Hex: The in-between marks (Closed)

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Now Hex could feel the touch of the Queen all around her continuously. It was in every breath she took and it was in everything she could touch and see. The power flowed through her and she felt confident in her abilities, small as they were. As confident as she was she was no fool, she knew that raw ability did not compensate for good training. Good training and tutorage that she did not have. For her though this would simply mean that she would have to train herself and let the nature of her harsh environment be her tests. Always there would be the Queen to guide her, and through that guidance, experience would come.

Hex knew and understood the world of the warrior. It was a world where one trains to augment the natural ability with skill. Through training, skill is developed, skill in knowledge and use of weapons. Through training one also develops the strength and speed that one already has. Together these two elements, the physical and the mental combine to form the warrior. When one enters combat without the required training, the result was usually a quick death. Hex knew little of magic, it was an area where she had no personal experience and also had little outside knowledge. For her, she knew that some were blessed with the gift and that they were able to use their gift to augment the warrior class in combat.

For Hex this gift was not a double edged sword as one might have thought. On one hand, the bad hand, she had no one to help her understand her strengths and weaknesses associated with magic. How strong was her mind? How strong was her magic? She had no one to ask the how do I or how to type questions. Hex though was used to being alone and she had decided that she was going to use this gift from the Queen in a way that she had never seen before.

Hence the other hand, the good hand. Hex wanted to bring the power and the warrior into one. Hex wanted not to have the priestess augment the warrior, rather Hex wanted to become an augmented warrior. She wanted to use her powers in combat, expanding on the set of skills she already had. She set her sites on becoming a warrior priestess, an ice wolf for the Queen.

How then would she do this? Hex looked at the magic as another skill of the warrior, and as any other skill she decided that she would work at it the same as if she had been handed a new weapon. This skill was a weapon and that is how she was going to handle it. Every morning Hex went through her exercises of the body, followed by her morning weapon drill. She switched off between the smaller blades and the glaive but she knew that this routine kept her fit and sharp. In combat she learned new things and was able to expand knowledge. Her magic would be treated much the same way.

Hex decided that she would work on her ability to gather the power in the small points and moments that came to her during the mid day tides. Those burns before the dogs were ready to go or just after a meal or even during the burns of travel when the mind started to wander. Hex would now take those moments to help her understand her ability to gather the power, the limits and how to push them, as well as how to hold the power for periods of time.
After the late meal Hex would work on the transformation of the power, the true working of the magic. There was much she wanted to do now that she had been given a touch of the potential. Could her blades be made sharper? Could she make her blows more powerful? Could she freeze people solid quicker? Perhaps she could freeze people in groups or maybe even just their heads? Could she improve on her shield? How much could she affect the weather? Could she use the power to make her senses sharper? Could she blend the light and snow so that she could hide in plain sight? There were simply too many questions to ask, and she had few answers. She would start with what she knew, and from there she would test and try new things. Start small, learn how to do one thing well and then from there build a foundation and practice. Make using the power routine and an extension of herself, not unlike her blades or her new skills with the fighting with hands and feet.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex did not understand the ways of magic but she was able to see why people would be drawn to its seductive power. The power was exhilarating to feel and once felt it was like a potent drug that one craved more and more of.

Snow flittered by, kicked up by the paws of the dogs as they labored on. Their bated breath and occasional nips mingled with the creaks and groans of the sled gear breaking the still silence. Hex could feel the rhythm of the power and now it played for her like a soft song that was always in the background. Hex began to clear her mind, letting the absence of thoughts be filled with power. Letting the power wash in, Hex began to practice holding it. For her, the purpose of doing this was not only to practice holding the power but to also start to get to know more about it. She wanted to feel it out and find out more of the subtleties as it were. If it were a piece of fruit Hex would be rolling it about in her mouth feeling out the texture of the surface, how it responded to probing of different kinds before she took the plunge and bit in to savior it true taste.

Hex wanted to start small and try to limit herself to the simple things such as simple tasks of acquisition and holding followed by small steps of exploration. She would vary the drills with longer hold times or quickening the speed of acquisition. It was all about being able to gather power in a snap, a flutter of a snowflake if you will. Hex wanted the power to be there when she needed it and she wanted to be able to hold it. She needed to know how much she could hold and for how long. Such simple questions needed answers. If she were in combat she needed to know how much power she had so that she could use it to her fullest of advantages. Drill after drill after drill Hex would go through to learn these things. The routine was good for Hex, a creature used to the harsh structure of the military camp or as being part of a ships crew.

