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Mission 009: Eternal Equinox

Cobalt threw out chains of ice, expertly aiming them between the trees of the forest at the bat he was currently chasing. The polar bear was getting tired of this game, with this battle that felt like it was literally going on forever. Meanwhile, Alex seeing the chains coming quickly flew straight upward, grabbing his bow with his feet and releasing arrows that deflected the chains knocking them into a nearby rock wall. By this point, the wall was covered with several arrows and shards of ice from the repeated battles the two had been having since this little game had started.

Sinopa, currently a snow leopard was locked in battle with Kickaha. The former foxyote was currently a juvenile tyrannosaurus rex, making him the only person who could even hope to match Sinopa in raw physical strength now. Sadly, Kickaha was more used to magic than melee combat, and Sinopa had the advantage as she pushed him out of the frozen over part of the forest ruled by winter into the sunny greenery owned by summer. Kickaha kept trying to get a spell off, but he had tiny little arms and it was making it very hard to cast and defend himself from Sinopa's savage blows at the same time. After one too many failed blows, he instead went with a tail swing, catching the snow leopard off guard and hitting her so hard she flew into a tree snapping it in half. This mostly managed to accomplish making her angry, as she stood up ready for more, but now Kickaha had his chance. He fired off blasts of lightning. Sinopa held up a paw, taking the lightning head on. She had no magical defenses or natural resistances against electricity. Instead, she endured the pain and continued straight forward back into melee with Kickaha.

Meanwhile, Frinkel was in hot pursuit of one of the few fighters weaker than her. The snow hare had her eyes set on the white rat with blue tipped ears as it ran on all fours carrying a tiny staff in her mouth. Erakir was sticking to the part of the forest owned by summer, clearly hoping to have the home field advantage. That suited Frinkel just fine. Her own power to manipulate plants worked a lot better when they were actually alive. She stood upright on two legs and slammed her own staff on the ground as the same vines Erakir had just started to climb as an escape twisted and turned forming a cage around her, trapping her. Then the vines compressed, which should have crushed the rat. Instead, Frinkel saw Erakir now standing upright holding her own staff aloft as a shining barrier of light appeared around her, having saved her from that attack.

The last two engaged in battle were Tex and William. The snow mink and the squirrel chased each other through the forest, but neither one had any way of gaining an advantage. Both of them relied on certain items to fight with and being stuck with nothing but their natural powers and animal forms left them with very little to defend themselves. But, that was also the reason they had both chosen the other to square off against. It was a lot better than facing any of the fully powered warriors in this melee. William, as a squirrel was a better climber, and he used that to his advantage Scaling up trees, and taking to the tree branches, leaping between them trying to disappear from Tex's sight. Once he had successfully vanished, he pounced from above, tackling the snow mink as the two began to roll around. Tex may have been a child, but his body was still built better for direct combat, as he managed to squirm his way out from under the pin and soon the two were wrestling for control trying to get the other in a position to disable them. It was unclear who would actually win the tussle.

And then it was at this exact moment that the sun set, and the sound of a trumpet echoed throughout the forest. Everyone stopped fighting at once as they suddenly found their powers simply turned off. Rather it be magic or super strength it just vanished. That was thanks to the armbands each of them currently wore.

Those who served the queen of summer, Kickaha, Erakir, Alex and William each had a golden armband on their right arm. Those who served the queen of winter, Sinopa, Cobalt, Tex and Frinkel had a silver armband upon them. These bands allowed the faerie queens to monitor them at all times, hear everything they said, and exert a certain amount of control over them. They couldn't use the warriors like puppets, but they could use them to deny them access to their own abilities or to change their shape.

Enemies that had previously been fighting helped each other up, checked each other for wounds and did the best they could to aid the others. Erakir put her healing magic to use, patching up members of both teams before they all headed towards the center of the forest.

These woods were called Equinox, and it had been their prison for some time now. The woods themselves were on an island with a barrier around it that would prevent anyone from leaving. Not that anyone could make the attempt with those armbands. The forest itself was split evenly between summer and winter. In one half of the forest, there was greenery and flowers in full bloom. In the other half, leafless trees and mounds of snow. Then at the very center of it all, a single circular clearing that was just dirt. No trees, no snow, nothing. This circle was neutral grand, and it was where everyone headed to after the sun had set and where they met at sunrise.

"Another disappointing display." Queen Summer was the first to appear. She no longer took the guise of a child but appeared as a grown woman in a shimmering golden dress with a crown of flowers upon her hair and two colorful butterfly wings. She seemed to be the more impulsive of the two, but as her champions had found out, the more manipulative as well. "Once more, the sun sets, and the battle must wait till morning. I am growing tired of this game." She did not bother to try to hide the anger from her voice.

"You are always free to forfeit if it bothers you that much." Queen Winter wasn't far behind. Her appearance hadn't altered much, dressed in a silver gown with a cloak, a crown of ice upon her head and wings that seemed to be comprised of several snowflakes. Some might call her the more cruel of the two queens. But, she was also the more honest. "This battle has been waging for over a year now, and still not one side managed to claim victory, not even once? Surely by now one of you would have come up with a plan to win for your team. It is almost as if you intentionally dragging this out."

