I dash back out into the clearing, signaling for Anya to rush to where I’m at.

She spots me quickly and swiftly glides along the snow to my side, raising another wall behind her at the edge of the forest.

I’ve already started running again, trying to pick up my velocity before Anya fully reaches me. She doesn’t seem to notice the man I’ve impaled on the floor due to the speed at which she’s traveling and her focus on escaping the yetis. I think that’s probably for the better.

She didn’t need to imagine what was about to happen to that man. He was still alive, but in all honesty, the shorter he lived now, the more peaceful his death. Hopefully he lives as long as possible.

After having turned tail, we continue running in the direction from which we came. I turn my head to check my back five minutes later, but there is no indication of the yetis still chasing us.

We lost them.

In fact, we probably lost them as soon as they found their offering, but there was no harm in being safe about it. I return my gaze forward, and it rests on Anya’s back. Blood stains her white robes, but she hasn’t slowed down one bit. She was being just as prudent as I was, and understandably so. If anything else caught wind of her injury, it would certainly be much harder to lose a pack of monsters now than earlier.

However, the rest of our run was just as smooth as the progression towards the flowers. Even though we passed by several monsters, there was no need to engage with any of them due to their lack of speed. Soon enough, we were back at the steel gates. The laughter fades as we leave the trees once more, this time hopefully for good.

Never have I been so happy to see Ochseid. My companion is certainly of the same mind, eagerly walking up to the gate.

She knocks on it seven times in a fixed pattern to alert the guards of her return. The sound of heavy metal gears begins to rumble from the inside, and the gate raises. We walk through, both breathing sighs of relief. It was a bit too early for that, though.

As the gate opens, a white wolf darts from the trees, teeth bared. Anya, looking very done with this whole trip, channels wind into her hand once more. She releases it in a semi-concentrated blast. the spell pushing the wolf back into the forest. The wolf is flung backward into a pine with great force, thoroughly discombobulating the creature. It writhes on the ground for a moment, then gets up and walks away dejectedly, having been deprived of a meal. It was unaware of how close it was to death.

Anya could very well have killed it if she wanted to, but she chose to widen the surface area of the spell so it would spread the force of the hit, instead of sending a sharp cut through. It was an altered variant of the basic wind spell Aerus, one meant to execute living things, not stun them.

At the very end of an arduous journey, this girl was still merciful. Even I might have killed that wolf, had it not listened to my warnings. Perhaps she was somewhat trustworthy after all.

The final rumbles of the first gate sound out, and the second gate opens.

Our mission complete, we head back to the alchemist’s store.

___________________

Skyler is full of delight upon our return. She dances about awkwardly, and we’re unfortunately made to watch. It’s not the prettiest sight I’ve ever beheld. In fact, I’d rather be watching yetis dancing. They in all likelihood had better moves than this woman did. She speaks up after a few steps, sparing us from her unsightly jig.

“You made it! That’s just wonderful. You’ve proven yourself quite useful lately, Anya, good job.”

“Thank you.” Anya’s response is concise and irritated, but Skyler doesn’t care at all.

Despite how ragged Anya looks right now, completely covered in blood, Skyler seems to pay very little attention. She can’t be so blind as to not see the massive blotches of red covering Anya, but she doesn’t offer any words of concern. We really were just puppets to her. This did not bode well for the future. She turns to me, still not seeing me as a person.

“You too, intern.”

I frown. I’m sure that she had little faith in a two-man party to carry out this freakishly treacherous task, but we got it done. I’m just hoping we never have to do it again. It could’ve gone much smoother if that man didn’t have a vendetta against me, yes, but that’s beside the point. If the yetis were any closer to the Crocus flowers, we might’ve ended up in the same exact situation, minus the arrows and the bait. I pray that we get the southern forest on our next mission.

Finally, the moment Anya and I have been waiting for. Skyler reaches into her pockets for our pay. It just now occurs to me that I have no idea how much we were supposed to be receiving for this task.

She ends up pulling out a sizable bag of coins. Anya takes it from her hand and inspects the inside. I peer over her shoulder to see the type of coins inhabiting the pouch.

They’re all gold. A handsome reward, indeed.

If it was anything less, I would’ve been upset, honestly.

Although, thinking about it further, I suppose I did get to kill a particularly pesky human today. That’s a plus, definitely. I’d call today a win overall.

Anya seems satisfied. She pulls the drawstring pouch closed once again and stuffs it into her bag. She wastes no time in leaving the building, and I’m of the same sentiment. Anya opens the door and steps through, the bell ringing once more, and I follow.

Skyler calls out to us from behind.

“Come back soon!”

The door shuts.

Thank goodness.