After Hex’s last meal of the day, hex often wandered a little away from the camp to sit by herself so that she would have less distractions to work on her understanding of the potential of the power. It also helped that when she was with people that she would be a bit away incase she did something really wrong. She did not want to hurt anyone with her experimentations. Hex saw the power as being a malleable thing, a thing that could be shaped and manipulated. Hex, the proud daughter of a smith, saw the power not unlike the steel her father worked with, only much stronger and with the ability to do things that steel could not. For Hex though it was about keeping things simple and as familiar as she could.

Where to start then? Hex knew of several ways her power could be used already. She could use it as a shield or barrier, she could use it to freeze things solid and she could use it to cause gusts of wind. Felling that these were good staring points to learn from hex started to plan out her drills to practice, learn and expand her knowledge.

Hex started where all good warriors start, on defense. Working with the shield Hex would work at bringing it up first as a small shield that formed a personal barrier, and then as a larger barrier. Again Hex reminded herself to think small steps and focused for now on the personal barrier. As with the obtaining of power, hex would try at first to slowly bring the shield up so that it was just as she would like it. Then she would try to bring it up more and more quickly so that she would be able to bring it up in an instant instinctually. Hex did not want to do all things well, but rather she wanted to be able to do what she did know well.

Hex fell into a routine, working her mind while letting her body rest after a long day. Not to get too bored, Hex would often switch the drills from defense to offence.

Hex did not have much as much opportunity to practice freezing people as she would have liked so she had to practice on such things as snow people and chunks of wood that she salvaged. This was the wilds of Trothgard after all and she knew that live targets would be just around the corner. While the freezing may not have been able to be practiced on live targets Hex felt that she was able to start to get a feel for how it worked and now focused not only on speed but accuracy. She wanted to be able to freeze specific locations so that her use of power would be more efficient.

Hex also wanted to try and expand her abilities. She wondered what would happen if there were a layer of frost or ice on her blade. She wanted to see if using this method she could cause a hit and then have the freezing take effect. She also wanted to see if she could make her blade cut better. She thought that the having the blade cut through with ice and then move freezing damage through a person was most effective at this point so she focused on this. She wanted to see if she could will the blade of her Glaive to be covered in ice or if she breathed upon it would this be enough.

Those that traveled with hex may have started to notice the disposition of the woman change. She was not as jovial as she once may have been and was a much more focused and serious woman now. For most people this probably meant that dealing with her had gone from bad to worse.

[Maeve]

On one of these frequent training sessions a laugh sounded over the fields. It was something that did not disturb Hex's travel mates, who continued with their business as if nothing had happened. Yet the cold, amused, laughter echooed in her head.

"So.. you would be one of my own, would you?" the female voice said. She felt a cold breeze on her cheek "Shall we start at the beginning? Fighting is all well and good, but the real power starts inside. Find your inner core Hex. Find out why you worship.. me. How do you identify with the cold, the ice, the snow... how do you make it part of yourself? Get to know all my aspects Hex, or you will not be able to follow my wishes." The voice sounded almost cruel as it added "and if you cannot follow my wishes your power goes... poof."

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex’s mind swirled when the voice of her queen entered and it swirled a little harder after it had left.


Hex sat silent for a while, letting her mind go over the frozen land of Trothgard. Words floated across in front of her…”Inner core”…”Identify”…”Why do you worship”…

Hex went about her routine that she had developed but now she was also focusing on the inner core of herself. What did it mean to be of Trothgard? Of the Queen?

Hex took herself deep within through her meditation.

Hex opened her eyes as a little girl once again, her red braids standing out against the stark white of the freshly fallen snow.

‘Mommy, what is snow?” Such are the questions a child asks of their parents.

“Snow little Hex are the frozen tears of the Ice Queen.” A mothers assurance.

“Really Mommy, why is she sad for so long?”

“She does not need to be sad or in pain to cry such tears, they are tears of joy in a way. It is like the dogs and their winter fluff. When it begins to get cold the dog’s hair gets thicker and we wear heaver clothes. The land too needs a blanket so that it may sleep and rest. The Queen makes it colder so that the grass and trees may go to sleep so that the land may rest and then she cries tears for the land so that she may make it a blanket in which to sleep in. The snow will make the land strong again in the spring and protect it during the long winter months.”

