I'm nocking an arrow when the yeti pounds its fists against its chest and lets out another powerful roar.

As my arrow—imbued with air and spirit—flies toward the creature, this one breaks into a run toward us. Without losing sight of my projectile, I hear Ronan shout "attack."

I don't doubt that mental commands accompany his order.

My arrow strikes the creature's muscled belly. I realize I've been unconsciously holding my breath until I see, with relief, that the arrow pierces through the tough hide and muscle, and sinks deep into the flesh.

I squint to check its HP bar. It's practically full. I've barely scratched it.

Then the yeti yanks out the arrow, tosses it to the ground, and its HP bar refills.

Right. This boss regenerates.

The bats, from above, take turns attacking the yeti. If their goal is to slow its charge toward us, they succeed. But they seem to be enraging it even more. The yeti leaps up, arm extended to reach the ceiling, grabs a stalactite and rips it free as it falls—the crunch of ice echoing just before its massive feet slam down and shake the ground.

Immediately, it uses the chunk as a weapon to attack the bats.

I have another arrow ready and shoot at its wrist, calculating where it'll be, and I hit.

The boss roars. I managed to deflect its swing, helping the bats escape.

Then it looks ahead, not at me, since I'm pretty far back, but at the trolls charging toward it, and hurls the massive piece of ice. It slams into the two in front, knocking them backward and making them crash into their companions. I focus to check their HP bars. Still alive, or whatever passes for alive in an undead.

The yeti jumps to the ceiling, gripping the stalactites to anchor itself, and starts ripping them off to throw at the trolls.

Oh, shit.

I quickly cast my earth wall spell, creating one that blocks almost the entire corridor. I leave only small gaps on the sides, too narrow for a troll to fit through, though Vincent or I could squeeze past. This way, we're all protected. At least while it holds, because the yeti roars again and hurls a couple projectiles with more force, shaking the wall. I'm down to two mana points and considering using them on earth channeling to reinforce it when the impacts against the wall stop.

The downside of the wall? Creating it blocked my view. I have no idea what the boss is plotting.

"What's it doing?" I ask Ronan out loud, so Vincent can hear too.

"Attacking the bats. But they are fast and hiding in the ceiling."

"Have they used their sonic attack?"

"No, the yeti is immune."

Right, that would've been too easy. Disable it while everyone else attacks with everything they've got.

The larger golems, which have advanced along the walls until reaching the two gaps between them and the wall, start firing ice bolts.

Not that they fit through those gaps. I made them so a smaller golem, basketball-sized, could pass through. Or me, though it'd be a tight squeeze. But these ones, which come up to my waist or belly button, have just advanced as far as they could until hitting the wall.

I move closer. I want to look. And shoot while my air channeling is still active. The trolls seem to be recovering from the projectiles that hit them before I raised the wall. I see the yeti gripping a stalactite with one hand and using its other arm to shield itself from the ice bolts.

I pull an arrow from the quiver, aim, and shoot. With a quick swipe of that same arm, it deflects my arrow, which continues until it hits the nearby wall, the tip embedding itself in the rock.

Wow. Seriously?

And I'm not surprised that the yeti swatted my arrow away like someone brushing off a fly, but because the arrow lodged several inches into a rock wall.

Guess the professor's right and air magic has more physical penetration than fire.

Meanwhile, one of the trolls has grabbed one of the small golems and hurled it through the gap on the other side of my wall. From the trajectory, it looks like it was aiming for the hip; however, I watch as the boss moves its arm to block it, using it like a shield. The impact makes the yeti jerk backward violently, ripping off a couple stalactites that its body crashes into. Both the stalactites and the yeti fall to the ground.

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The golem the troll used as ammunition is also on the ground, cracked and motionless.

As for the yeti, it's furious and looks like it has a broken arm. It starts screeching and creates a fierce blizzard that it launches toward us. Before taking cover behind my wall, I see the bats flying back, retreating.

But it's not just the blizzard. The mix of earth and frozen rock beneath my feet starts to tremble.

"Watch out, the ground!" Ronan warns us while jumping away from something himself.

I see that even where we are, so far from the yeti, there are ripples running through it with defined epicenters. Ronan just jumped away from one of them. And just in time, because ice spikes shoot up from these points at full speed. The trolls, who were slow to react, end up with many of them impaled by the spikes. Considering that about five spikes the thickness of my fists emerge from each epicenter, I'm not surprised that one of the trolls—the most injured one—dies instantly from being skewered.

I wasn't standing on those epicenters, and both Vincent and the three skeletons were quick and jumped clear if they were in range. The golems levitated, so the spikes only struck their hard shells and launched them upward, making them hit the ceiling, far from the spikes, where they remained thanks to levitation.

Vincent, with his wind blades, breaks the spikes to free the trolls. Then he cuts the remaining ones in this section of the corridor down to ground level so they won't impede our movement. The blizzard seeps through the two gaps between the wall and both sides of the corridor. I'm cold even with the bracelet. I don't want to think about how Ronan and the prince are handling it.

