“Mihva! Calm down!”, shouted Lilly with all her might.

The concerned voice seemed to register in Mihva’s mind. She stopped panicking but continued to cry from the pain.

“Use the same magic attack again!”

Mihva nodded as she instinctively gathered her mana again. Just like other beasts she didn’t need to concentrate much on building runes. They were integrated in her bloodline, simplifying the formation of spells.

Thus, as soon as Mihva willed it a burst of death magic shot into the strange beast’s body. It suddenly felt so weak. Despite being a rank three beast itself, it couldn’t content with Mihva. There could be a night and day difference between different races.

Death magic ravaged the beast’s body, weakening it significantly. It couldn’t keep up the strength of its teeth. With another push from Mihva, its mouth loosened. It dropped back towards the ice. Since even its defense was destroyed the beast couldn’t save itself. With a loud splash it ruptured into multiple pieces.

Mihva shuddered strongly. Whether from the gruesome scene or from the gaping wound on her leg was unclear to Lilly. But she realized that the young butterfly wouldn’t be able to continue much longer. They had to stop the beast attacks. Right now!

Lilly still had one idea left, but it bared enormous risks. If she went for it, it either worked or damned them all. Unfortunately, they had to take desperate measures now.

Only telling Mihva to carry on no matter what might happen, Lilly gathered all her remaining mental strength. She stretched her open hand as her mind focused.

An unfamiliar rune slowly took shape on her hand. One line, a curve, another line. Lilly did her best to form this rune she only knew from Nua’s books. Despite never having used this rune before, Lilly was still confident in her ability to create it.

After all she tried to work with the simplest ‘water’-rune. It was the foundation of every water spell and the whole water magic, being among the first a beginner would learn.

Even in this tense situation it only took Lilly four tries until a stable rune finally formed. Too small for the naked eye to see, a tiny, golden, two-dimensional water drop framed by four lines appeared on Lilly’s hand.

The young woman didn’t have time to feel proud or anything as she hurriedly advanced her plan.

The surrounding mana gathered towards Lilly.

As soon as it came into contact with the rune, water appeared out of thin air. It was only the tiniest amount, but Lilly didn’t need more.

Since the young woman hadn’t added any runes to control the water, it simply sprayed through the air, carried by random momentum. In the next moment it did what Lilly had hoped for: It turned into snow.

It took a few seconds, but soon their group was covered in a cloud of snow.

Lilly hoped this would finally block the beasts’ perception. Chances were high that her guess was correct, and the beasts reacted to heat.

Only then would this gamble pay of, as Lilly already felt the negative consequences of her actions.

The temperature in their immediate surroundings dropped again. Snow fell on Lilly’s body, quickly draining it of its remaining warmth. Her already blue lips turned an even darked shade as her limbs turned stiff.

By now Lilly was already used to the uncomfortable effects the freezing coldness could have on the human body. She ignored the invasive coldness, the exhaustion of her body, as she prayed for her spell to work.

Mihva’s concerned eyes focused on her new friend. Even as a rank three beast the cold began to affect her. She could only imagine what Lilly had to endure.

Frost gathered on the trio’s bodies as Mihva did her best to slowly escape their dangerous situation. Unfortunately she couldn’t fly to fast, as the cloud of snow only spread so far.

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Even the unconscious rebel girl began to shudder. Lilly’s eyes grew heavy, her strong will pushing her to keep up the spell. A glimmer of hope kept the young redhead awake. After a few seconds the continuous beast attacks could still be heard. But they seemed to guess blindly, not managing to land any more hits.

Mihva noticed this more clearly. She bit on her lips, suppressing a shout of joy. The young beast had never been through such a stressful situation. Relief spread through her body. However, she didn’t miss Lilly’s situation. Mihva also realized that the danger wasn’t over yet.

You have to hold on. Please, Lilly.

Her wings growing heavier, her arms having difficulties carrying two people, Mihva did her best to hold on. Lilly was barely conscious now while Mihva’s flight slowly lost height.

She wasn’t used to being attacked. She wasn’t used to a gaping wound on her leg. Wasn’t used to coldness invading her body.

After a few more minutes of flight Mihva had difficulties holding on. Desperation was beginning to overwhelm the earlier joy.

