Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

Shedra’s head snapped high.

Blood-red light flickered violently in her eyes as her massive body thrashed against the ground. Purplish-red breath surged up, trying to force the white energy out—only to be crushed back again and again the moment it touched the lightning.

The white sphere pushed all the way into her brain.

Ethan let go.

Shedra’s tail dropped with a heavy slam. The half-formed attack in her mouth scattered at the same time. Purplish-red power leaked between her teeth, leaving only a few scorched grooves on the ground before fading.

Far off, Velmira was still catching the tiny crawlers the shockwave had thrown.

She cradled the last few larvae on her thin wings and carefully set them back on the ground—but she hadn’t missed the moment Ethan stuffed that energy sphere into Shedra’s head.

All the eyes on her wings tightened at once.

Velmira opened her mouth, ready to call every insect into one final swarm.

She didn’t get a sound out.

Ice snapped shut over her lips in an instant.

Crack.

A thick block sealed her entire mouth.

Cold spread down her face, burrowing into her throat and chest. It wasn’t normal chill—it was the kind that pressed into bone, the kind that felt like it could scrape against your soul.

Velmira’s body locked up.

Cold.

So cold.

It felt like her soul had been shoved into an ice cube, freezing layer by layer along with the rest of her.

This was leagues beyond anything the ice phoenix’s chill had ever been.

Velmira couldn’t speak. She could only scream inside her own head, frantic and raw.

Shedra, wake up already...

Don’t let anything happen.

Don’t scare me.

Ethan looked up into the air.

Velmira was frozen stiff, making muffled, useless noises through the ice. The eyes on her wings were still glaring at him, furious.

Ethan’s brow creased.

Why did he get the feeling this bug was cussing him out?

He dusted off his hands and stepped up through the air, riding compressed space until he was right in front of Velmira.

Another white lightning sphere formed in his palm.

Arcs crawled along its surface—threatening enough without him saying a word.

"And then?" Ethan nudged the ball forward a little.

"That’s it?"

Velmira’s mouth was sealed. She couldn’t answer.

She could only nod stiffly.

A watery shine rose in the eyes on her wings, and with that wronged, teary look, she honestly appeared like Ethan had bullied her a hundred times already.

Ethan turned his head toward Queen Elowen.

Elowen was still standing in the back, bored, idly playing with a round ice ball.

Except at some point, the ice around her had piled into a miniature fortress. It had little walls, neat interior walkways—there was even a row of tiny ice pillars along the edge like decorations.

Ethan’s gaze drifted sideways.

Wait.

Why was there a slide inside the walls?

Four streaks of light suddenly shot out of Ethan’s body.

Auri and the other three little ones landed beside Elowen and sprinted straight for the ice fortress. No mission. No urgency.

They’d spotted the ice slide behind the wall—and the glossy little skating rink next to it.

In no time, the four of them were having the time of their lives.

They slid down from the top again and again, then chased each other across the rink, their laughter carrying through the air in bright bursts.

"Daddy!"

Auri stood at the top of the slide, waving at Ethan like her arm might fall off.

"Come play!"

Like hell Ethan was going to be sliding down an ice slide at a time like this.

He had to maintain the dignity of a commander.

So, naturally... he only played a little.

Velmira, frozen off to the side, stared blankly as the guy who’d just been threatening her sat on the slide and got shoved down by four giggling little demons.

During that stretch, Shedra’s consciousness steadily returned.

When she lifted her head again, most of the blood-red in her eyes had faded. She saw Velmira with her mouth frozen shut and tears in her eyes, and she slithered closer, letting out a low sound.

Velmira immediately poured out her suffering to her.

After listening, Shedra looked awkward.

She extended the tip of her tail and poked the ice phoenix beside her, signaling they should talk about what to do next.

The two exchanged a few quiet lines.

Then, without even thinking twice, they went over near Ethan and stood there silently—like two servants waiting for orders.

Ethan, however, was still skating.

It wasn’t until Phoenix Queen Ignara flew overhead.

She looked down, saw the ice fortress blocking the way, and a natural lick of flame fell from her fingertips. Heat spread along the walls and the slide, and the delicate ice structure melted into streams of water in seconds.

The four little ones returned to Ethan, still unsatisfied.

Only then did Ethan walk up to Shedra and Velmira.

"Done?" he asked, looking at Velmira—who still seemed tense.

"Shedra’ll be fully awake in a minute. You don’t have to be that worried."

At first Ethan assumed Velmira was just intimidated by his presence.

But when he looked closer, he realized the eyes on her wings weren’t on him at all.

They were fixed—heavy, wary—on the purplish-red power inside Shedra that hadn’t fully dispersed yet.

So this wasn’t just a normal out-of-control shed.

"You’re not about to tell me..." Ethan’s casual tone fell away.

"...that what Velmira’s afraid of is something external, right?"

Behind Shedra, Velmira beat her thin wings once and nodded hard.

The ice phoenix stepped forward and explained on its own.

"We only wanted to live safely with our kind."

Its voice dropped low.

"But an army that lives in the snow broke the peace here."

By now, the ice at Velmira’s mouth had been released.

She worked her stiff jaw a few times, then walked to Ethan’s side and looked at Shedra.

"Those people once received favors from certain craftsmen," she said.

"They became brave and vicious—and then they decided they wanted to rule the entire snow mountain."

Velmira’s wings folded in slightly.

"Shedra was struck by the strongest mage among them. Ever since then, whenever her power becomes unstable, she turns into... what you just saw."

Ethan connected that with what the village elder had described and quickly pieced together the general story.

The group left the simulated space and arrived on a vast snowfield.

Ethan had just been about to ask Shedra which direction that snow-country lay in—

when, in the distance, figures appeared in a spreading mass.

They were already here.

The blizzard churned as the army approached.

Heavy footsteps crushed through the drifts, the vibration rolling through the valley. On a nearby slope, snow lost its hold and broke free—an enormous avalanche roaring down toward the base of the mountain.

War was about to erupt.

Emerald Castle’s army had long since formed up.

Soldiers raised their weapons. Energy shields unfolded across the front line. Power gathered in the rear ranks, ready to leap over the defense and strike.

Ethan rose into the air, studying the enemy formation.

Seraphina charged out first.

Velmira’s slippery flight style had jerked her around for way too long earlier, and all that pent-up irritation translated cleanly into dragon breath.

Her massive head lowered.

Scorching energy gathered in her mouth, then became a thick torrent of flame that swept straight across the enemy line.

Snow and ice flashed into meltwater on contact.

A huge cloud of white steam billowed up. Armor and weapons screamed under the heat.

As Ethan scanned the battlefield, an ice arrow shot in from the side.

It cut through the wind and snow, coming straight for his head.