CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER_42 THE ICE TITAN

Bjorn stood in the center of the crater. Axe in hand. Lightning dancing across his body.He looked up at the circling dragons.

And he smiled.

"Come down here, you overgrown lizards. Let me show you what real power looks like."

One of the dragons roared. Like it Accepted the challenge.It folded its wings. Dove straight down. It’s Mouth open and freezing mist began building inside.

Bjorn didn’t move.The dragon came closer and closer, One hundred feet and then Fifty feet and then Twenty feet again, and then it released its breath,Freezing mist poured toward Bjorn.

But Bjorn raised his axe.

"Library of the Stormbringer." He muttered

Lightning erupted from the axe. A massive bolt. Brighter than the sun.It shot upward towards the freezing mist mid air.The two forces collided. Like it was Fire and ice, Lightning and cold.

The explosion was massive.A shockwave rolled across the battlefield. Soldiers on the wall had to grab the railing to avoid being thrown off the wall.When the light faded, the dragon was falling.

Its entire head was burned, charred and smoking,apparently Bjorn had commanded another lighting bolt which shot down from the sky while he countered the freezing mist from the dragon simultaneously,It hit the ground completely dead.

Its body began dissolving immediately.Bjorn lowered his axe and said. "One down."

The second dragon roared, it was Furious.It dove as wel towards Bjorn,But this time, Bjorn was ready.He threw his axe upwards,The weapon spun through the air. End over end, lightning trailing behind it.

The axe struck the dragon’s skull directly and it Pierced clean through.The dragon’s eyes went dark.It crashed into the snow lightening had surged through the dragons body completely it was dead before it hit the ground.

Bjorn raised his hand. The axe flew back to him. Like it was connected by an invisible string.He caught it. Spun it once. Rested it on his shoulder.

"Two down." He muttered

On the wall, the soldiers erupted in cheers.

"THE GENERAL, THE GENERAL FIGHTS"

"STORMBRINGER! STORMBRINGER!" The crowd roared out loudly on the wall.Bjorn turned his attention to the few Frost Giants still climbing the wall.

He dropped the axe from

His shoulders and He raised his axe to the sky.

"Library Art: Archive 140, Storm Descent."

Lightning struck down from the clouds above.Not one bolt but dozens of it simultaneously.Each bolt hit a climbing giant. Electricity coursed through their bodies. They screamed, burned and fell of the wall instantly.

Within thirty seconds, every giant on the wall was completely dead.Their bodies hit the ground, creating shockwaves and then it instantly began to dissolve into nothing.

The few Ice Wolves remaining , seeing the dragons and giants destroyed, began to retreat.They ran back toward the wasteland. Howling and panicking of course victory was close.

The soldiers cheered louder, they hoped had increased rapidly, But then the sound came.

That horn,Deep, Echoing. Coming from the wasteland.The same horn from yesterday.Everyone froze.Then the retreating wolves stopped. They Turned around.And something emerged from the wasteland.

Something very massive.Bigger than the dragons. Bigger than the giants. Bigger than anything they’d seen.

A shape at first, it was towering walking slowly.One hundred feet tall it was, Made entirely of enchanted ice. It colored and it was shining. Its body was humanoid. Two arms. Two legs. A head. But it was too big for its size it was an Ice Colossus.

It took one step forward and the ground shook. Snow avalanched off nearby cliffs.It took another step closer and the ground shock again, even the wall shock, those on it could see it , it was a massive Titan. But then Aldrich’s system activated.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATIONS ]

[WARNING HOST: EXTREME THREAT DETECTED]

[HOST RECOMMENDED ACTION: RETREAT IMMEDIATELY]

[DANGER LEVEL: CATASTROPHIC]

[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 4 PERCENT]

Aldrich stared at the approaching Colossus.

Freya’s voice was barely a whisper. "What... is that?"

General Bjorn’s body vanished only to reappear on the wall right on time when Freya spoke, his face went pale. His confident smile was gone. "No. That’s impossible. Those things haven’t existed for centuries."

Queen Elara’s voice came from behind them. She had climbed to the wall to watch the battle.Her face was white with fear.

"An Ice Colossus. The ancient guardians of the Frozen Wastes. They were sealed away. Locked in ice tombs. Someone has awakened one."

The Colossus took another step the ground shock and it came one step closer.

Its blank face turned toward Winterhold.Toward the wall.Toward them.

Aldrich’s hand tightened on his sword.

Inside his mind, Solomon spoke. His voice was serious, real deadly serious.

"My boy. If you fight that thing as you are now, you will die. No question."

Aldrich’s jaw clenched. "Then what do I do?"

"You trust me. And you go all out. No holding back. No mercy. Everything you have."

Aldrich took a deep breath.He looked at the Colossus.Then he looked at Freya. At the twins. At General Bjorn. At the soldiers.

At Winterhold.

And he made his decision.

"No."

Solomon paused. "What?"

"I’m not retreating. These people need me. This kingdom needs me."

He stepped forward.To the edge of the wall and then he spoke.

"I’m going out there."

Freya grabbed his arm. "That’s suicide!"

Aldrich looked at her. His eyes were calm. And determined.

"Then I’ll die fighting after all that’s what the royal kingdom wants ." He muttered to himself .

And then Aldrich jumped off the wall, descending all by himself into the wasteland to fight the ice titan.

Aldrich hit the ground hard after a fall that felt like forever , Snow exploded around him. His knees buckled from the impact, but he stayed standing.

Fifty feet behind him, the wall rose like a white mountain. Soldiers lined the top. Watching and waiting to see what happens.

Ahead of him, the Ice Colossus walked forward.Each step shook the earth. Snow fell from the cliffs in the distance. The air itself seemed to freeze around the creature.

One hundred feet tall. Arms thick as tree trunks. Legs like pillars of giants ,Its face was blank.Featureless except for two hollow eyes that shined with light.Aldrich drew his light sword and took a deep breath.