“Why don’t we sleep in the winter mommy?”

“Because we are not plants or wild animals are we? We are the people of Trothgard and the winter and the cold is like a test for us to be strong. If you cannot survive the winter you may go to sleep and join the ancestors instead of waking up and being here with us. That way you help our people and are not a burden to them. The Queen expects us to be harsh and strong in her image and she has no time for weakness.”

“I won’t be weak mommy, I promise.”

“Yes Hex, I have no doubt that you will be strong.”

“But mommy is the land alive? Why does it need to sleep?” Does it get tiered?”

“Ah Hex, you are full of questions today. The land is and is not alive. In one way the land is alive as from it trees grow, animals eat and we are able to harvest some plants. The land gives life to all of these things. In order to do this the land must give a bit of it self each time. That is what makes it tiered, that is why it needs to rest. We need to rest too each night so that we are strong in the morning. We take from the land and the Queen each day and then we work and give back to her and the land. We protect the land and do those things the Queen demands of us; we are her people as she is our Queen.”

“So when there is a storm the Queen is angry?”

“Either that or she is in a playful mood. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Yes mommy, good night.”

Hex snapped her eyes open. Thoughts of her mother were always cleansing and reviving of the spirit. For these questions put to her by the Queen where not easy questions as they required her to learn how to identify those elements within her and ask herself how she related to them. Deep inside Hex knew that she felt that these elements had come to represent aspects of her own life and her own personality. She knew that she had so much father to go but for now she started to take her time and feel out these elements within her. She also started to take more notice of the various elements of the Queen to gain a deeper understanding.

She did not want to succeed in doing the wishes of the Queen, it was simply her way of life, it was going to be what she was, not merely what she did.

[Maeve]

Again and again Hex meditated on these questions and each time she came closer to wisdom, to understanding. The Ice Queen was like a mother to children and yet she was a cruel stern mistress like all of the land of Trothgard was towards weakness. Walk, Kill, Eat.. or Die. Trothgard's life was that of simplicity, of being one with nature and its elements. No pampered lives or courtiers. Trothgardians knew what it was to be truely alive.

"What does it mean to woreship me, Hex," whispered the icy voice in her head "What do you think I require of you? If I will set you a test will you be prepared?"

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex had sat and thought for long hours about the questions in her head. In the end she could only come up with simple answers. Perhaps that was best. To worship the Ice Queen is not about worshiping her, it is about worshiping Trothgard and all that she is. Trothgard is more than a place, it is a way of life. To worship the Queen is to be of Trothgard. The people reflect the land, the land reflects the Queen and the Queen is the mother over the people. Anyway you want to draw those connecting lines, they all form simple unions of identity and belief.

Hex looked about her and pondered the further questions. What could She require of me? For Hex she could only think of the devotion to Trothgard and its ways. Devotion to the land, was devotion to the Queen. To change the land would be to change one's belief in the Queen and all that the people represent. In Trothgard all are connected.

Will she be ready for a test from her Queen? That she could not answer but she would take any task given and perform any test to its bitter end. One would be foolish to think that they are able to do anything asked of them, but one would be a coward to not stand up and take the task on and do it to the best of their abilities. No, perhaps not ready, but willing to accept any task given.

[Maeve]

"Trothgard is the last barrier," the wind whispered "We are the keepers of the Wall. We are the last stand against what the North brings us. Only those true of heart will manage against the darkness. Only the true of heart know the land, know her ways, know not to control her but to ride her as the wind.."

Snow blew up, and suddenly Hex saw the Wall of Ice. In front of it several creatures like the Guardian were walking, some of them carrying crude instruments, but most of them simply equipped with their teeth and claws. They were being attacked by.... shadows.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex's lip curled as she looked upon the vision before her.

Shadows...The wall is the barrier that holds evil in. The Guardian's people are valiant in their fight against the dark tide. Is to be my test?

Hex slowly smiled. The nature of the test does not matter. Serving the Queen matters and being touched by her is a blessing. I am Hex, a warrior Priestess of the Ice Queen and I shall answer any call she gives.

Hex stepped back from the vision and thought of the first message whispered to her. "...to ride her.". Hex thought about the use of the magic. It was more like putting one's hand into a river and guiding a small portion to do as one bids that small amount to do. It was not about taking power or giving power, it was about being able to use the power that is there and shaping it, like the very snow she stood on.

