Was it fate that had brought him here? Something about the thought nipped at him uncomfortably, but he let it be. He nodded at Dalanesca's suggestion. He would do what was asked of him to the best of his ability. That seemed reasonable. That aside, he'd not admit it but he was glad when the conversation shifted away from him and onto the next of their party.

Long ago, he might have bristled with envy at the confidence with which Tristana spoke of her healing abilities. It was a specific caste of magic lost to those of his race. The closest he could claim to possess of anything similar was a resistance to poisons or to falling ill - and given their opponents (insects, it seemed, and to some extent the climate), that might serve him in the aftermath of battle (provided he lived that long), but it was unlikely it would be of much use to the others. In any case, he opted for appreciation instead of resentment.

Theirs was a strange group, even at a glance, but with some luck they'd make do. The only thing missing in the brief now, he thought, was what the goddess herself would bring to the table - he had no doubt she could do a great deal, but to have it laid out concretely, so that they might know what to expect… He did not get the chance to ask, his train of thought interrupted by the general's arrival. They were on their way now, and that was that. The blizzard approached, and with it their first obstacle. Their first orders received, Frey set his jaw in a grim line and nodded curtly. "Consider it done."

It would take some concentration, given the raging intensity of the blizzard and the constant shifting of the wild energy about them, but he would manage. He took in a breath and found his focus. A white circle of arcane script appeared beneath him, humming a silent song, and would move alongside him so long as the spell was kept alive. The flecks of snow about them were pushed aside, and an odd hush pervaded in the surrounding area. A taxing endeavour, but hopefully worthwhile.

When, a ways out, L'van returned with news, Frey looked over at the goddess with some interest, awaiting her next orders with no small curiosity - for the time being, though, he worked at maintaining his own equilibrium, and that of the storm without.

Tristana felt embarrassment crawl onto her face as she realized that she had forgotten entirely about her name. It was an important piece of information that they needed to know and had already asked her for but she had forgotten all about it. She began to feel more like a fool that she already did. Great, no doubt this would cause her companions to be frustrated with her. But she needed to fix this instead of just beating herself up over this. That would do nobody any good.


“My name is Tristana.” She said saying leaving out her last name.

Deformem was her last name. It wasn’t exactly a lovely last name but it was all she had. Tristana listened to Dalanesca as she explained what they knew about the enemy. It sounded as if they hadn’t been able to discover it’s weakness but knew it’s strength. Well, that wasn’t very good. It’s fine if one knew to avoid certain strengths of the enemy but to know nothing of its weakness at all is a problem. Suddenly the general approached and they were told they needed to move out. Tristana was rather surprised that it was just the five of them, including Dalanesca and the dragon. Perhaps they would be enough? Doubts began to form in Tristana’s mind but she was pushing all of them aside. Things would be fine. They were an extremely talented as a group of five. They even had a dragon on their side! It would be a difficult battle and the odds really were against them. But she had faith in everybody, excluding herself, that they would be able to handle it. Tristana herself would help as much as she could but she didn’t feel as though she would be able to be much help outside of healing and a few magic tricks. It was time to move out. Tristana followed Dalanesca and the rest of the group out into the snow. She looked to the sky. There were only clouds, darkness, and snow to be seen.

Her nervousness grew with every step. To put it simply, she was afraid. There was nothing wrong with that. Fear is what drove people to avoid foolish situations. But it also held people back from their highest potential. Tristana silently took a deep breath, held it for a few moments, then let it out. She was afraid. It was better to simply admit it than to pretend it didn’t exist only to have it be affecting her later. Her fear was that they wouldn’t be able to stop them. That they would fail and everybody else would die. She was ready, she reminded herself. Her team was ready. They had the gods on their side, even if they could die, and they had each other. The powers and strength they held would be enough. They would succeed. She couldn’t let herself believe otherwise. Tristana then turned to Dalanesca and listened to her.

“Yes. I can use the arch protection spell. It will be able to stop projectiles, magical or not. And it will help prevent smaller attacks like a spear tip or small daggers," She explained.

Of course her spell wouldn’t be able to stop something like an axe or a claw ripping a person apart. Or a spear being lodged so deep that it is halfway through the body. But it would prevent those smaller attacks and the projectiles.

“Oh, before I forget, I also have these.” Tristana said pulling out of her bag some bottles of strong mana and health potions.

The mana potion held blue liquid inside. When the group reformed she gave each person two mana potions in case they needed it. These mana potions were greater mana potions so they would be able to replace a large amount of any lost mana. She then passed around each of them one greater health potion. Tristana had significantly less healing potions than mana potions so she wasn’t able to pass around two. Tristana also didn’t know if the dragon would be able to drink these potions but she still gave him some. That meant that each of them had two greater mana potions and one greater health potion. Eight mana potions and four health potions left Tristana’s hands.

“I intend to heal you when you are injured.” Tristana explained, “But in case you aren’t able to get over to me and I cannot get over to you, this will be a good way to keep you alive.”

Everybody now had a potion, including the goddess. Speaking of her, Tristana intended to keep her priorities on her. Of course she would help the rest of the group and make sure they survived but if the goddess died, then they were all doomed. Tristana wondered if she would be able to help the group enough but shoved that thought aside. Now was not the time. Finally, she began her spell of Arch protection. She muttered words underneath her breath and her hands began to glow. Suddenly her eyes became wide and intense. As if she was surprised but also staring intently into the distance. Her magic seemed to be trying to escape her, causing her body to lurch forwards a tiny bit. The glowing from her hands became intense then sparked out. The light went straight to the four in their group. It never hit them but instead created a sphere of protection around them. Then it became transparent and the light from Tristana’s hands vanished.

This had been the first time in a couple of days that she had used a spell so her magic was a little bit more chaotic than usual. And with each spell there were different ways of casting it. The arch protection spell took a little bit longer than a fighting spell since it was meant to be done before a battle. Her eyes relaxed from the intense stare and she looked to the others. They seemed ready. Tristana cast Arcane Empower on herself to make her spells stronger. She quickly drank a simple mana potion, not as powerful as the greater mana potions, and restored a some of the mana used in the arch protection spell and the arcane spell. Tristana was only good at three things really. Magic, martial arts, and healing. That was it. Charisma, sword fighting, archery, stealth, music, singing, and many other things she failed at. But here she could use at least magic and healing. With the snow the martial arts would be more difficult. It would be easier to slip and harder to know which way the wind would push you. So Tristana would be unable to rely on those methods as much. Tristana looked to the storm. She was ready.