"And what benefit would that give us?" Erakir, even as a tiny rat, even standing before two of the most powerful being in all of existence was not one to hold her tongue. "You force us to fight again and again every day. Even if we're healed, the wounds are real and still hurt. We want this to end just as much as you two hags."

"You would do well to hold your tongue." Queen Summer held up a hand as if intending to cast a spell.

"Now, I know you have a temper, but you wouldn't be about to violate the rules now would you?" Queen Winter smiled. "You know you can't harm your own chosen champions. To do so breaks the pact with them. Your spell would not only fail to harm them, but break your bonds and leave you with no champions left to defend your territory. I'd claim victory within the day."

"Hmph." Queen Summer lowered her hand. "There are other ways to distribute punishment that don't constitute as harm. She snapped her fingers and suddenly Erakir drastically shrunk into herself. She dropped her staff and fell back onto her bottom as she was reduced to a tiny infant. "Technically no harm done."

"Squeak squeak squeeeeak!" Erakir objected but was too young too talk.

"Look, today's battle is over." Cobalt growled. The polar bear crossed his arms and glared at both faerie queens. "Arguing here is just a waste of time. We get it already. We fight again and again, every single day till one side wins. If the sun sets before a victor is decided, then that day ends in a draw."

"What are the odds that we would have a draw for over 400 battles in a row?" There was a dangerous glint to the winter queen's eyes. "I would think by now at least a few of you would have been taken out so the numbers fighting each day would dwindle."

"Hey, you kidnapped us because we were a hardy bunch." Kickaha grinned. "Did you think any of us would go down easily.

"I did not kidnap you, you agreed." Queen Summer's eyes seemed to burn with fire.

"I don't recall agreeing to this." Kickaha crossed his arms. "That was a pretty liberal abuse of exact words to get us here. Honestly, the only reason it worked was it was so lacking in originality or guile none of us thought someone would try something so obvi-" Kickaha was cut off as suddenly he much like Erakir found himself reduced to an infant unable to say yet another word. However, after looking at the expression on the summer queen's face, the smug smile on his face easily translated to 'worth it.'

"Can we just get back to our bases already?" Sinopa complained. "I'm hungry, and even I need to rest if we're doing this every day."

"Yes, I think that's for the best." Queen Winter nodded. "Especially since I'd like to have words with my champions."

"I too think it's time we discuss your strategy." Queen Summer replied. There were flashes of gold and silver light that lit up the entire forest and then all ten of them were gone.

Sinopa, Cobalt, Tex and Frinkel found themselves in an icy cavern. This had been their 'home' for lack of a better turn for the last year. It was pretty barren. A few sleeping rolls on the floor, a wooden table with four seats, and a throne sitting at the back of the cavern. When they appeared, the table was covered with various dishes. For all the faeries' faults, they at least managed to produce a decent warm meal. The four sat down to eat. As much as they would have preferred to refuse any gifts, starving themselves would accomplish nothing.

"I don't get it." Queen Winter tapped her fingers against the side of her throne. "I can tell you're not going all out. I assumed you wanted to free your friends from my rival's control. That was why you accepted my contract."

"Well yeah but we don't want to kill them!" Tex objected. "That defeats the whole purpose of saving them in the first place!"

"Then find a way to disable them!" The Winter Queen slammed her fist against the throne. "If all four are left unable to fight, you can charge straight into summer's territory, seize my rival's throne and this will all be over. I shall release you from your contract as promised."

"At least she's good for keeping her word." Sinopa muttered between bites of a turkey leg.

"Um..." Frinkel seemed nervous as she looked up at the queen. "Say we do accomplish this. You'll release us, but... What happens to the losers. Will the Summer Queen release them without harm?"

"Normally they die, these battles were meant to be to the death." The queen of winter did not sugarcoat things. "If you disable them well... I suppose Miss Summer could release them should she desire once she knows that she can't win."

"I see." Frinkel had not failed to notice the problem with that answer.

"So what do we do? Trade partners tomorrow?" Sinopa asked. "Pretty sure I can take out just about anyone but Alex... And only not him because he can fly away. Really hard to punch someone when they're fifty feet above you. Not impossible, but hard."

"And yet a wizard managed to fight you to a standstill in a contest of strength." Tex teased.

"Hey! I was winning! If the sun had been up just a little longer..." Sinopa grumbled and quickly shoved her mouth full of new food rather than continue talking.

"Well, at least it seems some of you are motivated to win." Queen Winter gazed at them as she considered her champions carefully.

"Um, Queen Winter, if I may." Tex knew this wasn't the faerie's real name. it was more a title than anything else. One of the first ideas they had gotten to try to escape was if they could learn each of the faerie queen's names. Sadly, while they might have been able to trick a normal lower member of the court the queens were above falling for such bait. "If I may make a strategic suggestion."

"The child wants to teach us strategy now." The queen laughed. "Well none of your allies have given us any insights. Why not?"

"It's just not all of us are able to fight to our full capacity." Tex gestured down at snow mink his body. "On account of the fact that we've literally spend the last year running around naked except for these armbands.

"I gave you all forms adapted for the cold." The winter queen sounded bored. "Your forms or lack of attire shouldn't hinder your fighting abilities."

"It's not about attire." Tex sighed. "Though I wouldn't mind getting a pair of pants again." He muttered under his breath. "The problem is gear. Look! Cobalt and Frinkel both have magic they can rely on to fight. Sinopa meanwhile is like... Freakishly strong. I'm pretty sure she could punch a tree and knock down the entire forest."

