Zerodra landed outside the clearing, trampling many trees underfoot. A chilly wind raged from his landing, nearly freezing Meera where she stood. A thin layer of ice formed on everything. All the dead bodies that lay rolled away and then froze from the wind.

When Meera finally lowered her arms, the ice cracked and fell away. The same happened with Kalrina, but she was shivering uncontrollably. Meera held her hand and activated Greater Vitalize again to finish healing herself and the witch.

The snowstorm had grown more intense with the archdragon's coming. Meera doubted even her armor could withstand this cold much longer, and Kalrina wouldn't last long.

"We've got to go, n-now," Kalrina shivered.

"Stole the words out of my mouth," Meera replied.

She took to the air and took Kalrina by the hand. She had flown maybe three feet off the ground that the archdragon whipped his hand downward. Winds lashed and Meera was thrown to the ground, as if someone thrown a heavy boulder on her.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere," Zerodra drawled. "You'll pay the price of stealing my chance to avenge my Akhessai."

"Oh no…" Meera blanched at realizing what she had done. She had never figured that the archdragon would come looking for Veridiana. Then it clicked. He must've felt her die, thanks to his Essence stat.

Given that he had been around for so long, his Essence must've been through the roof. This was how he must've found Meera in this snowstorm and knew she was an Ascendant. All this to say that she was screwed. She needed to do something fast, or the perpetually angry archdragon would smite her at any moment.

"You have breathed your last breath."

At that moment, dragons sprang out of the woods and into the clearing from all directions. Not just dragonlings but fully grown dragons and their leaders—Ignis and Tigris were among them. Every dragon save for the brothers had a mark on them. It was like these two had gone hunting sorceresses while the others were waging war on the sorceresses.

Zerodra raised his fist high without another word.

Meera's brain worked in overtime. She didn't have enough Health, Mana, or, quite frankly, levels to take on an archdragon. But she did have one trump card up her sleeve. She used it immediately.

"Zerodra, I command you to stop!" Meera shouted at the top of her lungs.

The archdragon froze, and so did his snowstorm. The dragons in the clearing were too stunned to move and most likely wondered how she knew their sire's true name.

Meera was driven to her knees. She huffed as just those words had taken everything she had. Her Stamina had plummeted to eighty-seven points. It was like someone had zapped away all her energy. After having thousands of points of Stamina, the double digits made her want to curl up and take a nap.

"Meera, are you okay?" Kalrina asked.

"I-I…" She had no time to explain. The archdragon would be free at any moment, and his anger would know no bounds. She summoned Onyx.

Her stallion appeared in the silent world with a loud neigh. Some of the dragons stirred at the sudden appearance of the ghostly horse.

"Need…help," Meera said.

Onyx swiveled his head around and didn't ask any more questions. "Get on."

Kalrina helped Meera to her feet and onto her horse. The dragons had become very angry, and some had begun to move. Tigris was at the forefront of the oncoming dragon horde.

"Kalrina, get on," Meera said quickly.

"Meera, I won't—" Onyx started, but she interrupted him.

"Please, Onyx…Do this for me."

"Fine." Her stallion friend relented.

Tigris's eyes glowed red, and Meera activated Mirror Tower Shield and put up three Tower Shields just in time, but she didn't need three. Tigris's eyebeams bounced off her first mirror and got deflected into a dragon on Meera's right. The dragon cried out as his scales were destroyed, and he was burned underneath.

Tigris paused in confusion, as did some of the other dragons. Meera's jaw dropped. She knew her shields had gotten stronger, but she couldn't believe they were this strong. The reflecting feature was thanks to her Mirror Affinity's new effect. This gave the dragons pause and Kalrina the few extra seconds she needed to get on top of Onyx.

"Go, Onyx..." Meera whispered.

Onyx moved like a blur and zipped straight towards the horde of dragons. It was only by some miracle that Meera and Kalrina managed to stay on top of him. The dragons tried to chomp or wash them with fire, but they were always slower than Onyx.

"Use Light of the Dead," Meera said upon seeing a straight line of dragons cutting off their escape.

