Maturity isn’t about age but about grasping the wisdom of life.

~Ogma, God of Eloquence and Inspiration

Three men huddled inside a dark cave, not even daring to light a fire despite the frigid weather outside. Snow fell nonstop, filling the land with fine white powder at least a meter deep and rising.

“Where are t-t-the others?” The youngest of them asked while shivering. He was quickly regretting life choices. He only joined these bandits because a friend claimed they had a job that was easy money. Take a Shield-less girl and bring her north.

“All dead,” Stick said. He was a balding, middle-aged man who looked more like a skeleton than a man. He looked toward the back of the cave, where they left the woman tied up. They wrapped the only blanket they had around her because the leader of the group feared harming her.

“Probably right,” Mel said. He was the leader of this group of bandits, and out of the hundred-plus people that followed him, they were the only survivors.

“I-if I’m gonna die, can ya tell me who she is?” Biter asked. While he was the youngest of the group, he was also the strongest. His Wood Shield had three stars lit up, while the leader only had two.

“No fucking clue,” Mel replied. “She is worth a thousand Mana Crystals, and not those cheap, low-grade ones. We are talking about a thousand high-grade moral rank Mana Crystals. Enough to buy a small city and become kings. That’s more than all of us combined would typically see in our entire lifetime. We get out of here, and I’ll give both of ya twenty-five percent.”

Stick and Biter both were stunned into silence. Any complaints they had were gone in an instant. That was 250 high-grade Mana Crystals, and they’d be fools to turn that kind of money down. This was their ticket to the good life.

“She is pretty. How about we have—” Stick asked while looking at the girl and licking his dirty lips.

“Don’t even think about it! The people that want her are people we don’t want to fuck with. They’ll kill everyone you ever knew before beheading you. You won’t even have a chance to grieve or regret. Just keep your thing in your pants. Later you can buy any woman you want.”

“You are all fools,” Song Lin finally spoke. It’d been a long time since she experienced the cold, but her unique constitution rendered her immune to this kind of weather. If she could escape into the snow, they’d never find her. While the men were all weak, she was even worse. She hadn’t fully recovered from destroying her Shield, so she lacked the power to fight against them.

She didn’t even have time to react before thirty men kicked in the door to her apothecary, or she’d have hit them with potions she’d prepared to protect herself. Their timing was perfect. Her guard from the Maddox clan had to step away for the evening to assist the Druid Order with the city’s defense. She thought these bandits had an intelligent leader and that he planned everything—including staging a reason to have the guard drawn away. In retrospect, she realized these idiots didn’t have the brainpower to think something like that up. They benefitted from the Luck of Fools.

Crow told her a fable once that he called the Luck of Fools. It was about an idiot who randomly went about life, and through dumb luck, survived one tragedy after another. She laughed endlessly, thinking the story was humorous but silly and not based in reality. Now she knew she was wrong. Luck of Fools was a real thing.

“Why?” Mel didn’t scoff at her and looked over curiously.

“It is the Xu clan of the eastern continent that wants me. Their patriarch’s son is a complete psychopath, and the only thing you can expect at the handoff is your death.”

“Sh-she’s joking, right?” Biter asked.

“Fuck,” Mel said. He had an innate talent for detecting lies, and this woman wasn’t spewing nonsense. The middle-aged man that wanted to play with the woman edged away from her. Stick had dealings with the Xu clan before. He was once part of a herbalist group that would hunt down rare herbs. Once, they came across a Nine-leaf Ice Clover, which was an extremely rare herb. The Xu clan offered to buy it and were supposed to meet up with his people. That night, Stick had the shits from something he ate, and the others kicked him out of camp and told him to go deeper into the woods to take care of his business.

By the time he got back, all he had found was blood and dismembered bodies. His friends and companions were all dead. On the only intact corpse was a small pouch filled with Mana Crystals. Xu clan would kill them, but they always paid their debts.

“We have to take the chance,” Stick said. Internally, he sneered, thinking he could disappear before the handoff and arrive afterward. “I’ve dealt with them before. They always pay their debts.”

Song Lin stared at the middle-aged man as if he’d grown another head. Mel stared at Stick and felt something was off. While he didn’t detect any falsehoods, years of working with bandits had caused the hairs on his neck to rise.