Hex thought long and hard that night about how she had used the power, perhaps right at times and perhaps wrong at others. She would be ready for when her time came, she was sure. After her routines, Hex spent some time in meditation with the land, listening as it told it's nightly tale upon the winds.

[saskia]

OOC:
Hi, it seems our Dragon has taken on a bit too much...so........


IC:

The Goddess' voice came as soft as the whisper of the wind, as cold as ice and as clean as snow.

"And, my daughter, what will you do with your power, and mine, how will you use it? What would you do to serve and protect me?"

And Hex' mind was once again filled with the image of the Ice-wall, and the fight around it.
She saw herself standing just at the edge of things, and felt the power of the Goddess running through her body, filling her with the icy fire of magic and strength.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

OOC: Why hello there I was wondering how long Maeve would hold out
Nice to meet you, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

IC:

The feeling of power almost made her drunk. So much, so fast, but then that is how we like it right? Hex pulled herself together and looked into the vision before her. What would she do? Hex formed her own vision, a vision that had her helping the Guardian's and his kind stop the shadows. Hex did not let the vision stop there but she also started to imagine what was causing the shadows to appear, what had weakened to allow this, what could she do? many images filled her mind as to the possibilities of how she could help her queen.

Other visions floated in as well. Images of men and ships landing on the shores and from the skys. Images of Hex leading strong women of Trothgard against the invaders.

Hex saw herself standing firm against the invaders, from the wall and from elsewhere, but her mind drifted back to the wall.

Hex knew that this is where she had to go, where she was going. Hex had to prepare herself to do battle with the shadows.

[saskia]

"That is right, my daughter" The silent, sharp voice filled her mind once again. "You will serve me, protect me, fight for me!"

Hex saw herself again before the wal, close by it. She led the defense of the wall and all it stood for.
With one move of her hand, and a thought the wall burst into flames, the cold icy fire of the Godess. The flames scared the opponents, Hex scared the opponents, her power scared them.

Then more ships landed, more troops came over the mountains, aircrafts flew in and let out troops like ants, crawling their way towards the wall. Too many soldiers, dressed in the white of the One, too many !!

"I know you are ready to fight for me, my daughter, but what will you do now? Are you ready to die for me?"

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex looked out upon the shadows in her vision. their destruction made her feel good. It was good to do the queens bidding. It was good to wipe out the enemys of Trothgard.

What Hex found most interesting of all was the association of the One with the army of the shadows. It made her feel even better about her own personal slaughters.

Hex looked out to the visions of ships and men, in her mind she saw herself using the power of Trothgard, the power of the Queen to rid them of the land. She saw herself summining up a gentle storm of soft snow to fall upon them and their ships and then making it cold, oh so cold. She knew that they had their wizards and priests but with the full power od the land and her queen she would make the very land attack and kill. Frost would form from the fallen snow and break their ships, their feet would freeze in place upon the ground and hail would pelt them from the sky. No, the men of the One would not want to come here if they knew what icy death waited for them. Their blood would be used to form a red frozen lake.

Hex smiled at her vision, she would delight at the plight of these men, but if they were indeed to many than she would go down from her wall and fight them one at a time until death. Death would not be the end, she was a queens woman now and to die in service to her was no death at all. it was mealy a fulfillment of destiny, an natural evolution of the corse of ones life. She hope though that she wouldn't die in that battle that was sure to come. She wanted to do more and serve her queen till time immortal if she could. For in her duty to the queen, she had finally found her sense of self, she had found out who she really was, and who she was meant to be.

[saskia]

The blessing of her Queen fell upon Hex as the soft snow she had seen in her vision. Only this time not a portent of death, but a soft blanket, an embrace of the goddesses strong arms.

"Now you are ready for the power and the pain, now you are truly my daughter" the now familiar voice whispered in Hex' mind.
"Though your ordeals and tests are not over, in fact, they are just beginning" The goddess sounded amused.

"Now we can begin your teachings. You will become my vessel, my student, my warrior!"

Hex could feel the surge of power flow through her body and her mind simultaniously, she could feel her strength grow, as well as her magic.


Then her head started to spin as a blizzard, and she felt she was lifted up like the tiniest snowflake and whirled around like one. She was taken with the storm and brought to another place...

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex washed herself in the Queen's embrace. She felt the power wash through her and with it she felt her distance from the land be washed away. She knew that there was much training and learning ahead and that the road of a warrior priestess such as she was not going to be easy or pleasant.

