James ran up, his group trailing behind him.

“Hey!” He beamed. “You made it out of the contest in one piece!”

Steven smiled. “More or less. How have you been?”

James shrugged. “Hectic. It’s been constant moving and brawling since the contest. Can’t catch a break, man.”

The tall blond man threw an arm around James’s shoulders, though he had to stoop to do it.

“It’s been great!” He said with a laugh. “Literally never a dull moment!”

James sighed. “This is Tyler, our group leader and general pain in the ass.”

The man beamed. “Aw shucks, you say the nicest things.”

He reached out without taking his arm off James and grabbed the chain woman, pulling her in by the shoulders as well.

She had a put-upon expression but didn’t try to pull away.

“This is Kory!”

The woman gave them a small smile.

Tyler nudged his chin to the right. “And that is Alissa. I’d try to give her a hug too, but she’d stab me for the attempt.”

The woman in question nodded once. Steven had already met her briefly before the contest. She was blond, short, and lean, and gave Steven a palpable sense of danger.

Her blue eyes studied the group and gave nothing away.

Just like before, she wasn’t wearing a coat. Just simple jeans and a T-shirt. This one with a chibi raccoon on its front.

Steven did his round of introductions, and then the trio introduced themselves as well.

The two women who had exited the fort first hung back, not saying anything. They didn’t seem too hurt, but they were both giving Tyler odd looks.

“Is there anyone else?” Margie asked.

James shook his head. “We were the fort on the right, and since you guys came from the left, I’m assuming you cleared them all?”

Margie nodded. “Yep, we were the fort on the far left.”

Tyler grinned. “So we can go attack the main fort now!” He paused, stepping back from Kory and James. “First though, should we send some people to help free our snowzilla? I wanna see the big guy at work.”

“I don’t wanna do it since I want to go fight more. But if any of you have good Skills for it, it might be a good idea.”

Steven blinked. The man was certainly…honest.

Richard coughed. “My group can do it.”

The two unnamed women spoke up, and the taller of the two, who had dark brown hair and brown eyes, stepped forward. “We’ll help. We’re better at something like this than storming a keep.”

Tyler laughed. “Perfect!” He gestured between Steven’s and his groups. “Then we’ll attack the fort in the meantime!”

His grin was blinding, and Steven couldn’t shake the thought that this man was having far too much fun.

~<>~<>~

Steven was about to ask Tyler about his group's Classes when the man let out a loud whoop and sprinted toward the massive fort.

James sighed. “Come on. We can talk and run.”

They started after Tyler.

Steven didn’t want to seem like he was trying to get information on James’s group for free, so he offered basic details of his own.

Just their general roles in a fight and what James could expect.

The man nodded, his breath puffing in the air.

“I’m an elemental enhancer. I can boost or dampen cold and heat and manipulate it slightly.”

He pointed at Kory, who was talking to Margie. “Kory can do all sorts of stuff with her chain. Different Skills and Augments give the links different effects. She’s flexible.”

“Alissa is pretty much an assassin archetype.”

“And Tyler is a hyper-mobile striker.”

An exciting lineup, though they were notably lacking a tank.

Steven supposed they subscribed to the best defense is a good offense.

While that offended his professional sensibilities, if it worked, it worked.

They came up on the fort's main wall after a few minutes of running. It was as tall as a two-story house and at least a hundred feet long. It was a stunning sight, its pale walls shining in the sun and the wide valley it was nestled in stretching out on either side.

Steven could make a staircase, but that would take time. He could already see the archers lining up on the wall, and his ability to block would be greatly reduced while making a staircase.

Maybe-

Tyler drew his spear back, and its point ignited into white light.

His whole body tensed as he hurled the weapon forward.

It raced through the air, leaving a solid line of light in its wake.

Tyler disappeared into the line.

Steven saw a ball in the light trail that raced along it at absurd speeds.

The ball reached the top of the wall, and then Tyler was there, arching through the air with spear in hand, already drawn back for another throw.

Her hurled it down with so much force that he flew back slightly as the spear cracked into the wall, skewering a snowman through the head.

The man vanished back into the spear's trail, reappearing on the wall.

Steven gaped. “What the fuck!”

James nodded. “Tyler is…Tyler.”

Bits of snowmen flew through the air, and Steven would swear he could hear the man laughing.

By the time the rest of them reached the wall, the front gate swung open.

Tyler beamed at them from behind it, his spear propped over his shoulders and the corpses of snowmen littering the ground around him.

Okay then, stay on Tyler’s good side.

Inside the gate was a large courtyard with a large ice fountain in the middle that actually ran with water.

Water so cold that he could see the ice chunks in it, but still, water.

To the right was a staircase leading up, and to the left, one led down. Straight ahead was another gate, this one marked with a small guard outpost.

Above the outpost was an opening in the wall that led to a small platform that overlooked the courtyard.

And as soon as Steven noticed that, a figure walked out onto the platform.

She was tall, with long black robes, shoulder-length black hair, and haughty features.

She was also made of solid ice.

A name flashed into Steven’s mind with the sound of a trumpet blast.

“The Snow Lord.”

The Snow Lord raised her fist, and the fort undulated around them.

Before Steven knew what was happening, there was a wrenching sensation in his gut, and then he was falling.