Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

Ethan didn’t order the army to hunt the stragglers down.

It wasn’t mercy.

It was just that, in weather like this, a fleeing man running into wild beasts was... perfectly reasonable.

Wait.

That over there didn’t look like a beast.

It was a beautiful butterfly.

After the battle, everyone regrouped.

Phoenix Queen Ignara shifted back into her phoenix form, folded her wings, and lay down on the snow. Flames burned steadily along the edges of her body, turning her into a living furnace.

They all crowded around the giant "heater" to warm up.

Only Elira still hadn’t returned.

They were just about to split up and search when the space nearby rippled.

A ring of purplish-red light unfolded above the snow.

Shedra descended through the passage with the insect army behind her. She’d originally planned to come to the battlefield personally and really crush the three sisters’ arrogance.

Instead, the moment she landed, she saw Ethan and the others already sitting by the fire, warming their hands.

The fight was over.

Shedra slid down off Velmira’s back.

Velmira folded her thin wings and came over, starting to introduce Shedra and explain the insects’ situation to both sides.

After all these clashes, Ethan had a pretty good idea what the three sisters had been relying on.

Orun’s tech.

But Orun wouldn’t even save its own kind—so how could it sincerely help three strangers?

Whatever item it had handed them probably was never meant to last long.

Give it a little more time and it would—most likely—blow.

Boom!

Firelight erupted in the far distance.

Everyone turned at once.

A huge mushroom cloud rose between the snowy mountains, heat painting the nearby ice a furious red. The shockwave rolled over the valley, racing toward Ethan’s group.

Andona lifted one hand.

A pale golden barrier spread around them.

The blast hit the outer layer. Fire and shattered ice split and flowed off to either side along the shield’s surface.

Andona stayed seated like a model citizen, not even shifting her position, continuing to soak up Phoenix Queen Ignara’s warmth.

Shedra looked at Ethan.

Seeing her savior again, the excitement in her eyes was almost impossible to contain.

Her enormous body slid forward a length.

If she weren’t worried about her size, she would’ve lunged over immediately and thanked him in person.

Shedra inched closer, dragging a deep trench through the snow. That posture didn’t look like "thanks" so much as "I’m about to pounce and wrap my benefactor up a few times from head to toe."

Ethan raised a hand immediately.

"Stop."

Shedra froze with her head still a short distance from him. Her tongue flicked lightly, and in her fully awake eyes, regret was practically written out in bold.

Ethan had zero interest in finishing a battle just to get pressed into the snow by a skyscraper-sized snake.

After a brief farewell, Shedra led the swarm back to her own space. A purplish-red passage opened above the snowfield, and insects large and small slipped inside one by one. The ice phoenix and Velmira followed at the rear.

They needed to recuperate.

Shedra needed even more time to stabilize the power she’d only just regained.

When the last insect entered, the spatial entrance slowly closed. Everyone climbed back onto Seraphina’s back and left Frostreach in the biting wind, setting off on the next leg of their journey.

Only... it seemed like they’d forgotten someone.

In a cave far from the battlefield, Elira sat by a small fire with her cheeks puffed out in anger.

Her dazzling Divine Sovereign Moth wings were half-open behind her, and a few steady little flames burned along the edges. If those wings couldn’t make fire, she probably would’ve frozen to death out here alone.

"Seriously... nobody came to look for me..."

Elira hugged her knees tight, staring into the dancing flames.

The more she thought about it, the madder she got.

From deep in the cave came heavy footsteps.

Thud.

Thud.

They drew closer, each step shaking loose tiny ice crumbs from the ceiling.

Elira sprang to her feet, her Divine Sovereign Moth wings snapping fully open. One rune-eye after another lit up across the membranes, all of them fixed on the massive silhouette inching forward in the dark.

Before a stranger says hello, you throw a flashbang and see what happens.

Completely reasonable.

Elira beat her wings hard and shot forward along the cave wall. As she passed a patch of piled snow, she scooped up a huge swath with her wide wings, spun—

and slapped the whole load straight into the shadow.

