Battle for Icy Vale

Anthony’s hair can be seen turning messy, and his eyes turning red. A gem grows out from his forehead. Still seated he drank the last bit of his tea then stood up.

“This is the point of no return!” Anthony says

"Wait hold on, we can resolve this issue without having to resort to fighting... Right? Let's just talk Anthony!" Benjamin pleads

"Stand tall and fight young one. We shouldn't let the likes of him take over our homeland!" Cilian replies

"Through my experience at least, diplomacy always seems best" Benjamin readies his short sword "But I suppose if he refuses..."

"Now that you've confirmed to me that you wouldn't let me take Icy Vale... Then it looks like you all are going to be my enemies" Anthony says

The voice coming from Anthony sounds much more dark and sinister. Anthony showed his gold dagger and distances himself from the others, knocking the sofas and chairs down in the process. Cilian immediately closes in on Anthony easily avoiding all the furniture that's been knocked around, he shortens his blade making it easier for him to swing it, and he slashes Anthony with it. Anthony barely parried the attack, and got slashed through the arm. Avoiding a lethal blow, he gave himself a split second to counter attack. Attempting to shove the dagger at Cilian's face. His wrist gets caught by Cilian's other hand, but Anthony escapes the grasp easily, then distances himself ten feet away from the Cilian, the frost knight. With his back to the corner, he prepares for any incoming attack

"Tsk, you knights are irritating! Just die!" Anthony says desperately

Benjamin, with his short sword closes in on Anthony with Azgore blocking one side to prevent Anthony from escaping. Benjamin slashes his sword at Anthony, but the attack gets avoided. Anthony strikes the blade of the sword to redirect the attack to his side then smacks Benjamin's head with the hilt of his sword, swapping positions in the process. Azgore quickly reacted by attacking with his long sword, but had a hard time to swing it vertically, yet managed to pull it off. The slash hits Anthony as he was too late to react, getting hit in the same arm where Cilian had slashed him. Blood spurts out and he falls to the ground. His eyes revert back to his previous eye color then falls unconscious.

"So all it took was two hits?" Cilian inspects the wounds inflicted on Anthony

"To be fair. Two seasoned sword wielders like you two are pretty strong attackers. I'd black out too if I tried to go head to head with any of you" Benjamin comments

"Think he's dead?" Azgore asks as he takes the dagger from Anthony's body and the picture they saw earlier

"He can't have survived with those wounds" Cilian says

"Well, now that he's down. This should stop all the other statues in this place right?" Azgore says

"I sure HOPE so" Benjamin replies

"He mentioned about a tower, Denila and Adelgeld being there. Let's regroup with them then try to find Gunvil and Johnathan" Cilian says

"Guess we should push forward then and try to get to that tower" Benjamin suggests

"Indeed, he also did mention them being able to get farther than us. I think this Denila is a big shot, and Adelgeld is.... just an extra" Azgore says

Cilian makes an exit and is followed by Azgore and Benjamin. Now outside, they look at the sky and see the sky has turned into crystals. The crystals disperse and they can see the dark clouds. Looking around, they can see the castle of Icy Vale on a mountain from where they stand, and the tower that Anthony was talking about.

"Hey, would ya look at that? Our destination is right there" Benjamin points to the direction of the tower

Arms begin to rapidly appear from the ground, movements are stiff but slowly emerging from the snow.

"Now's not the time to enjoy the scenery!" Cilian exclaims then makes a sprint going towards the direction of the tower.

Azgore follows behind Cilian keeping up the same speed. He notices Cilian's armor being made of ice, and it realizes that it's creating some steam as if it's melting to help Cilian feel lighter. Benjamin runs as well, but with his short legs. He doesn't catch up. Azgore turns back then picks Benjamin up his shoulders then dashes following behind Cilian.

The statues fully emerge from the snow and slowly walk towards the house. They enter as the door is left open and Anthony is seen tending to his wounds.

"One problem after another!" Anthony exclaims sounding like his usual self

Anthony stays calm then looks outside the nearest window, as if not worried by the fact of the statues in the house. Being knowledgeable about them, he knew they wouldn't be able to keep up with his speed. But he does not intend to challenge their strength. He grabs a lamp and breaks the window then jumps out, landing on the ground. Surrounded by statues, he attempts to go in between them but is caught.

"Argh! Back off!" he says

The escape the grab, but gets his wrist scraped in the process. He was able to evade any grab and slips through the statues. A hand pops out from the ground grabbing his foot. He trips and falls on the ground. Instinctively, he kicks the hand freeing his foot and makes a run for it in the forest. Running for his life, he didn't realize he was going downhill and tripped once more to a branch. After tumbling and rolling down, he slowly gets up and walks with his injured body trying to get to safety.

'I guess this is what I get for trying to control something this big when I knew I didn't have enough magic power for it..' he thought to himself

After a few minutes of walking, he finally sees two adventurers and runs up to them and falls to the ground.

"Help me..." Anthony begs

The two adventurers set their things down and offer Anthony drinks and rations.

"Thank you for your kindness, my name is Anthony..." Anthony introduces himself

"Name's Johnathan" Johnathan says

"Mine's Gunvil" Gunvil replies "You met with those statues too?" he wipes some sweat from his forehead, breathing heavily as the adrenaline from earlier fades

The bleeding stopped, from the medicine Anthony placed on his wounds earlier, he sets down leaning back on a tree.

"Those statues... They got me good, I was able to escape... There's more coming from my side" Anthony replies

Johnathan and Gunvil whisper to themselves as Anthony watches them.

"So this is it for us huh? The statues I escaped from are heading this way.." Anthony says to them

"I have been reserving this... but there's something i might be able to do about your wounds.." Gunvil says as he nods to Anthony assuring him.

Gunvil hands Anthony a potion and is consumed right after.

"Been to the tower? We saw one while trying to make our escape" Johnathan asks

"Yes, the one controlling these statues are there... I tried to get a good one on him a while back, but he was just too powerful for me. I retreated" Anthony lies

"There's two of us now. We can take down that person quickly" Johnathan says

"GUNVIL AND JOHNATHAN GET RIGHT HERE! WE WILL WAIT FOR YOU IN THE TOWER" a scream so loud can be heard in Azgore's voice

"Well... looks like you got a full party. But I don't want to risk it. I'm going to try to make an escape from this place. Best luck to you both.." Anthony says and he gets up manning up to the wounds and slowly walks away

"Just don't get yourself killed...." Gunvil says