As Borris left the safety of Kiba's back and slowly drifted down onto the cold snow that lay beneath, ready to face off against Costa, Davros and the many frost giants trailing after them he felt a sharp tug from his neck. It was so strong that he abruptly choked, his entire body's weight pulling against whatever held him back.
"Gugh! Ahh V!!" It only took a second for him to realise who impeded his dismount. Ignoring his gargled words Avira used all her physical strength to wrench the old dwarf back onto Kiba.
"Cough cough V what the hell are you doing!?" Borris roared; his face warped in anger. He was absolutely livid, she practically sentenced them all to death with her actions.
"Look" With warm tears streaming down her cheeks Avira forcibly turned Borris' face to the northwest, allowing him to see why she did what she did."
"V!....Eh!" With his eyes still clouded by anger it took Borris a couple seconds to see what V was trying to show him.
"….Hahahaha we're saved, praise be to the Dark God and the great Volmir, the heavens smile upon us." In the distance Borris could make out the forms of people, soldiers marching in formation towards them. It was a patrol, a regiment of Icethorne's army.
Kiba without even needing to hear Avira's voice turned towards the patrol in the distance and dashed forward, burning away the last vestiges of his strength.
"Shit soldiers from Icethorne." Davros noticed the patrol a few seconds later and briefly slowed down his advance as his mind processed their options. Costa and the other frost giants also instinctively slowed down allowing Kiba the chance to break away from their dreaded pursuit.
"Davros, we have to pursue them." Costa yelled through gritted teeth knowing full well the price of failure.
"Ahhh fine everyone run them down, ignore the soldiers for now but if they dare to interfere….slaughter them all." Davros knew how dangerous Icethorne was but as long as there were no witnesses it should be fine.
The pursuing group only slowed for 5 maybe 10 seconds but that was more than enough time for Kiba to leave them in the dust and make his way towards the patrolling soldiers.
Unfortunately they didn't exactly receive the warmest of welcomes.
The moment the soldiers caught sight of Kiba they each readied themselves for battle. Shield bearers formed a phalanx with the aid of the spearmen while the archers and mages congregated into the centre where they could be best protected.
Within mere moments Kiba was targeted by multiple bows, offensive magic by one of the mages and a deluge of well trained bloodlust that made even him an upper C-rank winged glacial tiger tremble in fear.
Thankfully the soldiers quickly noticed the fact that the monster in question was carrying two people and was in fact contracted thus the arrows were never loosed but they weren't lowered either.
"Halt! Identify yourself!" A large human woman with long white hair and a sharp scar across her nose bellowed with such volume that a minor avalanche started on one of the nearby mountains.
"Sergeant they're being chased by frost giants." Before Avira could even begin to explain her situation and reveal her identity one of the woman's subordinates noticed the many frost giants running behind them with determined expressions.
"Fuck!" The large woman loudly cursed before ordering her subordinates to tighten their ranks and prepare for a bloodbath. Her gaze towards Avira and Borris which was already rather wary and unfriendly was now filled with aggression.
An arrow was quickly launched at Kiba's feet forcing the large tiger to stop in his tracks.
"Grrrr!!" Anger filled Kiba as he growled at their supposed allies.
"You!" Avira nearly blew a gasket upon seeing the change in the soldiers eyes, they were being treated no different than enemy combatants.
"Take one step closer and the next arrow won't miss." The large woman with a scar spoke with an eery chill, she wasn't bluffing. She had no idea what was going on but the fact that Avira, Borris and Kiba were being chased by frost giants changed the whole dynamic.
Their small patrol force wasn't prepared to face off against a group of frost giants, therefore, to protect the lives of her subordinates and the interests of the current Icethorne she drew an immediate line between them.
The relationship between Icethorne and the frost giant tribes wasn't exactly harmonious but as long as they didn't directly interfere with the interests of the other then battle could be avoided.