Song Lin knew what the man was trying to do but didn’t bother to clarify. It didn’t matter because if they kept her, the Xu clan would hunt them down. If they released her, they still hunt them down. If they couldn’t find the bandits, they’d go after everyone that ever had dealings with them. Eventually, the rabbits would be forced out of hiding. Xu Chen liked it best when his prey hid.

Only Song Lin was facing toward the cave’s entrance, and she tensed when she saw a shadow pass through the darkness. However, that only lasted a second when she recognized that shadow.

Biter felt his throat suddenly burning, and he reached up to grab it. He was so silent that neither Stick nor Mel even looked over at him. When Biter looked at his hand, he saw it was covered in blood, and then the light in his eyes dimmed. His arms went limp, but surprisingly, he remained in a crouched position. The only warning the other two had that something was wrong was the coppery scent in the air.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Neither of the remaining bandits saw the lithe shadow fade into the dark recesses of the cave. The bow in her hand emitted an ice-blue ethereal glow. Mel and Stick both looked over, seeing a glowing wolf’s head with its mouth opening as if getting ready to bite its victim.

The shadow launched two arrows in quick succession, and the first struck Stick in the throat. His eyes widened as he hadn’t even had time to activate his Shield before he fell over. Only as he laid on the ground, feeling life fading from him, did he realize Biter had died before him. Still, with the young bandit squatting and staring down, it looked like he was accusing Stick of his death.

Mel had a better reaction time, but he didn’t have enough time to activate his Shield. Instead, he stood and tried to dodge. The instant kill became a slow death by gut-shot. He stared at the arrow protruding from his gut and recognized it immediately. The ice-like arrowhead, ivory shaft, and snow-white fletching was the signature arrow of someone considered a ghost or a bogeyman.

“F-Faelan? Y-you’re the S-Snow Wolf,” Mel gasped and spat up blood. He didn’t bother resisting because he knew he was already dead. “How did we cross your path?”

“Does it matter?” An icy voice came from the shadows.

“Y-you’re a girl?” Mel coughed and blood misted. “I… want to know why I d-died.”

“You fuckers kidnapped my sister,” Song Xue said. Snow Wolf’s Bite lit up once more as an arrow took flight. It cut through the darkness and entered Mel’s eye socket before coming out the back of his skull.

Song Xue brought out a Nightstone and stuck it to her shoulder. With the cave lit up, Song Xue became wary of the deeper tunnels. She didn’t expect that this place was much larger than its outward appearance.

“You’ve grown up,” Song Lin finally said. “How did you know they took me?”

“Otto. People generally ignore that big dummy. He overheard the bandits talking about a job,” Song Xue explained while she cut Song Lin’s bindings. “It wasn’t hard to figure out that a young female alchemist prodigy with long dark hair was you.”

“Pfft,” Song Lin laughed and unsteadily rose to her feet. Lack of food and blood flow to her limbs made her feel especially weak. “Xu clan is to the north and coming our way. We need to get south and fast.”

“Nope, we are going east. Gavin told us to head into the forbidden zone. The undead can’t go there as it will constantly drain Qi from everything. Grandpa Niall just left the eastern continent’s Keystone. The Xu Chen and his father are both trapped there, as the undead shifted south to suppress them.”

Song Lin’s tense shoulders finally relaxed until a giant shadow filled the entire entrance of the cave. Stick, who hadn’t yet died, gasped, alerting the others to him playing possum.

“Otto kill,” Otto said, and his fist was bigger than the bandit’s head, so it took little effort to crush the man’s skull.

“Carry Song Lin,”

“Otto do,” he said, giving her his big dopey grin. Song Lin laughed, seeing the lovable giant’s child-like smile. Even with blood splattered all over his face and clothes, Otto still looked like a big, innocent child. Either way, Song Lin finally felt safe. She’d already resigned herself to a fate worse than death and prepared to take her own life if necessary. So she was still coming out of her shock and the fact that her little sister saved her life. Otto reminded her of Crow. She remembered the wild first night they spent together, even his clumsy admission of love and the awkward care he showed her while rutting with her like a beast. Yuletide, the evening she last spent with him, was probably the best memory of her life.

