Sejuani quickly came to her senses, smiled and replied in a voice that could be heard by both armies. "I'm going to burn down the farms in the South. I will use their children as a hunting pastime. I will tear down their stone walls and houses, so that no one in this world will dare to resist us again. She pointed south. Every inch of land where snow falls will be mine. My name will be their nightmare, and our tribe will reign forever. ”

For a moment, only Udir hunted in the wind with a fluttering cloak and her declaration. Above her, dark clouds swirled like a storm.

"Ask for our strength," the voice said.

Using all his willpower, Udir reached into his bag. He pulled out the silver thorns, the heat of the metal numbing his arm. If he could say it before Sejuani made an offer, if he could speak with his own mouth, he still had time

It's not too late.

Before Sejuani's former mentor could force herself to step forward, she replied, "I ask for your strength. But then he staggered between her and Spirit Bear with his stiff legs.

Udil pricked the silver thorn into the palm of his hand, and even though it passed through his palm, it didn't give him any feeling. There is no pain, not even the energy of metal. He opened his mouth, but found that he could not say anything, but was shaken by Volibel's consciousness, causing him to fall to his knees.

"Whom will you sacrifice as a sacrifice," said Udir and the Lord of the Hunters in the voice of Spirit Bear.

Udir closed his eyes and imagined the hills of Ionia, the autumn leaves falling beside him. The memories of him learning to meditate, learning to control his powers, seemed so hollow. That distant land will never be his home, and he will never see him again. Udir then recalls his return to Freljord, his meeting with young Sejuani, and the years that followed, as he watched her grow into a war-mother under his tutelage.

From outside his body, Udir heard the words he was screaming out. "She's not swearing to you, Spirit Bear." He swallowed a gulp of saliva and pushed himself towards the monstrous creature. "We offer only those who died in war."

Volibell roared angrily. Its sound thrust Udir towards Sejuani, and the behemoth's spell snapped.

Sejuani had hunted the Ice Worm alone. She had tied her hair in a dead knot a dozen times before rushing into battle, those oaths that promised victory or her own death. She had rushed into the darkness and closed her eyes to face the trolls. But just as Volibel's spell was interrupted, she knew its true horror when she looked up and saw a terrifying presence hanging overhead. Its fur stood on end, and lightning raged in its flesh. Its scars were glowing. Thunderbolts poured out of its mouth, as if they were about to explode in the next moment. Sejuani felt a terrible fear like never before, and she had just come close to sacrificing herself and her people to the bears.

That's the true power of Volibel.

She looked at her former mentor in awture. Somehow, he found a force strong enough to match such a horror.

"Are you afraid of our war, Bear Spirit," Udir yelled at the monster

The colossal creature roared again, becoming less and less bear-like, and flesh seemed to drift away: muscles, hair, and bones began to separate, only the endless lightning bolts within them connected them. Voliber strikes an attacking stance. But before it could attack, Sejuani rode straight at him, blocking Udir.

"Will you fight alongside us, Storm and Wild Bear," shouted Udir, "or are you afraid of our war?"

After waiting for a long time, the monster gave an answer.

"We have nothing to fear."

Udil walked through the ruins of the city gates. There is not much left of the riverside city, and it is impossible to have a warm fire to drive away the cold of the night. All the buildings around him were charred skeletons. Only carbonized wood and stone chimneys stand at the top of the spiky gravel piles.

Udir walked towards the center of the city, his footsteps leaving gray footprints on the soot-covered streets. A curtain of black smoke wafted around him, obscuring the streets and the razed stone houses. A cloud of black smoke lifted for a moment, revealing a dozen warriors of the Claws of Winter. They formed an array around a burning watchtower, surrounding the few survivors and driving them towards the flames. The remaining town guards desperately and helplessly tried to escape, but all that awaited them was axes and death.

Near them, a bear man is dismembering the corpse of a shopkeeper. It turned back to the beast's face and looked at Udir. Blood was stained with its hair, and it slashed a pair of tomahawks at the long-dead corpse. Immediately after, the bear-man let out a roar, and the nearby warriors immediately approached the remaining town guards, mercilessly pushing them into the sea of fire.

It was the first survivor that Udir saw. The bears broke through the town's defenses first. Sejuani's forces followed, but they were as ferocious as the lost. Until now, Udir could still feel that the severe, unquestionable bear spirit was creeping into the minds of every living creature around him. The power of the bears is growing.

Udir climbed the gravel staircase to the ruins of a square. Surrounded by tall stone houses, he saw the giant beast waiting for him. The embodiment of Spirit Bear stands alone in the middle of the city, nailing its corpse to the top of a spike to form some kind of unknown pattern. Black branches and roots grew from the scattered corpses around the monster, like worms emerging from the ground. The flesh and fur on Volibel's face had healed, and its muscles seemed to be thicker and heavier than ever.

Volibel's eyes were on the oncoming Udir. On its face, more than a dozen new eyes popped up, each as dark and cold as a spider's eyes. Perhaps it had smelled foreign magic in the shaman of Winterclaw, and had now decided he had passed the test. For some reason, Udir knew that this time it was speaking to him alone.

"I'm going to get a new lease on life. You can't stop me, human child. The monster said.

Udir took off his cloak and prepared for the evening meditation, and he walked one by one of his different forms: the undead eagle, the shrewd bobcat, the resolute boar, and a dozen other beasts. He stopped as he transformed into Spirit Bear's form. He controlled his body perfectly, and the shape of the giant monster above his head became exactly the same. Eventually, Udir became its nemesis, the Spirit of Flame, Hearth, and Anvil, the Giant Sheep.

Udir was not afraid of the inevitable battle between him and the creature. He is not afraid of anything. His mind was incredibly clear. He was convinced in his heart that these were bad signs. Voliber may be ready to devour him and Sejuani at any moment. But his determination did not waver. He had sworn to protect Sejuani, as a father does. No matter the cost.

"There's no way you can take her." Udir said fiercely.

The monster replied in silence, and it turned back to the bloody work at hand.