Rise of the Ice Behemoth (Private, Leona Jarnefeldt)

"Of all places for this thing to show up, why did it have to be in the middle of a frozen wasteland?!" A decent inquiry. The spirit it came from was very agitated and hissed angrily. She didn't like stupid, and even worse she didn't like the cold. Despite being some weird sort of avatar spawn of a primitive deity she was still, on the most basic technical levels, a snake. A winged snake with feathers, yes, but still one nonetheless. What was the average temperature of Iceberg? Beyond cold! Beyond freezing! Beyond any logical sense on why anything other than a living icicle would choose to be there for longer than five minutes.

"Because, Kuku, it is what legends call an Icebourne." It was a strange thing to say as a reality. That a creature so rare that it was thought to be nothing but myth and folklore had been spotted wandering the lands of Iceberg. Many in the past had said dragonkind were rare. Samira had seen plenty of those to know that was an exaggeration. An Icebourne Behemoth? That had yet to be checked off on her creature book checklist. Until now apparently. It was just a shame that her knowledge of Behemoths was lacking. Even the records of Lamia Scale, once a guild of monster hunters and knowledge seekers, had very little information about them back when it was thriving. The name and its massive size was about all she knew. The rest would be guesswork from there. "Would you expect such a creature to appear on the sands of Desierto?"

"To throw everyone off and keep me from having to waste time in this icy wonderland? Damn right I expect it to appear there!" The winged serpent responded, giving her wings a flap to rid them of the ice that was trying to freeze them. Even using magic to keep most of the coldest air away from them wasn't amounting to much. She had already flown that far. It was doubtful that she'd get very far if she attempted to do so again. They had been idle too long and even she was starting to feel as lethargic as a normal snake would in just chilly weather. "Where is Anhur anyway? It's taking him forever to get back here. He makes the most sense as your free transportation through here."

Samira had shook her head and ignored the complaining serpent at first, but the question regarding Anhur gained her attention back. Kuku had a very good point. Anhur didn't mind the cold. In his sun lion form he couldn't even feel it. Unfortunately that also meant he was more useful than Kuku for another important role. "He is scouting near Heitz. According to the request that is where the Behemoth was headed. We need to know what we are up against before we foolishly run up to it."

"It's probably a giant snowball with ice spikes. We can assume it'll crush us in more than one way and with our brilliant minds we can also assume staying out of its path is the best way to survive. Do we really need to know anything else? The damn thing even has 'ice' in its name. Just use fire magic."

Samira refrained from thinking too much about what was just told to her. Even if she didn't speak the words the serpent was still able to hear her thoughts. The summoner was hesitant to rely on strong fire magic. It was the most obvious choice to use against a creature of ice, and the element was one she had access to. Thanks to Ra it was actually one of her more powerful ones. Third in line actually. Would such an obvious tactic work against a powerful ancient creature though? Doubtful. It'd probably take multiple skilled fire mages to pull that off so simply. "We are also waiting for Leona."

Kuku snorted. Seriously? That was the help her summoner was waiting for? It was true that the blonde had the potential to be powerful. She was, after all, a Wizard Saint. The feathered serpent was far from impressed by her, however. During the war in Pergrande Leona had held back most of her power in favor of foolishly relying on a gun. Against an enemy that undoubtedly had experience with handling themselves quite well against non-magical tactics. Leona should have just used her wind power to push them off the mountainside! "Instead of a fire mage you bring along a nearly useless Wizard Saint. Great choice. She's not going to shoot at the monster with her pellet gun, is she?"

That comment didn't even deserve the effort of a glare. Samira chose to pretend that it didn't even reach her ears. It was true Leona's way of fighting during the war was a bit concerning, but to Samira that was only because it was their lives on the line. Leona was fighting dangerously back then. She held back too much and by the end the Wizard Saint was exhausted. If there had been another group to jump in and attack her friend likely wouldn't have lasted. That was then though and against typical humans. She had plenty of faith that Leona would do more than use standard firearms against an ice Behemoth. Leona was not stupid even though Kuku was hinting at the theory. That was why Samira had requested her help. She was a friend and someone she trusted to do whatever she could to do her part. There were very few people in the world that Samira relied on to that extent.

Both serpent and summoner waited for the Wizard Saint to arrive. Before Samira made it to Iceberg she had sent all of the information she had to Leona via iLac. The Silver Wolf guild mistress had been given a copy of the request for aid, the small amount of information Samira had on the monster, coordinates on where to meet up, and a suggestion to dress warmly. Now all that was left to do was wait until either she showed up or Anhur provided the intel from his scouting.

