Stella:

What was taking her so long?!

Stella paced back and forth, trying to not freak out. However, this was a tall order.

She knew Grýla wouldn't be stopped by the lava. If Ogres weren't resistant, the witch wouldn't live surrounded by a sea of molten rock.

And apparently, the illustrious hero that swore to save them was... meditating? Just waiting for round 2. Fantastic...

Lien explained the pego jam's properties to her, which gave the Human an idea. Obtaining a spoon that resided on the cabinet's lowest drawer, the pup fetched some for them.

If only she was faster...

Before her frustration could reach a critical state, the cauldron started rocking back and forth.

"Lien?"

A... white meteor? It came out from the cauldron!

"Shit! It was rigged!"

It landed right next to the girl, missing her by mere inches! Stella's life flashed before her eyes. It wasn't a pleasant flashback.

She turned to see what the hell was that about. It turned out to be Lien with a spoon in her mouth. Like Grýla and the Knight, the Wolf had a white, transparent aura enveloping her body. She went so fast and hard on her way down that she created a shallow crater on the floor.

So that jam really was effective! The question was, would that work on Stella? Was it toxic to Humans?

Those questions didn't matter because Lien force-fed the miraculous goo down the Human's throat. It tasted delicious! Better than any sweet she ever had.

However, nothing else happened.

Stella clenched her hand, then flexed her biceps. After half a minute of absolutely nothing, she sighed. "Well, that was a b- OH!"

It came all at once. The Human's body and mind ignited with energy as her hair stood up. A golden aura, just like the Knight's, surrounded Stella's body, as it felt like every neuron in her brain was crackling with excess electricity!

However... She could barely feel anything other than the changes in her body. Her mind shut off to the outside world, and her muscles threatened to burst at any moment. Did she poison herself?

Damn it! She couldn't die like this! She willed her pounding heart to calm the hell down, but it wasn't as simple as that.

Through the metaphorical fog, she could hear Lien's voice. "Stella! ......going.....me!"

The girl tried to speak, but even using her vocal cords was painful. She could only let out a weak groan.

Then the Knight's voice came. "Stella! Can.............. Please!"

What the hell did he say?! Argh, her head was about to split in two! Or so it seemed.

Wait, she could feel something else! It was the warmth of the tears sliding down her cheeks. Not ideal.

This was the worst idea Stella ever had! Her entire body burned, her veins seemingly running lava inside them. She would explode in a disturbing mess of gore.

"Stella!" The Knight's voice again. "Deep breaths! And picture your Saniya as a flowing river! Let it flow through you rather than running wild!"

It couldn't be that easy, could it? The Knight's words made it seem like this energy was part of her. But that was impossible!

Whatever! It was either doing as he said or dying!

The Human started taking deep breaths, almost in a meditative state. After agonizing seconds that felt like minutes, she could feel... better? Marginally better than before.

Breathe in, breathe out... Slowly but surely, her body hurt less and less. At least it didn't feel like she was becoming a living bomb anymore. It hurt like hell, still!

After a minute, she was making progress. Her burning veins now cooled off, and she was feeling more energized in a good way. However, she could feel the ground shaking again.

"Not now!" The Knight was clearly frustrated. The witch had risen up from her burning bath. Stella could open her eyes and see for herself, but she needed to concentrate on her Saniya. Maybe then she would get an actual benefit from all this trouble.

"I'll help you, Knight!" Lien's voice chimed in.

Great, now Lien was going to the frontline without her. She just needed... another... minute...

Her muscles twitched and throbbed painfully. But... she fought through it and made her first step.

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"Come on, come on!" She shouted to herself. "I can do this!"

One step, two steps... So far, so good.

As her muscles relaxed with each passing second, Stella opened her eyes. She saw the Giant Witch launching a barrage of fireballs at her two companions. Thank goodness they managed to dodge all projectiles.

Seeing them putting their lives on the line motivated Stella to push past her limits! She could run again! And holy crap, she was fast! The rush of adrenaline was intoxicating, but the Human needed to focus. She needed to stop that witch once and for all.

But before she could go ape on the Ogre, she realized something when she looked at her surroundings. A floor made out of stone where it was thoroughly affected by explosive fireballs and whatnot. And can you guess the result? That's right, plenty of ammo for Stella's specialty, rock-throwing!

The Human used her extraordinary speed boost to grab as many rocks as possible. She also noticed her increase in strength, barely able to feel the weight of ones the size of her head.

Oh, this would be something special! She could feel it!

The problem was the constant aura that emanated from her body. She felt like a walking flashlight! Couldn't she turn that off? A question for later.

When Grýla turned her back on her, this was the perfect opportunity. Stella launched the heavy rock like it was made of cotton! Suffering all that pain was definitely worth it.

Even if it was a much bigger projectile than Stella was used to, it still hit the target, the back of the witch's head. The giant cried in pain and immediately turned her body towards the Human, with spite dripping out of her scowl.

"So you drank from my cooking, too?!" She stomped the ground again, but Stella was accustomed to those. Her feet remained steady on the floor.

Grýla noticed the girl's improvement. "Aw, look at ya! Do ya really think that's enough to beat me?!" She pointed her thumb at herself.

