Hibagon:

His pseudo-Knight wasn't enough to stop three guards. A shame, but an expected one, at that.

Thankfully, the bulkier one sacrificed a large piece of his Saniya reserves to suffocate Hibagon's cherished piece of craftwork under an admittedly beautiful display of molten lava, facilitating the second phase of his onslaught.

From the deep, dark flora, the bard quietly saw the Wolves running on all fours toward the other escapee's direction. He hoped his hairy comrade was faring well against the old canine.

However, if she wasn't, he'd sent the perfect backup. The Daien prepared for his second act, his dark lips touching the tip of his beloved flute before his breath and fingers turned something as abundant and mundane as wind into art.

The foliage from the surrounding trees reacted to the Saniya-laced frequencies from the bard's shakuhachi, snapping themselves from the stem and then ripping their structure apart to be shaped like lepidopterans. The remaining stem piece on each leaf bent into a flexible, straw-like wooden appendage, their only means of attack.

The swarm of plant-based insects flew towards their target, their speed fed by a substantial Saniya boost from their creator, enough for them to close the gap. The canines would be slowed down by them, buying him time to reach the troublesome old Wolf.

He leaped gracefully from branch to branch as his deceptively tranquil song echoed through the dimly lit forest.

When the winter subsided, it was time for spring to make itself known.

While its beauty was uncontested, there were horrors it dared not to be shown.

A storm of butterflies, dainty and vulnerable, yet resolute on their course.

But do not fall for their lies, as even they will feed from your corpse.

Euraidd:

"GET OFF ME!" he howled as multiple green "butterflies" clung to his fur, prickling his flesh with their deceptively sharp proboscis. He barely felt their attacks, so what was the deal with them?

The mage swatted them away, but with each dead, three more flew in their place. Gradually, Euraidd felt his movements lagging with each smashed bug. Was he out of steam already?

His sister desperately rolled on the snow back and forth while Locci bashed his back on a tree in an attempt to smash the ones that infiltrated his armor. Euraidd lamented how much fun that would be under better circumstances.

"I feel..." The immense guard approached the twins sluggishly. "...weaker."

Hufen stood up, her armor covered in snow. "This swarm is draining our-" A leaf butterfly flew straight into her mouth, choking her and prompting her to fall to her knees.

Locci quickly positioned himself behind the female mage, wrapped his arms around her ribs, and then applied force with his paws on her diaphragm. Three thrusts were all it took before she spit the lepidopteran out.

"Alright..." Hufen muttered between breaths. "To the shadows with sparing Saniya..." She gripped her mage staff. Sparks violently flew from the blue sikpha crystals as she turned to the pesky faux insects hovering above their heads.

"You want to play like that?!" she howled as the staff's crystalline tip covered in flames. "THEN I'LL PLAY TOO!!!" The fire erupted, changing from orange to white, then a blueish color.

Euraidd took a few steps back, his expression rigid with trepidation. Locci followed suit, knowing well what would transpire like a romance book you read for the 25th time, still furious when the main protagonist chooses the worst love interest option for some reason.

What? No, that comment didn't come from anywhere specific, much less past experiences. That's so silly of you to say, haha...

...

So, back to the raging Wolf. Hufen pointed at the sky, the flames rippling through the air as the butterfleaves (yes, that's the name I'll stick to, thank you very much) rotated around the fiery beacon like an eclipse of moths.

"SEARING WOLF PACK!!!"

The fire divided into a storm of blue, wolf-head-shaped wisps emerging from the sikpha crystals. They swirled and weaved around the static vegetation to consume only the flying nuisances. The light show lasted almost a minute before the canine will-o-wisps flew to the sky, where they were snuffed out.

Hufen grinned, taking deep breaths. "The shadows can claim your ashes, you fuckers!" She poured all her heart and soul into a howl, turning to her fellow guards. "WOOOO! Let's get going, y'all!"

Euraidd awkwardly glanced at Locci, who only shrugged before joining the female mage towards their missing companion.

"Hey, isn't the Saniya near Tarb familiar?" the golden mage questioned as they ran on two legs.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

His sister glanced back at him. "Now that you mention..."

Locci interjected. "Didn't we sense it when we fought the Tizohi's Chosen?"

Euraidd's eyes widened. "Right! And if it isn't Hibagon's, then that means..."

The mage had the best laugh of his life.

"O-Oh, Tarb! I can't believe your grumpy old ass found love again!"

The old veteran bore the ugliest scowl of his life while he was "lovingly" embraced by a frozen Hari-onagu and her hair. Locci and Hufen couldn't hold a smirk forming at the edges of their mouth. Meanwhile, Euraidd's diaphragm threatened to collapse as he fell to his knees, still holding onto his staff for support.

"L-Look!" He pointed at the Yūrei's stuck expression of unadulterated rage, her eyes almost melting their way free. "She's frozen from emotion!" He plopped on the snow, desperately trying to calm himself down, yet still glancing at his imprisoned comrade, turning his efforts worthless.

"Laugh it up, Euraidd..." Tarb's voice dripped with venom. "It's not as if my arms and ribs are crushed by this wench." His irritated gaze shifted to the other two guards. "You're welcome, by the way!"

Hufen's expression neutralized as she cleared her throat. "Sorry." She hurriedly went to his aid. "Relax your body. It will make it easier." A blue flame flickered from her index finger, tracing and melting an outline on the frozen prison around the old guard.

"Tizohi almighty, this ice is durable!" She frowned, applying more pressure on the substance. "Is this water?"