Aside from the gigantic feathered serpent standing out in a world of bright white snow and pale ice to act as a visible landmark, Samira's teal-colored hair was also unmistakable. She wore the same outfit as she had while in Pergrande, which was anything but warm or suited for the weather. Much like back then though the minor usage of Ra's power kept her warm. She barely felt any cold while accessing that part of her Aspect magic. Once again she was on important business that required the skills of a Goddess of Ishgar. She needed to look the part. Or so her spirits always annoyed her into accepting. There was never any point in arguing.

(Word Count: 1141)

-Iceberg-

Clad in her all-white winter camouflage clothing complete with backpack of supplies that included her iLac, her passport, and a white balaclava for her face in case she needed it, Leona also carried her Ranger Laser Rifle slung on her right shoulder. She also wore her Adaptable Armor over her jacket just like she had during the border clash between Bellum and Pergrande. Unlike during the border clash, she kept the armor green so that Samira could see her and keep up with her in this mostly white environment. At the moment Leona's face was exposed and her eyes were partially covered by her SHG-IV Smart Glasses. She had worn those in order to help her better pick out Samira in the landscape, but that should not be too hard because her friend had unmistakable teal hair that easily stood out against white snow.

Leona was flying on the back of Winged Lion to save time because like with the border clash, she did not have the time to walk to the destination. She needed to find Samira and meet up with her quickly. Fortunately the Goddess of Humility had given Leona a big helping hand by sending her all the information she had on the job plus a set of coordinates to meet her at plus a suggestion to dress warmly. It was a good thing that Leona had finally taken a step into the modern age by getting an iLac several months ago because that was how Samira had sent her the information. It was also a good thing that Samira had suggested that Leona dress warmly because it was cold.

Then again, the country was named Iceberg for a reason.

Even though she had worn all of her winter camouflage gear it was barely enough to keep the Wizard Saint warm. It was relentlessly cold here and despite her clothing being specially made for winter conditions it felt like she was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. The desert native was having a hard time bearing the cold here, but she would have to because Samira was counting on her for help with this job.

As she flew towards the coordinates Leona went over what little information Samira had given her on the job they were here to do.

The two Wizard Saints were supposed to find and kill a beast called an "Icebourne." It was a major threat to a city named Heitz and they were supposed to stop the Icebourne before it could reach and destroy Heitz. Leona had never heard of an Icebourne before today, but it sounded like something really dangerous that had to be stopped as soon as possible.

Leona continued to fly until her SHG-IV Smart Glasses picked up two signatures roughly 400 meters away and marked them for her. One of them was a giant feathered serpent that easily stood out against the white snow. The other was a teal-haired young woman wearing a dress that was ill-suited for this weather. The young woman was Samira, but what was that giant snake doing here?

The Wizard Saint realized what she was seeing and shuddered because of the cold weather and the size of the snake. Even from this distance it looked enormous. She would hate to see it up close, but soon she was going to be much closer than she wanted to be to the giant serpent.

"Winged Lion, take me down to them!" Leona instructed her summon and pointed her finger at the serpent and the woman.

"It will be done." Winged Lion replied. He slowly dropped altitude until he was flying only three meters above the ground. The two continued to close the distance meter by meter and soon they reached the 300-meter mark.

Leona was dreading getting close to that giant serpent. It was a giant version of the animal she feared the most and she did not like it at all. Even if it proved to be friendly Leona would still fear it because it was a snake.

When she reached the 200-meter mark her fear began to grow stronger and stronger with each meter she got closer to the giant serpent. It was getting larger and larger with each meter she got closer to it. Leona took a deep breath of cold air and tried to steady her nerves.

The Wizard Saint reached the 100-meter mark and mentally began to count down the meters as she approached Samira and the serpent.

75.

60.

50.

40.

30.

When she reached the thirty-meter mark Leona instructed Winged Lion to lower its speed and it began to slow down. Leona felt herself shudder as she looked up at the plumed serpent and could not bear to try and look into its face, let alone its eyes. She quickly looked down and looked away from it in favor of facing Samira. After losing enough airspeed to safely land, Winged Lion touched down on the snow with all four paws and came to a halt about five meters away from the Goddess of Humility.

Leona hopped off of his back and dispelled Winged Lion, then walked the remaining five meters while keeping eye contact with Samira. Leona was too afraid of the serpent to even look at it, let alone try to look at its face. Once she reached Samira she greeted her longtime companion with her right hand raised in greeting.

"H-h-hey Samira! How's it g-g-going?" Leona asked, keeping her eyes fixed squarely on Samira. She was not sure if the Goddess of Humility would pick up on her fear, but if Leona acted calm enough she could pass off her stammer as being caused by the cold. However, it was hard for her to be calm when there was a giant snake looming over her. The Wizard Saint's eyes briefly settled on Samira's clothing before she made eye contact with Samira again.

