CHAPTER#86

When Abella slammed into a nearby wall, it exploded hard enough that a giant chunk struck her own wall and cracked it.

C'mon, c'mon. Yuki finished her sigil then looked up. Abella was looking around, but Yuki knew for a fact that she was listening, trying to narrow down the kitsune's heartbeat. Luckily, the swirling ice was loud enough to muffle it, but it wouldn't last long.

A series of hand signs created a small crystalline stag. Yuki sent it running across the yard, its legs clicking loudly together, and Abella's head immediately turned to track it.

Abella chased it down, stomping on it once she caught up. It shattered like glass.

Yuki ran to another wall and turned her attention toward the house and commanded the snow to build itself into a series of snowmen. It was a game she had played with Tink in the winter, and she commanded the four-foot tall men to charge at Abella. They charged at her, gaining in size as their bottoms rolled across the yard. Abella slapped them apart with her tail.

"Where the fuck are you?" Abella yelled, then flew up again. The cloud of ice and snow that had formed over the house gobbled up the gargoyle.

Fuck. She couldn't see Abella, and knew the gargoyle was circling, just waiting and listening for the time to strike. The snowmen had reassembled themselves and were wandering aimlessly, their icy limbs reaching for nothing. She debated using one of her tarot cards, but couldn't figure out what the best use would be.

Occasionally a dark shadow would emerge from the clouds above and splatter one of her snowmen, then fly away. Getting ready to move again, she summoned a mirror image of herself at a different wall and commanded it to run toward the house. Abella descended from the sky and tore into the illusion, ripping a giant chunk out of the yard. Yuki left a clone of herself behind, then transformed into a fox to run to a better position.

The clone made a break for the main road. With a powerful blast of her wings, Abella leapt across the yard and crashed through the image.

"Fucking coward! Show yourself!" Abella shattered a low-lying ice wall with her tail, then jumped into the sky once more. Yuki hid beneath the frost covered bush near the edge of the yard, her heart pounding furiously in her chest.

On the porch of the house, Tink had appeared with a club, followed by a handful of large rats and Sofia.

Shit. She already knew whose side they would choose, and she didn't want to hurt them.

The storm she had created was now in full swing, the wind whipping up the freshly fallen snow with visibility dropping to only a few feet. She could no longer see the house, but could feel the runes she had traced in the yard. Using them to navigate, she moved slowly across the yard until she was at the right spot. Using her paw, she finished the last rune.

She could feel them all link together in her mind, ready to activate. She moved across the yard, summoning a clone made of ice.

The clone stood in the middle of the symbols, casting a wary eye to the skies. Yuki let her fox form slide away, casting down lines of magic in a circle around the area as she transitioned back into a human. Once she was ready, she let the wind die down just enough that the house was visible once more.

And so was her clone.

When Abella slammed into the clone, it shattered, causing her to crash into the ground. The runes on the ground sent blue beams of light into the sky that folded over, criss-crossing on top of Abella. Jagged shards of ice sprouted along the ground beneath the blue beams. When they met, there was a loud crash.

The giant crystal in the middle of the yard stood nearly ten feet tall. Yuki walked toward it slowly, then placed her hand slowly on the ice.

Excess shards snapped free and fell to the ground. Abella was frozen in a crouched stance, her wings spread wide. Her stony muscles flexed, but she was sufficiently trapped.

"Abella." Yuki let out a sigh. "I'm so sorry about this. Naia's okay, I just can't have her getting in my way until she's ready to listen. I need all of you to listen, but I can't do that if—"

An arrow shattered against the block of ice. Several others followed, bouncing off the cold hard surface. On the porch, the rats had formed a line and were using small bows to launch a volley of arrows. Yuki swore and pressed herself against the ice.

None of them knew her. She was in enemy territory and she needed to make them see that she wasn't a threat, that she was the true Caretaker of this place. As long as they were loose, they would fight to undermine her at every opportunity and she needed to make sure they were out of the way.

A large rock bounced off the side of the ice, causing it to crack.

A low growl formed in Yuki's throat and she took off her eye patch. Letting out a howl, she jumped around the block of ice and ran toward the front door. The Gorgon's Eye had a fifteen foot range, and when she got near the porch, Yuki saw Sofia's eye flash.

Dropping her sword, Sofia grabbed Tink and a rat with a crown on his head and threw them through the front door, then closed it.

"Run!" she cried, turning around to grab her sword. The rats by her feet were already turning to stone by the time the Eye's magic swept across her, but she had closed her eye.

Cursing, Yuki drew the Two of Swords and used it to summon a pair of blades.

"Move, Sofia." Yuki moved quietly up the stairs, a blade in each hand. The cyclops was a formidable foe, but she just needed her to open that eye for a second. They clashed, Sofia deftly slapping away the assault of both blades, yet keeping herself between Yuki and the door. Yuki pressed the assault, but Sofia's precognition made it impossible to disarm her. However, being blind meant that her offensive skills were nearly non-existent. In a fair fight, Yuki wouldn't dream of taking up a sword against the cyclops.