Of Ice, Death & Monsters

Chapter 94 : And A Maiden’s Venom

14 Days Ago.

“I’m afraid I’d have to decline! Sorry, but I don’t deal with snakes! I already have someone who could. Sorry.”

I already knew I’d be attacked; there was no two ways about it. This guy was definitely faster than me, much, much faster. But, you can’t really be faster than something that already happened, now, can you?

Before I even finished my sentence, the entire pit combusted into flames and water. A deluge of withering souls emerged from the roots, completely and utterly smothering the area with their presence. They moaned and burned with my desire, combining into an inferno that seemed to never end, blazing like the inside of a furnace.

For a moment, their waters and my fire were merged; the connection from when I was one with it was still intact, albeit much weaker, but it was enough to do what I needed. It reclaimed every soul brought out of it, every squirming snake and serpent evaporated instantly, melting into the Smorodina once more screaming endlessly with the others.

The Skiper roared in the flames and water, but it was too late. My fire burned Contracts and Magick, all I had to do was concentrate, cutting off the vessel from whatever dark connection they had from Kira before I grabbed her hand, the scales and the horns melting away into the River.

“Alright, Granny, goodness, you’re light.” I chuckled to myself as I hugged her tight while propelling the both of us upward from the exploding pit.

I howled with laughter as bright lights and sparkles emanated everywhere, dancing all around me in a blaze of never-ending glory. I felt like I was dancing again, twirling through the stars as I hummed along. 

It didn’t take long for us to leave. We shot up into the air and back to the valley. I looked all around and saw that the earth around was healing. The humans all fell to the ground unconscious, and some even began to melt back into the Smorodina. The monsters, meanwhile, were all instantly submerged in the river.

Even the environment itself was finally being cleaned up. Cracks were sealed, and the bodies became ash and dust. The smog and the strange feeling of decay and death disappeared as vibrancy started to return.

Immediately, the splendor of the beautiful woman from before, coupled with the green giant, started to spread out, revitalizing the valley until it became something akin to a luscious forest.

I began to settle down, descending onto the ground with the hag in my arms, grinning ear to ear as I landed in front of the two powerful warriors from before. That super ultra mega powerful snake guy now gone.

“Looks like we won!~ Hehehe, got her back, hopefully that’s the end we hear from that weirdo.” I sang with my chest out, smug as could be as I hid how much fear I felt. It was like I could crumble at any moment. I didn’t think it would work out so well.

The green giant simply nodded along before he began to slowly turn around and march away. 

“It has been preserved.”

His voice was deep, resonant, it was as if the trees themselves were speaking to me as every single leaf in the valley vibrated to his whim.

With that extremely ominous message, he walked away as slowly as I imagined a giant marching.

“Huh… Is that a good thing?” I asked, turning to the lady who nodded. 

“The sanctity of Visiliy and of the whole of the Jawia had been preserved. You have done well, Jane Marcellus.” 

“Uh, thanks! All in a day's work for the Queen of Flames!” I raised my arms up into the air, and flames exploded from my palms.

She laughed. “Well, I am the Watcher of the West, Verasha. I am pleased to see that mortals can continue to make the right decision. Your efforts shall be rewarded as all things are, for no good deeds goes unrewarded.”

I calmed down after my little show-off session. In the distance, I saw the crowd cheer in joy as Charlie and Koschei were singing my praises.

“Oh, usually it’s that no good deeds go unpunished where I’m from, but that’s way better. I like that so much more.” I will not at all mention that it was kind of my fault he sort of got to this point. They don’t need to know that at all.

Verasha waved her hand over Baba Kira’s body, causing a rainbow-like glitter to wrap around their skin, slowly rejuvenating her. As such, I set her down as I felt her start to stir.

Baba Kira got on her feet rather quickly, rubbing her head as she groaned. “To think, it finally happened… I didn’t think I would have survived that at all.” She turned to me and gave a crooked smile.

“The Chosen of the Harbinger. It looks like the world has given me such a strange ally, but I shall not question their decisions, for they have chosen wisely.” 

She bowed her head a little. “I am at your service, little one. Do you request anything from this old hag?”

“Uhm… Okay, this sounds weird for me-“ I took a deep breath and focused. “Can I please have your shoes? Well, your boots, to be more specific. It’s like really important and we need to get somewhere really specific.”

Without a word, she turned towards the upper valley where Koschei was standing. When I followed her view, I found Koschei literally staring back ominously. Seriously, why is he always so dramatic? Where did he learn that?”

“Ah… Baba Yaga’s child. So he was the one who led you to me. I see how it is. Where do you desire to venture towards so that you need the seven-league boots for?”

