My immediate reaction was to tear through the wall and rescue Chantelle. My vision narrowed and I prepared to dash through the solid wooden planks that made up the wall when I got a soothing feeling from Chantelle. It didn't feel as though she felt she was in any immediate danger, and her response to feeling my anger was to try to cool me down.

I took several deep breaths and got myself under control. Looking closer the head priest of winter, who I had mockingly named Rat, only had his hand loosely around Chantelle's throat. They were standing at the foot of some stairs that led up to a dais with a tall backed throne on it. The room itself was thirty meters wide, fifty meters deep, and had eight meter ceilings. I was inside the wall on their left side, fifteen meters away.

Chantelle and Rat were standing facing the large double doors that were in the wall opposite the throne, and they looked as though they were posed waiting for someone to enter through the doors. Chantelle was between me and Rat, and she looked fine from what I could see. Chantelle sent me a feeling of patience.

"I'm not sure what you are hoping to achieve." Chantelle said. "I set up your wards for you, why don't you just let me and the people from my village go?"

"I need to remove the Champion." Rat said, sneering at her. "He must be made to stop interfering with my God's plans. And you cannot be allowed to run about the world being able to ward as you please. Your wards are too dangerous for that."

"If you provoke him further he will kill you." Chantelle said. "If you let us go he might let you live."

Yeah, not likely. I was pretty set on the idea of killing him.

"I've already killed him once." Rat said. "I hold the position of strength. I have his people, I have your villagers, and most importantly I have you. You are his Chosen Person, if you die then he fails at his goal."

Chantelle felt shock at that, so she hadn't told him.

"How did you know that?" Chantelle asked.

"My God can hear anything said in the world." Rat said. "And he speaks directly to me."

He can hear anything said... Or more likely just hear anything in the world. The air has ears. Dammit.

I pulled my new finished sword and scabbard from my Pocket Dimension through the large pockets in my robe. It was an exact copy of my old sword, and it felt comforting to be properly armed again. I set to work making throwing knives in my Pocket Dimension and turned my attention back to the room.

"You're afraid of C.C." Chantelle said.

"I am not." Rat said. "I killed him before and it was hardly difficult. Champions can be tricky, though. There was Ramanah the Immortal, who couldn't be killed, perhaps this one is like that. He will need to be negotiated with, and he will concede that I am the superior party."

"You don't have a plan." Chantelle said. "C.C. isn't anywhere near here, and your posturing isn't fooling anyone. I can feel you shaking."

"Your Champion was heard upstairs not so long ago." Rat said. "He is sure to burst through the doors at any minute. When he does I will lock the room down and negotiate with him to become a vassal. The mistake was killing him. And you will cooperate or we will kill your mother just as I killed your father for acting against us."

I felt Chantelle's sadness. That was enough of that. I sliced through the wall with my sword, four neat cuts, and kicked it into the room creating an opening that I stepped through.

Rat turned, gripping Chantelle's throat tighter, and tried to start speaking.

I spoke over him, ignoring him completely. "Hello Chantelle." I said, smiling. "Your father is alive back at our fortress. He is as well as could be expected, though I have Greta keeping him asleep. He was going to run out into the lethally cold permanent night of the forest and probably get himself killed."

I looked at Rat, whose hand was preventing Chantelle from speaking. Now that he was facing me I could see that he had my old sword attached at his waist. I wanted him to completely focus on me so that Chantelle could get away from him. Then I could kill him.

"Ease up, would you Rat?" I asked. "And is that my sword?"

Chantelle gasped in a breath as Rat started to turn red in the face but relaxed his grip.

"You dare to call me Rat?" He asked, spluttering. "I am the High Priest of Winter."

"Sure." I said. "You never introduced yourself at our last meeting. Rude on your part. So I gave you a name."

"You will acknowledge me as the stronger party in these negotiations." Rat said.

"I don't think I will, Rat." I said.

"My name is Jeremiah." Rat said. "The Warder Clan villagers are being guarded by people that have orders to kill them unless I personally send a counter-order. The winter priests that have your fortress surrounded have been preparing a tactical spell that they will trigger. And I personally have the ability to kill your Chosen Person and cause you to fail your goal at any time I desire to."

"That is quite the comprehensive threat, Rat." I said. "What is a tactical spell?"

"It will freeze everything within the ice walls, killing everyone inside." Rat said. "My terms are that you become my vassal and swear to be subservient to me in all things, and your people will align themselves with Winter. In return I allow your people to continue to live."

"Aren't you an Oathbreaker?" I asked. "Doesn't that mean you are unable to negotiate treaties? 'Your treaties are void.' was the phrase used, I believe."

"Our keepers removed the title." Rat said. "The world's magic acknowledges me."

"I don't acknowledge you." I said. "I don't acknowledge you as a weaker party, let alone a stronger one. You are an Oathbreaker."

I didn't have the first idea as to what I was talking about, but it seemed to be working at making him angrier.

"You winter priests don't have instantaneous communication." I said. "I know this because when you ran away from me like a dog with its tail between its legs the last time we met the winter priests around my fortress still had their old orders when I left."

Rat's right hand left Chantelle's throat and gripped the hilt of my old sword. I smiled at him.

"Without instantaneous communication all I have to do is kill you, and then kill anyone who would harm my people." I said. "As an added bonus, I get my sword back."

Rat drew his sword, smiling his crooked teeth at me.

"It is a great weapon." Rat said. "We had to enchant it, of course. It wasn't going to keep its edge otherwise. Our consultant said that you may have trouble with enchantments. Which, considering the enchanted water in the trap you walked into and the look on your face right now, looks accurate."

I was frowning hard at Rat. It was mildly annoying that they had enchanted my sword, but mostly I was keeping Rat's attention as Chantelle was taking a discrete step away from him.

"Enough playing, then." Rat said.

He snapped his fingers and the walls around the room turned into sheets of ice. The ice effect was spreading from the walls to the floor and the ceiling like water pouring over the ground. The carpet went from chocolate brown around most of the room and a red strip going from the doors to the throne to a deep blue ice and a pale blue strip. The throne itself grew sharp icicles that spread in all directions. As the spread of the ice reached the chandeliers in the roof they turned to ice and the warm glow of the many candles changed to a cold white light.

Rat himself was changing. He grew ten centimeters, and there was a spectral overlay over his face and hands, the only parts of him not covered up. It looked as though he was wearing a transparent mask and gloves, except his body underneath it had moulded to the new shape too.

His face projected forwards into a slight snout filled with sharp looking fangs, his hands sprouted claws five centimeters long, and his eyes started burning with an inner light. The gold trimming on his robe also changed to a pure white.

"Champion." The monster that was Rat said. "Kneel in the presence of your God."

I felt an enormous pressure pushing down on me. I locked my muscles tight and refused to budge. Chantelle collapsed to the ground.

"Not my god." I said, managing to sound casual.

"I will have this world for my own." The Winter God said. "If you join me, great. You would be a nice balance to the Champion that I already have. If you do not join me, you will die to winter sooner or later. I am patient. My high priest, however, has asked me to intervene. He has failed several times when it comes to you. It may be time for a new high priest. I will give him my aspect and let you fight one another."

The Winter God transformed back into Rat, the spectral overlay of his features sinking within him. The pressure on the room lifted and Chantelle stood up with a groan. Rat still had his sword out, and he looked at me with a sneer.

"You lose." He said and swiped the blade across Chantelle's throat as he dashed backwards.

A spray of blood erupted from Chantelle and she began to collapse.