"Might be a stretch, but now I kind of want to try." Sinopa grinned.

"But me! I've got nothing, at least not in terms of natural powers. My main asset is my mind. I build things. Weapons to be used in battle. Explosives, traps that kind of stuff. I'm an alchemist. But after your little 'test' a year ago I was pretty much out of everything. After the first week of fights, I had nothing left. Our team is at 75% of our possible power because there's nothing here I can use to craft new weapons."

"Interesting." Queen Winter considered this for a moment. "You have had a tie every day, so increasing the overall power of the team would push the odds in our favor."

"And it would let us press for victory easier." Tex was glad to have caught her attention. "I can make all kinds of alchemical items, including ones that can knock people unconscious or put them to sleep. You said disabling them would be enough to win right?"

"So..." Queen Winter leaned forward. "If you had the tools to build these things you can disable your friends. Meaning you'll actually try to achieve victory since you can take them out non-lethally."

"Got it!" Tex nodded.

"Hmmmmm." Queen Winter looked over her four champions. "And what items do you need to make these inventions of yours."

"I can make a list." Tex nodded eagerly. "There's a lot of different things. Plants, some bug and animal parts. Gunpowder. Let's see, some silver dust..."

"I can help with the plants!" Frinkel volunteered. The snowshoe hare leaped up onto the table. "Just give me the seeds, or any of the plants with still a little life in them and I'll get you a full harvest before the night is over."

"Very well, I shall prepare the ingredients for you." The queen waved her hand dismissively.

"And my tools!" Tex insisted. "Without those back I can't get anything."

"Yes, and tools." She then fixed all four of them with a cold glare. "But I expect different results tomorrow."

"So... This is our plan then?" Cobalt asked. "We're actually going to go all out and end this tomorrow.?

"Seems so." Sinopa stretched her arms. "Even I'm getting tired of all this fighting.

"So... this is it." Frinkel was nervous. They had been fighting their friends for an entire year now. Now they might have a chance to save them... And themselves... But would the plan really work?

"We've got a lot to do tonight." Tex left his food at the table. "Frinkel I need those plants ASAP, and I need my tools and other stuff."

"Yes, yes, I'm making arrangements now." Queen Winter rolled her eyes.

The 'home' for the summer champions most would have found more pleasant. It took the form of an oasis surrounded by trees providing plenty of shade. Vines were tied between the trees forming beds. There was no dining table, but instead a fire pit that constantly had several skewers of food placed cooking in it. Queen Summer had her own throne in this area too. It was made of intertwining vines and flowers, and actually sat atop a tree growing out of the center of the water.

"Such disappointing performances." Queen Summer shook her head at those assembled before her. "I have half a mind to conceded simply so I could dispose of you four for your utter incompetence."

"I understand your frustration..." William spoke up. "But you have to understand, the four on the other team. We're part of the same group. We've trained together, fought together. We know all of their strengths and their weaknesses, but they also know ours. It's not surprising we're stuck in a stalemate."

"And Cobalt is a real problem." Alex growled. "Were it not for him I could easily act as a sniper and take everyone down one by one from above. But I just can't shake him."

"Excuses excuses." Queen Summer let out a weary sigh. "And I suppose you two have excuses as well?" She looked at the baby dinosaur and rat.

"Rawr?" Kickaha replied.

"Squeak." Erakir added.

"You know, I understand they upset you... But they're not going to be useful in a fight like that. If you keep them that way, you're basically guaranteeing our loss tomorrow." William tried to keep as diplomatic a tone as possible. "And they'd probably do a lot better in forms more suited for their needs. Kickaha is struggling with his magic with those arms, and as a rat Erakir is so small she can't do much more than avoid people. If they were back in their proper form and ages they'd be a lot more useful tomorrow."

"Fine." Queen Summer rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. A moment late Kickaha and Erakir were both much bigger, and in different forms... But something was clearly wrong. There was a white fox-coyote hybrid with blue tipped ears standing next to a rust colored rabbit with a brown patch on his chest. Their ages also seemed... off. Kickaha had previously been turned into an eleven-year-old, while Erakir had been around twenty-six. Now both of them looked to be around eighteen as if their ages had just been split.

"WHAT!?" Erakir looked over her new foxyote shaped body. "You've got to be kidding me there's no way I'm going to sta-!"

"Hey!" Alex jumped up on Erakir's shoulders and put a wing over her mouth. "Maybe don't say anything else that might upset her again before she changes your mind."

"You should listen to him." Queen Summer smiled. "I technically only need you in fighting shape during the actual battles. Keep vexing me, and maybe I'll turn you into a beetle and keep you in a jar between battles."

"Besides Erakir it's a very good look for you." Kickaha snickered. "Your colors really do accent my species well."

"You are so lucky my current staff is rat sized and too small for bonking." Erakir crossed her arms.

"ENOUGH!" Queen Summer shouted. "I've restored you to forms that can fight. Now I expect results." She pointed at William. "And you have yet to contribute once during a single fight."

"Well yeah, I make potions." William fixed her with a deadpan look. "And when you 'recruited' us you were so kind to leave behind all my gear and reagents behind with our clothes. If I had those, we could have ended this little war in the first week. I could have just turned them all into mice or something... Or maybe just shrink them to the size of ants and it'd be over."

