Memories Of Ice

It had been around a week since Bryan Fyre took control of Disceath. The city had returned to being peaceful, but armed Droids stood watch in almost all areas of the city. However, in the woods outside Disceath, Glinda and the others had made a camp hidden in the undergrowth.

In the camp there were also former soldiers from the Disceath army, Atlas was stood watch at a small outpost near the edge of the woods. He stood to attention when he saw a man wearing a long hooded coat approaching, he took aim and prepared to shoot.

The man threw his hands in the air and pushed his hood down, but shadow still covered his face.

"At ease, friend" The man smiled.

"Who are you?" Atlas asked. The man stepped forward, revealing his face.

"I am General Summers, or, was I guess" General Summers smiled.

"Oh, your soldiers have been telling me about you, pleased to finally meet you" Atlas nodded.

"Thank you" General Summers smiled.

"I'm Atlas Luna, we arrived to come get my niece, Roisin, but it looks like she was never here" Atlas sighed.

"Oh, she was" General Summers said, enthusiastically.

"Hmm?!" Atlas stood to attention.

"She and her friends came to me to get their airship modified" General Summers explained. "They fled on the night of the coup" He added.

"She has an airship now?" Atlas asked.

"Yes, it was one they... procured from Pyre, before the fall" General Summers replied. "They call it 'The Wild Rose' now" He added.

"Nice name" Atlas smiled. "Tell me, is it true what they said about her... about what happened at Pyre?" Atlas asked.

"Yes, and no" General Summers sighed. "From what they told me, she had the Fire Crystal infused into her by Skylar Pyre" General Summers explained. "Then someone called Lumina showed up and killed her friend, Dex, I think his name was" He added.

"Dex is dead?!" Atlas frowned, and fell back against the tree. "Dammit!" He said as a tear formed in his eye.

"I'm sorry to bring you that news" General Summers sighed.

"Do you know where they went, in the airship?" Atlas asked.

"I sent them back to Raryst, to see if there was some way to stop Bryan" General Summer replied. "I scrambled the comms for a while, to throw Crystech off their trail" He added.

"Thank you" Atlas smiled slightly.

"We're in a heck of a mess here" Summers sighed.

"Yeah, who'd have thought a guy named 'Bryan' would have managed to somehow have the world at his beck and call" Atlas joked, as he wiped away the tears.

"You can say that again, it's quite embarrassing to be honest with you" General Summers smiled slightly.

"Hmm, tell me, General, do you have a first name?" Atlas asked.

"I do" Summers smiled.

"What is it?" Atlas prodded.

"Harry" General Summers stated.

"Nice to meet you, Harry" Atlas smiled. "Hmm, I've heard the name Summers somewhere before..." Atlas pondered.

"My daughter is Ashe Summers, I believe you know her" Harry smiled.

"Oh! Ashe, that's it" Atlas clicked his fingers and smiled. "She's a real good kid, she's helped Roisin a lot" he added.

"Roisin is a very good kid too, I've never seen Ashe this enthusiastic and determined before. She always seemed like she was coasting through life until now" Harry smiled.

"Thank you for assisting them" Atlas smiled.

"Anyway, I've heard a few whispers that you have some interesting company..." Harry raised his eyebrow.

"Amanda?" Atlas guessed.

"I never thought I'd see the day when I was on the same side as her" Harry chuckled.

"I guess you met her daughter as well?" Atlas asked.

"Yeah, Ashe vouched for her though" Harry nodded.

"You know the two of them are...?" Atlas asked.

"Dating? Of course I do" Harry laughed.

"I'm glad she's okay too, without her, Ishtall would have fallen to the Empire" Atlas smiled.

"She's nothing like I was expecting, you wouldn't think she was from a royal family" Harry smiled.

"Yeah, she's not like Amanda at all" Atlas nodded. Harry looked ahead deeper into the forest.

"Could you show me to the camp, by the way? I'm starving" Harry smiled.

"Oh, right! Sorry got carried away talking" Atlas smiled. "I'll escort you back" Atlas said as he typed in a message to a replacement guard.

Atlas and Harry walked deeper into the snowy woods as night started to arrive over the trees.

"Have you managed to determine the reason for this cold snap?" Harry asked, as they continued walking.

"It's most likely down to Bryan messing with the Ice Crystal, according to Glinda" Atlas explained.

"Oh, Glinda is here?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, she's the one who rescued us from the hornet's nest, so to speak" Atlas explained.

"I thought she was standing by Bryan?" Harry pondered.

"No, she was playing along, waiting for her chance to flee" Atlas explained. "I think we ruined her plans a little" he chuckled.

"Yeah, I don't think anyone accounted for you guys showing up" Harry laughed.

The two carried on toward the camp as the snowfall slowly became a blizzard, the camp was sheltered from the storm by the tall trees, but the sound of the wind howling through the trees was deafening.