Lilly almost resembled an ice statue by now. The young woman was only instinctively keeping up the spell, the rest of her body not moving anymore. From time-to-time Mihva cast a weak healing spell, but unfortunately this really wasn’t the beast’s specialty.

No one had time to care about the rebel girl. Fortunately, the rebel’s coat was created to resist the cold. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to lead a young girl through the Frozen Hell.

But nothing of this would matter if Mihva faltered now. They young beast knew this. She desperately fluttered her wings, but all her movements were slow, so heavy. Tiring. Cold. Dark.

A single tear formed in the young beast’s eyes. It dropped from her cheek, instantly freezing, joining the thinning cloud of snow.

Mihva gave it her all, gliding only two meters above the ground. Her blood raged through her body, fighting the invading cold. For a moment the young butterfly hinged between life and death. Life… and death? Was this what death felt like?

Suddenly innumerable runes light up in Mihva’s bloodline. A marvel of nature, a spectacle of power played out, for no one to see. Mana gathered from everywhere. The black and white colors on Mihva’s body seemed to blur, widely flowing though the beast’s fur.

Mihva’s eyes shot wide open. A suffocating feeling followed as mana shot into her body. The runes in Mihva’s blood greedily devoured the mystical energy. Runic lines appeared and formed anew. A wave of strength spread through Mihva’s body, chasing out the cold. Her flesh, blood, even her soul all seemed to rejoice as they advanced.

Clarity returned to the young beast’s mind. She recognized this feeling. Who would have thought a brush with death was able trigger her bloodline, allowing her to break through. At this critical moment she advanced towards the fourth rank.

While her body was still changing, Mihva quickly analyzed her situation. She wasn’t in optimal condition since the breakthrough didn’t heal her cold related injuries, but with renewed strength she would surely reach the exit soon. Unfortunately, while she herself was save, the same couldn’t be said for Lilly.

Although the breakthrough slightly boosted Mihva’s healing capabilities, Lilly was too far gone already.

Anxiously worrying for Lilly and the rebel girl, Mihva hurriedly sped up. She already noticed some changes in the signs on the ceiling, indicating that the exit shouldn’t be too far away.

Suddenly the young beast felt a tingling in her newly strengthened perception. Her eyes lit up with joy. A familiar presence was near.

All the tension seemed to leave her body. Exhaustion mixed into her voice as she shouted loudly:

“Aunty! Aunty I’m here. Come quickly!”

Mihva relaxed, fluttering in place. A smile bloomed from her mouth. In her vision a tiny butterfly appeared. It didn’t differ much from a common animal.

However, the unsuspicious butterfly was able to easily endure the Frozen Hell. Just now it was still a few meters away, but in the next moment it appeared directly in front of Mihva.

A caring voice appeared in Mihva’s mind, almost moving the young beast to tears.

“There you are, silly girl. Why would you sneak out?”

“I’m sorry, aunty. I…”

“Shh. It’s alright. It was time for you to learn more about the harsh outside anyways. But you should have told us. This way… it wouldn’t have been this dangerous!”

An immense pressure slowly spread through the atmosphere. Loiava’s voice turned almost growling as she said those last words. Miha didn’t feel any of this. She was happy and exhausted, urging her savior:

“Dangerous, dangerous. Aunty don’t worry I’m ok. But my friends need your help. Can you save them, please?”

Only now did Loiava direct her attention to the humans Mihva was carrying. She didn’t care about two weaklings. As a rank seven beast she had her pride.

As her perception brushed over them however, her movements stocked for a second. Wrinkles appeared on her tiny forehead.

Suddenly mana gathered around Loiava at astonishing speeds. Runes formed before her. Some ‘wind’-magic mixed with ‘life’-magic. An incredibly profound healing spell formed in only a moment, effortlessly. It embraced the trio, slowly nourishing them.

A moan of pleasure left Mihva’s mouth, letting her blush in embarrassment. Just as she wanted to thank her aunty, the spell suddenly carried her away. The young beast looked confused even as she noticed others of her race approaching. Her aunty only left her a few words before she advanced towards the frozen lake’s center.

“Let the guards bring you back. I still have something to do.”