Donna called someone over. She had Jinx ride with her on Vanna, while Logan rode with a warrior on the back of a massive moose as they sped toward the location.
Not every Winter's Claw warrior had been mobilized. Many were kept behind in the tribe to protect the elders and children.
"They came in from the east, through Bay Gorge!"
Logan heard a Winter's Claw warrior up ahead shout at the top of his lungs. He was a middle-aged man in a simple fur coat, chest bare, a huge spread of tattoo patterns stamped across his torso. Two strange charcoal-black markings were carved into his hard face.
"Those sons of bitches—no clue how they got here. No sound, no warning, just showed up on our land. But, war-mother, they haven't attacked us. Our people are facing them off right now."
The man rode a frost wolf up to Sejuani and reported loudly.
"Mmh." Sejuani nodded. She lifted her chin, lips pressed thin, eyes fixed on the ridgeline above. "We'll talk when we get there."
With that, Sejuani urged Bristle forward and took the lead. The rest followed close behind, mounts pounding across the snow toward the mountains.
Ten minutes later—
Under starlight and moonlight, torches dotted the white tundra, throwing light in every direction. Winter's Claw had brought a little over four hundred warriors. More than half were mounted on beasts, while the rest were the fighters already stationed here as a "defensive line."
Spears and longbows were held tight in gloved hands. Faces were grim, eyes locked forward—until the crowd parted and a figure came into view.
The moment they saw Sejuani on Bristle, arms crossed, eyes narrowed, the warriors visibly loosened, as if a heavy weight had been lifted off their chests.
"Confirmed it's the Frostguard?" Sejuani pushed to the very front. Logan was two positions behind her, with Udyr just ahead of him.
Jinx was right beside Sejuani, craning her neck toward the distant woods. But in the Freljord night, the moon and stars didn't reach into the forest, and it was too far besides—so Jinxie couldn't see a thing.
She was only there because Donna was there.
"Yes, war-mother. We're sure. But… it doesn't look like they're here to ambush us." A warrior stepped up to Sejuani and spoke.
His expression twisted with confusion. Twenty minutes ago, as one of the sentries watching the ravine, he'd been the first to catch movement in the trees. He'd sounded the alarm, rushed with the tribe to the front line, and while they blocked the Frostguard's advance, he demanded an explanation.
The answer he got was bizarre.
The Frostguard—who were supposed to be all destruction and slaughter—claimed they were here to find someone in Winter's Claw. This time, they said, they didn't intend to be Winter's Claw's enemy.
Since when did those monsters start negotiating?
"What do you mean?" Sejuani froze. She'd already tightened her grip on the chain of her True Ice flail, ready to plunge into battle.
Sejuani was a conqueror. On her path to power, she meant to crush more than just Ashe's Avarosans—she also intended to shatter the Frostguard, that ancient cult that had endured since time before memory. She'd fought them more than once.
She never came out ahead. She lost—badly—every time.
And she refused to be discouraged. Instead, she'd sought the strength of the Ursine. Not long ago, she'd spoken with an Ursine shaman, hoping to borrow the power of the great war-bear spirit and use it to break a settlement under Frostguard control.
But Udyr had stepped in and ruined that deal.
"They're demanding someone," the warrior answered. "They said… the outsider who arrived in the tribe today. It's an order from their queen."
"Outsider?" Sejuani narrowed her eyes and glanced at Jinx.
"It's a man," the warrior blurted, noticing Sejuani's look. He quickly pointed behind her.
Sejuani turned Bristle and looked back—toward the black-haired young man atop the moose, wearing an expression that could only be described as tired.
"What did you do?" Sejuani's voice dropped into a cold blade. "Why would the Frostguard send warriors for you?"
Donna went still. She stared at Logan, fingers tightening on the reins.
Donna wasn't stupid. Between the warrior's words and the sudden Frostguard appearance, she understood what it implied—
If Logan truly had dealings with the Frostguard…
Then she had dragged a massive danger back into the tribe.