Tarb flashed a mischievous smirk. "Remember when I told y'all about my spit?"

Hufen stopped. "No..."

"Yep."

She groaned in disgust yet still pressed on, increasing the flame's size and potency to get the job done faster.

"I can feel my fur burning!" Tarb whimpered.

"I told you to relax! Stop squirming!" Hufen ordered, her harsh voice capable of sending fear even into the hearts of the oldest soldiers. It made Euraidd remember simpler times—he and his sister as pups, causing chaos wherever they ventured.

Well, it was mostly him who did the mischief, anyway. His sister had to cover for him constantly.

...

He wasn't a good bro, was he? The thought brought the golden mage to gaze at the sky, finding beauty in the greyed clouds, still pouring dainty snowflakes, falling with the same grace as a Nguruvilú swimming until it dissolved on the tip of his nose.

Euraidd's attention was so scattered he only noticed Locci and Tarb's grunts after who knew how long. The beefy, black Wolf removed their comrade from the frozen embrace with such an effort that the momentum almost made him fall on his ass.

"Careful! This is fragile material you're dealing with!" Tarb snarled as he was put beside Euraidd.

The golden retriever beamed at the old canine. "Sup?"

Tarb grumbled something indecipherable as his eyelids narrowed at him.

He addressed his sister, eyes gleaming with childish joy. "How about we make a snow Wolf?"

Hufen knelt beside the veteran, her paws glowing with Saniya as she stroked and gently held his broken arms. "Major crisis around us, remember?"

Euraidd groaned. "Come on! If we don't do anything, Yuki-onna ain't gonna come after us!"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I kinda like Euraidd's idea," Tarb admitted.

The female Wolf chuckled. "Me too, but we still have our duty, gentlewolves."

Before Euraidd could whine any longer, Locci, who guarded Hari-onagu's living statue, called everyone's attention. "Are you feeling the ground shake?!"

The male twin was going to question, but a faint tremor could be felt, tingling on his back through the ground and the thick layer of snow.

"Raidd!" his sister implored.

"On it!" Euraidd stood up, running to Locci's side, pointing his staff at the frozen Yūrei, vigilant to the subtlest changes.

His heart ran wild as the tremors grew more potent by the second, his paws gripping tightly on his trusty wooden Saniya conductor. He constantly glanced at his partner, whose apprehension was etched and glimmered on his expression.

A loud, deafening sound came alongside a gigantic, elongated creature sprouting from the earth, similar to Locci's lava spell. The mage winced as his eyes locked on the beast, a titanic worm with a faulty outer skin of stitched leaves and grass, revealing patches of entangled roots underneath on a few spots. Its head was none other than the largest fire lily Euraidd had ever seen, enough to swallow four huts in Pantsti at once.

The construct's stamen parted opposite directions, and smoke exhaled from its carpel, the Saniya detected from the appendage sending shivers through Raidd's entire being.

The mage and Locci immediately ran close to his sister and Tarb, their bodies acting as meat and fur shields.

"LOCCI!" Euraidd flared his aura, summoning the full extent of his energy. "SHIELD! WITH ME!"

The black-furred Wolf nodded as his Saniya was also pushed to its limits. Together, they formed a double-layered barrier around the four of them, so thick they could barely make out shapes from the outside.

Suddenly, a destructive pillar of fire struck the spell, the heat penetrating their defenses.

"THE FIRST LAYER IS BEING DISSOLVED!" Locci's arms swelled as he desperately infused more and more Saniya into the inner barrier. "I THINK THE FIRE IS MELTING IT!"

The internal layer trembles as the flames strike it with scorching force.

"NO, THAT CAN'T BE HOW THIS ENDS!" Euraidd howled, his Saniya reserves taking a crushing toll to negate a single attack. "WE'RE FIGHTING A MONSTER, BUT WE STILL HAVE THE NUMBERS!"

That was a fucking lie. Thanks to their spent stamina with the butterfleaves, the golden mage wasn't entirely convinced of their advantage. The bard's strategy for those pests already made sense in a vacuum, but now...

Hufen positioned herself between them. "TARB'S ARMS ARE FINE NOW!" She flared her whiteish aura, placing her hands on the barrier, hissing and tearing up from the pain of simple contact with the infernal heat. "ARGH! THE BARD CAN'T KEEP UP MUCH LONGER!!!"

"I HOPE YOU'RE RIGHT, SIS!"

The combined effort of three Wolf guards withstood the sizzling onslaught for a few more seconds until the flames gradually lost their potency, fueling the mage's heart with yearning. When the hellish spell completely subsided, they deactivated the barrier, gazing at a puddle of molten, translucent Saniya slowly sinking into the ground like acid.

Euraidd's legs buckled, unable to take a step without the fear of tripping over his foot. He glanced at the fiery worm, immediately retreating to the depths that it originated from. It appeared that such a powerful spell cost it too much Saniya, after all.

The relief prompted him to let go of his staff and fall to his knees. "Tizohi almighty..." he muttered between long, heavy breaths. "We survived..."

He felt someone's paw touching the top of his head. He couldn't bother to see who it was.

"I'm proud of you, Bro."

Euraidd smiled as wide as he could muster.

"Uh... We have an issue." Locci's voice rang, bearing more terrible news. And the mage thought black CATS brought bad luck.

"What is it this time?" Euraidd buried his face in his paws.

"Hari-onagu. She's gone."

He groaned, the sound muffled by his fluffy hands as he surrendered to and plunged into the snow beneath their feet.

This cold embrace would have to do for his clingy soul.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.