"That has been possible this entire time?" Queen Summer looked angry for a moment as she stood up and floated above her throne. Then she smiled. "Well... I suppose it's time to make up for past mistakes. I shall retrieve your equipment, and any ingredients you need. Just make sure tomorrow your potions are ready to take out the other side."

"So looks like we're going all out tomorrow huh?" Alex asked. "Hey, William, think you can hit Cobalt with one of those potions first? With him out of the way I'll be able to fight a lot easier."

"I feel like Sinopa is the bigger threat." Kickaha chimed in. "She's not too bad when you can keep your distance but the second she gets up close... It hurts."

"I'll make what I can." William hissed. "Now leave me be I'm going to have to work all night to be ready for tomorrow."

The champions of summer and winter had been fighting every day for over a year. When the sun rose, signally the dawn of a new day, all of them knew one way or another, today was the last day of this game.

Deep in the summer side of island, Queen Summer sat on a throne with her champions before her.

"Hey..." Alex had a thought before the battle began. "So I get why you can't harm us... Contracts and all. But why can't you attack the other team and take them out for us?"

"A pact made long ago." The Summer Queen answered sounding bored. "To put it simply, me and Winter are far too powerful to ever fight each other directly without losing at least one or two continents as part of collateral damage. So, we chose to settle our differences through champions. But of course, we could easily kill the other's champions with a thought, so placing said champions off limits was added to the pact. We can not take action against each other's champions." She paused. "Well that's not entirely true. If you successfully capture one of Winter's champions and bring them to me, I am allowed to execute them since they're already defeated if they're your prisoner."

"This battle has a lot of rules." William seemed genuinely interested.

"Trust me, you don't want to see what the first battle without rules was like." Summer smiled. "Had mortals existed yet during that war they would have been wiped out."

"I see..." William's ears flattened as he thought about it. However, the squirrel was currently going through a large bag he now carried examining all the potions. "Okay, I couldn't make a lot, but I should have enough to make a difference."

"Good." Queen Summer gave a wicked grin. "Then let's end this war."

On the opposite side of the island the champions of winter were gathered.

"I think this should make all the difference." Tex was holding a mortar in his paws as he examined it. The young snow mink had a small bag full of other weapons. "I'm should be able to contribute a lot today."

"Good, it's time to end this stalemate." Queen Winter replied. "The world will be so much beautiful once it has an eternal winter."

"That's what this is about!?" Sinopa shouted. "That's insane! Just having one season, it would kill off so much life."

"Those beautiful enough to remain in winter shall survive." Queen Winter replied with a shrug.

"So if the other side won we'd have eternal summer." Frinkel considered. "That's just as bad. So much of nature relies on the cycles of the seasons."

"I would just concern yourself with freeing your friends right now." Queen Winter replied. "One way or another, the war will end. It is inevitable. You can simply choose if your friends survive the war's end or not."

"I hate it, but she's right on that" Cobalt growled as the polar bear rose to his full height. "We can't just sit here and fight for all eternity."

"Why not?" Tex asked. "It sucks but that sounds like it'd solve the problem."

"Because eventually all but one of you would die of old age." Queen Winter answered for them. "And then whoever had one champion remaining would win."

"That seems unlikely." Sinopa grinned. "Considering your rival turned Erakir and Kickaha into babies yesterday.

"True we could reverse your aging." Queen Winter admitted. "But if you continue to refuse to fight for victory are you willing to bet the lives of yourselves and your friends that we will." She gave a cold smile. "We could slowly let you start to die out one by one until you finally ended the war to make us stop."

"Point taken." Sinopa muttered as her ears flattened.

"This conversation is pointless." Cobalt grumbled. "The sun is rising, let's just get this thing started."

All eight champions assembled in the neutral zone, the same dirt circle they started in every day. They were sizing each other up, noticing the changes. The Winter Champions saw William's bag, as well as Erakir's and Kickaha's new species and ages. Meanwhile, the Summer Champions saw that Tex had arrived armed this time.

"Well..." Erakir glanced around at everyone assembled. "This is going to suck."

The sound of a horn echoed throughout the forest, and the battle was on.

Tex opened fire first, pulling a small cannon out from his bag and pointing it directly at the assembled Summer Champions firing it. Erakir quickly through up a barrier to block the explosion, and her team leaped into action. Alex took to the sky, while William disappeared among the trees. That left just Kickaha and Erakir standing together facing down the others.

"Four on two? Too easy." Sinopa muttered. "They're up to something."

"You think?" Frinkel asked. The snowshoe hare considered for a moment. "I'll go after William, if he's hiding in the trees he's in my territory."

"I guess that means I've got Alex again." Cobalt groaned.

"Actually..." Tex held his cannon over his shoulder. "I think I'm a better match for him now. I'll go after him." Without waiting for an answer the snow mink ran off.

"So..." Kickaha looked at the two that remained. Cobalt and Sinopa. The two toughest members of the other team in terms of physical prowess. "Why do I feel like we drew the short straw here?"

"Oh relax." Erakir tapped her new foxyote sized staff against the ground. "You're bonk resistant by this point. I'll keep you alive. You just keep them away from me till they exhaust themselves beating on you."

"I don't like this plan." Kickaha began to generate lightning in his hands.

And the fight was on.

