rock-like fingertip emerged again. This time, it did not stop by the shoreline, but slid all the way up to where Mel’Issandra stood. A part of its summit had been hollowed into a concave bowl, in which swam a large silvery fish.

[color=#CD2626][b]”Improve this.”[/b][/color]

Mel’Issandra cursed internally.  Did she really have to stick her hand in to that water?  That [i]salt[/i] water?  She reached out only to hesitate at the edge of the bowl.  She recalled the trick the giant god had shown her with his finger and on a whim decided to imitate him.  A thin needle of ice grew out of her index finger and she dipped it into the water.  It still itched, but it wasn’t so bad.

With a grin she pricked the fish and then snapped the needle off the end of her finger with her other hand.  It fell and shattered on the edge of the bowl.  Within the water the silver fish began to swim erratically, panickedly, until it suddenly stilled.

Its eyes became a milky white like Kalla’s and the water around it began to freeze.  It started to swim again before it was encased, leaving a thin trail of ice that floated to the surface behind it.  Mel’Issandra watched it circle the bowl for a moment and resolved to never do that to a fish again.  It must have been terribly itchy. 

She glanced up at the giant and only recoiled slightly when she met his fiery gaze.  “I made it better, like you asked.”

The iron expanse that passed for his face sank and rose in a nod. He lifted the finger to his eyes, and the hand followed, running with small torrents of seawater. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he swept it downward, dropping the fish into the island’s snow and shaking most of the half-frozen water onto the shoreline.

[color=#CD2626][b]”Not bad. Keep doing it to everything you find, and the whole world will be better for it.”[/b][/color] The edges of his eyes flickered, or perhaps it was merely the gleam of the sun on his visor. [color=#CD2626][b]”You couldn’t have found that fish on your own. Doing good like this is much easier when you have someone helping you. Can you tell the things you make better what to do?”[/b][/color]

“Maybe?” She answered, glancing at the frozen fish doing its best to swim in the fluffy snow.  She was glad Narzhak hadn’t dumped it into the sea.  That would have been unpleasant for it.  

She looked back at the titan and considered the question.  She hadn’t tried asking Kalla to do anything before.  Her icy eyes flicked to a part of her arm hidden by snow and she spoke kindly, “Come on out, Kalla.”

The only response she got was a defiant little chirp, muffled by the snow of her gown.  Well, that answered that.  She couldn’t help but giggle, her laughter more like the soft clinking of icicles than anything recognizable as mirth.  She let the lizard be and explained, “Kalla stays with me, but I never asked him to.  I think he likes me though.”

[color=#CD2626][b]”So you can’t.”[/b][/color] Judging by his tone, which was as flat as a giant’s rumbling could be, Narzhak was thoroughly unimpressed. [color=#CD2626][b]”We can fix that, if you give me a piece of yourself.”[/b][/color] He pointed a finger as long as an islet at Mel’Issandra. From its tip grew, like unnaturally fast, metallic stems, three rods tipped with sharp hooks, arranged in the likeness of a clawed hand. They reached towards her face, expectantly clicking together.

Mel’Issandra dearly hoped the giant god didn’t want her face.  She liked her face.  It [i]would[/i] be nice to tell things she made better what to do though.  She worried about them running loose.  What if they got hurt without her there?  What if Sartravius found them?  She wanted what Narzhak was offering, but if it was possible she’d rather regrow a finger than a face.

She snapped a finger off her left hand and handed it to the god.  She stared at him expectantly as she regrew the appendage. The hooks retreated, holding their prize. The god bent his finger upwards, bringing the fragment out of sight, while the other three digits on his hand went to work on something of their own. They twisted in toward the palm, rubbing together in a series of quick, precise short motions. From below, she could not see what exactly they were doing, but their rapid though steady pace gave a clear impression of purpose.
 
After mere moments of activity, the hand unfolded again, dropping something into the snow at Mel’Issandra’s feet. A curious iron-cast shape glittered in the light of Heliopolis. Lined along the interior of a circular hoop slightly larger than her head were four long, narrow blades, slanted slightly so that, had they been larger, they would have converged at a spot below the circlet’s center. Each of them had two slightly uneven edges and, strangely, two tips; the object could only be safely held by the hoop. The ice finger or its remains were nowhere to be seen.

Narzhak nodded lightly, spreading a tide of shadow over the island. [color=#CD2626][b]”Put this into your head.”[/b][/color]

Into her head?  Well, at least it wasn’t her face.  The ice woman gingerly bent over and picked up the peculiar iron object before placing it on her head.  It was unpleasantly warm, but that changed quickly.  It cooled as it sank into her and by the time the band rested neatly on the top of her head it was totally white with frost.

She brought a hand up to feel the strange construct.  It was sharp, but she couldn't be cut.  Still, she’d have to be careful when she saw Li’Kalla next.  The very last thing she wanted was to poke the Goddess’s wings by accident.  The frost would help with that though.  She could ‘feel’ the crown, but much more weakly than even the snow around her.  Finished with her examination of the crown she looked up to Narzhak.

