Vaike, Energy Pioneer

Vaike Swiftwater... She leads the party through the snowy pass, occasionally using her heat cannon to melt the thick snow in front of her. The sky is overcast, and a harsh, cold wind has started to blow. It was strange to see her Eidolon here in this frozen landscape, rather than inside the Athanor. In just a few decades, all of Asgartha and nearly all Axiom technologies had been converted to use the energy source she had harnessed. In many ways, I also owed her for my partial use of my legs... She raises her arm to protect her face from the heavy snowflakes falling from the sky. With a flick of her wrist, Vaike powers on her hot air cannon, melting the ice to clear a path for our vehicles. With her help, it hadn't been difficult to convert the simple kelonic heater we'd been sent into a much more useful heat gun.

When the weather gets milder, and the environment more passable than it is now, maybe I'll materialize an aircraft to finish the journey, even though that's not the most appealing thought. I concentrate to sense which direction Rossum went off in. But before I manage to connect to him, I suddenly hear voices shouting out to me. I listen carefully and hear it again through the wind's constant howl. It's a call for help. I squint and wipe my glasses, which are constantly fogging up. The voice is coming from the lake that stretches out in front of us, frozen and pummeled by the blizzard. There are several figures on the ice. I signal to Vaike, who turns her cannon up a notch. I also see Bash rushing off. And for good reason – there's no time to lose.

TREYST