“I’m alive,” Song Lin finally admitted and burst out crying.

“Family,” Otto said and hugged her to his chest—doing his best to comfort her.

“Yes, Otto. We’re a family,” Song Lin said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Good. We go. Lot people. Coming.”

“Huh? Where?” Song Xue asked.

Otto turned with Song Lin in his hands and pointed north.

“Let’s go,” Song Xue ran, cutting through the forest and snow like a ghost. Otto tromped after her like a damned elephant, but somehow he always knew where she was.

“How are you tracking her?” Song Lin asked, curious. She hadn’t seen either of them in over a year, so she didn’t know what kind of tricks they managed.

“Feel. In head. You feel.” Otto said, unsure how to explain.

Song Lin usually locked down her thoughts and emotions and kept them hidden inside, so they didn’t disrupt her pill-making. So she hadn’t realized that something else had appeared in her mind. It was like an expanse of space and stars, and within those stars, she felt connected to a handful of them.

No wonder he could follow her! What the hell is this? Song Lin contemplated and felt Song Xue ahead of them by at least a hundred meters. She was swift.

“Do you know what this is?” Song Lin asked Otto.

“Sister say. Astrologer.”

“What!?” Song Lin had to clamp her mouth to prevent herself from shouting out. That word was enough for her to put things together. After all, the eastern continent was near the archipelago that the Astrologers called home. They often traded with them, so she was very aware of their power and ability. “This is a Constellation?”

“Yes. Sister say. She angry. Felt Crow. Said Mara wife, now.”

Song Lin chuckled. She knew Mara wasn’t one to hide from what she wanted. The only surprise was that it took this long.

“Sister is strong now. What kind of training has she had?”

“Spy. Assassin,” Otto chuckled. “Bad guy scared. Snow Wolf. Kill many.”

Song Lin raised an eyebrow. Indeed, her sister had grown up.

“Said kill little bird,” Otto continued to laugh. “Brother in trouble.”

Song Lin chuckled along with him.

“Did she kill all the bandits?”

“No. Otto kill.”

She suspected as much. Still, that little girl’s stealth skills were impressive. Had she not been facing the cave entrance, she’d have missed her altogether.

As the daylight arrived, Otto continued to plow through the snow. Song Lin was worried he’d suffer, but the big guy was a beast. It didn’t even look like he’d worked up a sweat. The snow didn’t slow down the giant in the slightest. However, Song Xue worried her.

“Feel. Not worry. Snow Wolf. Snow moves.”

“She can move the snow around?”

“Yes.”

“Damn, now I’m the weakest of the group.”

“Pills good. Talent strong.” Otto said to build up her confidence.

“How did I get lucky enough to have a big brother like you?”

“Otto handsome.”

“Pfft,” Song Lin burst out laughing.

“Otto funny, too.”

Song Ling couldn’t stop laughing.

“What are you two doing?” Song Xue said, appearing beside them.

“Otto flirt.”

Song Xue’s jaw dropped, and Song Lin was laughing so hard tears were rolling down her face.

“Stop staring. Otto too handsome. But Otto shy.”

“Baha hahaha,” Song Xue burst out laughing, and Song Lin was holding her sides. After about five minutes, they finally calmed down, and Song Xue pointed. “We’re at Skyfall.”

“Is it really safe to go in there?” Song Lin asked.

“Yup, we got the big guy. Gavin said the forbidden zone won’t diminish his power. Since he is mostly physically powerful, he should be one of the strongest people in Skyfall. We’ll have one of the strongest guardians inside there.”

“Oh, then let’s go in, Snow Wolf…” Song Lin smirked, and Song Xue winked back at her. A comment like that would have set Song Xue off last year, but now, it was like she let go of the anger in her heart.

“Stop thinking about useless things,” Song Xue said as a dagger magically appeared in her hand.

Song Lin laughed and was glad not everything had changed. Still, she liked this new, more mature little sister. This was what she always hoped she’d become and that one day Xue’er would stand beside her while they slaughtered the Xu clan.

Shortly after entering Skyfall, a large group of people mounted on beasts arrived at the barrier.

“Dammit, report this to the young master. Find out if we should continue to follow them.”