Stella gave a smug grin. "Maybe not..."

A white flash came out of nowhere and pushed the Ogre's right foot, then the other, making her fall.

The girl finished. "By myself." Her grin was unchanging.

"Argh! Ya son of a bitch!" Grýla shouted.

Then the Knight climbed to her face and shut her mouth with his "ROCKET CRASH!" However, judging by the hero fleeing and the Saniya bursting out from the witch, it wasn't enough.

Lien approached Stella so fast she could barely register. "Hey!" She put her furry arm over the Human's shoulder. "I thought you were a goner!"

Then, it was the Knight's turn. "That's, to put it mildly. Seriously, Stella! You could've died!" He was so worked up that he forgot his heroic voice.

So Stella could have actually died from that. Her body shivered with the thought of getting a brush with death. Well, it was already done, and they had more pressing issues.

Stella looked at her hands and her arms, admiring her glorious aura. "So THIS is Saniya! Cool!"

The Knight crossed his arms. "Indeed. I'm glad you managed to awaken AND control it in such an intense circumstance. Pego jam is only made for those who have some Saniya control."

So that was why Lien was fine after drinking it. That would have been fricking good to know later. However, she couldn't hold it against the hero since he was too busy fighting to stop her scheme.

Grýla was not too happy with this result. "Just my luck! Why can't ya die already, huh?!" She slowly got up again.

Stella was too altered by the jam to bear any fear towards her. "If you want to kill me, you have to do it yourself, Giant Bitch!" She cracked her knuckles.

Grýla huffed, then flared her aura again. While impressive, it wasn't as intense as last time. Perfect.

Stella and Lien stood side-by-side, ready to take the lead against the witch. However, before they could commence their onslaught, the hero spoke. "You two stand no chance against Grýla still! We only need to stall her!"

The Human looked at him, puzzled. "Stall her for what?"

He explained. "Well, either Grýla will suffer the effects of the jam and be neutralized, or the backup I called will arrive. Either way, we win!"

Lien flashed a thumbs-up. "Alright! We can do this! Right, Stella?"

The Human smiled. "Of course!" She picked a few more rocks from the ground. "But I'll need your help!"

Stella climbed on Lien's back and darted towards the giant. The Wolf ran on all fours while the Human threw rock after rock. Grýla summoned her shield to stop the stones, then flexed her bulging muscles, followed by a powerful quake.

She lifted her arms in the air, revealing a gigantic rock her size coming from behind her and floating over her head. That felt like karma.

"Ya like rocks that much?!" She swung her arms. "Then ya gonna love THIS!"

Lien ran as fast as she could, barely avoiding the boulder. Okay, so she couldn't face the witch head-on. What could be her weakness?

Stella's line of thought was interrupted by Lien suddenly running again. Before she could ask, she saw the massive, pointy spikes emerging from the ground.

Human and Wolf kebab. Hmmmm.....

Grýla smirked, only to be struck in her gut by a golden comet. That put a smile on Stella's face.

From that, the hero approached the girls in a few seconds. "You two okay?" He was panting a lot.

"Absolutely!" Lien eagerly spoke and nodded. She was even more energetic and excited than usual. Her body was basically vibrating! That jam was one hell of a drug.

"Yeah, what she said." Stella agreed. "Hey, are you sure we can distract her that long?"

The Knight nodded. "She was considerably weakened. So we only need to divert her attention and tire her out more."

He turned at the pup. "Lien, can you dodge all of her earth spikes?"

Lien puffed her chest and saluted him. "Yessir!"

Then, the hero turned to Stella. "Can you keep throwing rocks at her?"

The Human shrugged. "Easy. But that witch will only use her stupid shield."

He flashed a thumbs-up. "Perfect! Get her more tired!" Then, he prepared himself to run once more. "I'll be the distraction this time, and you attack her blind spots. We'll keep taking turns, understand?"

"Yes!" Stella and Lien spoke as one.

What came after was a routine of bait and switch. The Knight zig-zagged through Grýla's attacks, only to be attacked by a barrage of stones. Stella and Lien pretended to be stuck on a rock, only for the Ogre to divert her attention and receive a Lightspeed Barrage all over her face.

Then the hero used his "Blinding Halo!" on the witch, but she closed her eyes before it could affect her.

She laughed mockingly. "Nice try! But I already am familiar with yer silly tricks!"

It wasn't so funny when she got bit in her ankle by a powered-up Wolf pup. It even started to trickle down some blood. Geez...

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Grýla roared, flaring her aura as much as she could muster! "Ya think ya can keep with this charade forever?! Ha!"

She clasped her hands together, making a loud noise. Then, a massive pink fireball emerged from between them. "Let's see if ya can escape THIS!"

The flames revolved faster and faster. It reached a point where the projectile became an unstable mass of plasma!

The witch launched the spell in the air. When it reached a certain altitude, it exploded into eight smaller meteors!

...Which exploded into smaller pieces, which turned into even SMALLER projectiles! The process was repeated a few more times, and before they knew it, not just the trio but the entire kitchen would be about to be cleansed by a burning rain.

The hero conjured his golden shield! Ready to bravely protect the girls against the deadly meteor shower!

But would that be enough?