[center][color=red]The Frontier -- Near the Narrow Gates[/color][/center][hr]




Ahead of the Sword of Dawn, the horizon gleamed a shade of gold unknown to them. They were a scant four days removed from the lifeless grey of the Varyan aegis and already the dusk sky bloomed in its alien orange hues. Ragnar could feel it-- the enormity of what they were leaving behind, like some great anchor hooked to his spine, the links in its chain weakening the further they raced eastward. 

The churning blue earth beneath the ether racer shimmered with the dying light, and ahead, the two massive glaciers stood monstrously in the distance. Ragnar scanned the horizon from north to south, and he could not see their end or beginning. It was said that the glaciers formed a barrier across the entire world, with only the small corridor carved between the two glaciers allowing passage eastward. The Narrow Gates, the mythical treacherous pathway which snaked between the two glaciers, awaited them. Their journey had taken them half a day, and it would not be long until they reached the Gates-- the place that held not only their destiny, but the destiny of the empire itself.

"You're really good at this," he complimented Banou, trying to still the nervousness running through his veins. The SA soldier who had volunteered to pilot the ether-racer had not spoken a word since the reconnaissance mission began. Characteristic of her near silence, the soldier nodded and remained ever-focused on her task. She was the bodyguard to Mother Yonah, but the soldier had a decidedly non-Varyan cast to her. The paint, or tattoos on her face, where certainly not something he had ever before seen on any bodyguard to a high-ranking cleric.

He turned his attention to the deck below, where Ziotea and Oren sat at a bench at the far end, checking their equipment. Always ready, those two, Ragnar thought. Viveca stood calm and resolute at the front of the deck, while Tatiana sat on the steps leading to bowels of the ship. He wondered how each of them would fare against the mysterious creatures that had attacked the three stranded arks. According to the reports, the Kyselika, the Veles and the Svarog were being commanded by members of Warband Goliath, who were heralded as some of the greatest warriors within the Seminary. If they had lost one of their number... an inquisitor, these enemies must be strong, indeed. 

It was then that he realized that Galahad was nowhere to be found. Where the hell was he, Ragnar wondered?

Suddenly, he heard his war brother's footsteps approaching from behind. Ragnar turned his head, and from the corner of his vision he glimpsed him. The fading orange sky made Galahad's pale blonde hair appear darker than usual. It was almost difficult to recognize him.

"What do you want? Come to lecture me again?" Ragnar asked the warleader, turning away from Galahad's penetrating stare. The diminuitive inquisitor pretended to look at the glaciers ahead.

Galahad sighed, but before he could answer, Ragnar spoke again.

"Are you cold, at all? Feeling a bit nippy?" Ragnar asked in that mocking tone of his, yet he already knew the answer to that query. He lifted his gaze to the almost transparent sphere of light enshrouding the entire ship. The aegis slowly pulsed, a curtain of light lazily fading across the apex of the sphere as a frigid gale swept through the top of the deck, the snow and sleet carried forth by its force suddenly dissipating to nothing as they touched the walls of the barrier.

"See?" Ragnar asked, smiling.

"These are supposed to be the harshest conditions in all the known world, and my aegis isn't even struggling to keep the elements at bay. I can keep this up and fight at the same time," Ragnar spoke, his voice growing from boast to genuine pride by the moment. "Do you know what that means? It means that this is [i]easy[/i] for me, Galahad. I won't be a hindrance to you or your plans, and I don't need you to protect me. [i]Ever.[/i]"

Ragnar turned and approached his warleader, lifting his chin to meet the taller inquisitor's gaze. 

"When you ordered me to stay behind, it was an insult. Do you understand? I am just as strong and capable as you. Soon you and everyone else will see that," Ragnar said, spitting out the words out as if they were like acid in his mouth.