"I have nothing to do with the Frostguard," Logan said, shaking his head as he met Sejuani's stare.
He gave a helpless, bitter laugh and lifted a hand to his hair, brushing away ice crystals shaken loose by the ride. Then he added, "But I think they really are here for me."
"I remember you told me you're from Zaun—and that this is your first time in the Freljord." Sejuani's tone stayed sharp. "If it's your first time, then why are you entangled with the Frostguard at all?"
"You're misunderstanding me." Logan tapped his own face. "I don't know them. If anything, it's that they know me."
From the moment he entered the Freljord, Logan had suspected Lissandra might notice him.
In the official accounts, Lissandra possessed an eerie dreamwalking ability. It wasn't a gift from Anivia. It wasn't from the Void. It was something she awakened after her battle with Volibear, after she went blind—something she carved out of endless darkness over a very long time. Her contact with the Void was tied to that same dreamwalking.
In the short story "The Dream Thief," Lissandra's ability is described indirectly: within dreams, she is everywhere. She can step into anyone's sleep, steal memories from their dreams, interfere with them in that space—and even kill them while they sleep.
Add in Lissandra's age… and the fact that she never sleeps… and over thousands of years she'd become a living library, her mind stuffed with secrets from every corner of Runeterra.
Logan's clash with Nagakabouros in Bilgewater, and the commotion he caused in Noxus when he captured LeBlanc—thinking about it now, there was a very good chance Lissandra had learned of it all.
So why hadn't she invaded his dreams?
Distance? Janna? Or… because of the marks on him—Ahri's, and Kindred's?
Whatever the reason, Logan hadn't lied to Sejuani.
He was a victim here, too.
Sejuani fell silent, watching Logan with clear distrust.
Then Logan spoke first. "I'll go with you. We'll see what this is, Sejuani. I'll prove I didn't deceive you."
"Fine." Sejuani raised an arm and pointed forward. Her lips moved with clipped authority. "Go. Tell them I want to see their leader. Have them come out and face me."
"Yes, war-mother." The warrior nodded, swung back onto his mount, and rode toward the dark forest.
A few minutes later, he returned. "War-mother. Their leader agreed."
"Everyone stays here." Sejuani nodded. She looked at Udyr; Udyr gave a small nod back.
Donna was chosen as well—because she had to bring Jinx along.
So with Sejuani at the head, six of them rode toward the center of the tundra.
Winter's Claw's warriors remained behind, waiting for Sejuani's command.
At the tundra's center, someone was already standing there.
And something that wasn't human.
One wore pitch-black armor and an ice-crystal battle helm. A pair of sapphire-blue eyes gleamed through the visor, locked on Logan.
They didn't look at Sejuani at all.
They looked straight at Logan.
Sejuani noticed—and her irritation showed immediately in the tight pinch of her brows.
The other figure was a creature so tall that even hunched, it still stood over three meters. It held a massive pillar of ice crystal like a club. Its face was ugly and broad, with a nose so huge it could've swallowed a human skull whole. A mane of fiery red hair swept upward, and its glowing blue eyes—like twin lanterns—stared at the group with a cold, hungry intent.
Logan took one look and knew exactly who it was.
Trundle—the Troll King.
Of course.
In the lore, one of the biggest reasons Trundle rose to become Troll King was because of Lissandra's guidance. Their relationship was… not quite servant and master, but close enough that Trundle could be used like a weapon.
So his presence here wasn't surprising at all.
"Frostguard," Sejuani said, reins taut in her hands as she rode Bristle up to them. She shot a wary glance at Trundle—close enough now that she could smell the rancid, fishy stench rolling out of his giant mouth. "What's your name?"
Trolls were one of the Freljord's nonhuman peoples, like yetis. Maybe not as terrifying as the long-lost ancient ones, but still monsters of brutal strength. Their overwhelming height alone said enough.
