Jeff summoned flames around his hand and the wisp started vibrating within the air prison that Jacqueline was maintaining around it, putting off a slight hum.

"Someone is going to have to translate for me," I said. "Wisps communicate by magic, and it doesn't work on me."

"It's... Screaming in terror right now," the Plains Keeper healer said.

I frowned at Jeff. "Put that out," I said. "I want information from it, but we are not going to torture it."

Jeff bowed his head to me and put out the fire on his hand. The wisp continued to vibrate.

"It says that it's still afraid that one of us will burn it by touching it," the healer said. "And that at least with the fire it would have died instantly."

"Could you put what it says directly into the war room simulation, and translate my replies there to it?" I asked.

The healer nodded, and a whimpering was projected into the simulation.

"Please, don't hurt me," the wisp said. "I'll go away, back to the winter realm, I won't tell anyone what I saw. Please."

"You have my word that you won't be harmed," I said. "I have some questions for you, but you won't be harmed even if you don't answer."

"You'll let me go?" The wisp asked.

"I want to ask my questions first," I said.

"My lord," Jacqueline said. "It's begun eating the mana from my spell. I can keep it up but it will exhaust my mana in a few minutes."

I nodded. "Why are you eating the spell?" I asked.

"If you aren't going to hurt me then I wanted to eat," the wisp said. "Tastes good, flying mana, holding mana. Strong, even better than neutral mana."

Okay, so it wasn't trying to escape, it just ate mana as a natural thing.

"What were you doing hovering above us?" I asked.

"I was sent to observe the makeup and capabilities of the group that was obstructing the conversion of the land given to the snow man progenitor by the god," the wisp said.

"Who is the snow man progenitor?" I asked.

"He is the source of the snow men, though he's not the only one," the wisp said. "He is making snow men continuously back in the winter realm where he is safe from counterattacks. If he dies then the drones will die, too. He will come across when it is secure on this side, until then he will send troops to do the securing."

Our healer seemed to have some empathy with the wisp, and he would be the most appropriate for giving a reward for the information.

"Clay," I said, the healer's name. "Could you please send a healing spell at the wisp? It should pick it up as mana with your signature on it."

He began forming symbols, three of them, before pushing a line of mana through them to send it at the wisp, continuing to feed it with mana.

"Ooh," the wisp said excitedly. "Health, recovery, repair, and reformation. And a continuous effect."

It abandoned eating the air prison entirely and began absorbing the healing spell, wrapping it around itself to soak it in from all directions.

"The snow men are expendable," the wisp said. "It doesn't matter if they die, the progenitor just makes more. But they are bad scouts. We wisps aren't expendable but we scout well. The archwisp made a rough alliance with the snow man progenitor at the Champion's insistence. But most of us came because we were interested in looking around the neutral realm where all of the ambient mana that we eat comes from. It is much better here. I don't trust the snow men, though, they've killed and eaten wisps in the past."

"And what were the terms of the alliance?" I asked.

"In return for the assistance of the wisps as scouts and detectors the snow men will allow wisps to visit their lands in the neutral realm," the wisp said. "But they didn't promise not to eat us. And we only get to visit, we don't get any land of our own. The archwisp shouldn't have taken the terms, but the Champion was there. And you don't argue with a Champion."

There was a short pause, and then. "No, he's a Champion too?" the wisp said. "But he said I wouldn't be harmed?"

One of my people was obviously talking to the wisp.

"Please share what you say to the wisp here," I said. "And don't threaten it, it's being very helpful. You aren't loyal to the other Champion, or the Winter God?"

"No and not really," the wisp said. "We don't worship the Winter God, and we had no need of it until the neutral realm started to become cold enough for us to survive here."

"And if you had a constant source of mana, would you be able to keep an area cold enough for you to survive in?" I asked.

"We can turn mana into cold, yes," the wisp said. "So long as the fiery ball in the sky isn't heating a place we can keep an area cold. Your questions are funny. And the mana is nearly gone."

The Forest Keeper mage stepped up and summoned a ball of water that floated to the wisp, who hissed and froze it before pulling the mana from it in a constant stream as the Forest Keeper sent more.

"No harm, you said, then you send liquid water that would have boiled me alive," the wisp said.

"It was an offering," the Forest Keeper said. "I would have stopped it before it came into contact with you."

The wisp muttered for a few moments, making sounds that didn't have any meaning.

"The offering is good, very tasty," the wisp said. "I forgive you for almost boiling me alive."

"I need a guide to take me to the snow man progenitor," I said. "In return I offer the chance to negotiate a treaty for a safe and permanent place to stay within my fortress, which is in the neutral realm."

The wisp began bouncing up and down excitedly, the air prison obviously not holding it anymore.

"Yes!" The wisp said, before stilling, drooping in the air. "But the Winter God is needed to phase creatures between the realms, and it won't help you."

"Don't worry about that," I said. "I have a portal exit into the winter realm and we will be using that."

"Oh," the wisp said. "Ah, I don't think I'm allowed to say yes. If we go to the winter realm then I can take you to the archwisp, they can say yes. Or no. But they should say yes."

I considered whether I should go to the winter realm by myself. I would be able to move faster, and if it was going to be an assassination I was confident I could get in, make the kill, and get out again. The more people I took the harder it would be to use that hit and run tactic. On the other hand, I needed to rely on my people more. And keeping them safe, protecting them from the conflicts that they were already a part of, wasn't something that they would accept. I did need at least one person to come with me to act as a translator for the wisps we would meet as well.

If it was going to be a single person I would want to take either Conor or Jenny, as they had stealth skills, could attack from great range, and could see the weak points of targets. I nodded to myself, taking both Conor and Jenny would give the most flexibility.

"My lord," Jeff said. "You wouldn't be planning on leaving us behind, would you?"

"I wouldn't call it that," I said. "And I need some people to act as translators, but there isn't a need for all of us to go. How did you know?"

"I've spent a lot of time talking with Mal'Thorn and Chantelle," Jeff said. "They helped quite a bit with the war games simulation. They said that your first reaction to a problem was to throw yourself at it and fix it by yourself. Well, actually, they both said your first reaction to a problem was to wait and try to solve it by defending. After that you would throw yourself at it and fix it by yourself."

"That's... Not inaccurate," I said. "I have a lot of power, and with that power came responsibilities. I'd prefer to defend, but often it gets to the point where I am forced to attack."

"You have given us power," Ursula said. "And we have sworn loyalty to you and the Fortress. To act for the betterment of the Fortress and its people."

"You took on the burden of stopping the snow man army in return for saving my kin," Clay said. "We became your people. This burden is not yours alone, we share it. This is what the Fortress Army is for."

"We are a unit," Jacqueline said. "We cover for each other's weaknesses, and increase our strengths. We are, all of us, coming with you to do what must be done."

They had all moved to stand in front of me in the simulation arranged by height, their bodies in the world still in defensive positions. Presenting a solid front, all of them staring solidly into my eyes.

I smiled. "You rehearsed that, didn't you?" I asked.

They fidgeted at that, but maintained eye contact.

"It's come up a few times, my lord," Jeff said. "If you are going to be fighting for the betterment of the Fortress or the world then we are not going to sit in safety. We will be fighting with you or where you direct. If you meant for it to be different then you shouldn't have formed the Fortress Army."

"Very well," I said. "Let's go to the Winter Realm."