Two-Headed Dragon? (Part One)

Snow glittered like the tips of blades, biting cold and penetrating to the bone. The trees on either side of the glacier looked as though they had been formed from ice crystals, standing cold and grim. The frigid wind swept through the forest, carrying the faint sound of breathing rising and falling. Freya clasped her hands and stared intently at the vast white glacier below. Sparse black dots were scattered across it—a group of several hundred people struggling forward. The scene flickered in and out of sight, periodically obscured by swirling snow. The future Valkyrie frowned, snowflakes covering her eyebrows. A thick cloak hung over her body, almost completely concealing the fur-lined armor beneath. She looked much like a hunter hiding in the mountains.

Her vision stretched outward. More than a hundred soldiers in similarly snow-covered silver cloaks lay hidden among the bushes, utterly motionless. From a distance, they were almost the same color as the snowdrifts. Nemesis checked the time. The low temperature had nearly frozen her pocket watch solid, making it creak, but the hands were still perfectly accurate. She handed it to Freya. "Is that them?"

"It is." Freya nodded firmly. The people below looked almost exactly like the ones Brando had described. Besides, there should not be a third force in this place.

"Lucky us. That half-baked lord of theirs actually guessed correctly." A few Cruzian nobles crouched together not far behind Freya, whispering among themselves. Beneath the white cloak was a pale, blond young man who looked as if he had overindulged. He was only twenty-one or twenty-two, but the insignia on his collar proved that he was already a full knight-captain. With an expression mingling disdain and amusement, he spoke, prompting a round of muffled laughter. Another man laughed. "But who would have thought