“Ice II.”

  A dozen rge ice spears materialized above me and shot downward, impaling the screaming goblins. Their dying shrieks filled the cave as their bodies convulsed on the rocky ground, green blood pooling beneath them.

  I exhaled, my breath visible in the chilled air. “That should be all of them.”

  Cyrus didn’t reply, but he lowered his stance, scanning the cave for movement. Feya crouched beside one of the corpses, brushing her fingers over its glowing green skin. Her lips pressed into a thin line.

  “Magic residue,” she muttered. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  I frowned and stepped closer—

  A green wave of energy burst from the body and smmed into my chest.

  I stumbled back, my heart hammering. Power surged through me, raw and untamed. My magic fred, sharper than before. More of those energy waves detached from the goblins, spreading outward. Cyrus and Feya flinched as they were hit, their bodies tensing.

  It didn’t hurt. If anything, it felt… good. Too good.

  Like when I mixed fireweed with bluedrop mushroom caps. That was good stuff.

  Cyrus flexed his fingers, his grip on his sword tightening. Feya’s breath hitched. I clenched my fists, feeling my magic coiling under my skin like a cat.

  “Vos.”

  “Vos?”

  “This isn’t normal magic. It’s Vos.” I swallowed. “I read about it—some kind of ancient magic that takes the wielder’s life as payment for power…”

  “WHAT?!”

  “I think you prepare a sacrifice and exchange their life force for power. And this power transfers to the one who kills the user.”

  ‘You really scare me sometimes,’ Cyrus signed at me.

  “I—I don’t study evil magic… I just read about it in a book on monsters and rogue mages,” I defended myself. No way. I am a healer, not some murderous evil mage!

  Feya’s expression darkened. “Then we shouldn’t be using it.”

  I looked at my hands, still tingling with borrowed strength. “...Too te for that.”

  We pushed forward—wait. Wait. I didn’t even tell you how we got here.

  It all started earlier.

  ---------------------———————————-----------------------———————————--

  [Fshback]

  Feya knelt beside a patch of disturbed soil, brushing her fingertips over a massive footprint embedded in the dirt. The impression was deep, at least twice the size of a normal man’s boot, with jagged cw marks at the tip. The edges were fresh.

  “This is it,” she muttered. “Ogre tracks.”

  Cyrus leaned in, his sharp eyes scanning the area. ‘Alone?’

  “No.” Feya pointed ahead, where smaller tracks crisscrossed the ground. “There were goblins here.”

  “What’s more, there’s no sign of conflict.” Feya’s jaw tightened. “That’s not normal.”

  I gnced around. We were deep in the forest now, far beyond the roads.

  “Things have been… strange tely,” she continued. “Something’s making the monsters more aggressive and stronger. My vilge has been getting refugees—elves from deeper in the woods, ones who should’ve been safe.”

  I frowned. “That does sound bad.”

  ‘So the ogre went inside to escape?’ Cyrus signed.

  “Looks like it.”

  I let out a long sigh. “Great. Ogres and goblins are working together? Did they finally grow some brains or something?”

  “Probably.”

  Cyrus gave Feya a ft look that said, ‘And you still want to go inside?’

  “Look, we can’t turn back now,” Feya reasoned. “Besides, if an ogre is hiding in the caves, it’s easier to kill them there.”

  “They’re big and slow in closed spaces,” she added. Her ears twitched as she looked at the cave’s entrance. “I don’t let prey escape.”

  Cyrus gnced at me.

  “Hunter’s pride,” I realized. “You want to cim it as your kill.”

  “Yes—I mean, it can’t be helped. It’s too dangerous to be left alive,” Feya tried to convince us.

  Elves were mostly hunters and gatherers, with only a few rare ones involved in farming. As such, hunting was a sacred part of their culture. Naturally, a great hunter was honored and respected, so a young elf eager to prove herself… I should have realized it sooner when she volunteered to hunt the ogre.

  “You owe us one for this,” I told her.

  Feya nodded.

  We followed the tracks into the darkness… and straight into a goblin ambush.

  ---------------------———————————-----------------------———————————--

  [Back to Present]

  “...Why did I even come here?” I muttered.

  ‘I was wondering that too,’ Cyrus signed ftly.

  The tunnels were tight, the air thick with moisture. Our footsteps echoed against the stone.

  I was seriously considering the possibility of a powerful mage behind this monster horde—and wanted nothing more than to GO BACK HOME NOW.

  Then, more goblins appeared. Bigger, nastier, their bodies swollen with that unnatural magic.

  I raised my hand. “Ice—”

  Too slow.

  One lunged, its cws swinging for my throat—

  CLANG.

  Cyrus intercepted it, his bde cutting through flesh like butter.

  Feya darted forward, her bdes carving into the goblins before they could react. They howled, thrashing as green light flickered from their bodies. More pulses of power escaped, feeding into us.

  I wasn’t going to waste it.

  “Ice Lance!”

  A thick shard of ice shot from my hands, piercing through two goblins at once. They screamed before colpsing.

  Silence followed. Only our breathing remained.

  Feya wiped her bde on her sleeve. “...I hate this pce.”

  Cyrus nodded 'Agreed'

  ---------------------———————————-----------------------———————————--

  We twisted through narrow tunnels, doubling back more than once. The deeper we went, the worse the air felt—thick with damp rot and something else.

  After what felt like hours, Feya finally admitted it.

  “We are lost.”

  We stood in a rge, hollowed-out cavern, stactites hanging like jagged teeth above us.

  By mutual consent, we agreed that there was probably a mage behind this, and we’d probably end up dead if we continued. So, let’s go back and warn everyone.

  Only problem? We were lost in this maze of a cave.

  “I thought you elves knew the whole forest like the back of your hand,” I grumbled.

  “I don’t explore deep caves. We avoid those pces… with good reason.”

  “This is all your fault.”

  “Ehhh? No way, I was only—”

  Cyrus tapped us.

  “What?!”

  He pointed toward a small cave opening.

  A limp figure emerged.

  It was massive. So big it made the forest bears look small. Thick, deep-green hide. Long, knife-like cws. Slimy, grayish fur-hair on its head and back.

  An ogre.

  This monster would have been terrifying—if it wasn’t already half-dead. Gashes covered its massive body, three dozen arrows still lodged in its flesh. It wheezed, bck blood leaking from its wounds. The rangers must have done a number on that beast.

  “Well, this is anticlimactic,” I muttered.

  Feya didn’t hesitate. She rushed forward, bdes fshing—

  The ogre moved.

  For something so wounded, it was fast. Its massive hand swung in a blur, forcing her to twist away. Cyrus dashed in from the side, sshing at its exposed leg. The bde bit deep, cutting through muscle. The ogre roared, staggering—

  I took my chance.

  “Jetfme!”

  A hot jet of fme hit it square in the face. It roared in agony, filing.

  “Burn!” I hit it again with another bst, charring the tough hide bck.

  ‘Cyrus, do you know the X-Strike technique?’

  Cyrus grinned. “Let’s go!”

  With simultaneous battle cries, Feya and Cyrus charged at perpendicur angles, ripping a cross open on the monster’s body.

  With a final, choking cry, it fell.

  Silence.

  Feya let out a shaky sigh. “It is—”

  CRACK.

  The ogre’s body began glowing an unearthly rainbow—then vanished in a bst of light.

  The ground beneath us split.

  And then we were falling.

  ---------------------———————————-----------------------———————————--