On the Winter Solstice, the wind whispered. It roared and blew across the world, and reached even the Heavens above. With it, the great cold of winter flooded across that higher plane, and the gods staggered. They felt the golden dust of their divinity drift away from them, and the message of that wind became clear…

This Winter will never end so that the Earth will.

The minor gods fell ill and perished within years. The greatest of human civilizations fell into decline and collapsed. Half a century passed, and only a few of the greater gods remained. Simultaneous to the fall of the heavens, only two major human civilizations persisted. There was Arashi, an island nation in the East, and the once-great Kingdom of Volhynia to the West. Little hospitable land remained, and neither the gods nor the two civilizations could seek help from elsewhere.

With unwavering optimism for the future of humanity, the gods collected together a fragment of their diminishing divine power to construct a bridge of ice between Arashi and Volhynia. In response, humanity sent two of their greatest swordsmen to investigate: Izagui Reinato from Arashi, and Aeso Mstislav from Volhynia.

“Return safe and bring back whatever spoils of conquest you may happen upon,” the Emperor told Rei. “May the fires of Kagutsuchi burn within you, always.”

Rei adjusted her scabbard and bowed deeply.

Of course, Kagutsuchi, Arashi’s god of fire, had already died like the many gods who perished before him. Indeed, it was his sacrifice that allowed Arashi to persist, for had he not loved their nation as he did, they would’ve been among the first to fall to the Eternal Winter.

Rei gripped the hilt of her sword, Hiketsueki, as she recalled the story. The blade had been forged from the deity’s corpse, and his divinity fused with the steel of the blade. It was all that remained of him.

The Emperor returned to his procession and to the warmth of the bonfire. Rei kept her head bowed for a moment longer. She let the snow collect on the back of her head.

“I’m coming with you.” A hand fell on her shoulder. The voice was that of a young man, her brother. He stared at the Emperor’s back, then back to Rei’s bright eyes, still filled with the optimism of youth. “I can’t have you dying, you know.”

“I won’t die,” Rei heard herself murmur. Then, louder, “I won’t die, Taki. I’m sure… beyond this bridge is warmth and riches the likes history has yet to see, and I’ll be the one to claim it. Arashi’s century of strife… I’ll undo it all.”

Behind her, the bridge of ice crackled amidst the howling of the storm that raged beyond it. Rei turned to it, the sleeves of her bloodred haori fluttering beneath her thick wool coat. She dressed relatively lightly given the weather, with just a black hakama for her legs and a neck exposed to the cold. When questioned, she claimed that the fire of Kagutsuchi kept her warm.

Most took that statement as a mockery of their strife, a mockery of the Eternal Winter. They’d forgotten that Rei was the head of the Kenjūsatsu. They'd forgotten that it was her who had freed Arashi from the chains of the Roku Shogunate.

She convinced herself that they’d all forgotten her great deeds, for why else would they scorn her so? Why else?

On the other side of the world, Aeso Mstislav shattered his last bottle of ale against the stone floors.

“More!” he demanded, his words slurred. There was no one left to meekly inform him that there was no more alcohol left. Aeso slumped in his throne; the coldness of the pale stone sank further into his flesh.

The throne room was dark and empty, save for that sad and drunk ninth prince who mumbled to himself, “Aarhus is the northernmost city. You can’t blame me... no one can blame me.”

He broke out into a laughter of drunken stupor.

It had been a week since Aarhus fell to starvation and cold, being now the first of the Last Nine Cities of Volhynia to fall.

It had been three days since his father had commanded him to investigate the bridge of ice on their coast. Aeso declared that he would only do so whereupon the stores of Aarhus had run clean out of ale. That time had now passed.

Aeso felt the pounding at his door, the responsibility that beckoned him forth. As he continued to ignore it, a dull pain grew in his head. With each passing moment it became louder, stronger. Finally, the doors smashed open against the hostile tempest. It swept through the grand stone hallways of Aeso’s castle until it reached him in his throne. The gust blew back his long blond locks of hair, revealing his still young and strong features. The cold chilled him down to the bone.

“Fine!” he roared back. “I’ll do it!”

Aeso’s voice raced back across the skies, and the gods nodded with sad smiles. Aeso Mstislav, the greatest of the nine demi-gods of Volhynia, the one granted with the most divinity and the most perilous responsibility of protecting Aarhus. His failure changed nothing; the gods would send him to the bridge, thus granting him a chance for redemption. He was the strongest, there was no doubt, and there was no time left in the world to doubt.