But she really did not care about that. Not now, not after having received the blessing of the queen.

Hex felt herself be lifted by the queen and spun in the wind. Hex wondered for a fleeting moment where she was going, and then forgot to ask as she let herself be washed away in the glory of this moment for her.

Hex drifted on the wind...

[saskia]

As Hex openend her eyes she saw a round white building in a snow-clad garden.
Beutifully shaped trees stood beside a frozen pond and a shining crystal-covered path led to a building which could be best described a a huge snow-castle. It shone and sparkled in the cold winter-light.

A few men and women, clad in white fur walked around the place, lost in thought or conversation.
The place breathed a sense of purposeful peace.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex looked all around her at the simple beauty of this place. She felt herself relax as she took in minute details that came to life around her. Not pausing too long, she moved to find the entrance to the building.

She held her back stiff and her head high. Hex cared not for how she looked for it was the spirit within and the essence of her mind that mattered her.

She was here, the place that was not to be. It was only then that she realized how far her people were falling.

Hex paused at the opening to take it in before she crossed the threshold.

[saskia]

As Hex entered the building a young woman, also clad in white furs came to her, a serious, but friendly look on her face.

"Sister, we have been expecting you, please be welcome to the goddesses temple!"
She bowed to Hex and turned, motioning Hex to follow her, leading her through icy hallways and white large rooms, down a flight of stairs and around a few corners.
then she opened a small curtain, and showed a bare cell:
"This is yours sister" She told Hex "As the bell rings, we will meet in the great hallway, which we passed on the way. Please make yourself ready in body and mind" And as she spoke, a pile of white furs appeared on the floor of the small room.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

The goddesses temple…How soon would it be she wondered, before she was able to find her way to the crystal palace? Brushing such thoughts from her mind Hex took in the room before her, the bareness of it and its use as practical. Hex smiled as she remembered the disdain of her queen at the idea of comfort.

Hex began to strip out of her armor and padding, making her body clean and crisp in the cool room. Goosebumps formed as she scrubbed dead skin and grime from her hard body. Looking at herself, Hex was pleased with what she saw. A hard road and a hard life combined with dedicated training had helped her become muscled and toned, a living testimony to the reflection of the land upon its people.

Hex did not get into the comfortable furs right away, rather she spread them upon the floor and sat upon them feeling the softness of the fur upon her skin. Emptying her mind of distracting thoughts Hex took herself back into the stories of her child hood of the glories of Trothgard. Her mind empty of all but those images, hex slowly brought her self forward in time to her mothers face, and then to her own.

Hex knew that for these tests to come she would have to be of a strong mind, clear of distraction. She began to take herself through her childhood, her many outbreaks and problems now insignificant in the larger spectrum of the course her life took. Soon she was sailing away from the land, a significant move as she then saw herself being brought home upon the very sea.

Hex then took herself through her many experiences that she had since she had left Rimehold. Slowly she worked her mind into a state of the land itself, the wind flowing over cool tundra, empty of all but that.

Hex brought herself out of her meditation and went through a series of quick stretches to limber her body for whatever would be asked of her. Finally dressing in the furs Hex brought her mind and body to a state of relaxation, quietly awaiting the next phase in her journey to begin.

[saskia]

After some waiting a bell began to ring slowly, it's loud sound could be heard all through the temple.

Following the sound, Hex would find herself in a great hall, filled with people in white, gathering before an altar made of ice. the halway itself was lit with candles, which did not do much to warm the place.

As Hex entered the hallway, the assembled priests parted, and a clear path to the altar opened for her.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex was not well versed on formal moves within the temple complex. Hex felt the connection to the Queen most on the bare land. She knew though that this was a component to the evolution of her understanding of her place, her role and what was expected form her.

Hex saw the others part to make room for her. While she did not know what she was to do here, she knew that the alter is where she belonged. She cleared her mind. This moment in this place was the only thought.

The cool ice beaconed to her.

[saskia]

Clearing her mind, Hex could feel the Queens presence flowing over and through her.
She was in the rock, in the ice and in the cold crisp air, even though the temple was a stone building, it had an open feel, and the cold breeze was welcomed inside, to keep the temperature right for the many ice-made objects inside.


A soft murmur accompanied Hex to the altar, the collected whispers of the assemble priests.