Sinopa charged forward as Erakir threw up another barrier. It barely slowed her down as she punched right through it. Meanwhile Cobalt inhaled and released a stream of dragon fire upon them. Erakir and Kickaha quickly ran to the side, but the forest caught fire, making the battlefield suddenly a much more dangerous place.

"You're in for a shock." Kickaha threw out bolts of lightning at Sinopa. Just like the day before she took them and started to advance. "Okay, seriously, how tough are you?"

"Can't you increase the voltage or something!?" Erakir asked as she brought up her staff preparing to cast a spell only for a chain of ice to wrap around it. She looked to the other end of the chain seeing Cobalt holding it. "Crap." She felt herself lifted into the air and pulled towards him.

Alex and Tex were currently engaged in a ranged battle. Alex fired arrows downward while Tex fired rockets upward. Alex swerved to the side dodging one rocket, only for it to explode and the shockwave to send him flying into a tree.

"No fair mine can't do that!" Alex objected.

"Sorry, but it's nothing person." Tex fired a mortar at the tree. Alex managed to fly out just before the entire thing went up in flames.

"Yeah yeah I know none of us want this." Alex flew in a circle around Tex firing a volley of arrows. Tex leaped left and right avoiding the arrows without a single one hitting him.

"HA!" Tex stuck his tongue out. "Some aim mister expert archer."

"Um." Alex landed in a tree that was not on fire and gestured at Tex's hip.

"Eh?" Tex looked down and saw that an arrow had shot right through his bag. The fabric began to tear, and then several of his explosives fell out at the same time. "Oh not good." He tried to dive as several bombs exploded right next to him.

Up in the trees William was making the best of his squirrel body. The bag of potions weighted him down a bit, but he was still pretty fast. He just had to get in a position where he could get his targets without being seen. He saw the fight going on below. It didn't look like Kickaha and Erakir were doing well. That was fine. They only had to hold out till his part. He dug through the bag looking for a potion...

And then the tree branch he was standing on suddenly wrapped around him and began to squeeze him.

"Ugggh!" William tried to reach an arm out from beyond the tree branch for the bag, but it fell from the trees landing somewhere in the forest floor.

"Sorry." Frinkel spoke up from where she stood under the tree. "But whatever you're up to I couldn't allow."

"You know you getting to fight in a forest should be cheating." William looked down at her. Well, he had one potion in hand, even if he lost the bag.

"Just stay there and don't try to escape." Frinkel crossed her arms. "The more you struggle, the harder it'll squeeze. Just consider yourself out of the fight... Meanwhile." Frinkel walked over to examine the bag that was dropped.

"So just relaxing completely won't make it tighten right?" William asked. He relaxed his entire body, including his hand allowing the potion bottle to fall straight downward from the tree. As Frinkel had been investigating the bag she was directly in the path when it hit. This resulted in a small coatimundi with blue and white stripes. Not only had she changed into another animal though, but was forced down onto all fours becoming a feral. The shock was enough for Frinkel to lose her focus as the tree loosened its grip, William dove down and grabbed his bag before breaking into a sprint.

"Squeeeak!" Frinekl gave chase as vines stretched out from various plants trying to grab William.

"Being a normal animal doesn't hinder your magic at all huh?" William sighed. "Druids." He continued to run, heading straight into clearing again where the biggest fight was going.

Back with Alex and Tex, Tex found himself injured, but not dead as he slowly stood up where he had landed after his dive. A lot of his explosives had been lost, and a lot more of the forest was on fire. And worse... The gas bombs meant to knock the other team out had burnt up and were now useless.

"That's bad." Tex muttered as he checked his bag to see what he had left.

"Yeah I'm running out of perches." Alex flapped through the air, aimed his bow with his feet and fired an arrow at Tex.

"MEEP!" Tex broke into a run. He dug through what he had left, not very many ranged weapons. But finding a grenade he came up with an idea as he headed back for the center of the island.

Erakir was having a bad day as she found herself pulled through the air and then slammed onto the ground by a chain of ice.

"Kickaha if you would please!" Erakir shouted.

"Kind of busy!" Kickaha shouted. Sinopa had made her way up to the bunny and delivered a swift punch. Kickaha barely managed to avoid it as the tree behind him fell over. "Okay, you are way too strong." Kickaha decided to fall back on his favorite spell school. It was time for a polymorph. Something small and weak. He had it! "Take this!" Releasing green light from his hands there was no room for Sinopa to dodge, and suddenly the snow leopard shrunk drastically as her fur was replaced by cream and brown scales. Soon she was even shorter than Kickaha as she finished her transformation into a kobold.

"Yeah this isn't going to slow me down." She grabbed at Kickaha who tried to flee, resulting in her only getting his tail and using it to swing him into a tree.

And it was at this point that several things happened at once.

First, William ran into the clearing where the fight was happening, drawing a potion bottle out again as he was being chased by Frinkel and several vines. Then, there was a massive explosion as nearby Tex dropped a grenade on the ground, letting it blow up a mount of dirt into the sky obscuring everything. Caught in the cloud of dirt and dust Alex let out a yelp and crashed down into the clearing. Smoke and debris everywhere, everyone was blind. Frinkel lost sight of William, but William fell over from the shockwave landing on his stomach.