Whoosh!

Snow covered the target head-on.

Elira retreated instantly, dropping back by the fire, rune-eyes on her wings locked forward.

The firelight caught the drifting snow powder.

The hulking shape finally showed itself.

A tall snowman.

Its round body was packed thick with snow, and its face had been smeared completely white by Elira’s attack. Perched on top of its head was a small boy who looked... almost too well-behaved.

The boy wiped the snow off his face. Instead of getting mad, his eyes brightened.

"Big sister, do you want to play a snowball fight with me?"

He patted the snowman excitedly.

"Mom said we can play snowball fights now!"

Hearing that, the snowman bent down eagerly.

It stretched out branch-like arms, scooped up two lumps of snow, and expertly rolled them into snowballs. It placed one in the little boy’s hand and offered the other to Elira.

Elira stared at the pair of them, blank.

A minor.

Riding a snowman.

Speeding around the frozen wilderness.

Wow.

Minus points.

A lot of minus points.

She quietly folded her wings and was about to take the snowball when a fierce gust howled outside the cave.

Then a familiar voice—so familiar it was honestly moving—cut through the wind and snow.

"Elira?"

Elira’s snowball target changed instantly.

She whipped it out of the cave as hard as she could, then flared her Divine Sovereign Moth wings again. Snow at her feet burst apart from the airflow as she launched like a dart, charging straight at the voice.

"Master!"

Elira threw her arms around Ethan.

"I thought you forgot me!"

Ethan’s raised hand stopped awkwardly in midair. His smile looked... a little strained.

If Andona hadn’t done a headcount before they left, this little girl really might’ve been abandoned in Frostreach.

"How could I forget?" Ethan said smoothly.

At his side, Andona quietly looked away.

She decided to leave the commander a shred of dignity.

Unfortunately, the snowball Elira had thrown didn’t vanish.

It sailed past Ethan’s shoulder and nailed Auri—standing behind him—dead in the face.

Smack!

Snow exploded across Auri’s cheeks.

The little one froze in place, her whole face plastered white. Only her eyes blinked slowly from behind the snow.

Ataneya watched and let out a small sigh.

The next second, Auri charged forward, grabbed Elira by the clothes, and yanked her straight off Ethan.

"You’re dead!"

Auri dragged Elira to an open patch of snow.

Fairy power spilled from Auri’s hands, turning into bands of light that bound Elira’s arms and legs completely. Elira tried to open her wings and bolt, but the wing membranes were wrapped tight, too.

A snowball began forming in Auri’s hands.

Slowly.

Bigger and bigger.

Ethan watched the two of them brawl in the snow with a helpless look, then turned his gaze back toward the cave.

The little boy was still sitting on the snowman’s shoulders.

The snowman trudged out from deep inside the cave, heavy steps muffled by the snow. The boy looked at Elira getting pelted by Auri, then lifted his head to Ethan.

"Thank you for bringing Elira back."

Ethan waved at him.

"Hope you’re happy every day. We’re heading out!"

The boy tipped his head up.

He watched Elira finally wriggle out of the light-bands and flutter back to Seraphina’s back, envy plain in his eyes.

Elira didn’t notice.

She still had a few snowballs hidden, crouching as she circled around behind Auri—clearly not giving up on revenge.

"Frostwick."

The boy lowered his head and patted the snowman gently.

"When will my mom come pick me up?"

The snowman—Frostwick—shuddered faintly.

It didn’t answer. It only turned and extended its branch-like arm, pointing firmly toward the distant mountains swallowed by wind and snow.

The boy stared that way for a moment.

Then a smile returned to his face.

"You’re right!"

He leaned down and hugged Frostwick’s head tight.

"As long as we save Frostreach, Mom will definitely come home!"

He raised the snowball high.

"Frostwick, let’s go!"

The snowman broke into a cheerful run.

Its heavy body pounded across the snow—moving at a speed that made absolutely no sense for its size. It carried the boy straight into the whiteout, shrinking fast until only a fading white silhouette remained.

Underage snowfield street racing.

Minus ten.