This hike was much different pared to their escape from Mountaiheir backpacks were filled to the brim with useful tools, gadgets, food for Li, and batteries for Aira. It wasn't that Li prepared for their escape poorly, she packed enough stuff for them to survive in the forest ao the a facility. But they weren't offered much time to prepare for their flight.

  Once again, Aira could only admire the iy of the humans of this world. They had to find so many solutions for problems that were so easily solved with magi her past life. Even now, when she didn't have to rely on food to replenish her energy reserves, she enjoyed all the small tools and traptions that made hiking so much easier. Even things like colpsible tents that weighed almost nothing or those magically warm sleeping bags they borrowed from the a facility's warehouses.

  It was two days since Aira and Li left their temporary home. They crossed the ridge, and a vast valley opened before their eyes oher side. They could see an unexplored area mostly covered with forests and a rge river that cut through the woodnd before they began their dest.

  Now, acc to Li's calcutions, they covered almost half of the way to that river.

  "By the Elders' breath, how do you not know how to read the stars?" Li said, shaking her head. "Don't tell me you didn't have moons or a sun ba your world!"

  "Truly, I never needed anything like that," answered Aira. "I either used a skill, or quests helped me to find my destination. And we have only one moon in my world. Not that it ges anything."

  "One moon?" Li repeated, her brows shooting up. "Well, root me sideways, that's strange. Anyway, we're shadowfooting it northeast. The city's somewhere oher side of this valley. But we've got that big river waiting to bite us in the bramble first."

  "Do the old maps offer any crossings?" asked Aira.

  "They do," Li replied. "But I didn't catch sight of any bridges from up there. By the roots, it's still early enough in spring that the ice might hold, but this river could be colder than cliff shade and twice as treacherous when it warms up."

  ***

  Aira stood by her vow to keep probing their surroundings with her Energy Manipution skill as often as possible while not draining her reserves. Still, while she was able to ehat there were no humans in their viity, it was hard to focus on any specifiergy signatures. The forest was teaming with animals of all sizes. When Aira tried to force her probing powers, it felt like she was staring into a bright fire without blinking.

  At the same time, if she didn't try to focus too mud bed a wider area with her senses, Aira could find gregations of energy patterns of some distinct types. Most probably, those were human vilges and towns spread all over this area.

  Following the animal trails and avoiding human signatures as much as possible, the two women started traversing the valley. Nature was slowly returning from its slumber like a warrior who had received an almost deadly wound during a fight but still survived and was ready to return to their training habits. The air was filled with the mixed st of the st deg foliage from the previous year and fresh sprouts of the new year's pnts.

  The trees were almost ready to sprout, with a hint of damp bark and the faint promise of budding greenery mingling with the lingering ess of winter. It was almost possible tet the gruesome events of the past few days and the sadness of leaving what became their home. Still, there was some snow in pces, and small ponds they found on their way were covered with ice, giving Aira and Li hope for a safe crossing of the grand river ahead.

  Avoiding humans was a strange quest both for Aira and Li. One alreferred a direct frontation to any other way of handling problems, and the other was still flicted by her break-out with human society. Still, ohing was undeniable: avoiding other people was safer for them. At least for now.

  While their route toward the grand river was a bit more circuitous than they'd prefer, one day ter, they came out of the woods to the shores of the stream they saw from the top of the ridge.

  Nature tio wake up from winter, and small streams of meltwater ran toward the river, with every passing miing away the iear the shores. Birds were cheerfully chirping, weling the warmer weather. Still, the ice cover on the surface of the water seemed intact. Hopefully, that feeling would prove to be correct during the crossing.

  There was another risk in crossing the river, its vast surfad whiteness made anyone who ventured forward visible from afar. And Li's information about the neighb settlements didn't go as far as this valley. They could faything here, from help to open aggression.

  heless, they didn't have much choice but to tiheir jourhe uified energy signature Aira, suspected to be an undead, had reached the river a while ago and crossed to the forests oher side to tiheir movement. It was increasingly more evident that they had the same destination in mind, the a city from Li's stories.

  Cautiously testing the edges, Aira and Li stepped on the ice. It crackled softly uheir feet, the soft popping spreading and eg in all dires. But for now, there was no one in the viity who could pose any dao the pair crossing the river.

  "Spirits in the shadows, this thing is huge!" Li excimed, staring at the river. "I don't think I've ever seehis wide before."

  "How long would it take to cross it? What's your estimate?" asked Aira.

  "Twenty minutes? Maybe more if the ice gets squirrelly. It seems solid now, but let's not stick around to find out otherwise. Shadowfoot it, a's make this quick. Do you feel any humans sniffing around nearby?"

  "Nothing too close to us," said Aira. "But there are humans around us. And our mysterious friend is approximately a day ahead of us. He moves faster than you. And that only firms to me that he has magic."

  "Alrighty, let's move it!" said Li and fidently began to move away from the shore.