"Uggggh.." William groaned as he stood up realizing he felt a bit different... And bigger. He looked underneath his body seeing a broken potion bottle. He had landed on one of his own... And now he had spots? The cheetah potion! Well, it was there for if someone needed a burst of speed for a get-away later. That might make the running easier, if he could actually see.

William retrieved the unbroken potions from his bag and tried to peer through the smoke to make out shapes. He saw something flying... And something that looked like it was pulling out some kind of alchemical weaponn. Alex and Tex! With all the smoke it was hard to aim. William felt his eyes watering as he tried to get his sights on Tex and tossed the potion he hoped would make a difference.

While Tex and Alex were blindly firing at each other through the smoke, neither one was aware of William's presence. So both of them were quite surprised when a potion bottle landed right between them, shattering and splashing both of them. They were both forced down onto all fours as they transformed into red pandas. Without hands, neither one of them had any way to use any of their gear.

They both let out squeaks of frustration.

"ENOUGH!" Cobalt clapped his hands together releasing a burst of wind that blew the debris and smoke away allowing everyone to see again. Erakir, still being chained to him took the chance to bonk him on the head with her staff. It didn't accomplish much.

However, Kickaha came running through at this point, and quickly bunny hopped over the chain. Sinopa chased right after him, shattering the chain through sheer force as she went freeing Erakir in her pursuit of Kickaha.

"Sinopa you idiot!" Cobalt shouted.

"Huh did Kickaha just save me?" Erakir paused to turn around. "Shoot, I hate owing him of all people one." Her tone suggested she didn't mind that much. Healing him wasn't going to help much right now though and Sinopa had broken through her last barrier so blocking her attacks was out Except...

Erakir grinned as she cast a barrier spell, but made it only about a foot tall directly between Kickaha and Sinopa. Sinopa didn't have time to react before she hit it, tripped and went rolling into the forest and landed atop Frinkel, ending his search for William.

"Finally have a proper shot." William retrieved the potion from his bag meant for Cobalt. However, the polar bear wasn't going to stand in place and get hit. He threw out ice chains in every direction trying to grab everyone.

"You really know how to heat a situation up!" Kickaha created fireballs in his hands, cloaked his entire body in fire and tackled Cobalt. A bunny tackling a polar bear didn't make much of a physical impact, but the fire did destroy the chains and get his attention. Cobalt rose up one paw full of claws intending to end this a more simple way.

"KICKAHA GET OUT OF THE WAY!" William tossed his potion. Kickaha interpreted the command to get away from the claw swipe and not out of potion range. The potion exploded, and suddenly there was a white mouse and a rust colored mouse standing next to each other.

Both mice were confused for a moment, but the white one recovered first. He tackled Kickaha, and the two rolled through the grass into the burning forest. Cobalt wished he had his trident right now, but would have to settle for tooth and claw.

The others could only see the shadows of the two mice upon the flames. The shadows wrestled with each other, and then one shot forth a chain grabbing the other and swung them hard into a rock, and the second mouse went limp. The mouse with the chain froze and the chain vanished. He just stood there as if in shock.

Everyone forgot the battle immediately and went to investigate. They found the silver and gold armbands the mice had been wearing first. The faeries had always resized these armbands with their transformations, but since William's potion had caused it they had slipped right off. Then they found the mouse. There was a rust colored mouse laying on the ground unmoving. Meanwhile, the white mouse, Cobalt was just staring with his eyes wide.

"I... I didn't mean to..." Cobalt started.

"Kickaha!" Erakir dashed forward and knelt down next to Kickaha. She summoned forth her strongest healing magic she could. "GREATER HEAL!" Kickaha's body didn't move. "No..."

Suddenly, no one felt like fighting. This fight had been going for over a year, and they had planned to disable each other... But now one of them had actually...

"Take him." Erakir replied coldly as she picked up Kickaha's limp body.

"What are we doing?" The only one left on the summer team who was still alive and had hands was William. He grabbed the stunned Cobalt and held him between two paws as Erakir began to march towards the summer side of the island. Alex followed after them, his ears drooping as he realized what had happened.

As for the Winter Champions. Not one made a move to follow. They were still in disbelief that one of their own had actually killed someone.

A little later, Erakir came before the throne and sat Kickaha's corpse down among the grass. She looked ready to cry, but was doing her best to put a strong face on.

"There a reason you've returned?" The Summer Queen asked from her throne.

"You can't tell!?" Erakir demanded angrily as she pointed at Kickaha's body. "Are you happy? Is this what you want from your game!" She then pointed at William. "But we captured the one who did it. You're allowed to execute captured opponents right?"

"SQUEAK!" Alex objected.

"Erakir no! It was an accident you can't mean to seriously-" William started and stepped back from the queen. However she gestured at him and the mouse was pulled from his hands over to hers.

"Well... You got one of their stronger ones too." The queen smiled. "Very well little one. You played the game well, but you lost, no shame in that." She created a shining dagger of light in one hand while she held the mouse firmly in her others. The white mouse squirmed and did his best to try to get away. William and Alex both rushed forward to try to stop the queen, but with a flap of her wings she released a shockwave that sent both of them flying back. And then she stabbed the magical dagger downward at the mouse.

And the blade of light shattered.

