“Something is wrong.” Lilith said, suddenly looking less relaxed and more alert.

  “What?” I wondered.

  “Is something edible coming?” Lucy asked, licking her lips.

  “There is a shift in the environment. The unnatural cold has always resisted my fire magic. But it has changed. There is a certain anger now. There is an intent. It’s as if someone is taking control over the ambient mana. It’s like fighting an aura…”

  An aura? Was the Lady of Winter not slumbering? Did we wake her?

  “I guess bath time is over, we should armour up and be ready for anything.” I said. Thankfully we had our magical storages, which made it easy to put on equipment.

  Lucy even transformed. Lily helped to dry Adhira really quickly, the small sprite did not want her wings to freeze.

  I focused on my aura. I did not want to seem hostile but maybe a greeting was in order. Storm clouds formed but I stopped it from raining.

  That was when we saw something come our way. A giant wolf was running towards us.

  “That is the thing I fought in Unitera!” Lucy shouted.

  “Wait, is Beira attacking?” I wondered. Surely she would not be foolish enough to attack us, right?

  “There is someone on its back.” Lilith pointed out.

  I looked again. Then I squinted. This was Beira! I changed my aura and put more malice into it. Thunder and lightning filled the sky. If she wanted to make it easy for us I would not complain.

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  We were all armed and armoured now. Well, not Lucy. Although her fur was sort of an armour. And she used Storm’s Embrace, just like I did. Lilith was deploying her wings again.

  Beira stopped about 50 metres in front of us. Then she rose into the air. She wielded a staff made entirely out of blue crystal. A golden crown with a big diamond sat on her head. She did not wear armour, just a white robe decorated with sapphires.

  “How nice of you to come into my domain. Lady Chione was kind enough to inform me that you are looking for me. It gave me time to prepare a proper welcome.” She said with a booming voice.

  “Are we doing the talking again? How about we just skip it and start the killing?” Lucy asked.

  “Yes! I like killing! Did you bring your stupid elemental again?” Shani shouted.

  “What makes you think you stand a chance?” I wondered. I was truly baffled by her appearance. Or did she find the crown she had been looking for?

  “Foolish Storm. Can’t you see what you are facing?” She asked.

  “You are not the Lady of Winter.” I pointed out.

  “Winter is soft. Sleeping. No. I am more. I am the Lady of Frost! Of Ice and Snow! Of DEATH!”

  My eyes widened at the last part. I was pretty sure the fey did not have a Lady of Death. But as Beira spoke her body changed. Her skin aged and black lines showed on her body. Had she turned herself into an undead? A lich?

  “Abomination!” Lilith shouted while unleashing her aura. But even the demon lord struggled against the cold surrounding us.

  This might actually be dangerous. I put everything in my aura and I felt Lucy supporting me. While I did that the ground began to shake. Around Beira bodies rose from the snow. Cold dead bodies, covered in ice.

  “Beware the ground!” I shouted and started flying. I was just in time as spikes of ice erupted from the ground. Thankfully all of us made it into the air in time. But the shiny tent we got from Lily was doomed. Our lovely hot spring was destroyed.

  I cast Storm Bolts, empowered by my aura. Zombies bits went flying as the lightning hit them. While it was therapeutic I needed to go after Beira.

  “Attack!” I shouted and charged.

  Lucy was going after the wolf again. I went after Beira herself. There was a mad glow in her eyes. She seemed a lot less stable than the last time we fought.

  “You took my staff last time. You know, the explosion did something to me. It hurt me. It burned me on the inside. But death was my cure. And with this crown I can control it.” She said as she parried my sword strike.

  I had already figured out that the crown was important. Although, the crown seemed a bit weird. There were black lines going through the metal. Was it corrupted somehow? My thoughts were interrupted when I sensed danger. I cast teleport at a higher spell slot to make it instant. When I appeared at a safe distance I saw a black scythe cleave through the spot I had been. It was not wielded by a person, it simply appeared for one strike. Must have been a spell.

  I quickly surveyed the battlefield. Our maids were joined by Erin and Sir Francis to fight the undead. Shani had found that death elemental again. Lucy was rolling around in the snow grappling the wolf.

  Lilith flew next to me. “That attack looked dangerous. We might have to treat her like a lich.”

  A lich? Hm. What did I know about liches from the game?