Akta & Meng III: The Wraith's Sword
One morning, Akta found that Meng had gone missing. she woke up, and found that Meng had simply vanished, with no trace of where he went... or the thing that took him. Akta was sure of this, as was Feathers, her beloved friend. they searched and searched, but once again, they found nothing. then, in the garden, Akta found something. a trail of paper clips – Meng's favorite lock–picking devices. after packing supplies, they followed the paper clips to an abandoned castle. a wailing sound came from within the crumbling fortress. they followed the wailing sound... and found meng, chained to the floor, wailing as poison splashed into his face. once Meng saw them, his scarred face lit up. he tried to speak, but no sound came out. only pink bubbles. Akta rushed over to him. her tail started lashing. she began to chant. the words were as hypnotic as they were poisonous. Feathers had no idea how acidic words would help cure acid. then he realized that she wasn't trying to cure his wounds. she was getting rid of the chains. but, before she could finish, the stone slab that Meng was laying on started to shake. suddenly, it vanished. Feathers looked at Akta, appalled. they then crept downstairs. a humongous number of air genasi were gathered around a stone slab, while one of them – a priest, Akta guessed – was chanting a spell. meanwhile, a portal was growing. skeletal hands started bursting out of the ground, clawing their way from their earthen prisons. soon, there would be enough to fill several legions. what agonized her most was that on the stone slab, one of her best friends was screaming in agony. Meng twisted, unable to break the chains that bound him. Akta knew she should do something. suddenly, Feathers broke out a ukulele and started playing. the chanting stopped. the war drums stopped. everything stopped. Akta started to chant in Infernal. "bronze upon gold, legions are redeemed, light the depths, one against many, never spirit defeated, ancient words spoken, shaking old foundations!" the cultists didn't know what to think of this. they just stood and watched. "Destroy the tyrant, aid the winged, the tiefling finds hope, ancient wings found, feathered one's glory, roots are renewed, wraith of ice, tundras refrozen, swords of frost, victorious legions, frostbitten skies!" then, Akta collapsed. suddenly, a blue light started to glow above the portal. the blue light got bigger, while the portal got smaller, as if the light were sucking energy from the chant. the blue light grew to human size. the light faded. and an ice wraith hovered over the cultists, ready to show them what the 'frostbitten skies' part of the prophecy meant.
the ice wraith wasted no time, slashing through the chains that bound Meng, grabbing him, and flying up to the ledge where Akta and Feathers were standing. he landed with such grace that Akta was sure he was royalty. he drew his longsword, and shouted, "I am Holden! son of Skyrtyne! prince of the ice wraiths!" as if on cue (which it probably was), an explosion rocked the chasm. a chunk of ceiling smashed to the ground, right on top of the cultist priest. what happened next, only an ice wraith would understand. from the crack in the ceiling, legions of ice wraiths poured in.
after the following battle, Akta had nightmares nonstop for six weeks. the ice wraith turned to face them. "I am Holden, prince of the ice wraiths. I've been spying on these cultists for nine days. I have heard of you, and I think you could be powerful allies for us." Akta stared at him. it was only now that she realized how powerful–looking he was. he had white scales covering his entire body. he had snow–blond hair that was the bed for a white crown bejeweled with carved ice. but what really brought out the power in him was his wings. he had wings that were each the length of his entire body. he also had icy talons that could definitely do some serious damage. as demonstration, Holden slashed a cultist across the face, striking through his skin, leaving a wound that the cultist would not be able to buff right out. at his side, he carried a curved blade that looked like a cross between a scimitar and a longsword, but he wasn't using it yet. no doubt his claws were just as vicious. he kept fighting until there were no cultists left. once the battle was over, Holden went around, talking to his warriors and tending to the injured (p.s. no one was wounded. that's how powerful the ice wraiths were). Akta saw from the way he reassured his warriors and the gentleness he used when tending to injuries that Holden was a good ruler. once everyone was good, he flew over the battlefield to watch for danger. once they were ready, they left with the heroes to have a grand feast to celebrate their victory.