"W-what?" The Summer Queen stared in disbelief. She didn't understand. Why had the blade broken. Meanwhile, gold armbands on Erakir, Alex and William all unclasped and fell to the ground. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Well..." The mouse in the queen's hand spoke up and looked a lot more confident now. "It would seem you broke your pact." The mouse's fur color began to change color, becoming rustier as a brown patch appeared on his chest. Meanwhile, the mouse that lay limp in the grass changed fur colors till it was white.

"And think now's the time to break that spell." Erakir lightly touched the white mouse and he stood up.

"Ugggh, you didn't tell me that Repose spell would make me so groggy." Cobalt complained. "Did it work?"

"Like a charm." Erakir held up her arm showing the lack of an armband on it.

"How... That's impossible!" As the Summer Queen raged Kickaha quickly leaped down from her hand and squirmed over to Alex climbing on his back. "There's no possible way you could have coordinated this together! We saw everything you did! Heard everything you said."

"But you didn't understand everything." Kickaha grinned. "It took a long time, but day after day we traded information."

"That was mine and Alex's job." Cobalt spoke up as he walked over. "We were missing each other on purpose in order to send messages in a cipher. Our entire plan was right in front of you, and you never even noticed."

"WHAT!?" The Summer Queen sounded enraged. "That's not possible!"

"There's a certain rock wall with several arrows and ice shards sticking out of it in a very specific order. With the right combination of dashes and dots you can represent letters." Cobalt explained. "And with that we passed messages back and forth over the last year as we gathered information, planned tried to find a loophole."

"It took a long time. You two weren't always forthcoming with information. But, with the right remark we would occasionally get you give up valuable information." Kickaha grinned. "Did you think Erakir was just pressing your buttons so often for fun?"

"I can do it for more than one reason." Erakir stuck her tongue out. "But with as many times as you've wanted to 'destroy' me and settled on some other punishment instead it wasn't hard to figure out you couldn't harm us. Though with how many sizes I've been and how many times I've been an infant I've gotten some pretty severe cases of vertigo during these intel gathering sessions."

"So once we were ready, we had both William and Tex mention their missing items. We needed William's potions to alter our forms. I'll admit, it was a bit of a gamble. I suspected the armbands resized each time you changed us, and suspected it would be different if it was our own magic... I was a gamble. One that paid off. But bleeech. To think I had to be a mouse for this plan to work." He stuck his tongue out. "But it was a pretty simple illusion spell to swap mine and Cobalt's fur patterns."

"But... How did you switch places!? And..." Queen Summer pointed at Cobalt. "He was clearly dead!"

"I helped there." Erakir grinned. "Cobalt and Kickaha had a fake fight, and I witnessed the 'death' of a friend."

"Wait we're friends?" Kickaha's voice was teasing.

"Don't push it." Erakir snapped. A Tex was essential too "We weren't lighting the forest up on fire for fun. We were creating as much smoke and debris in the air as possible to hinder vision. If none of us could see the switch then we knew neither of you would."

"I actually threw one of my ice chains across the ground out of sight." Cobalt grinned smugly. "Kickaha picked it up, threw it at me and I caught the other end. Then when he swung it, I leaped into a rock and went limp."

"Then right after that, I threw up a quick glamour to swap fur patterns." Kickaha sounded smug. "You know, if you paid more attention to us as individuals you might have caught on to it. Honestly, when you got mine and Erakir's original species mixed up it relieved me quite a bit. Showed how little attention you pay to us as individuals. And so you didn't question it when Cobalt's body was presented as mine."

"But he was dead!" Queen Summer declared.

"Not quite." Erakir shook her finger. "Upon seeing 'Kickaha' laying there limp. I ran up to use my healing magic on him! Except... What I actually used was a spell call Repose. It simply puts the body in a death-like stasis, but leaves it completely unharmed until the spell wears off or is broken. But... While the spell is in effect, to anyone else who examined the body it looks dead. No heartbeat, no breathing, no signs of life."

"This is outrageous!" Queen Summer shouted. "You dare trick me! Queen of the summer court! If you are no longer my champions you no longer have my protection! I shall make all of you regret ever trying to outwit me."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The cold voice of Queen Winter sounded as she flew in. She was followed by the remaining champions, Sinopa, Frinkel and Tex. "Instead I'd accept your defeat in grace." She let out a chuckle. "I have to say, I wasn't sure I believed Sinopa when she said if I came here now I'd find you totally defeated... But it looks like you let your own mortals get the better of you. You have no champions. Now... My champions! Claim her throne and victory for the winter court!"

"Not going to happen." Sinopa replied. Frinkel and Tex squeaked in agreement.

"If you don't you will be my servants for all eternity." Queen Winter warned. "I might not be able to harm you, but I can think of all kinds of tortures that don't constitute harm to persuade you."

"I wouldn't do that if I were yo." Kickaha grinned cheekily. "From what I understand, Queen Summer can't recruit new champions unless until you two have a new game. One the game starts, no new players allowed. But I'm betting there's nothing written into your pact that says an old champion can't return."

"You would become my champion once more?" Queen Summer's anger was cut off by surprise. She appeared deep in thought for a moment and then brightened. "He is right, there is nothing forbidding him from returning to my service."

"I would." Kickaha nodded. "Unless." He pointed at Queen Winter. "You release each of your champions from your command right now."

"You... Do you realize who you're messing with?" Queen Winter seemed to grow taller. "Do you think you can extort me?"

