Several weeks before, deep in the south past even the most southern werewolf clans.


    A fierce cold wind blew the soft snow past a small mountain that stood out in the dark land that was covered in darkness, snow, and ice all year.


    Inside a large hidden cave at the base of the mountain, there were several people gathered quietly chatting among themselves.


    The cave was lit by glowing ice crystals with no trace of a fire anywhere.


    “Is everyone here now?” asked a woman whose body was completely made out of ice.


    “Ecyoman, is there even a need to ask that? It''s only our three hidden factions that know about this!” said a male Ice lamia, his upper half looking like a human while his lower half was that of a snake.


    “Lamry, be nice to her you know she is a bit...” said a male draconian whose body was completely covered in gray scales.


    “I don''t need your ''help'' defending my actions Dranc,” said Ecyoman.


    “So have the two of you thought about what we talked about last time?” asked Dranc.


    “I know I have and I think we have all agreed that now is our best chance to start the plan,” said Lamry.


    “That Beech will not know what hit her! I will get back at her for the humiliation she and her demon race caused me all those years ago!” said Ecyoman.


    “We all have our different motivations to go through with this plan. The people I represent do not like the lot we have been given and can only fight to win our freedom from that tyrant!” said Dranc.


    “It is the same for us... but can we really trust those northern weirdos? That woman was bald. My mother always said bald women lost all their hair from repeatedly telling lies,” said Lamry.


    “I agree with you about them not seeming to be the trustworthy type but... people don''t go bald because they lie,” said Dranc.


    “What! Are you calling my mother a liar!? I''ll have you know she had a full head of hair which was not missing one strand of hair!”


    “Quit bickering your two!” said Ecyoman as she glared at the two with her icy gaze. “All we can do is make preparations for any snags we might encounter. They said they will take care of the northern allies so all we have to do is deal with the southern forces.”


    “Still, they only have to deal with one or two while we have to deal with everyone else!”


    “Quit complaining! With the magical healing potions, these enchanted treasure weapons, and the other items they gave us we can keep fighting without care!”


    The three were silent for a moment as they thought about the pile of treasures that had been given to them.


    “There is no point in delaying our decision any longer. When will we head out to attack?”


    “Immediately. As soon as we leave, gather your forces and head to the agreed meeting place. When everyone has gathered we will march the rest of the way together and take them down!”


    “Really? Isn''t that place too close to the target!”


    “It''s fine, we won''t be staying there for long.”


    As the three finished planning out their actions they exited the hidden cave into the eternal night snow land.


    SCREEE!


    The sound of a high pitch fast moving wind startled the three as an icy blue blur shot down from the top of the mountain.


    BOOM!


    Snow and ice shot up into the air as a large object slammed into the ground in front of the three groups.


    “What the!” “Ambush!?” “Who!?” shouted the three leaders as they stumbled back trying to stay on their feet.


    When the snow and ice cloud was blown away by the harsh wind, a large Bird the size of a house was staring at them. Its body was completely covered in blue feathers that were made entirely of ice and were gleaming like well-polished armor.


    “What''s a legendary [Blue Ice Birb] doing here? I thought they were extinct!” said Lamry in a panicked voice.


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    The others'' expressions and emotions were not any better than his.


    “Chirp! Is what you three just said true? Are you really going to fight them? Chirp!” asked the large Ice Birb ignoring the panicking Lamry.


    The three looked at each other, “Crap! Someone found out!”


    “Chirp! Do not Fret! I want in on the action to settle some old grudges! Chirp!”


    ***


    Sometime later in southern IsKald, the Yuki-onna kingdom.


    Yuki was chatting with Fleur, Borra, and their guards in one of the spare rooms inside the castle. The two girls had come to stay with Yuki partly to keep them out of trouble and also to keep them safe as the land had gotten more dangerous with the many wandering groups of demigods.


    “You got married? What''s it like?” asked Fleur.


    “Big sis Yuki you''re going to be a queen?” asked Borra.


    “It''s not anything special,” said Yuki blushing. She immediately tried to change the topic by turning to Borra. “Both you and Fleur are princesses and will be married in the future and be queens as well. You will be able to find out about it when you get older.”


    Both Alpants and Alhants nodded their heads agreeing with Yuki.


