Chapter 9
Guided by Lilith's vampires, Lucian soon arrived near the former site of the Three Blades Alliance.
It was one of the few open plains in the Frostlands, visible for miles in every direction.
Long before they reached it, the vampires' hearts had already sunk.
There was no sign of Thorne's Alliance.
The snowfield lay completely empty.
The newly promoted Veteran forced himself to speak.
"The Territory... it's gone. They must have relocated, but it was here. I swear it."
Every vampire tensed.
They braced for violence at any moment.
Lucian, however, trusted so completely in the control of his blood that their unease never registered. His attention stayed fixed on the empty snowfield.
Instead of questioning their story, understanding dawned across his pale features.
"So that's what I sensed earlier," he murmured. "I arrived a little too late."
The vampires traded subtle glances.
Lucian and his followers must have entered the Frostlands through this very area.
When they passed through, the Three Blades Alliance had probably just slipped beneath the ice, leaving behind enough of a trace for Lucian to notice.
A near-fatal accident had produced the best possible outcome.
Thorne's disappearance had spared the Alliance from Lucian—and made the vampires' lie impossible to disprove.
They were safe. For now.
Lucian didn't need to ask why a Lord would abandon summoned units.
The omen over the Frostlands had been impossible to miss. He assumed their Lord had possessed some means of sensing danger and fled in such haste that part of his army had simply been left behind.
Since the other vampires could no longer be found, Lucian let the matter drop.
He turned to Lilith's units.
"All you need to understand is this: our primary reason for entering the Frostlands is to claim something hidden here. What you witnessed last night was merely the second manifestation. The final emergence will not be long in coming."
"Many powers will fight for it. Until then, concealment and intelligence take priority."
"Identify every race that has entered the Frostlands. Perform well, and I will grant you more of my blood."
Lucian's original followers had already scattered on similar assignments.
The orders given to Lilith's vampires were simply an extension of that plan.
...
Not long after Lucian's group departed, Simon arrived with several werewolves.
He had come straight to the same location.
The empty snowfield left him sour with disappointment.
"Did I remember it wrong?" Simon muttered. "Or did Thorne run?"
Since seizing control of Giles's body, Simon had no memory of anything that had happened after his death.
He assumed Thorne and the others had relocated out of fear of Lilith.
"Lucky bastards," Simon said. "I wasn't planning to deal with you this soon, but—"
His nose twitched.
A foul scent hung in the air.
Simon recognized it instantly.
He had fought Lilith's vampires before. He knew the stench of his race's oldest enemy.
Vampires were here.
The scent differed slightly from Lilith's Vampiric Undead.
These had been natives. Had they killed Thorne?
Simon had no time to dig deeper.
He turned and ordered the werewolves to pull back.
The commander who had led their race into the Frostlands was an Elite. The native vampires were unlikely to be any weaker.
If Simon's small band ran into their main force, none of them would walk away.
Having been handed a second life, Simon had grown far more afraid of losing it.
"We're leaving. The vampires already dealt with the Lord who lived here."
He looked toward the southern horizon.
"We'll capture the other one instead."
"The strongest Lord in this region."
...
At that same hour, an elite Goblin force entered the Frostlands from the north and pushed deeper through the storm.
Their plans had changed.
Rather than commit a large army, the Goblins had chosen quality over numbers. The force numbered just over a dozen priests and warriors—every one of them a Veteran.
Leading them was the Archpriest, second only to the High Chieftain within the tribe.
The position was more than ceremonial.
Under the right conditions, the Archpriest could wield the power of an Elite.
The caliber of this expedition showed just how seriously the Goblins took the treasure hidden in the Frostlands.
Heavy layers of animal hide swaddled their small bodies, nearly burying them beneath fur and blowing snow.
Still, not one of them complained as they marched north.
"Remember the mission," the elderly Archpriest warned. "Find defensible ground, conceal yourselves, and establish a teleportation anchor at once."
If the northern route hadn't left them so far from the core region, they would never have risked such a brutal crossing.
"Yes, Archpriest!" the Goblins answered.
They still believed the Frost Sabertooths were their only rivals.
They had no idea that several far more dangerous powers had already entered the Frostlands.
One of those powers was watching them from the summit of a nearby mountain.
The peak speared into the clouds, veiled in wind and snow. No creature traveling below would ever have noticed anyone standing up there.
A human man and woman silently observed the Goblins from above.
Both wore thick winter coats and fur-lined hoods. Snow crusted their clothing, and their breath misted before their faces.
Even so, their features were plain to see.
Both shared the same flaxen hair and pale blue eyes, along with sharp, aristocratic faces. The exposed skin of their hands was rough with calluses—the mark of years spent training with weapons and magic.
A small fire burned between them.
Nearby, two enormous griffins rested in the snow. The creatures had carried them from the border fortress into the Frostlands.
"Cowardice loses to greed in the end," the man said, dismissing the Goblins below with a single glance.
The woman ignored the sneer.
"Werewolves and vampires from the Ashen Reach have entered as well. If the two of us can't contain this, the Academy may step in."
The man's expression soured.
"Why are those old relics meddling in a frontier matter? This should be a victory for the Royal Knights."
"It isn't just the Academy," the woman said with a sigh. "The Sanctum is moving too. Something has changed inside the Empire."
"The governor will keep them out."
The man stared into the storm.
"But if we fail, word will spread. And then..."
The woman went on discussing the Empire's internal factions until a thought struck him.
"Nysia—do you think this is connected to the Lords who appeared two weeks ago?"
"It's possible. The Academy and the Sanctum are already split over them, and the Royal Knights still haven't taken an official position."
They had entered the Frostlands on a military assignment, yet neither sounded especially worried.
As more factions gathered, all of them made the same choice.
They hid.
The second omen had passed.
The third would mark the final emergence.
And it would not be long.
Every power in the Frostlands was waiting for its moment.
And as an unnatural stillness settled over the frozen region, war had already broken out elsewhere.
In the Blighted Forest, Lilith and her undead army had clashed with the Goblins.