“This will make them listen to me?” Mel’Issandra questioned the iron titan.

[color=#CD2626][b]”It should.”[/b][/color] A spike emerged from the finger to distantly motion at Kalla. [color=#CD2626][b]”Try it now.”[/b][/color]

She again looked to the spot under her snowy gown here Kalla was sitting.  She still spoke softly, but this time with an authoritative edge, “Kalla, come out.”

The lizard obliged.  It crawled out of the snow and onto her shoulder, where she scratched its chin.  The ice woman grinned, “It works.  Thank you!”

[color=#CD2626][b]”I do what’s got to be done.”[/b][/color] The god propped himself up on both arms from the island’s submerged side, leaning back into the ocean. [color=#CD2626][b]”I’m sure you’ll figure out how to use it well. Just be fast about it. If I know Sartr, he’ll start polluting the face of the world with monstrosities of his in a short time. I might’ve provoked him the last time we spoke, and he’s got a temper.”[/b][/color]

He turned his head sideways with a resonating grinding sound, glancing at the sky with his upper eyes. The lower ones remained fixed on Mel’Issandra. [color=#CD2626][b]”Watch out for for a loud-mouthed scaly bird, it’s one of his servants. Nasty one.”[/b][/color]

“Yes.  I know it.”  The ice woman's smile fell flat and a slight scowl crept onto her face.  She wanted nothing less than to wring the life out of that flying abomination, but she knew she couldn’t.  Not yet, anyway.

Narzhak’s gift was a start, though.  She sighed and whispered to Kalla, letting him know he could hide in her gown again.  Mel’Issandra didn’t want to command him if she didn’t need to.  Of course, if the enormous god was being truthful, and she didn’t see why he would lie while helping her, then she would need to command others like Kalla soon enough.

It wasn’t a pleasant realization, but it didn’t disturb her.  She would need help, and if her helpers were anything like her or Kalla they wouldn’t mind exterminating Sartravius’s spawn.  She nodded slowly, “I’ll be ready.  Thank you again.”

[color=#CD2626][b]”Good. Watch yourself.”[/b][/color] In two immense steps, the giant receded, most of his body disappearing under the waves. The water rose considerably along the island’s shore, flooding the snowy cline up to a short distance from her feet. With slow, ponderous motions that could only be guessed at, Narzhak turned about-face and resumed his advance, eyes to the northwest. Soon, his head was once more a distant island fading into the horizon.

Mel’Issandra watched him go, eyeing the encroaching water with concern.  She took a few steps away from the flood to be safe.  It was only when it receded that she realized it had washed her fish away.  She looked around panickedly before spotting the flopping creature in a little pool of water not far from the islands beach.

She ran over to it, feet itching all the while, and pulled it out of the little pool.  Putting her hands into the water was decidedly unpleasant, but at least she managed to extract the animal.  She cradled it and jogged back to her snowy refuge.  Narzhak was alright, but he needed to be more considerate.  Especially of fish.

The ice woman wiped her hands and feet off in the snow, and instructed the fish to do the same.  It… Tried.  She eventually had to scrub it with snow herself.  She brought it over to a snow drift a few feet deep and let it go there knowing it was the most she could do for the poor creature.

That done, she sat down and ran her hand over the snow in front of her.  A thick sheet of reflective ice formed, and she eyed her new hat.  No, that was wrong.  It was a… Crown?  That sounded right.  It was pretty, but she wasn’t a fan of how visible it was inside her transparent head.  She forced the ice that made up her head to turn an opaque whitish blue and smiled at the result.  That was better.  Now the frosty crown looked good on her.

“And now I wait.” She muttered to herself.  She was holding out hope Li’Kalla would be along soon, but she knew she couldn’t wait forever.  Not while Sartravius was preparing to unleash more of his horrors.

[hider=Summary]

Mel sits on her improvised iceberg, waiting for Li’Kalla to come back. She doesn’t, but a strange moving island approaches instead. It turns out it’s the head of Narzhak, who’s going somewhere wading through the ocean. After a tense meeting, Mel is relieved to learn that he’s not Sartravius, but his appearance and rough manners show her that the fiery god’s not the only dangerous thing out there.

Some back and forth ensues, in which she reveals that she wants to fight Sartr. This defuses matters between the two somewhat, and Narzhak encourages her to do it. Being asked how she plans to go about it, Mel demonstrates her ice-shaping and zombifying abilities, discovering in the process that she doesn’t like salt. Intrigued by the latter power, the god fashions her a head-stabbing crown that lets her command unintelligent frost-transformed creatures. He then tells her what he knows about Sartr’s plans and wades off to the northwest. Mel reflects on what to do with this knowledge and decides that she’ll need to act on it sooner or later. Preferably sooner.

[/hider]

[hider=Might Summary]

[b][u]Narzhak[/u][/b]

[u]Starting:[/u] 6 MP, 6 FP

1 MP spent on a crown that allows the wearer to command unintelligent frost-infused creatures of Mel’Issandra’s creation (2/5 towards unlocking Subjugation portfolio)

[u]End:[/u] 5 MP, 6 FP

[/hider]