Fear and frost dominated the fields before the great walls. The first soldiers to arrive were her vanguard, they did not turn tail and run at the sight of the beyond titanic view before them because a unit of Zanaan undead blocked the way back down the pass.

Keeping them in place was possible, keeping them alive however, was another. The ground had frozen, and baleful winds tore down any tents or structures they attempted to build. Only thanks to the endless endurance of the dead in their ranks were very primitive walls erected to shelter the living from the tempests.

Yet most unnerving was the lack of alarm from the defenders. Once or twice did a figure peak over the walls at them as they clamoured and struggled. But not once did arrows cloud the skies, the great gate stayed closed.

Serafin did not sleep this night. Huddled in her coat she sat at the front of their camp, alone. She stared up at the walls, and the silhouette of the creature beyond the city. Only the familiar sound of heavy wheels rose her out of her lethargy, to turn back and look into the lights parting the dark.

Another fresh unit arrived, and Serafin's heart jumped a beat at the sight of them. Lightly armed, they brought with them the largest guns they had. The wagons struggled to surmount the pass, and then were quickly drawn into the protective walls to shield from harm.

She approached their leader, who hurried to salute, though the motion betrayed his exhaustion. Even the multiple coats he had wrapped himself in did not hide how much weight he must have lost.

"Anthony, report." Serafin's voice was almost lost in the storm around them. "What do you bring with you?"

Twenty major gunss, thirty of a lower calibre as well as the-" He grimassed, "improved tools that lady Tatanya had commissioned."

"That is only a third of what we came here with!" Serafin tightened her cloak. "Where are the others?"

"If we are lucky, broken and unusable. If not." He shook his head. "The savages have been relentless, At every pass and turn they attacked us, I can only thank Aeterna that so many of us survived. Although."

He stared at the city before them, and Serafin could not tell if he was shaking from fear, or the cold. "Even with our entire arsenal, breaching a fortification of this size is hardly possible."

"Then you will find a way to make it possible, before the next night." Serafin ignored the shock in his features and turned away from him, returning to her post. "There can be nothing built by the inhuman that humanity cannot tear down."

Her stomach continued to rumble in the cold. In her pocket she found the last of her ration, half a loaf of bread, frozen over like that of most. Her hand clenched around it before leaving it where it was, the pains would keep her awake.

The morning light was greeted by the roar of cannons. Organised in a single battery, they fired upon the gate, and the sound was a welcome to the next formation that arrived.

It was lead by Tatanya, the only one within the forces who had not donned warmer clothing. Within her host were the Zanaan mages, who quickly went to work. With the held of their undead comrades they etched symbols into the frozen ground around the camp, erecting a barrier that kept out the wind.

Finally their own were able to ignite a few fires, which quickly were occupied by all who were not on active duty. Tatanya herself sought out Serafin, and found the commander inspecting a unit of the Zanaan undead, walking up and down with a swinging gait. Their eyes met and Serafin stopped in her tracks.

"A sight for dead eyes." She muttered as Tatanya lurched toward her. "I trust you can help in bringing down this damn gate?"

"And whatever may hide between, of course." Tatanya´s smile exposed her teeth. "My students spent much productive time with the engineers, in the next volley you will see our synthesis."

"Good." Serafin turned to the city, though her eyes stared off into the sky. "We have little time to waste."

"And what is spurring you on so?" Tatanya rested up against her staff.

"Look at the smoke." Serafin´s gaze did not turn from the black clouds emanating from the city. "Not a single shot of ours missed it´s mark. They are running."

The thunder of the guns ceased, a short respite as the black-robed zanaan mages joined the engineers. The next volley exited the guns with a deafening wail, exploding on impact in ghastly green clouds of smoke. Tatanya was laughing, her eyes wide open. "And that is just the first, you disgusting savages!"

The gate now quivered against the onslaught, and Serafin´s eyes widened. "Get every last soldier to their positions, it is time, it is finally time!"

The shock of their power also roused the enemy. Figures now appeared on the walls in force, raining down arrows the length of Serafin´s arm upon them. They pierced through even their thickest armour, who was hit sunk down onto the ground, and was replaced by another.

Serafin had to swipe a lock of hair from her face. For a moment she felt disgust well within her. When had she last been able to bathe?