Bristle was massive, but even from Bristle's saddle Sejuani still had to tilt her head back to look at Trundle—tall even for a troll.
"The Frostguard's field commander—Raelna Ula," the helmed figure said softly. The voice was hoarse, and it sounded like a woman. A few strands of white hair slipped out from the helm, whipped by the cutting wind. Her sapphire eyes met Sejuani's without yielding an inch.
She stepped forward and spoke in the same low, flat tone. "By order of the Eye of Lissandra, I've come to Winter's Claw to take him."
Raelna pointed at Logan.
Sejuani let out a cold laugh. She lifted the chain of her flail with one hand, the True Ice at its end swaying, glowing faintly blue in the dark. Her voice dropped into something glacial.
"And when, exactly, did Winter's Claw become a place you get to give orders?"
"You are strong, Sejuani. I am not your match." Raelna's calm didn't waver. "But before my mistress… you are still unqualified."
A sword on Raelna's back began to glow with the same pale blue—another True Ice weapon.
She reached back with a gauntleted hand, drew the broad blade, and held it low. The sword was larger than Sejuani's weapon, carved wholly from True Ice. The hilt was simple, almost crude—rough, wild, and merciless.
Some said True Ice was a magical ice crystal that existed since the Freljord's birth.
More widely accepted was the belief that True Ice weapons were gifts from the benevolent ice phoenix, Anivia, bestowed upon the Iceborn.
Either way, True Ice wasn't something mortals were meant to wield. It could freeze anything, never melt, and never break—at least, that was what the Freljord claimed.
Logan disagreed. True Ice could be destroyed.
The Void stirring beneath the Howling Abyss had already proven that.
"Are you challenging me?" Sejuani leveled her weapon at Raelna.
As Sejuani moved, the hulking monster that had been silent until now suddenly roared.
A wave of foul wind slammed into them with the sound. Logan frowned. Jinxie gagged instantly, slapping a hand over her mouth and nose, eyes full of pure disgust as she stared at Trundle.
"Human," Trundle snarled, teeth jutting outward—each fang as big as a fist. He raised his True Ice pillar and aimed it at Sejuani. "Kneel… or die."
He straightened to his full height and took a heavy step, putting himself between Sejuani and Raelna like a shield. Lantern eyes fixed on Sejuani, unblinking.
Sejuani sneered up at him. "Troll. This doesn't concern you. Unless you're asking to die. I've killed plenty bigger than you."
Trundle roared again, hoisting his club as if to smash Sejuani into the snow.
"Wait." Raelna spoke.
Trundle stopped.
Trolls were usually stupid—brainless. But Trundle wasn't. He knew who had given him everything, and he knew the tiny "human" under him was that person's trusted blade.
So he listened.
"Sejuani," Raelna said, voice heavy. "To you, he is only an outlander. He doesn't matter. Give him to my mistress, and the Frostguard will cease all incursions into Winter's Claw territory."
She drove the sword tip-down into the tundra with a dull crunch.
"I guarantee it."
"No." Sejuani shook her head, then smiled—sharp and fearless. "I won't give him to you."
Him—him—him. Raelna had come to take someone away and didn't even know Logan's name.
That alone made Sejuani believe Logan even more.
Lissandra… had probably seen something again. Or Logan carried some secret that made her wary. That was why she'd sent people here.
Sejuani and Ashe had been hunted by the Frostguard, too. Back then, the Frostguard tried to kill them to help Lissandra bury a piece of history.
And Logan was the man who could bring Winter's Claw endless food.
Sejuani would never hand him over.
Even if Logan couldn't deliver food, the moment he set foot in Winter's Claw, he fell under her protection. Handing over someone under her protection to an enemy?
Sejuani wouldn't disgrace herself like that.
In the crowd, Udyr's eyes opened beneath his wild hair.
He agreed with Sejuani's decision.
And now he needed to help his daughter.