As she reached the clod, shining altar, the whispering stopped, and a silence fell into the great hall.
Then a voice sounded, was it in her head? She was sure all the others could hear it too !

Today, we welcome our new Sister to this place, and to our order. She has proved herself worthy to me, in body and spirit, in her faith and her dedication. She is brave and calm, strong and cold, she can think and focus and she has promised to serve me in life and beyond!

The voice rang with power and triumph, and as she finished, the assembled priests cheered and stamped their feet, like an army ready to attack.

She will now give her vows to me, and to you The Queen continued To me as her Queen and God, to you as her Brothers and Sisters.

And then there was silence, as all faces turned to Hex.

[Hex da`Bergliin]

OOC: Sorry, was really busy there for a bit.

Hex felt awash in the power of the Queen flowing through her. The words of the Queen echoed through her head as she took in what they meant. Turing Hex took in the assemble of Priestesses that were gathered in the temple. Vows girl, vows. Hex had not prepared anything to say as she had no idea that she was going to need to say anything. That time had past though and now she needed to act. What to say? There was nothing to say but the truth.

Hex knew not what the others had done, but she did what she felt was right. Hex boldly walked to the alter shrugging off the comfort of the furs and placed her palms upon it. Her mind clear, her heart like stone she spoke the simple words she knew to be true.

“I have no such vows as perhaps one such as you is used to. My temple is the land and my vows have been crafted in deeds run red with blood. I am a daughter of Trothgard, I am a daughter of the Queen. My words are simple. My name is Hex da`Bergliin and I vow to serve my Queen and land with all my strength in flesh, spirit and steel, beyond my last breath, until my essence is no more. I vows these words to you my Queen and God and to my sister priestess.”

[saskia]

As soon as Hex finished speaking her vows, the Queens belssing fel on her like snowflakes.
Actually, it was snowing inside the hall !

Yhen all the priests started to yell and cheer again, like ahuge army getting ready for battle.
They all came forward and Hex was lifted upon their shoulders and taken away to a smaller and more comfortable hall, where a party was waiting for them.

Obvioulsly, with all the problems the Queen and Trothgard were having, the priests did not have much occasion for a party. So when they saw a chance, they took it, and Hex found her mug never empty, and her plate always filled with hot roast, and after a while the priests gathered arouind her and started to ask her all kind of questions:
Where did she came from, what did she do to become a priest, what battles had she been in?

[Hex da`Bergliin]

Hex took to her mead and took to it well. It had been a long time since she had drained a tankard. The focus of attention on her caught he off guard as she was not used to being the center of attention like this.

Hex ate and slowly began to answer the questions put to her. She told them of her youth and her battle training. She told them of her displeasure in how things were changing in the land and her flight overseas aboard pirate vessels as a guard. She told of her time in Dort and her first military command. She spoke of the return voyage and the Queen's own hand in her return to her home. Then she spoke of the pull for her to come north, to find her connection to the land and her queen. In detail she told of every battle she could remember for she took pride in her battle achievements.

She also spoke of her awaking of power and how she had slowly learned to wield it and how she had wielded it. Hex talked and ate as long as they had questions for she felt refreshed in a way she had not felt in perhaps a yahern.

Hex through had a few questions of her own. She spoke of her personal war with the one, seeking any other knowledge on the subject. She asked of news of Rimehold and of dealings there. She had forgotten the when of things and felt out of place in the universe. She asked of powers and of war and how others combined the two.

As for what did she do to become a priestess? She believed in the queen and herself. She believed when no one else seemed to do so. She only did what she felt was right. She felt that she was a weapon of the queen, to do her bidding with her power and Hex's strength. She was pleased to have become a warrior priestess of the Ice Queen. She felt at ease, at home in the place she was always supposed to be.

Hex though knew that becoming a priestess did not mean that she did not still have much to learn and often was quiet so that she could listened to what was being said around and to her.

[saskia]

The priests chatted happily with Hex, telling her more stories about the Ice Queen and the things they did in the temple.
It turned out that priests came here for training, and elder priests retired here. Most of the youngsters had never been in a war, and they looked up to Hex, despite the fact they had received more training.

She did learn the goddesses power was lessening here too, she did not talk to her priests as often as she used to. but they could not tell her precisely why this was happening, it had something to do with the center of her power, they told Hex, but the priests always assumed the center of the Queens power was in the temple!

It was already close to dawn, when most priests decided they had enough, and went to their cells.