"H-h-how can you d-d-dress like that in this w-w-weather?" Leona asked Samira about the latter's attire before rubbing her gloved hands together for warmth. She hated cold places so much, but she feared snakes more than she hated the cold. Leona could not wait to finish this job and get back to someplace warm that did not have snakes.

[Post Word Count: 1,044]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,044]

The summon and summoner duo continued their wait. Both for Leona to arrive as well as for Anhur to report in. The latter's silence was starting to concern Samira. An unusual amount of time had passed. Anhur generally wasn't the most social of spirits and preferred not to participate in small talk, but it was very unlike him to not have given some sort of update already. He knew how important the task he had been given was, and he was always one to take things seriously. Too seriously in most cases. Kukulkan did not share in her summoner's concern. If the lion had become a frozen popsicle after having flown too close to the supposed Behemoth that would have been just fine. She only cared for Nu Wa as far as Samira's summon collection went. Not some grumpy war lion with a superiority complex.

As they waited it became clear that Leona would be arriving before the avatar spirit made his report. The Wizard Saint could be seen flying towards them, riding on the winged lion that Samira had rarely seen her without. The creature might as well have been a symbol at that point. Much like Kukulkan was for her, she supposed. To see either creature would indicate the mage with them was very near.

"Heh, so the courageous Saint arrives after all. About time." Kukulkan commented after also seeing Leona's incoming approach. The serpent was already notable for her impatience. The temperature was only making her mood worse.

"Leona is skilled with wind magic. I had thought that you would at least like her well enough because of that fact," Samira told her summon with mild disappointment in her tone. Kukulkan was a serpent of winds. Leona was the most powerful wind user Samira knew. Probably the most powerful wind mage in the entire world. It was an element they shared and yet the serpent ignored it completely. "Unless you are jealous of her skill and power with it."

"Don't be ridiculous!" In further agitation, Kukulkan hissed and brought her serpentine body in, coiling up into a pile. The statement made by her summoner deserved no further comment or acknowledgement for it truly was nonsense. She can't be jealous of someone that doesn't even use their air magic. It would have been better to compare her to the wind summons instead. Sort of. Kukulkan had seen and heard of very few.

Leona and the winged lion made their landing near the two of them, and the former offered a kind greeting. The Goddess of Ishgar caught on to the stuttering, but she believed it to be due to the very cold weather rather than fear. The latter hadn't even crossed her mind as a possibility. Kukulkan picked on something different about Leona, but she couldn't quite place it. Being what she was, her sense of smell was stronger than a normal snake's, but she wasn't exactly gifted with being able to detect fear just from the scents her tongue was picking up. The most she could tell was that Leona's body chemicals were slightly different. That could have been the result of anything. Besides, she also had no reason to suspect that Leona was afraid of snakes. It hadn't been an issue during the war between Pergrande and Bellum.

"Hello, Leona," Samira began to say as she took a few steps forward. She offered a small smile but that was all. It was not the time to get overly excited. There was danger ahead, not just for them but also for the people of Iceberg. They had to remain focused. "I am glad that you were available to come and help here. I had my concerns if I were to attempt this request with just my spirits and I." Those words were true enough. Leona was a guild mistress and a Wizard Saint. It would not have been unexpected if she were being pulled in too many directions to come help. As for her concern on needing the help, well, Samira had never fought against an Icebourne before. Telling herself that she could defeat it with ease all on her own would be overly and foolishly confident.

The shift of Leona's gaze was not missed. Samira might have died a little on the inside if she had not already gotten used to wearing the outfit by then. She also had to admit it did stand out and not just because they were in a land of below zero temperatures. The question that came next was a humorous one if she were to be honest. Had the war really distracted Leona so much that she didn't take notice of the outfit back then? Well, she supposed the question deserved an answer either way. "I actually do not feel the cold weather as you do. I know well enough what it is supposed to feel like, which is why I recommend that you dress warmly, but that is all. My connection to one of my spirits protects me from that."

To demonstrate her words, Samira allowed one of her spells to take its full visual appearance. Her skin and hair began to change color, becoming so bright and intense that it was second only to the sun itself. That was what the spell was based off of, after all. An aspect of the sun god Ra. Very few knew of her take over magic. It wasn't something she had a habit of using aside for some abilities of convenience, such as fighting off the bitter cold. Now Leona knew of it in a very minor form.

