All the ret weeks and months passed before Aira's eyes in a single moment. How much Li helped her to get to terms with her ate and begin her path of exploration in this new world. And now, she only had skills that wouldn't ge anything in that dire situation! Energy Manipution allowed her to follow Li's movement and track her. Still, it wasn't enough to get her out of the water. And Two is a Crowd was absolutely useless.

  That feeling followed her all the time after the transition and transformation to an undead with just limited access to magic. But then…

  She had that new skill. And its use wasn't limited to just sensing that mysterious undead who was leading them towards the a city. Could she…?

  Not stopping even for a moment, Aira probed her surroundings once again and sensed where Li was and where that animal's presence was uhe ice. Targeting her Neunion skill with as much precision as she could and making corres for the stant movement of all three partits of the pursuit, Aira unleashed her magic.

  For a heartbeat, nothing happened. But then the animal started slowing down, losing its i in Li.

  "No, no, no!" Aira growled. "That's not what I want of you!"

  She probed with her skill once again, looking for any levers, any ways to impress her will upon the creature. And there it was, a new e. Now, Aira had a way to and and direct it.

  Aira transferred some of her energy into the animal, boosting its base stats. At the same exaent, she felt the ice cold was also getting to her. Her energy reserves were draining fast.

  As soon as Aira gave her mental and, the animal, boosted by Aira's magic, bolted forward towards Li, who was still propelled by the stream uhe ice with an astonishing speed. Aira didn't know much about the ws of the rivers, but she never expected the water to flow so fast in a river that wide. Was it the influence of the mountains? Or did this world have some other peculiarities that affected that? It wasn't a good moment to explore this topic, though. That could be doer Li was safe.

  When this moment of ption passed, Aira realized with surprise that the yet-to-be-identified animal had caught up with Li and was seemingly hauling the woman's body against the stream, following Aira's ands.

  "What should I do?" thought Aira. "It would take to much time to get to the open water upstream!"

  She draihe st reserves from the batteries they packed in the a facility, boosted both her and the animal's stats, and, with a roar that rumbled over the ice, hit the surface with her hammer.

  Again and again, she did that, sensing that the animal was dragging Li closer and closer uhe ice.

  Finally, the surface began to crader Aira's assault. Soon, she created a clearing wide enough t a body out of the water. A moment ter, a beaver-like creature the size of a human child appeared, bringing in its cws unresponsive Li.

  "Ah, it seems that it's my turn to care for an unscious friend," thought Aira, helping the animal to get out of the water on the icy surface.

  It looked around, assessed Aira, and then sat a few meters away staring bnkly in the distance.

  Li's body was cold, but there was still a very slow heartbeat and Aira could sense faint energy withihe air wasn't freezing, the spriher taking hold of the valley. But the ice still emahe ess, which didn't help bring Li back.

  Aira searched for a solution, but nothing came to mind. They were still a fair distance away from the shore, and there was no way she could arrange a fire right here. Moreover, the time Li to the shore would probably kill the human woman. Aira had to aow.

  What plicated the situation even more was that she sensed her energy reserves getting dangerously low.

  "Damned System!" Aira thought. "Why 't I see the exaumber as it was with mana?"

  In desperation, she checked the batteries she had in her backpack. Li's pack was washed away by the stream. So, that part of their belongings was lost.

  No, nothing. The batteries were pletely drained.

  And then her gaze fell on that beaver-like created. Its energy signature owerful. Much more intehan Li's. Without expeg anything to happen, Aira sed it with her Neunion skill.

  ========== Character Status and Skill Overview ==========Name: Adult GnarlfangRace: Undead GnarlfangCss: GnarlfangLevel: 1

  Strength: ???Agility: ???Intelligence: ???Endurance: ???

  "Whoa!" thought Aira. "Is it capable of magic?"

  Still, it looked like the creature was Aira's only source of energy at the time. And it was already… dead. At least from a certain point of view. Killing it twice seemed both unnatural in some way and reaso wouldn't be able to return to its everyday routines. It looked like the poor creature was tethered to Aira and wasn't going anywhere.

  "It seems that I have to get used to sug energy from all sorts of creatures," thought Aira and sighed. "What am I now? A vampire?"

  With a sad g the animal, Aira targeted it with her are powers, feeling the vital energy leaving the furry body aering her core. Whehered everything she could, Aira sent a jolt in Li's dire.

  The woman's body shuddered; she shook and then began coughing out water.

  Moments ter, Li opened her eyes and looked before her with an unfocused gaze. Slowly aly, Aira helped her to sit down. Li put her hands down in a daze and snatched the back abruptly as soon as she touched the ice with her bare skin.

  "What… By the twisted branches, what just happened?" Li asked. "I remember us dodging the cracks, that… that stone-dumb fool what did he do to the ice…? Then what? What ihorny thicket came ?"