Yet her soldiery was in a much worse state. The rationing had been cutting deep, fear of what was in front of them and the ceaseless cold did the rest. It broke her heart: She had entered at the head of an army of the empire´s finest, and now the same looked like a horde of starving beggars.

The grip on her blade tightened. She unsheathed and held it into the air as the cannons were loaded behind.

"This is it, my loyal comrades!" Serafin´s voice echoed across the lines, and to a soul both living and dead straightened up. "In this cruel waste we have marched upon the festering, rotten heart of these savages! They thought their walls could protect them, and we are tearing them down. They thought their magics over the weather could break us, but here we stand. I see him just like all of you, that monster, that creature beyond."

She forced herself to look, even though merely the sight made her knees quiver. "I know you are afraid. Because I surely am!"

Few dared to turn their heads, looking back at her in surprise.

"It is a titan, a nightmare made flesh. I tell you not that we will defeat it, I will not lie to you." Her free hand sunk into her pocket, wrapped tightly around her engagement ring. She could not wear it any longer, but neither could she part with it. "But neither will I tell you to despair at the sight of an idol, for we are human, Aeterna´s finest! We will not turn and run in shame, we will march on and carve our mark upon this blight, even if it is but a scratch on it´s ankle, it will remember us, remember the day the empire planted it´s flag and declared this land ours!"

The cannons roared, the projectiles screamed, and with a last volley the gates were blasted open.

"So go forth, for all that fell before us, for all that will come after us. Let us give them deeds to aspire to!"

Her screams were echoed by the horns of Zana, and as one the units were set into motion. A jog turned into a run as living and dead raced towards the gates.

Serafin remained, her body shaking and her eyes still pinned upon the great figure sitting on it´s throne.

"Even now you will do nothing, Grand Father?" The black knight stood on thin air, at height of shoulder of the great being. She looked down at the explosion at the gate, at the black dots moving forward as streams were running up north, pouring out through the northern gate and away from the fight. "You will sit and watch as the usurper in gold massacres your children?"

"I would take you more knowledgeable of the world, knight of Elthaine." The voice of the Grand Father echoed in her mind, even like this it was deafening. "The usurper sent her children, and her children only. I warned them, and they chose their strategy. I will not impose my will upon them."

"What god lets their subjects bring ruin upon themselves?" Kyrie snarled through her helmet, her right hand hovering over her blade. "They are letting these maggots invade the winter palace, all because they do not have the guts to act!"

"Homes can be rebuilt, knight. The tribes wish to save their own, and I respect their choice. This way or the other, their campaign will end here. All of them have come."

Kyrie shook her head and stared at the field. To the west and east of the city they had gathered, large swathes of warriors and beasts of war.

"Their numbers have dwindled, their supplies are at their end, and they will find none inside. The winter palace will be their grave, and my children will deliver their standards to the usurper in gold, that she may remember who she tried to cross." The droning voice made Kyrie´s body tremble, she turned and drew her blade, slicing through the air.

The sword cut a wound into the thin air, a black line that tore open, revealing nothing but darkness beyond. "I would pray that they took the other Eye with them before running, lest they cede it to her like the other. My patience is limited, Grand Father. Do you seek the aid of my lord, or do you not?"

"Elthaine has fumed and raged in the plains beyond for thousands of years, and he will continue to do so while I still draw breath, knight of slaughter. I will not ask for his help, and should the world end over it."

"It will be your grave." Kyrie´s voice was little more than a growl. "Aeterna´s hunger is without limit, and your and your little hordes will not stop her. Even gods may die."

With these last words she stepped through the dark, which thinned into a single line after she had vanished, leaving not a trace.

The Grand Father closed his eyes, and for the first time in two hundred years rose his arms from the throne. Icicles broke off, and waves of snow raced down the mountains as an avalanche.

And then he called, and his voice was a single tone, it sounded from the throne across the entirety of the high hills. Stones and snow were put into motion, sealing the passes throughout, burying imperial soldiers unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place.

The noise was deafening, striking fear into the hearts of Serafin´s troops, and had their commander not stood behind them, blade in hand and fire in her eyes, they likely would have fled.

Instead they charged on, into the city. To carve their mark, at any cost.