Alta was blinded by the omnipresent light. The light blue color was everything he could see, but Winter failed to comprehend the chimera possessed a myriad more of senses. Enhanced ones at that.

He took a step to the left, and an instant later he felt the air warping to his right. A potent attack, whatever it may be.

Smelling was out of the question; the half-dead half-alive woman didn’t possess any scent. He was being guided by his sense of hearing, touch (as he read the fluctuations in the air), and most importantly, his innate ability to sense death.

The chimera already began reforming his eyes, but judging by the previous pace with the pet, the master wouldn’t lack in speed. The few seconds he would need to regenerate his eyes would be hard-fought. And that didn’t solve the problem. Winter could use the same trick again and he would still be unprotected. Alta couldn’t just heal his eyes but also make them resistant to the Queen’s light.

“Interesting,” Winter said, his voice coming from the right.

Alta turned to face her and backpedaled a few steps.

The cold stone ground vibrated, indicating the chimera that the undead had begun moving. This time, the direction of the attack had been more concealed, less telegraphed. He put his leg muscles to work, and with the slightest compression of his knees, Alta was able to jump tens of meters into the air.

Twirling in the air with absolute control, he landed behind where Winter should be.

The Queen of the Underworld was getting stealthier and stealthier with each subsequent attack. He needed to get his eyes back. The best course of action became obvious to him.

“What’s so interesting?” It was foolish to talk in a hunt as many things could go wrong, but he needed the time.

No.

In a fight. The power Winter exuded wasn’t that of a simple hunter. She’s the ruler of the place, the zenith of power. She’s an apex predator.

“Your form, I suppose.” She responded unsurely. “A master of shifting shapes, yet you remain with the simplest of them all. The first one you showed me made far more sense.”

“Humans are, unfortunately, an incredibly efficient shape.” The chimera said. “Surprising adaptive capabilities, great stamina, and considerable strength.”

“I guess that’s why life always defaults to them in many different worlds.” The Queen dismissed.

“What?” Alta felt that comment was very important.

“That you should pay more attention!” As Winter cried, he felt the air curving, signaling an attack, but he had been too distracted by his own maneuver.

Coldness penetrated him.

The man could feel the blurry light seep the warmth on his abdomen. Touching the light was always weird, simultaneously a gas and a solid. The gelid tendrils lingered on his flesh as he forcefully removed them with his hand.

Warm blood flew back to the wound as the flames healed him.

“Flames, huh.” The half-corpse sounded amused. “Just like your mother.”

Something in the woman’s tone told Alta that she wouldn’t answer any questions related to this mother of his. That she was only entertaining him because he hadn’t because of her but instead for Icasondra.

Flames. Mother. Chimera. That made Alta think of his magic.

He evaded to the right as another tendril of light came to assault him.

What’s the magic of chimera? Alta deflected another tendril with his hands. The light crashed on the rock floor with a strenuous sound. The shapeshifting? The appropriation of magic? The sensing of death? Or something else?

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The battlefield became silent. That worried Alta. But the time had finally come, he opened his eyes. Before him, Winter stood still, observing him as she was surrounded by a maelstrom of mist-like light.

“Finally deigning yourself to look?” The Queen taunted, but he wasn’t one to fall on meaningless words. Winter was unamused by his lack of reaction. “I see.”

She snapped her fingers and the world became blue once again. Yet this time, in the absolute blueness, Alta was able to see. Blinded no more.

Insects prove to be superior one more time.

Readying his feet and lowering his hips, Alta shoot from her sprinting positions, and in less than a blink he had moved next to Winter. The woman slowly reacted with her eyes wide open as the chimera grabbed her head.

Alta led Winter’s head to the ground.

Hard.

The cavern floor was instantly destroyed as the undead’s cranium impacted against it, a sonic wave far bigger than when he had thrown the dog into the ceiling.

He raised his arm, his hand still clutching the woman’s head, and drove it to the ground once more.

The second strike made the rocks crumble into pieces, making Alta’s footing unstable, but he managed to stay upright. Just to continue with his onslaught.

Again.

The sheer force made the pebbles grind into sand.

And again.

By this time, no floor remained. Only a pool of dust remained under him.

The man undid his grip and stood up, looking at the unmoving golden mess of hairs intertwining with the fine powdered dust.

And then...

He heard laughter.

“Hahahaha...” It was Winter’s. “You amuse me, chimera.” And she was unphased.

Her undead body undid into tendrils of light that flowed away like snakes and rapidly trod back to the tree. On the throne, the light blue light swirled and ebbed together into the coherent shape of the Queen of the Underworld.

“Spring was right with her pure soul. Things are getting interesting in the Afterlife.”

Alta looked at the woman as his chest heaved up and down. The force he unleashed was enough to decimate a mountain, yet the Queen of the Underworld was only... amused.

Only now Alta noticed the wounds in his arm as it spurted into flames out of nowhere. He had broken several ligaments and blood vessels with his raw and uncontrolled strength. In a way, the exchange had hurt him more than her.

“Let’s stop this farce. I think you will have already figured it out by now.” Winter hid her corpse side of the face with her lustrous golden hair, yet the powerful light blue glint of her eye was still visible through the strands. “Mutation, I cannot die. But at the same time, I do not have the power to kill you, someone that close to Life.”

The green and lifeful eyes of the man clashed against the blue and dead eyes of the woman. She was speaking the truth.

“Having said so,” she continued, “it would be quite bothersome to engage in an eternal battle. My sisters and I are quite permissive, no matter what the mortals may say, so I will follow Spring’s steps.”

The Queen of the Underworld extended her pallid yet living hand with her palm open. Light from the tree behind started making tendrils and directing to the open hand. The light spiraled into a crescent light, getting brighter and brighter until it ceased.

The light transformed into an incorporeal entity.

A soul.

It shone white and grey, with vague hints of blue. It was obvious who’s soul was.

Icasondra’s.

With great difficulty, Alta opened his mouth. “That’s it? Are you going to give her to me just like that?”

“What? Are you refusing my blessing?” Winter’s eyes turned a shade darker and the fingers holding the soul got tighter, ever-so-slightly. “I know your kind, chimera.”

“It’s Alta, Winter.” The man boldly interjected.

“Alta,” She announced with scorn, “I know your kind. You won’t stop, no matter the consequences, or the time. And that’s a problem. Because we are both eternal. It’s far better if we let all hate aside and come to a mutually beneficial agreement. You get the fairy back to the world of the living, and I get to be alone again. Sweet, sweet loneliness.”

For a brief moment, Alta thought Winter was being sarcastic. But no, she was totally serious. Solitude is the only thing she wished for.

“I see.” The chimera took a step forward. “I’ll accept your blessing then.”

“A pleasure doing business with you.” The undead Queen handed him the fairy’s soul with a smile on her face. It was unreadable, but it certainly didn’t portray happiness.

As the petite soul landed on Alta’s hand, he instantly knew what he had to do. The man enveloped the soul with both his hand, treating it like the most fragile thing in the world, and walked back to the unmoving body of Icasondra.

He kneeled down and placed his hands on the fairy’s chest. A moment later, he opened them, allowing the incorporeal entity to fall into her rightful body.

“You should go, and fast,” Winter added as a terrifying smile drew on her visage. The corners of her lips went far upwards than it should be humanly possible. “Mortals cannot survive in the Afterlife, if she awakes whilst still here, she will die for true this time.”

The Queen’s words filled Alta with dread.

“Run, Mutation. Run.” She laughed.

He had been tricked.

But he didn’t have time to lament or feel angry.

Only one thing mattered now.

He had to get out of there as soon as possible.