Silence filled the area as Kiba, Avira and Borris were entrenched between a rock and a hard place. Behind them the frost giants were swiftly catching up, their javelins already drawn for a deadly volley while ahead lay the soldiers of Icethorne revealing no less aggression than the monsters hunting them.
"Kiba get me in front of that woman." As milliseconds passed in slow motion Avira took a breath then leaned over and whispered into Kiba's ear while fiddling with imperial token given to her by her father.
Kiba looked into Avira's eyes for a brief second before nodding his head. The next moment the young tiger tensed his leg muscles and violently flapped his wings, he charged dead ahead.
"Bastards! Shoot it down!" The sergeant loudly ordered with a grim expression, her heart tearing itself apart with grief as she knew that all could be lost.
Arrows enchanted with magic rapidly flew through the air, taking deadly aim at Kiba's vitals and glorious wings. Avira did her best to cover him in wind shields and buffet away some of the arrows with her spells but more than a few still broke through.
The sharp arrowheads pierced several inches into Kiba's flesh making him wince in pain and let out a sad whimper, but his momentum didn't stop for even a second. He charged through the arrows and leaped into the air, kicking away a spear head while allowing another to graze his hindquarters all to fling Avira directly before the female sergeant.
"Lower your weapons now or your commander dies." It happened in an instant. One second Avira was on Kiba's back casting magic the next she was standing in front of the sergeant with her rapier resting against her throat, a trickle of blood already dripping down onto the snow.
Thanks to Frost's brutish training and harsh sermons as well as her own natural talent Avira was able to quickly take advantage of the fact that the soldiers intentions were to push them back rather than go for the immediate kill. She wasn't even phased by their dense bloodlust and in fact found it strangely pleasant, warm and inviting.
The surrounding soldiers all hesitated for a brief second, not knowing what to do.
"Lower those weapons and I'll kill you myself!" The woman with a blade to her throat immediately rebuked Avira's words, she even stepped into the rapier causing the initial wound to deepen and spurt a significant amount of blood.
She didn't care that her life was in jeopardy, they needed to separate themselves from this group of people lest the frost giants assume they're in cahoots. Icethorne really couldn't afford to make additional enemies right now.
Avira's eyes widened in surprise and a hint of respect formed in her heart, but she had no time to dwell on it as the soldiers upon hearing their superior's order no longer hesitated. Ignoring the threat to the woman's life they moved to continue their attack.
Just as spears were about to be thrust into Kiba's flesh, magic to fall on Borris' head and two swords aimed to cut off Avira's arms "Shit all of you stop!" The female sergeant's tone abruptly changed and the next moment the gruff battle worn woman had descended to her knees in a loyal salute.
"This blind subordinate greets your highness, Princess Avira Northrend."
A bomb went off in the soldiers' minds and a moment later all of them copied their sergeant, kneeling in the snow and bowing their heads low in salute.
"We greet her highness Princess Avira Northrend."
Every single member of the fortress of Icethorne knew of Princess Avira, Duke Runak made sure of that. The moment he received word of the Emperors' demise and his handwritten letter Duke Runak sent down precise orders.
If any woman of a specific age range introduced themselves as the Princess of Northrend and or carried with them a specific imperial token they were to be safely escorted to Icethorne immediately.
Avira in the moment that the sergeant was about to throw her life away withdrew the imperial token from her robe and showed it to her. The female sergeant recognised the token immediately thanks to Duke Runak drilling its description into all of his officers and thus instantly changed her tune.
A cold sweat dripped down her neck as she kept her head lowered, she couldn't believe that she almost had the Princess the one the Duke had been so ardently waiting for and worried about killed.
She knew that if she didn't behave in the most respectful manner she'd be flayed alive the moment she returned to Icethorne.
"Quickly get up this is no time to stand on ceremony." Avira let out a short breath of relief before quickly ordering to soldiers to their feet, there was still the frost giants to deal with after all.