  ***

  Almost as expected, it took a bit less thay mio get to the middle of the river. Crossing the ice surface appeared more treacherous than trekking on nd. Thick yers of snow covered ice pilings and cracks. Aira and Li often had to step cautiously, slowing their movement down.

  The ice shield of the river tio make eg crag sounds, reag to the pressure put on it by the two women.

  "Somebody is moving in our dire on the opposite shore," said Aira as they started getting closer. "And they are moving fast. They aren't moving on foot."

  "Riding, maybe?" Li guessed, narrowing her eyes. "Or using some kind of vehicle? We've got a few of those ba Mountain View, but we weren't fanough to get them on patrol."

  "It's hard to say yet," said Aira. "I don't have any reference points. But the overall energy signature is too massive for a human."

  "Looks like we're stu sap," muttered Li. "Let's keep moving and see how the leaves fall whe there."

  Soon, they heard the sound of a two-wheel vehicle rushing along the river's shore. A lone person sat in the saddle.

  "Should I do anything about it?" asked Aira. "I reach out and incapacitate that person."

  "By the roots, don't you dare," Li warned, her voice low. "Let's try keeping this as smooth as a valley stream for now."

  "Alright," said Aira. "But let's be ready."

  The person tinued riding toward the point where Aira and Li po get onshore. As soon as they reached the spot, the figure stopped and dismounted.

  It was hard to see iail from that distance, but it looked like the newer sloroached the shore.

  A few seds ter, Aira and Li heard a shout ing through:

  "It ... the terri... ry of the ... ! You ... not a... d en... r! ... y onl... permit... of ... lea... !"

  " you uand what they are shouting at us?" asked Aira.

  "All I caught was ',' 'not,' and 'permit,' nothing more," said Li. "By the bark, though, they don't sound too thrilled we're here."

  "Well, as you said," said Aira. "It's not like we have any options. Let's move and hope we'll be able to deal with this person whe to the shore."

  They waved to the person on the shore and tiheir crossing at a bit faster pace as if nothing had happened. Now that they were fronted by an unkner or whoever that was, the st superficial shreds of safety were lost.

  The human, and after it dismouhe energy signature definitely marked the person as a human to Aira, shouted something else, and then started moviically right at the edge of the ice. But again, it was hard to see what the human was doing there.

  Moments ter, however, they felt a crag sound reag them through the ice. A sed passed, and a muffled sound reached them through the air: "Thump!"

  And then even more: "Thump! Thump! Thump!"

  Before Li could say anything, Aira focused her Energy Manipution skill on the person hammering the id sent a powerful are pulse toward them.

  Even from this distahey saw the figure start slowly folding on the shore. But before it was down, ahump!" rang through the ice. And right after that, a series of much louder crag sounds echoed through the surface. A first crack began spreading almost at the speed of sound from the shore in the dire of the two people crossing the river.

  "Fast! Let's move aside from the crack!" shouted Aira. "It's going to break!"

  They ran diagonally, trying at the same time to move away from the crad ing closer to the shore.

  The sounds of crag ice were being deafening. But even more disturbing was that the cracks began to spread in all dires, sprouting away from the initial fault line.

  In a few pces, there were so many cracks already that whole segments of ice were being separated, shifted by the river's flow.

  Aira and Li tinued running. Slowly getting closer and closer to the shore. The ice tinued crag and moving, but it all seemed to happen to the side of them.

  They covered almost half of the remaining distance, and Aira felt a renewed hope they would get out of this mess dry and safe when another series of loud cracks sounded hem. Ider Li's gave way, and the huma u momentarily.

  "Li!" shouted Aira, desperately trying to catch Li's hand at the st moment. But the green-haired woman was taken by the stream so fast that it would have been impossible to grasp her even with the boosts Aira could buff herself with.

  With her are senses, Aira could feel Li uhe thiess of the ice, but the current was so fast that it was hard for Aira to overtake Li.

  Meanwhile, precious seds passed. Li didn't have much time.

  Agility: ??? + 15 [(Base Stat + Level) / 3]

  Boosting herself a bit more, Aira was finally able to get ahead. She took out her makeshift warhammer from her belt, then, with all her might, she jumped high in the air and brought the hammer's power down on the ice.

  A series of cracks started spreading all around Aira. Pieces of ice crumbling under her feet and being washed away.

  Only at the st moment was Aira able to jump away and avoid being dragged by the current herself.

  Still, more was o help Li. She was tinuing to move forward with the river's current.

  Aira probed again, sensing Li's diminishing energy. She was giving away too much to the ess of the river. Li's life force was fading away.

  But then, Aira sensed another energy signature uhe water approag Li. It couldn't be a human. And it was uhat pattered by what was supposedly an undead.

  An animal?

  It seemed that it was intrigued by the uer human but wasn't ready to approach yet. Was it waiting for Li to die first?

  Aira couldn't allow that.