The three minutes of the channeling spell pass and my quiver with its arrows is no longer enhanced.

"It is regenerating its arm. It is almost fully healed," Ronan informs us about the boss.

Already? I think to myself. That's faster than troll regeneration.

Though the real question is how Ronan knows that. Did he leave some creature on the other side of the wall?

Ronan clears his throat. I realize he's looking at me. The moment our eyes meet I understand he doesn't need words. Not this time. Because I know what he's asking. I nod.

I feel the ground rumble. It's the boss. It must be fully healed and running toward us. We move away from the wall. When it arrives, it starts pounding it with its fists, punishing it so brutally that I don't doubt it'll fall in seconds. Taking advantage of Vincent being turned toward the wall, plus the reduced visibility from the blizzard that's blown in, I pull the pup from my backpack pocket and ask for its second lick. I know it's the second and last one today. That means I'll have to conserve mana in case I need to summon the shadow wolf. But I don't think that'll be necessary, not now that Ronan has called the dragoness.

Oh shit, I realize, how is she going to fit through the stairs?

But the crash of the wall falling and the furious face of the fearsome yeti appearing on the other side tear me from my thoughts.

I see the four remaining trolls grouping together to stop it. Sharp claws emerge from the boss's fingers, the same white tone as its fur. Then it leaps onto one of the trolls, savagely gutting it while another troll grabs it and bites into one of its legs.

The yeti ignores it.

I channel fire. From eight points down to six. I liked how the arrows with air penetrated its skin, but its HP bar is intact. It's regenerated all the damage we've done. So I'm not in the mood for hunches or experiments: fire. That's the most powerful thing I have. I shoot it right in the face.

The yeti, which has thrown the troll's corpse at the golems attacking it and already gutted another, changes targets and comes for me.

Holy shit!

For a moment I freeze watching the enormous muscled creature devour the ground between us, approaching through the blizzard. I've moved back, but only about fifteen meters and it's going to reach me any second. I drop the bow and draw my sword. No time to channel. I prepare myself.

At the last moment, the naga warrior lunges at the yeti, coiling around its legs with his tail. With his arms he also grabs onto them, immobilizing them. The yeti falls to the ground, less than a meter from me. The blizzard stops.

Glorious silence. Glorious absence of those tiny ice fragments pelting my face and body.

We all attack it. I channel fire into my sword. I'm down to four.

Alright.

I don't dare cast any more magic, but I think with the damage I'm going to deal, along with Vincent's and the others coming to hit it while the naga keeps it from getting up, we can kill it. We can, despite its brutal regeneration. We just need to deal a lot of damage in a short time.

Or not...

Because I notice that Vincent, Bob, and Tom can't pierce the yeti's skin. They can't even scratch it. Only I can cut through. The yeti locks its glacial blue eyes on me, blazing with hate and malice, before turning back to the naga. It ignores us completely, focusing on breaking free from the serpentine grip. The creature struggles hard, but the naga's powerful. Both his arms and coiled tail are pure muscle. One of the remaining trolls lunges forward, seizing the yeti's arm.

The yeti switches tactics instantly. With its free arm, it swipes at us in a vicious arc. I could use flash to escape, but I need to conserve mana. Instead, I leap backward. Not fast enough. The massive claws catch all of us. Vincent, the skeletons, and I go flying like ragdolls. Ronan hadn't been fighting in melee, so when I scramble to my feet (the hit stung and cost me a couple HP), I spot him standing apart, completely focused. He's probably communicating with Myrthaxya.

The two trolls and the naga are left restraining the boss, but not for much longer.

Vincent, bruised like me, staggers to his feet.

"It's incredibly strong and tough. Can you summon your giant bear?" he asks Ronan.

At that moment, the boss finishes off both trolls with its claws. One eviscerated, the other dismembered.

That image of the yeti grabbing the troll by both arms and pulling... ugh... I'll never get that out of my head. Why did I have to watch?

Ronan, unlike Vincent, remains perfectly calm.

"It is not necessary," he says.

"How is it not necessary?" The prince loses his composure completely, something I never thought I'd see.

I understand his panic. The yeti, back at full HP, glares at us with pure hatred, roars, and starts clawing at the naga wrapped around its legs. The poor warrior won't last much longer.

Vincent is sweet, though. He thinks we're doomed and moves closer to me, sword raised. I'm not sure if he's trying to protect me or fight beside me in what he believes will be our final moments.

How romantic. Meeting our end together.

Except I know there's no way in hell we're dying here.

Just before the yeti can finish murdering the naga with its relentless claws, a powerful gust of wind slams us to the ground.

I know exactly who it is. I reach out and grab Vincent.

"Stay down. Don't move," I hiss.

Above us, a creature of bone and fury lunges at the yeti. Myrthaxya. The skeleton dragoness.

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