Izagui Rei and Aeso Mstislav both took their first steps onto the ice bridge at the same time. Opposite sides of the world connected in this one breath, and the bridge crackled with excitement.

Rei and Aeso marveled at the bridge along their journey, remarking to themselves of the wonderful craftsmanship of the guardrails, of the curves and corners. It was both beautiful and spectral. An icy glow ran through every crystal, emanating a divine pureness, one that could only have come from the gods.

Rei skipped across, not faltering or hesitating for a moment, Taki close by her side. Each step was made with no fear of slipping, and she hummed to herself with a cheery smile.

It wasn’t until the fifth day into her trip that she lost her nonchalance. For the first time since she forged Hiketsueki, she shivered. The chill ate at her from each corner of her skin. And then she stopped. In the distance, an impenetrable white canvas of a coming blizzard clawed towards her. The soft light shimmered across Rei’s eyes, swirled and spun, in the face of it.

Moving with the storm, along the bridge, was a single speck of a person, framed against the white like a period penned upon a blank sheet of paper.

“It’s outrunning the blizzard…” Rei murmured to herself. She wrapped her fingers around the sheathed Hiketsueki. “What the hell is it?”

“No idea,” Taki said in response, his eyes narrowing. “Be careful, Rei.”

Meanwhile, Aeso ran as if the armies of Hell marched behind him. The powerful frost of the blizzard bit at his heels as he forced every foot another length across the bridge.

“Stay behind me, Taki,” Rei commanded. He did as he was told. Rei stood completely still as she watched the unrecognizable figure race towards her. An entire minute passed in complete tranquility before it met with Aeso’s absolute carnage.

Hiketsueki rang as it flew from its scabbard, deep within Rei’s grip. Scorching flames rushed past with a screech, and raged against the opposing winds.

Steel rang on steel.

Aeso skidded across the ice and managed to stop himself as the full brunt of the blizzard struck the two of them. Snow whipped past them at such a great speed that it tore their clothes and bit at their skin.

Aeso peered behind himself and found a twisting pillar of flame there. He glanced back at his sword. There was a chip in the blade.

I struck something. Was it that fire?

Aeso’s hands shook as he leapt back towards whatever he faced. He raised his sword with an exaggerated roar. Rei faltered beneath the battle cry, fearing that it came from a monster born of the Eternal Winter.

The curtain of snow concealed the two of them from each other, and so they struck blindly once again, relying on instinct alone. Their swords clashed with a mighty weight, but the thundering winds obscured the sound.

Aeso stumbled against the gravity of his opponent, but he regained his footing and returned the weight. Their two swords clashed once more, but as Aeso’s met the searing heat of Hiketsueki, it shattered. Its metal fragments caught on the wind and blew away into the storm.

Rei, now burning with the heat of battle, spun Hiketsueki fancily around her wrist. Her flames grew and roared, and more of its divinity spilled out into the world. The snowflakes that flew in her direction now melted into rain before reaching her.

Aeso felt the immense heat approach him once more. With clenched fists, he charged towards it. Rei froze as Aeso entered her bubble of rain, and time slowed in the moment the two finally saw each other.

“A girl?” he questioned.

“What’s a bear doing out here?” Rei thought.

Still, their realizations came too late; Aeso clamped his hand around Hiketsueki and threw a kick at Rei’s side while she took a fist to Aeso’s jaw.

Their blows connected at the same time, and a resounding thud exploded outwards. Then, a crack.

The two swordsmen froze as millions of tiny fractures crackled across the length of the bridge. They exchanged glances, their eyes meeting for the first time, as the ice collapsed beneath them, and they were thrown into the heart of the storm.

Aeso slammed into the snow below and felt himself sink into it as if it were quicksand. Above him, the blizzard piled on several more feet of it. He struggled to speak as he clawed at the snow. Enchantments left his mouth; magic in the form of words, the language of the gods. Aeso felt the divine gold sand run through his blood, and his right eye glowed that same hue.

Rei struggled on the ground, barely managing to cling to the surface of the snow, gliding across the thin layer of water that she melted off of it. Taki clung desperately to Rei’s side, nearly slipping into the blizzard several times, but Hiketsueki’s fire continued to burn. Its warmth protected the two, and no snowflake blew past them without scorching back into rain first.

I noticed a cave near here back when I was still on the bridge, Rei remembered. If I can just get to the cave…

“Girl!”

Rei jumped at the sudden call, and glanced behind her. It was the bear, trudging through waist-high snow. His right eye burned gold like divine flame.

“Girl, help me!”

