The huge ball of ice drew closer.

Its width eclipsed both ends of escape.

I stopped before the attack, not moving a step, adjusted the blade in my wrist, inverted. I gripped the handle of my blade, crossed my arms, with my blade raised.

"Quinette?"

Her mana flared in response.

Swosh. Swosh.

I carved my dagger into the coming attack — two strikes. Splitting it in half.

Quinette added to the attack, swung her blade as a wild sickle, cut the ball. The ball slowed in a delayed animation, then burst out into blocks of ice, rolling down the mountain.

Not bad.

Slam.

The talon swung his tail, its large fins slamming into the mountain where I was standing with force. Debris bursted out — instinctively, I had leaped away in a streak of blue.

Behind, Quinette had also escaped the attack.

I skidded, took a turn around, and dashed to it. With its tail down to earth, I didn’t risk the chances.

I poured mana into my dagger. It glowed. Translucent, matching my aura.

With a slice through the air, it flash-freezed, solidified into ice, an arc shot toward the talon as I attempted severing magic, carving into it. It flapped its tail, swatted the arc away.

It didn’t even leave a scratch on its scales.

"Hmph it’s tail it’s tough."

Quinette moved from the other side, cutting through the air with her wings.

She swung, but missed, cutting at nothing. The talon moved at an impossible angle due to its flexible body.

It would be harder than I thought.

The talon flew higher into the sky. I could do nothing much than stand and watch it dance in the sky.

It seemed to ignore us, continuing its gliding.

I gestured Quinette to wait, noticing she was about to take off — go after the talon, armored and ready.

"I’ll admit, it’s smart. Very slippery to catch."

"It knows fighting at ground level is a full disadvantage. So it returned to the air."

"I can defeat it." Quinette said with confidence.

I rolled my eyes

Quinette can’t defeat it if she fights on her own. This creature has very good intelligence.

That wouldn’t still save it from me. I’ll just have to fight it in the air.

The talon stopped. Hovering on a spot, its mouth widened. Mana gathered as its body swelled out, conjuring another attack, quick.

Rapid fire was shot. It didn’t stop at one — as the first collided with earth, breaking it apart, another followed.

I dashed, running at the plateaus of the mountains. The attack kept following me, the earth behind exploding in destructive force. The wind of the force brushed against my back, my robe flapping as I kept dashing.

It was focused on me for some reason, entirely forgetting Quinette.

I looked over my shoulder, still running. The rapid attack still trailed after me.

But Quinette took advantage of the talon’s blind sight and moved in.

The attacks stopped immediately. Quinette had moved — it switched to Quinette, firing huge ice balls at her. She curved through them with her wings, sliced at one, then burst through the destruction.

"I got you this time," she declared victory early.

She raised her blade — the same attack she had used on the wolf. Her mana amplified. The dark and crimson lightning sparked from her blade.

The talon froze its attack. Before Quinette could act further, it took off, once more flying higher into the sky as it broke past the clouds.

Quinette paused her attack, staring up. "Tsk. Get back here."

"Quinette." I raised my hand in the air, signalling her to halt once more. It was obvious the talon was pulling her into its territory, like Amiko had done.

She flew back, landing at the ruins of the mountain.

Her blade clicked back into its sheath. "So we’re going to let it go too."

"Not really. We’re waiting for our invitation."

"What?"

"Let me tell you a little story— when I was little, there was a tactic wallet snatchers used. They come for your wallet, try to snatch it from you, they don’t succeed so they run into an alley. If the person is foolish they chase after them — guess what the bandits do. They wait in the alley. When you come running after them, you’re met with a club to your face."

I paused, looking at the sky. Behind the thick clouds, already forming back, the talons mana was present but suppressed. It hadn’t run away at all.

"You see, the thief failing to steal the person’s purse is part of the plan to get you out of the public."

"How do you know all this?"

"Experience. I’m not falling for such a cheap trick."

I raised a finger gun, pointed at the faint mana signature hidden behind the clouds. I directed an icicle at the talon — I wasn’t expecting it to do much damage, just to let it know I was aware of its presence hidden there. The icicle cut through the clouds. No shriek followed.

But I had a feeling it met its mark.

"Quinette, be ready."

The clouds parted. Hundreds of ice balls rained down, twice as large as before. Like huge boulders they crumbled to the ground, each missed attack shaking the earth with a rumble as the rock rolled down the mountain in a landslide.

It position was fully exposed through the parted cloud. I could see its head, mouth widened, spitting out rapid ice boulders.

Quinette grabbed my hand, taking off to the sky before any could meet us.

At this moment I couldn’t wait to evolve and get dragon wings — the way Quinette curved through the attacks, while I hung on with one hand. They swooshed past me, brushing me by the side. Quinette slipped through two ice boulders, the end almost colliding into me. I used a single dagger, slice, through them.

The sharpness of my dagger didn’t fail, as I kept pouring mana into it to maintain its form, strictly.

"Quinette, launch me at it."

She glanced at me mid-flight with a raised eyebrow.

Still, she did as so. She put her blade back in its sheath, grabbing onto me with two arms. We spun together, gathering speed and momentum. She launched me — the talon’s way.

I spun, uncoordinated. My hands flailed, then I gained leverage in the air, diving upwards.

The talon became ever closer. I readied my blade.

Don’t die like a coward.

With my blade lowered I dashed past the talon, slashing its midsection — or that’s what I intended. My blade sliced at nothing. The talon had snaked its way, bending its body to avoid the attack.

’Tsk.’

Gravity reminded me, as the force I had used to accelerate slowed. Then my body reversed, dropping down. Still far off the ground, a fall this high and I’m dead. My hair blew a from the wind.

But I wasn’t bothered — our coordination was getting better.

I stretched my hand for Quinette to grab on, but she didn’t. Searching the sky, she had her hands fully occupied. The talon attacked her relentlessly — its jaw snapped to gnaw at her, she evaded, then its tail came in for an attack, with another ice boulder sent at her. It wasn’t giving her a breathing space.

It knew — with Quinette occupied, I couldn’t be saved. Falling from hundreds of feet in the air.

I had to think quick. No time for hesitation.

"Wait. I got it. What if—"