Meera shut off her Mirrorbound Sight and shut her eyes right before the flashbang went off. The dragons cried out in alarm. The earth shook under their feet, and before Meera opened her eyes, they were through the dragons and racing through the woods.

Another event coincided with Onyx using Light of the Dead—Zerodra got free of Meera's command.

His roars violently shook the earth. He stomped on the ground, and ice spikes the size of buildings unleashed from under his foot.

"YOU DARE!" Zerodra roared.

One of Meera's eardrums burst. She felt warmth on her cheek, but she quickly activated Greater Vitalize.

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"You dare command me?" Zerodra trembled with rage. "How? How do you know my name?"

As soon as he moved, the snowstorm started again, and it was worse this time. The foliage above protected them for the most part, but it was not looking good. She didn't think she would have much time, and even this much was a blessing, but her blessing had turned into a curse.

Zerodra fired an ice beam from his mouth. He didn't know exactly where Meera was, but he could feel her general direction, and so he nearly froze the entire woods to her left.

"Um, Meera, I don't mean to put you on the spot," Onyx said. "But why is that huge dragon bent on killing you?"

"Later, Onyx," Meera said. "Please just focus on not smashing us into a tree."

"Sure. Is there a certain direction you would like to go in?"

"Get us as far away from here as possible."

Zerodra's ice beam had plunged the temperature to past freezing. Kalrina held on to Meera tightly and shivered uncontrollably. The chill had seeped into Meera's bones. Not even when they were in the archdragon's grip did she feel so cold.

"What are you going to do now, d-dearie?" Kalrina said. "It's not like you can ask your crazy flower-obsessed friend to fling us to another archdragon so they can take care of this one. Just so you know, there are no other archdragons in this world."

Meera gasped. "That's it. You're a genius."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, but what near-death plan are you hatching now." Then, she paused abruptly. "Oh…That could work."

"Point the way, witch."

"I seriously hope I have my bearings right," Kalrina muttered. "Now, listen, horse—"

"Say my name, or I'll drop you here and now," Onyx interjected.

Kalrina sighed. "Onyx, I need you to…"

While she gave Onyx directions, Meera focused on the dragon problem. Zerodra was way too trigger-happy with his ice beam. She figured this entire region would need to be renamed as it was becoming more like a polar ice cap rather than a forest. Trees, animals, and even some dragons were frozen solid as they got caught in the archdragon's ice beam. Zerodra's rage didn't differentiate friend from foe. This helped them some as it got the dragons off their backs because they were too busy running in the opposite direction.

Meera couldn't help but feel that this was the consequence of her actions. She had unleashed this monster to save herself, and now this monster was wreaking untold destruction on the world. Two dragons rose to try to convince the archdragon to stop. It was Ignis and Tigris.

"Father, stop, please," Ignis pleaded. "You're destroying our home."

But Zerodra had murder on his mind. He was so focused on destroying Meera that he didn't listen to his sons. Instead, he chucked two massive Ice Balls. One exploded far too behind them, but the other was a little to their right.

Meera spurred Onyx. "Faster!"

Her faithful steed responded immediately. He swerved to the left while picking up speed. Meera also raised a few Tower Shields, and they saved their lives. The Ice Ball exploded, freezing everything within dozens of meters around it, but it also shot out icicles the size of cars. One such icicle broke through her shields, but it slowed with each shield so that when it broke through the final shield, it only pierced through her leg and didn't rip it off completely.

She winced at the freezing cold icicle that nearly threw her off Onyx. Quickly, she took off a chakram, slashed at the icicle, and broke off most of it, leaving only its tip sticking out of her leg. Then she gripped the icicle and yanked it out, which left a nice hole in her leg. She tossed the icicle away and activated Greater Vitalize.

"Thank the Gods, it was only in your leg," Kalrina said.

Meera nodded. "How far are we?"

"We should be close." She pointed straight ahead. "Either I'm seeing things, or that is sunlight up ahead."

Meera zoomed in with her eyes. "It is sunlight. There is only one person who can keep this storm away."

"Well, let's hope that crazy old man doesn't ask for another flower for entry."

Meera smirked at that. "Onyx, straight ahead and faster, please."

