Fire engulfed the behemoth, slowing it down enough for Daliya to leap away from under its claws. The flames rumbled, melting its icy armor, but whatever melted away was soon regenerated into an even stronger shield, strengthening its newfound weaknesses.

  “The heck is wrong with this big maw popsicle? Why won’t it die?” Daliya yelled, frustrated with their dwindling chances.

  “Popsicle?” Haitham raised an amused brow at her, eyes fixed on the monster, assessing what they were dealing with.

  “It’s not like I know its human name,” she huffed.

  Haitham snorted, head shaking lightly.

  She glanced warily as the relatively smaller monster shrieked. The monster took a big chunk of its torso, chewing it like it was savoring its taste. This oddly reminded her of some customers back at the restaurants—the ones who would flood the place whenever they had arranged an all-you-can-eat buffet for the price of one meal. She still remembered those dark days when the manager was desperate for a bit of visibility.

  “What should we do?” she asked.

  It seemed like a never ending battle. No matter how many times they hacked at the monster, it would simply grow back.

  Haitham tsked. “You’re right. We can’t let this monstrosity roam loose. God knows what other diet it might turn to.”

  The monster was huge, easily towering over everything else. From its size, Daliya could only guess at the number of monsters it had feasted on.

  Her eyes roamed, watching the flailing, struggling monsters struggle to get the soul stone. Then, one by one, they were picked up and shoved into the opened maw, the jagged teeth tearing into them with gusto.

  She needed to do something.

  She needed to cut off its energy supply.

  Haitham nodded at her glance. He lifted his hand, and a blazing wall sprung into existence, sheltering her from the giant’s claws. She launched herself towards the monsters, glad for their distraction. She easily tore into them, their husks evaporating before they took notice of her presence amongst them.

  The giant lunged toward her, ignoring Haitham’s attempt to lure him back. It trampled the ones in its way, barreling through its remaining energy backup, and swung its clawed hand at Daliya.

  Daliya jerked back, the claws scratching against her ice wall with a jeering sound.

  “Not so fast.”

  Haitham landed a few feet away, his dagger twisting in mid-swing to rest at his side. A second later, the offending hand fell to the ground with a splat.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Regaining the monster’s attention, he led it away. Daliya sped to the other side to take care of the remaining lost souls.

  Their nonchalance as her blade cut into them and split their soul stones into smithereens was a bit comforting. She wasn’t killing humans. She wasn’t denying helpless people the help they couldn’t voice out. She was destroying monsters. Crazed creatures who didn’t even bat an eye as the remainder of their energy was consumed or a sharp blade cut into their souls.

  Stragglers finally taken care of, she turned to the fighting duo. Haitham was twisting around the monster as if in a dance, his dagger cutting new wounds into its frozen limbs. He seemed to dominate the fight. The energy he was using was sparse and controlled, concentrated around his dagger. But she knew, soon enough, he would be pushed into a corner. As she had read in those books, the freezing terrain near the north did no favors to a Fire Bearer. Soon, he would be forced to use even more fire energy—something she had noticed Haitham avoided like the plague. And sooner still, he would run out of said energy while the monster was in his element, pulling power from its surroundings.

  She put her hands on the ground, the snow alleviating some of the strain on her shoulders. She spared a split second to run her fingers through its soft texture before she pushed all her power to the ground, fusing with the snow and ice underneath.

  She hadn’t tried using her powers on such a large scale. She had just recently mastered the ice and started viewing it as part of her, as something belonging to her and not the real princess.

  She pushed and pushed, feeling each and every frozen particle resting on the ground. She felt their vibrations as the monster stomped towards Haitham, its hands reaching for him, claws extended to rip his core.

  Then, she let it loose. Ice spread through the ground like a rushing wave, freezing everything in its path.

  The monster paused, glancing with unseeing eyes at the ice devouring its legs. Then, with a swift movement of his hand, it cut through its own legs, separating the frozen appendage from the rest of its body.

  The monster stumbled but didn’t fall. Two ice spikes jutted from its body, replacing its legs, thinner and smaller. But the ice didn’t stop. From the point connecting the monster to the ground, a new layer of ice spread, covering the area surrounding it. Daliya had barely enough time to alert Haitham before the spikes jutted forward, right where the Fire Bearer was.

  Daliya reached her hand forward, ice striking against ice as her shield covered Haitham's retreat.

  The monster glanced at her. For a split second, she thought she saw irritation in its beady eyes. It snarled, snapping its fangs at her.

  Daliya huffed, staring it down despite the height difference.

  They were battling for dominance over the ground. And as an Ice Wielder, she would loathe to lose to a monster.

  Daliya sprinted. The air froze under her feet, makeshift ice stairs she stepped on, elevating herself above the roaring monster. As she reached the highest point, her hand reached downward, calling snow and ice to her.

  Ice spears broke through the ground, impaling the monster and keeping it in place.

  Taking it as his cue to attack, Haitham sprinted towards her, using the ice stairs she left in her wake, and—instead of following her to the other side—he dove down toward the trapped beast.

  Haitham’s eyes shone a bright, fiery red. Flames encased his dagger, red copper at the edges. He sped towards it, evading the few appendages that got loose and slashed through right in the middle. He landed a few feet behind it, its soul stone in his grasp.

  The monster trashed for a split second before it dissolved into mist.

  Daliya stood there, waiting for it to reassemble itself and roar at them.

  Nothing.

  They had defeated it.

  She beamed at Haitham. His answering smile was enough to make her heart skip a beat.