Isher Notra

Here they were.

It felt like so long since they escaped from the fiery depths of Grýla's kitchen. Yet Stella felt the same feeling of inevitable demise once they stepped into winter. At the very least, the sudden drop in temperature was heavenly after suffering through that furnace of cloth they spent an HOUR inside!

"I can already detect a few Saniya roaming around," Lien alerted, her steps slow and careful towards the cave's exit, with Stella following right behind. "You know the weirdest thing about them?"

Her tone wasn't helping the Human with the pessimism that slowly grew within her heart. "What?"

Lien ceased. "They all feel the exact same."

Stella froze, only asking questions to keep up the conversation, even though she knew the answer from a mile away. "And that's... bad?"

"Hard to tell." The pup scratched her chin. "The only time I felt something similar was when Grýla's goop things surrounded us."

After absorbing the implications, the girl took a deep breath. "Don't tell me we're going through puppets again..."

"Hope not." Lien took the first step out of the cave, her muzzle pointing in multiple directions. "No Monoke scents around here, but there's a Saniya signature slowly approaching us."

"Great," Stella mumbled, poking her boots into the thick layer of snow so deep she stumbled for a moment. "Let's see who's the first suitor to claim this fair maiden's life..." She squinted into the shadows cast by Chikukei's flora, glimpsing a blueish glimmer alluring like a sapphire. "And they're right into the deep woods, of course..."

Lien chuckled. "Isn't that the name of that stupid show Hufen made us watch?"

"Love Between Claws and Stakes?"

"No, the one where there's a lady and a white stag, and her boyfriend hates her for that for some reason."

"Right. But damn, that's what you remember from it? That all happens in, like, episode 1!"

"I slept after that. When I woke up, a guy fell off a bridge with an old woman."

"So that's why you barely smiled when I told the grumpy hunter dude sounded like your mom..."

Huh. Another familiar description...

Sorry. Moving on...

This brief reprieve was eventually terminated when the alien glow went from slowly approaching them to sinking its foot on the pedal and soaring toward them at breakneck velocity!

"Nope!" Stella pointed her thumb behind her. "Back to the cave!"

But before she could act on her cowardice, a blue blur sprang from the trees and landed between them and the cavern's jaws before her eyes could follow. Apparently, cave-blocking was a trend for the "Sayamanders."

Stella's indignation was quickly shattered by the cold sting of fear when she gazed upon their next opponent's face - an exact replica of the one who tormented her dreams mere hours ago, carved flawlessly on ice. That, coupled with the construct's radiating eyes and glowing rune on its forehead, both oozing a frigid mist and predatory intent, prompted the Human to instinctively take a step back.

"Y-You!" She was about to lash a rain of insults upon it, but her eyes gazed at the puppet rune it bore once more. "You're not... the real Yuki-onna, are you?"

The construct straightened up, its movements rigid and purely functional like an automaton. Its eyes shifted between Lien and her as if pondering who was the easiest prey.

The agonizing, long silence fueled Stella's running heart. It didn't matter that she tried to conceal it by making a fierce scowl while adopting a fighting stance alongside her packmate. Her dread was almost palpable, seeping through the tiniest, most subtle issues in her posture, like her shaky hands and impatient feet.

Her situation hadn't improved when the Icy Sorceress' impersonator's eyes stopped focusing on either of them, now reduced to a vacant stare between them. Now what?

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"What a peculiar turn of events."

That voice. The same one that perturbed Stella's last dream. The one who claimed her life would only find worth when it ended.

The clone turned its head slightly at her, the rest of its body completely static. "The Human child came from the Spiders' Atelier? Why not deliver you from the front door?" It turned to Lien. "Ah. You must be Captain Tash's daughter. I am not utterly aware of your kind's customs, but could it be that your special relationship forced you into this position? They were right to assume I would not allow a pup to cross the wall."

Stella's blood boiled from every second that bitch's voice echoed inside her head uninvited. Soon, her fear was weakened enough to leave out some space for a short burst of bravado.

"What? I thought you could read minds." Her knuckles clenched, shaking with the mix of anxiety and anger. "Or was that dream assassination attempt just a fluke?"

This time, only the eyes followed her. "You have quite a mouth for someone so weak. Let me assure you, I am facing only a few... technical difficulties. I do not have time to tell the whole story."

That information was... humanizing. It was enough for Stella's mind to clear up a larger piece of the fear that latched on her like a cursed parasite for hours.