"Absolutely." Kickaha grinned. "Because while I might not be able to threaten you myself as a mortal... I bet she could." He pointed at the summer queen. "Especially if I seize victory for her."

"You bet I can!" Queen Summer laughed. "Looks like it's you that may have lost."

"It's a stalemate you idiot." Erakir was happy to be able to insult the queens without consequences.

"What? How? I have a servant willing to seize her throne! While her champions refuse to act! I've clearly won!" Queen Summer seemed confused.

"No..." Queen Winter was the one who understood it first. She shrunk down to her normal size and put a palm to her face. "How could I let myself fall into such a trap?"

"What are you talking about?" Queen Summer demanded.

"You two are locked in a stalemate." Kickaha explained. "She can't force her champions to seize your throne. Maybe she could torture them, break them, get them to do it eventually... But if she doesn't release them now, I'll become your champion again and seize her throne. None of them will stop me. She can't make a single move without immediately losing the game. And you can only make your move if she makes hers. In short, you can only win if she willingly chooses to lose."

"I don't... I don't understand..." Queen Summer floated down into her throne.

"If I free my champions he won't rejoin you." Queen Winter explained. "But if I refuse to free them, he'll rejoin you and they'll let him win the war. They tricked you into releasing your champions, and I gave my word to release mine after the war when it was over. At this point... Either all of them walk free and this war has no ending... Or you get exactly one champion to keep and I lose. And I despise losing."

"Concede!" Queen Summer demanded. "If you don't!"

"We'll both be stuck on this battlefield forever." Queen Winter snarled. "With the current game unfinished we are forbidden to pick new champions or leave the designated arena. We'll be stuck here, while those no longer part of the game will be forced out of this world."

"Wait they're going to be trapped here for all eternity?" Sinopa asked. "Kickaha... You sure this plan will work? Who would willingly subject themselves to such a fate?"

"At this point it all comes down to one thing." William felt as if he couldn't breathe. His body was rigid with tension. "How badly does Queen Winter want to stop summer from winning? The fey have different values from us, and it sounds as if their rivalry predates any known time period." This was the moment. An entire year of planning and secret communications. And everything came down to one faerie's temper.

The area grew colder as the winter queen tried to think. Everyone could feel the rage building in her. For a moment, it looked like she might strike at everyone in the room. Then suddenly, she let out a long deep laugh. It was somehow amused but without mirth.

"You win mortal." Queen Winter replied. "You have roused more anger in me than I knew possible... But you are a mortal. You will one day grow old and die. She...." She pointed at Queen Summer. "Is of my kind, and I have a special hatred for her. I can never let her win, no matter the cost for she shall never disappear."

"But by refusing to back down you're dooming us to stay here for all eternity!" Queen Summer pleaded.

"It's over. We're beaten." Queen Winter smiled, it almost seemed like she gained a strange pleasure in admitting it. "I release each of you from your bonds." And with that the silver armbands fell off everyone's arms. "The eight of you are sly ones, and quite bold. Very few in this or any world would have the nerve to defy one of us. And even fewer would succeed." She grinned. "And now, you mortals no longer involved in the war. You have no place here. Be gone, it seems me and my rival shall have to find a new game to pass the time."

The forest began to shimmer as if it was a mirage and then vanish completely. The last thing they heard was the summer queen's anguished scream as the escaped. Then in the forest's place, everyone found themselves back on one of the main roads that led to SHIFT headquarters.

"We actually did it." Sinopa fell backwards into a sitting position. "It took a year, but we beat them."

"Not only that, but we trapped them. They can't leave that island. There will never be another game like that again." Cobalt grinned. "I wonder if they'll ever learn to get along. They're the only company they'll ever have."

"Heh." Kickaha grinned. "After that cheap con she pulled, there was no way I wasn't going to get one over on them. It may have been a long con, but I think I taught them a lesson in how a -REAL- trickster does it."

"Well... We should get back to HQ." William suggested. "I imagine they're going to want to know where we've been for the last year and..." He gestured at Tex, Alex and Frinkel. "And I should probably brew up a potion to get them back to normal. I imagine they're not happy being unable to talk."

"Hey! Get my potion done first!" Kickaha jumped up and down. "You can't leave me as a stinking mouse! I only agreed to this form because everyone was convinced it was essential for the plan."

"We needed something as small as possible." William explained. "It was mouse or insect, and at least you can still do things as a mouse."

"I'd also like to change back to normal as fast as possible." Cobalt looked around. "I think I agree with Kickaha's opinion on mice. I don't like being this small."

"And I can't stand being a species with such a small brain." Erakir chimed in. "I feel like I'm forgetting my best spells by the second."

BONK!

Kickaha had throw a small pebble up at Erakir and bonked her on the side of the head.

"Hey, that's fun, I see why you do it so much." He grinned.

"Look everyone will get back to normal!" William assured them. "Let's just head back home first. Once I have access to my lab... And a change of clothes I'll get to work on everyone."

With that they started to head back. The war between summer and winter was over. Or, more accurately, it was stuck in an eternal stalemate preventing either side from ever making a move again. While there were plenty of other dangers in the world to deal with they had all accomplished something great. Two of the most, if not most, powerful beings in the world would no longer interfere with the mortal world ever again. And even if it took awhile... The mission had ended in success.

Shift

Mission 009: Eternal Equinox

Mission Complete