    “Me married?” asked Fleur.


    “Do you have someone you are going to marry?” Asked Borra.


    Alpants and Alhants both listen intently, ready to hear the name of the unfortunate man that would most likely die from the fierce gaze of her father.


    “I can just marry big brother!”


    “Uhh... that''s not going to happen. He''s already married to your big sister Mileena,” said Yuki.


    “Pick someone else!” said Borra.


    “Why? Father always says that he can have multiple wives if he wanted to but he just decided to only have one wife. So I should be able to marry big brother as well!” said Fleur, sticking out her small chest as she pointed at herself.


    Alhants'' looked away in secondhand embarrassment after hearing Fleur''s words.


    “Ehhh? But I heard that your dad is scared of your mom and that''s why he only has one wife?” said Borra as she cocked her head to the side.


    Alhants burst into a coughing fit for a few seconds before turning to look at Borra. “You''re still too young to know about or even be talking about stuff like this. Who has been filling your head with such nonsense!”


    “Alphants,” said Borra bluntly.


    Alhants turned around and glared at Alpants, “You...”


    Burrrrrruuuuu! Burrrrrruuuuu! Burrrrrruuuuu!


    Everyone in the room became silent as they listened to the large horns blare out a warning.


    “I''m sorry you two but I have to leave. My father will probably be looking for me soon,” said Yuki as she stood up.


    “What''s going on? Is there something that we can help with? We are allies so there is no need to be shy about asking for our help. The warriors we brought along with us lack any special skills, they are not any weaker than your own warriors. We boast an even greater defense and higher stamina than your front-line warriors if I am to be honest with you,” said Alphants.


    “I don''t know what it is but it is some type of major emergency for them to sound the alarm like this!” said Yuki.


    “We want to go as well!” shouted Fleur.


    And so Yuki exited the room with Fleur and Borra still hanging on her arms as she led the group of draconian warriors under the command of Alpants and Alhants toward the command post that her father would most likely be heading to.


    When they arrived there was loud chatter between the city guards and several armored Bears who looked to be wounded.


    “What happened?” asked Yuki as she stepped in front of the guards who were standing next to the command outpost''s door.


    “Ah! Princess Yuki! The king and your husband are inside talking with Beary of the Armored Bears. It seems like some trouble is brewing,” said one of the young guards.


    “Or orders are to not let anyone disturb the meeting but since it is you... we will not block you, but they can not enter,” said a second guard as he pointed to Borra, Fleur, and the rest of the draconian soldiers.


    “They are the Princesses of one of our strongest allies! If there really is trouble coming, they, along with their guards, should be allowed into the meeting so they can understand how best they can help us.”


    “... fine but the underlings have to stay out here with everyone else,” said the guard pointing to the area where the wounded armored bears were milling about.


    They issued a few commands to the draconian soldiers as they entered the command post. It was already packed with many officers, some were standing while the more senior officers were sitting as they listened to a scarred and bandaged Armored Bear told his story.


    “... like I was saying. We were just minding our own business clubbing some noob seals when the enemy attacked us from the rear.”


    “And you''re sure that the attackers were the Ice lamia demon race?” asked King Fross.


    “There is no doubt about it and it was not a small group. We could see in the distance a larger group was headed our way, otherwise, we would have stayed and finished off those who attacked us!”


    The officers all began debating with each other as they tried to figure out what this all meant and if it had anything to do with them. King Fross only continued to look at the ceiling deep in thought for some time.


    When his gaze lowered from the ceiling he held his hand up to stop the chatter.


    “Send out scouts in all directions around the city. Just in case this is more serious than we think right now, we should also send messengers to our allies and ask for help. I hope this is not what I think it is... but if it is, we will not cower. We will face whatever trouble is lurking in the darkness!” said King Cross with a firm voice.


    **


    “You idiot! How could you let those Bears get away? Now they know we are coming!” shouted Ecyoman.


    “So what! We have the treasures given to us and sir Blue Birb is on our side!” said Lamry


    “If you didn''t mess up this simple task, we could have run all over them before they even knew what happened to them!” said an angry Dranc.


    “Chirp! It matters not if they know! The more that gather in one place, the faster our task will be finished! Chirp!”