She couldn’t understand him, but figured the sounds to be words rather than the whimperings of a lost animal. Though, she supposed, it could’ve been both.

“I don’t know what you’re saying!” she yelled back at him, facing forward once more and pushing towards the cave.

Aeso paused for a moment, then sped up to catch up to her.

She’s from Arashi, there’s no doubt. I’m a little rusty, but…

“Wait!” he called out again, this time in Rei’s native tongue. “I can speak your language, too. Just… help me!”

Rei stopped, then turned to face Aeso again. His face was drawn with desperation, and his right eye burned more fervently than ever. She turned to her left, muttered a few inaudible words, then turned back to Aeso and stared. She studied him carefully, and the two seemed to be frozen in the midst of the whistling winds. Finally, she opened her mouth.

“Okay,” she said.

***

The adventurers collapsed to the stone floor of the cave as they entered it. A droplet of water dripped from the edge of Rei’s nose, where it subsequently froze and shattered against the cavern floor. Her clothes were sopping wet, and stubbornly clung to the stone. Taki sat himself nearer to the entrance of the cavern, attempting to start a fire.

“You know, your clothes are gonna get stuck frozen to the ground,” Aeso remarked to Rei, who sat in front of him. “And then you’ll be stuck too unless you rip them off. Despite how much I want to see that… well, you’d probably die.”

“How crass,” Rei scowled. “I can’t even tell if you’re concerned for me or putting your lust on display.”

“Both,” Aeso chuckled.

“You’re a nasty creature. I should count myself lucky that I could kill you at any time, if I wanted.”

“Don’t you want to?”

Rei huffed.

“It’s not worth it. I’d enjoy it, sure, but it’d be foolish to sacrifice such a source of heat in this Winter.”

“Sure, sure, that’s sound logic,” Aeso replied. “Assuming that you’re stronger than me, I mean.”

“Of course I’m stronger than you,” Rei scoffed. “I saved your life.”

“Whatever you say.”

Rei began to doubt herself as Aeso maintained his composure, and decided to take a closer look. All it took was a single glance at his aura to realize just how wrong she was. Rei pressed her back against the cave wall as she felt Aeso’s silent hurricane of infinite potential. She felt it flooding the entire cavern, protecting them both from the lacerating winds of the blizzard outside.

“That’s impossible…” Rei muttered under her breath. “What are you, a god?”

“Well, close,” Aeso laughed. “Of course, the gods fall ill upon setting foot onto the earth now, so I couldn’t be a god unless I were already dead. I’m just a demigod, one chosen by the gods to use their divinity to fight with.”

“Is that why you were holding back?”

Aeso nodded, setting his gaze downwards. The glint in his eyes resembled something like that of regret.

“I’ve killed two gods already, from overexerting myself—from drying up their dwindling supplies of divinity to use for my own good.”

Rei stared at Aeso, her dark-violet eyes glowing.

“You seem intrigued, Rei,” Taki remarked playfully, walking back to the two of them. “Sorry, the fire wouldn’t take with the wind like this.”

Rei took a quick breath, turning her head to Taki. He was now squatting beside her, his hair soaking wet and his bright violet eyes smiling at her.

“Not now, Taki…” she muttered under her breath. Her hands were clenched into fists on her lap. Aeso narrowed his eyes, following Rei’s gaze to her left and seeing nothing.

“I like him,” Taki continued. “If we can take him back home with us, I’d fight to instate him as a general. What do you think, Rei?”

Rei’s fingernails dug into her palms as she turned to look at the ground. Taki frowned when she didn’t reply, and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Y-Yeah…” she stumbled to say. “I-I’m sure he’d be useful.”

Aeso looked again and still found nothing.

“Who are you talking to?” he asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“Oh right,” Taki said, turning to Aeso. “I apologize for not introducing myself. My name is Izagui Takimaru, and this girl here is my little sister, Izagui Reinato.” He leaned forward and put a finger to his lips. “She likes it when you call her Rei,” he whispered to him with a sly smile. “But it’s best to use it sparingly.”

Aeso made no reaction, and continued to look at Rei as if Taki weren’t there at all.

“My older brother!” Rei suddenly blurted, her voice shaking.

Taki froze.

“Your older brother?” Aeso asked.

Rei nodded.

“The one…” She took a deep breath. “The one I killed.”

“Oh.”

Rei clamped her eyes shut and continued to take deep breaths, her past clawing its way back into her head. Why would she admit this now, with this insufferable stranger? It made no sense, to bring all of this pain back, to remember, to…

But...