"I see the strategy here, spawn of Humankind." The construct shifted its head back to her, then tilted slightly to the side. "As long as the Monoke child is by your side, I will not have the courage to disembowel you right here and now." Its eyes pulsated with an eerie turquoise glow. "If that is the game you want to play, I will freeze and relocate you far enough so the pup cannot track you. Once I have succeeded..."

Stella's storm of emotions was interrupted by Lien's growl scraping against her left ear.

"You think I'm gonna let my packmate be caught by YOU?!" She unsheathed her claws. "I don't care how strong people think you are! I will tear your face apart before you do anything to Stella!!!"

The Wolf lunged forward, winding her arm for a devastating slashing attack at the construct's arm! It intercepted her blow with a quickly conjured ice dagger, successfully ceasing her momentum before summoning a second one to its remaining hand.

Stella took the opportunity to strike while her girlfriend's claws clashed against two blades in a fierce clash. While running, she commanded tiny bits of rock to leave the ground and cling to her hand. When she closed the distance between them, her right hand was already encased in a rugged, earthy gauntlet.

"Lien! Open her guard up!" Golden wisps emitted from the glove's crevices.

The pup held both the golem's hands, locked in a mighty struggle! "On it!" Summoning the full extent of her whiteish aura, she pushed its arms to the side just in time for the Human to step on her back, use her as a platform, and jump at it with a rocky knuckle!

Stella's eyes locked on the forehead rune. Her experience in Grýla's lair would forever burn bright in her memories.

"MOUNTAIN-"

The gauntlet exploded, the golden Saniya within erupting and losing its shape, the brightness emitted forcing the girl to close her eyes and trust the potency of her spell.

"OBLITERATOR!!!"

She felt the collision between rock and ice reverberating down to her bones. After she clumsily rolled on the snow by the undeniable pull of gravity, her eyes opened and frantically searched for the Yūrei simulacrum.

Eventually, she found it - slowly melting, its limbs limp and barely melded together against the foot of one of Chikukei's hills. Everything from the neck up was practically obliterated, fitting for the technique that caused its demise.

Stella felt somewhat bad for the inanimate statue, akin to when she vandalized the "face" of a goopling. However, that feeling faded as quickly as it came, her subsequent experiences dulling such guilt. Especially that bear...

"You did it!" Lien pounced on her back, pinning her against winter's cold, white embrace. "See? We've got enough to send that freaky lady packing!"

Stella hummed in response, her thoughts a mix of amusement, pessimism, and a narrow beam of positivity piercing through.

She didn't wait for the pup to get off her. Instead, she stood up, making her beloved hit her back on the freezing layer as payback.

"We can make the best of this!" Lien swung her arms and legs, forming a canine snow angel. "It's not every day we have winter off-season!"

The Human couldn't help but smile amidst these heavy circumstances. Only Lien and perhaps Asra could pull this off.

"You got a point," she conceded, lying beside her fluffy love. "There's no point in going after her, right? She knows where we are, so we can wait for her here."

Lien nodded. "Besides, I can detect everything that approaches us! There's no way she can-" She sat up with a startling hastiness, her milky eyes wide and quivering. "We're in danger again!"

Oh, for fuck's sake...

"Is it another clone?" Stella asked.

She bobbed her head in agreement, though her expression remained unchanged. After their performance, how could- Oh.

"How many?"

"Around twenty. Maybe even more." Lien stood up.

Shit.

The two underage adventurers steel themselves for the upcoming horde, staring intently at the woods. Their fighting stances became much more polished and stable thanks to the confidence boost from defeating the last construct.

Stella took a deep breath, her eyes burning with resolve. If she were to meet her end this winter, it would be at the hands of an actual someone, not those walking popsicles!

And so, she waited...

And waited...

For a bit longer...

Anytime now...

...

The Human growled, her eyes rolling back. "Lien, what the fuck is going on?"

"I don't know! They just... stopped?" The pup tilted her head, her eyes squinting with puzzlement. "They are all in a single spot. It's almost impossible to tell each one apart..."

"What is that zombie planning?" Stella murmured.

"Wait." Lien extended her arm in her packmate's way. "There's more. A different Saniya is surrounding the clones."

"Can you tell who it is from?"

The young huntress stays silent for a few seconds.

Lien's tail jerked abruptly. "Gentō!?"