Because in a two-on-one, Sejuani couldn't win. That troll alone would be more than enough to break her.
So Sejuani could take Raelna.
And he would handle the troll.
Udyr clenched his fist, ready to call the spirits to bolster his body—then suddenly turned his head, looking to the side.
"Hey." Logan's voice cut in, flat with annoyance, as he climbed down from the moose and walked to Sejuani's side. "I've been wanting to ask since the start. Lissandra sends you to take me, and you keep telling Sejuani to hand me over—have any of you considered asking the person involved what he thinks?"
Lissandra was a problem.
But Logan wasn't afraid of her.
If this turned into a fight, never mind the fact that Lissandra didn't dare step out openly—she had too many enemies in the Freljord. Volibear alone could make her life miserable. And she still had to watch the Void, constantly reinforcing the seals that held it back.
But even if Lissandra truly freed her hands—
Logan still didn't fear her.
Yes, Lissandra was powerful. Logan guessed she ranked among Runeterra's top ten demigods.
But Ahri wouldn't be inferior to Lissandra.
And Logan had Janna. He had LeBlanc. He had Swain.
So if Logan didn't fear Lissandra, then why should he go "pay respects" just because she wanted to see him?
Not a chance.
Logan wasn't the Logan from a year ago.
After going to Ionia and Noxus, his perspective had widened—and he'd confirmed one truth:
He was strong. Truly strong.
Demigods were the ceiling of Runeterra. Setting aside the year he'd lost, how long had he spent in the Spirit Blossom? Of course the only sensible option against a demigod was to run. If he could beat a demigod already, that would be the strange part.
But below demigods—aside from a handful of outright monsters—Logan could fight almost anyone.
Garen. Xin Zhao. Those kinds of superhuman fighters?
Logan believed he could beat them.
Because no matter how far they pushed past human limits, they still weren't truly supernatural beings.
And Logan…
He'd already placed one foot into the same realm as LeBlanc.
"Now isn't the time for you to show off." Sejuani looked at Logan with a flicker of approval—she admired his refusal to fear the Frostguard—but her next words were a command. "Go back."
"You want me to avoid the spotlight?" Logan asked.
He smiled. "But Sejuani… the spotlight is meant to be taken, not dodged."
He shrugged off his outer coat, not wanting it shredded when the fighting started, and tossed it to Jinx.
Jinxie leaned out from Vanna with the ease of someone born to do reckless things, snatched the coat midair, and shouted, "Logan, kick their asses!"
Logan grinned back at her.
"That line…" Sejuani stared at Logan, and for once, the cold mask on her face cracked into a rare smile. "That was good. I like it."
Then her smile sharpened. "But Logan—this isn't a fight for someone like you. Outlanders are always too weak."
"Weak?" Logan blinked.
He glanced at Donna, then started laughing as he lifted both hands.
"Right. Donna didn't tell you."
He rolled his shoulders, still smiling. "Sejuani, you don't have to worry about me."
"Because I can fight."
Logan's raised hands clenched into fists—and then slammed together.
BOOM!
The impact thundered across the tundra, and the frozen earth beneath Logan's boots cracked and burst.
He lifted his head and locked eyes with Trundle.
"That big one's mine," Logan said calmly. "You take the woman."
"How's that sound?"
For a heartbeat, everyone's expression shifted differently.
Jinx clutched Logan's coat with one hand, practically vibrating with excitement, and wrapped her other arm around Donna's waist. She loved watching Logan fight. Every time he did, she thought he looked impossibly cool.
That was her man.
Udyr wore an expression that said, of course, watching Logan with a knowing look.
Donna looked embarrassed—she'd forgotten to tell her war-mother about Logan. After all, in all of Winter's Claw, there were only a handful of people who could pin down a drüvask war-boar with one hand.
Sejuani's ice-blue pupils tightened.
Then she smiled.
She answered Logan with action.
"Bristle," Sejuani growled. "Let's go."
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