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The Trendsetter ran. He climbed the Warden's tower where the Connoisseur battled the Winter Enchantress for dominion over the minds of their Calernian audience.
When he reached the very top of the edifice, he saw the Connoisseur desperately attempting to keep her audience engaged. She spoke about the stories she knew. The places she'd seen in her life and all the experiences she had gone through, putting all of herself into a presentation meant to sway the masses away from the fascination the Winter Enchantress had put them in.
But he knew his own limits. And so he knew hers as well. They were each other's equal and opposite. He knew she would not succeed alone.
He stepped into view of the Starmirror that recorded the Connoisseur, attempting to bolster her. He added his Shimmer to her talk and bounced ideas and Endorsed her livestream to his own followers.
Still the storm raged, snow falling from the sky as the wind seemed to attack the tower they were in. And then, it echoed through the skies. A twinkling of bells. And her song... Commenced.
___________
The Connoisseur awoke and the first thing she saw was ice. Ice and snow everywhere, and the entirety of Creation seemed to be blanketed by it.
The second thing she registered was singing. Not from the Enchantress, but from the people of Cardinal. They added their voices to her song and empowered her ritual to plunge the continent into eternal cold, freezing the passage of time to keep it permanently the Winter Solstice; the day when the Enchantress, Malia Barey, was at the height of her power.
The Connoisseur rose slowly. She took in the devastation brought about by the unnatural storm the woman brought with her everywhere.
Then she saw the Trendsetter. He was unconscious, ice growing from the floor and encasing him slowly.
So these new Names that were forged in the peak of the Age of Order fought against an old breed of Named. A person that came from the pages of myth and legend. Someone like the first Warden or the Dread Tyrants of the once empire in the east.
The power they had was not enough to vanquish this foe.
As much as Sophie loved the culture and ideas that came from the past, she had always known how many horrors had come from the earlier Ages of Creation. Practices and knowledge best left buried. That would cause so much damage and expose people to such grotesqueries that would drive the weak-willed mad or corrupt the strong.
Her hate for the ugliness the past had produced and time had buried grew. Grew. Grew. And.
Crack.
Her Name which had for years remained unchanging finally crystallized her third aspect.
"Enchantress! You who clawed to your freedom from underneath the sands of time! I am the Connoisseur, keeper of the old ways and professor of the same! I proclaim you as once more forgotten! Buried! Expunged from history! You will disappear, consigned to nothingness! Begone!"
The singing stopped.
Throughout the continent there was silence and stillness.
Malia Barey's face contorted into one of rage and her mouth opened to let out a scream but nothing came out. She attempted to wail and rage and shout and sing. To pull the power she had gathered in the air to her, but still silence bound her strength.
The memory of the Winter Enchantress faded from the minds of people. The cold gathered into itself and began to crystallize at the singer's feet. Ice grew from it and crawled up and up and up. Until finally it encased her. Veiled her face twisted in rictus. Sealed her.
The Connoisseur fell, fighting to keep conscious as the power she had used took its toll on her. Her eyes dragged itself shut and she willed to keep them open, watching as the cage she had made for the villain started to disappear. She knew not where it would go. But despite her will, she could not last for any longer. Finally peace came to her as she lost awareness of the world and she let herself rest, trusting that she and the Trendsetter would be found by the other Named they worked with.
___________
In a place that was outside of the world and nowhere at all, the Bard and the Guide observed as the Named of Cardinal banished a villain with the power of the old breed adapted to the new world.
Soon the Age would turn once more.
Dawn. Wonder. Order.
And even from inside her casket, the Bard and the Guide heard echoes of the song the Enchantress had sung. Could hear the disregard she held for everything that was not related to her one desire.
So. Providence and Calamity knew.
At the turning of the Age and when the world would compete to define the penultimate era.
She would be freed and return once more to croon her song.