  Aira almost began answering as was habitual for them by sending energy impulses toward Li's headphones when she realized that those miniature pieces of aech were now also lost in the river. She took her portable radio from her belt and put it in Li's hands.

  "You went under," transmitted Aira to the device, stroking Li on her wet hair. "And theream dragged you away. I didn't expect the flow to be so fast over here!"

  "Spirits in the shadows… Did you really… How in the cliffs did you pull me out?" Li asked, her eyes wide.

  "That's a long story," answered Aira. "What's important now, is that I you to the shore and make you warm. We o build a camp and start a fire. I o do that."

  Aira stood up, still helping Li to sit.

  "I know it's a lot to ask, but are you ready to move?" she asked.

  Li made a feeble attempt to stand up but succeeded only with Aira's help.

  "Yeah… sure as sap flows, I'm with ya," Li muttered, wobbling as she stood. "ly steady as a forest path, but let's fox-tail it before the ice gets any more ideas."

  ***

  It took them almost half an hour to get to the shore. Much lohan they expected to spend crossing the entire distance from one side of the river to another.

  They were now a fair distance away from the pce where the unknown person frohem from the shore. But that also meant they were closer to the pce from where that person came from.

  Aira's energy reserves were replenished, but she wasn't sure how much she should keep for ued dangers. So, she only probed the surroundings once. She sensed a feeble signature of that incapacitated person. Remembering their st as before Aira's attack, she could expect that person to be iive safety on the shore. Their transport traption also giving away feeble traces of energy.

  That roblem for the future. Now, Aira had to make sure Li survived.

  Setting up a camp right on the shore wasn't the safest thing to do in a pce with human patrols. But going further innd was also not an option. So, Aira found a shallow ravihat hid them at least a little bit fr eyes. Promptly, she lit a fire and put a kettle with tea to warm up.

  Pnning their journey carefully, they split their belongings between their backpacks. And while everything Li had was lost, Aira had some spares. She promptly unclothed Li, who was already starting to shiver from cold wetness. Aira rubbed her dry with a spare shirt and gave her some new clothes.

  "By the roots, Aira, thank you," said Li. "Sharing your stuff like this—solid as oak, you are."

  "Well, this is all thanks to you as well," said Aira. "We pnned ear together! And it was your idea to split it in even parts between us."

  "Ah, alrighty," said Li. "But what about that bastard?"

  "We don't know if it's a bastard or a bastarda yet," said Aira with a small smile. "My senses do not give out this information. At least yet. But jokes aside, that person still seems to be unscious. They haven't moved yet. But they are alive. I'm not sure what to do with that. I 't leave you alone. But we 't leave them unchecked either."

  "Any other humans creeping around out there?" asked Li, gng along the shore.

  "I don't want to use too muergy," said Aira. "So, I don't check stantly. But the st time I checked, there was no one beside us and some animals in the forest."

  Aira's thoughts trailed away to the animal that helped her to save Li. "That poor thing…" she said.

  "What was that?" asked Li.

  "Just… I had some help in resg you," said Aira. "In a very ued way. But, again, we'll discuss that ter."

  ***

  In the end, Li persuaded Aira to leave her in the warmth of the fire and make a fast run to the pce where the person who caused them so much grief was left on the shore.

  It felt like hours have passed. But iy, the whole pursuit on the river sted just a few minutes. It took Aira and Li some time to get to the shore and build up a camp. But still, the sun was high in the sky, and a fair part of the day was ahead of them.

  When Aira reached the man, and, yes, it was a man, he was still unscious as she expected. The vehicle he used looked quite peculiar to Aira. It used only two wheels, and Aira sensed a powerful energy source within it. However, there was no way she would figure out how to use it without any guidance from that ranger or probably Li if she ever used something simir.

  "Eh… It's a pity I have to leave that thing behind," thought Aira. "It could probably save us some time."

  Then, without any sed thoughts, swhe boosted her stats a bit more, put the man on her shoulder, and, at a brisk pace, began her journey back to their temporary camp. There still were no other human energy signatures in the area.

  By the time she returned, Li seemed in much better dition than earlier. Having dry clothes and being warmed by the fire was definitely helping. However, Aira felt they may have to resider their pns for the uping days.

  "How are you doing?" she sent to Li. "I wouldn't want to be in your pce when the ice broke under your feet."

  "Roots and rivers, I'm happy to be breathing—and dry," said Li. "But, storm-watg here, Aira—I feel stu sap. Haven't budged a twig since you left, and if trouble came knog, I'd be about as useful as moss on a stone."

  "Well, you were safe," said Aira with a reassuring smile. "I checked the area a few times. There's no ohere besides this guy," she touched the unscious body with the tip of her boot. "So, what do we do about him?"