The archdragon was trampling through the frozen forest, looking for them. In his frustration and fury, he was freezing everything around him. Meera doubted that there would be any forest left after he was done. The dragons had all but left, and she couldn't see where they had gone.

"Stop!" Kalrina cried. "We're here."

They jumped off Onyx's back. Meera thanked and dispersed him, and his tattoo returned to her hand. Kalrina extended a hand towards a tree that shone in the sun's light. As expected, her hand went through the tree.

She nodded to Meera. "Here's hoping he helps us a third time."

"He will unless he wants his precious glade to turn into a frozen wasteland," Meera replied and stepped through the tree.

Immediately, the cold vanished, and the warmth of the sun enveloped her. It was bliss after what she had been through—like taking a warm shower in the winter. She never wanted to leave.

To her surprise, she didn't have to look for the Cosmarian; he was standing before her with crossed arms and did not look happy.

"Why did you bring him to my doorstep?" Eryx said with gritted teeth.

Meera wasn't sure if it was her new Ascendant senses or not, but the hermit of a Cosmarian finally felt like what a Cosmarian should feel like. It was the same feeling she had gotten from Veridiana, though it was even more intense. It matched the raging archdragon's, but it was of a different kind. If Zerodra's essence was ice cold, this man was like a black hole pulling you in.

"Now, before you get mad at us," Meera said, wanting to jump back through the tree and take her chances with the archdragon. "I want you to understand, it's not our fault. We figured this would be the safest place in the world. Zerodra wouldn't dare attack your glade."

"Oh, he would more than dare," Eryx seethed. "After he was done with you, he would have come looking for me. We have history."

Meera remembered that taking Eryx's name woke the dragon when nothing else worked. She had to admit that she was curious to learn what sort of history they had, but other things, like her survival, took precedence.

"Truth be told, my plan was to have the archdragon and Veridiana fight it out while I made my swift escape," Meera said. "But Veridiana ended up losing to him rather fast, and then she asked me to end her life, which I did but now Zerodra wants to kill me for stealing his chance at vengeance."

Eryx waved a dismissive hand. "He's probably just looking for an excuse to kill humans. He's always been like that. Wait—did you say you sent Veridiana on her way?"

Meera exchanged a glance with Kalrina, who gave a light shrug. "Yes," she answered, a little worried at the Cosmarian's reaction.

"What were you thinking?" Eryx snapped. "She was one of the strongest Ascendants in all the worlds. She would have been a great asset in the final war against the Great Doom."

"It's not like I wanted to," Meera countered. "I even refused at first and was heading towards the Gateway Mirror, but she destroyed the mirror to force me to do it. She kept talking about sacrifice and all such nonsense."

Eryx's eyes snapped open. "She destroyed a Gateway Mirror! I didn't even know Ascendants could do that." He scratched his scraggly beard. "If you killed her, then that means…" He leaned forward and sniffed Meera and gasped. "You're an Ascendant."

"Yes, a brand new Ascendant, whatever those are," Kalrina said, flourishing a hand towards Meera. "Now, can you save us—err, I mean, your glade? I don't think we have long before the archdragon comes knocking on your door, considering this is the only part of Wiryar forest that doesn't have a snowstorm."

"Oh…"

That seemed to get Eryx's reaction under control. He scratched his head and mumbled something to himself in a language Meera couldn't understand.

Then, an ice beam flashed over their heads and froze a massive chunk of the glade. The many flower bushes froze. Even the flowers close to them withered from the cold. Then, an Ice Ball, the size of a meteor, sailed towards them, which would've been the end of them if Eryx hadn't raised his hand. The Ice Ball bounced off an invisible barrier.

Eryx trembled with rage. "He should not have done that. We cannot lose my glade. It would be such a loss to the worlds. There are flowers here that cannot be found anywhere else." He glanced at Meera. "Oh, and losing another Ascendant would be bad too. Come."

Then, without warning, Eryx shot off toward the sky, taking Meera and Kalrina with him.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Kalrina shouted as they left the warmth of the glade and shot off into the snowstorm once again.

"Me too!"

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