Three imperial soldiers arrived at the highest mountain top on board their Magitanks— a robotic weapon with great maneuverability with a similar design akin to a mechanical ostrich decked with heavy artillery.

The fourth person that arrived was a teenage girl with golden hair and bedroom eyes, her stare devoid of any emotion.

"There's the town..." Anak spoke.

"Hard to believe an Ester has been found intact, a whole millennia after the War of the Magicks." Obi commented.

"Think it's still alive?" Anak asked.

"Probably, judging the urgency of our orders." Wan stated before two of them glanced at the girl that stood next to Wan. 

"And this woman," Obi eyed the blonde woman, "this--" and her empty gaze, "--sorcerer. Why is she here?" Obi broke contact with her stare and looked at Anak, "I heard she killed 100 of our Magitech Armored soldiers in under 3 minutes."

"Not to worry. The slave crown on her head robs her of all conscious thought. She'll follow orders." Wan mentioned. 

"Will approach from the east. Move out!" Anak gave the signal to proceed.

The unit descended to the city-state of Gelid.

A scout swathed in fur coats from head to toe kept watch through his binoculars, from left to right he watched the perimeter just as the roaring winds howled, the snowstorm became a veil, clouding the scout's vision. The snow wolf howled a warning.

In the freezing snowstorm, three mechanical monstrosities were revealed behind the mist as they approached the city-state.

"Imperial Magitech Armor? Not even Gelid's safe anymore!"

The fur-coated native ran to alert the troops of the invasion while the snow wolf barked. The citizens locked their doors while the soldiers marched to their line of defense.

An elephantine metal stub of the Magitank took a first step and barged through the gates of the city-state. There was no opposition upon their entry until they encountered a guard and a snow wolf. They were immolated by flame thrower of the Magitank's cannon.

A piercing howl summoned a horde of snow wolves, they snarled and growled as they ran to pounce on the intruders. 

"For Gelid!" A soldier shouted as the troops let out a war cry.

The imperial soldiers released their arsenal, the first imperial soldier gave out the command. "Fire!"

The snow wolf that bared its fangs and growled straight at the girl's eyes and was lit aflame and combusted instantly. One of the snow wolves successfully scratched the second imperial soldier on the face before a third of the pack got stung with the freeze ray and got frozen in large blocks of ice. The third imperial soldier activated a healing mist for his unit.

A cadre of fur coated soldiers marched in, battle ready with their shields and battleaxes.

"Machine-riding, self-important swine! Take this!" A soldier flung his tomahawk before Anak activated a laser that pulverized the tomahawk midswing and reduced the troops into charred corpses.

The imperial soldiers moved forward on board their Magitanks and headed to the mines. Outside the mines, guards were flanked as they prepared their muskets and aimed at the Magitanks. "Gelid's freedom depends on us!" One of the guards shouted before they loaded their firearms. "We must defend the mines!"

Obi launched a missile before the guards fired and shot the missile, causing an explosion. It blew up the scaffolding and it fell on the guards. Within the mines, a guard felt a tremor that was caused by the explosion. He ran to get their last line of defense — Gelid's secret weapon.

The imperial soldiers made an opening to enter the mine. "According to our source, the frozen Ester was found in a new mine shaft. ...Maybe this one…" Wan mentioned.

The miner felt the tremor getting stronger with each step the Magitanks made. The guard released the Eelektricsheik from its confines.

The guard returned to his position by the time the imperial soldiers arrived. Four gargantuan Magitanks towered over him. Their technology was unparalleled and so the guard unleashed Gelid's secret weapon.

"We won't hand over the Ester!" The guard of the mines declared as he spun to call out the city-state's last defense. "Elmer, cease them!"

The imperial soldiers looked at the colossal snail. "I'll handle this. Stand back!" Obi alerted.

"We've got 'em trapped, now!" The guard boasted while the miner watched.

"Hold it! Think back to our briefing…" Wan stated.

"What about it?!" Obi sneered as he prepared the controls.

"Do you recall hearing about a monster that eats lightning…" Wan queried before Anak looked at the colossal snail.

"...and stores the energy in its shell!" Anak added.

"Right." Wan rolled his eyes, "So whatever you do, don't attack the shell!" Wan ordered

"Alright already!" Obi barked.

"Gruuu…" The colossal snail salivated.

The imperial soldiers attacked the slug with everything in their arsenal. The eelektricsheik got severely injured before retreating in its shell. Obi activated the freeze ray as the blast made contact with the shell. The shell absorbed it and the spikes of the shell reverted it into electricity and electrocuted the Magitanks along with the imperial soldiers on board, including the girl.

The healing generator got jammed, the moment that they needed it most, it failed.

"Cure!" One of the imperial soldiers commanded before she healed the whole unit. 

The slug came out of the shell before Anak activated the laser, then Obi used the flamethrower and Wan used the last of his ammunition to kill the colossal snail in a flash. The eelektricsheik's shell cracked and got shattered into pieces as the slug got turned into ashes.

The unit celebrated their victory. The guard and the miner fled the scene. The imperial soldiers reached the heart of the mines as they found the Ester lay dormant encased in a monumental block of ice as if it had been extracted from a glacier. A colossal wyvern coiled within the ice.

Anak, the first imperial soldier of their unit, was mesmerized by the Ester. "This is the frozen Ester..." 

Obi, the second imperial soldier, gave the Ester a once over and said, "We found the motherload."

"The only thing we need to do now is bring this Ester to the emperor." Wan spoke before an eerie light emanated from the frozen Ester, the girl stared at the frozen wyvern. Her golden irises stared back at the monster's face. The eerie light grew brighter and much more ominous.

"Where's the light coming from?" Anak's question remained unanswered before a scream was the last sound he made before he disappeared.

"Obi, was that you?" Wan enquired.

"Nope." Obi replied. The imperial soldiers turned sideways while their eyes darted back and forth. The girl's lips parted slightly. "What's the matter? Do you know something we don't?" Obi interrogated her. She remained silent before Obi got closer with his Magitank, ready to pry the information out of her. "What's happening?" Obi's voice quivered. 

He also disappeared when the light flashed, the only ones that remained were Wan, the girl, and the Ester.

Wan tried to locate Anak and Obi within the Magitank's map, but there was no signal. "Anak! Obi! Report!" The remaining imperial soldier commanded before he witnessed the Ester emit sparks of lightning from the ice. 

The last thing he saw before his demise was the frozen wyvern and the girl locked eyes at each other before the lightning from the Ester crackled and struck the slave crown the girl wore. The light blinded tremendously as everything faded to darkness.