I nodded along at her thought process. “Yeah, it’s him. And uh, I need to head to the Stavrobash Mountain where the Firebird lies so that they can like, give me their blessing or something? Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“The Firebird’s Domain? I understand now, you need to synchronize with a being that is close to your type of existence. Allow me to grab my marbles and rest for a moment before I enchant some boots to match seven leagues.”

“Yeah, I-I need some rest too.” Everything kinda just uh… Went by so quickly.” I then sat down on a rock, staring at the sky, leaning back as I took a deep breath. The adrenaline was fading, but the stimulation didn’t leave that. 

I just knew that the Skiper was right, that even after everything I could do, I wouldn’t be able to stop the people… And I couldn’t bear to hurt them, but I could bear to at least save them.

Maybe I need some time to rest, some time to sleep. Suddenly, my mind began to feel so drowsy, my thoughts started to slip, everything felt like it faded, like I was trapped in thick pitch that slowly consumed me whole.

My eyelids became heavy, and I yawned, stretching my arms and legs as drool escaped the sides of my lips.

“W-Wha… What’s going…”

Veresha walked to me, a smile growing on her face. “Shhh, a hero needs her rest, and your body needs to recover.”

I couldn’t really argue with that, no, how could I? No, seriously, I literally couldn’t; my whole body felt numbed, like someone had taken away my ability to feel anything but this overwhelming feeling of sleep. So to that end, I nodded off, succumbing to Vereasha’s power as I slept.

12 Days Ago.

I awoke in the most wondrous place of all, within the arms of Charlie, who seemed to be cuddling me in my sleep. To my back was a soft and comfortable bed with my head lying upon a pillow.

Everything felt all right, like it was at peace.

“Jane? Jane! You’re awake?! Finally…” She gave a huge sigh of relief before hugging me. I laughed and patted her on the back.

“Yeah, that’s me~ I’m all awake. How are you doing? Are you alright? How long was I out for?”

“Just two days… And I’m doing alright, yeah, I’m just happy that you’re up. Are you alright? Because they said that your body was trying to recover, you almost pushed yourself to Shatter.”

I winced a bit and laughed. “Wow? Really? Guess I lucked out with having the Smorodina close by to control.”

She narrowed her eyes. “That’s literally the reason why you almost got Shattered. You pulled hard… Veresha said that the only reason you didn’t was because you were already connected with the souls there, otherwise…”

Charlie took a deep breath before smiling. “But… I guess you calculated that, huh?”

“Hehe.” I flashed her a cheeky smile before winking. “Yup, that’s me~ Well uh, I kinda guessed that I could have manipulated what went on because I actually heard the voices of the souls there… They asked me to save them, to free them.” I stared down at my hands. They were still shaking, as if I had just strained myself lifting something.

“They were begging me… And I had to help them, but I realize now that I could only do so much.” I clenched my fist and sighed.

“… Jane, what do you mean? You are going to help them, we’re going to help them.” She held my hand, closing her fingers around mine.

“We’re going to think bigger, Char… There’s gonna be a lot of people who wouldn’t want us to win, and we’re gonna need to deal with them. But I don’t like killing, I don’t like the idea of just… Taking them out. And I don’t want any more blood on your hands than there already is.”

“And how exactly are you going to remedy that, Jane? You can’t exactly take away people’s free will… And even if you can, you wouldn’t… right?”

I raised my hands up defensively. “N-Not take away their free will, of course not… But do you remember that like giant golem thing? The one that Zmey fought? Yeah, I was part of that whole mess, literally; it was something that I connected to. But in there, I was within this… Sea of souls thing, where everyone was one. Where we were all super connected and fought for a cause together. It didn’t matter who we were, what we did, or what we believed in. It was all of us, together in some kind of-”

“Divine Unity.” 

Koschei’s voice emanated from the doorway in the distance. He had the biggest grin on his face that I’ve seen in a long time. “You’ve finally understood it. True freedom, through unity. Together as one, whether we are a baker, a cobbler, or a candlestick maker! Men, women, monsters, it mattered not who you were, nor what you believed in. We were one, a united front where all things were beautiful and indivisible… Alas, it could not last, but that was only a shadow of what could come forth!”

I nodded with a smile at that. “Yeah, that’s right… It was wonderful, beautiful, and it’s what we need to get everyone on our side.”

Charlie took a deep breath and placed her hands on my shoulders. “So… How exactly do we get that kind of power- If! We ever need to… Like, tell me, can you just combine with all those spirits again on command?”

“No… I don’t think I could do that… But, I feel like I know someone who could.”

“Yes…” Koschei cackled as we stared at him.

“I’ve seen him, witnessed him… The Keepers have hidden his presence and ensured that we could not have him, but alas… The Foundation. The Divine Unity. The Pillar of Creation… The Rock of The World.”

Charlie raised her eyebrows. “And who is that?”

Koschei grinned wildly. “Peter Sai.”