"This probably serves as a better explanation." Heat radiated from her body, warming up the space between them to more comfortable levels. Unfortunately it was very far off from warming up the entirety of Iceberg. The cold icy land would remain just that. "I am sorry to say that it is a selfish magic in the sense that I cannot pass on this warmth to you. I do hope that you are wearing enough layers to keep yourself from freezing to death." Or at the very least perhaps dealing with the Icebourne would be enough to keep herself warm. Depending on its abilities, of course.

Samira dismissed the visual aspect of her magic, allowing her skin and hair to return to its normal state. There wasn't even a single burn mark or singe upon her body or even the clothes she wore. "I sent one of my summons to scout the town and to investigate the Icebourne. So far there has not been an update, which worries me a bit. I do not suppose the knowledge of Silver Wolf had any mentions of an Icebourne?" It seemed to be a logical question in her mind. Leona's guild was one of magical research and treasure hunting. Samira knew well enough that many artifacts had secrets and vast knowledge either within or on them. Icebournes also supposedly surpassed dragons, at least in stories so old they were myths and legends. That was a pretty big magical detail.

(Word Count: 1182
Samira Total: 2323)

Leona briefly glanced at the giant snake that was undoubtedly looking at her in judgment, then turned away from it when she could no longer stand to look at it. The giant snake being coiled up made it quite intimidating because it looked like it could strike at any moment. Leona was briefly reminded of the rattlesnake that had bitten her in Desierto when she was a child.

Leona pushed that deeply unpleasant incident out of her mind and instead focused on what Samira had said to her. Samira had thanked Leona for showing up to help her with this job. The teal-haired mage had also expressed concerns that the job might have been too difficult for her and her summons to complete without support from Leona. Leona had a hard time believing that statement.

Samira was a Goddess of Ishgar and had easily defeated any Pergrandian soldiers foolish enough to engage her during the border clash. Leona, on the other hand, had struggled against them when she should have been able to do better. Samira could have easily handled this job without the Wizard Saint of Courage, but she apparently believed that Leona's support was valuable enough to call upon her for help with this job.

"I-i-it's no problem, S-S-Samira." Leona said to Samira while still suffering from the combined effects of the cold and being close to a giant snake. The blonde did not mind helping the Goddess of Humility out whenever the latter needed her help. There had been a lull in activity at the guild hall, so Leona could answer the call without feeling too much guilt about neglecting her administrative responsibilities as a Guild Mistress. She was also fulfilling her responsibilities as a Wizard Saint, a fact that gave her even less reason to feel guilty about leaving the guild hall to take this job.

Leona listened to Samira's explanation for how the latter did not suffer from the cold and felt embarrassment. Despite her progress in slowing down and thinking before she spoke, she had still managed to ask a stupid question. Thankfully the blonde's face was getting so red from the cold that the embarrassment she was feeling was hard to see on her face.

"So the c-c-connection to one of your spirits p-p-protects you, huh?" Leona asked the teal-haired mage. That question could easily backfire on her just like the question about Samira's attire had. If Leona was unlucky she could easily look even dumber than she already sounded.

Samira's hair and skin began to glow as brightly as the sun, forcing Leona to cover her eyes to avoid being blinded. In the brief moment she had seen Samira's new form the blonde understood what the Goddess of Ishgar had meant by her claim. Once the light faded after Samira returned to normal Leona looked at her again.

"I s-s-see what you mean." Leona said simply to avoid making herself look any dumber than she already had. Unable to bear the cold weather without face protection any longer, Leona took off her Smart Glasses and put them in her right side pocket, took off her backpack and Ranger Laser Rifle, and knelt down to open her backpack. She took out the white balaclava and zipped her backpack closed. Leona then put the covering on her face and immediately felt somewhat warmer as she picked up her backpack and put it on her back, then picked up her Ranger Laser Rifle and slung it on her right shoulder again.

It also had the benefit of hiding her embarrassment from the Goddess of Ishgar.

Leona kept her Smart Glasses off for the time being because she did not need them now that she had met up with Samira. With her face covered except for her eyes, Leona now faced Samira again and addressed the question that had been directed at her, which was whether Silver Wolf had any knowledge about the "Icebourne" creature. Leona was glad that she was wearing a face covering because she felt a new wave of embarrassment wash over her.

"Um, you see... I haven't read any lore about the Icebourne. I've focused what research I've done on magical ingredients for weapons." Leona admitted to Samira. The blonde had decided to be truthful to her longtime friend even if it meant looking stupid yet again. Leona had already made herself look stupid on several previous occasions they had worked together, so it was not like she was really hurting her reputation with Samira. At least Leona hoped that she was not hurting her reputation too badly. It seemed like for every step she took forward she took two steps back with a stupid remark at the wrong time or a stupid question about something with an obvious answer.

Deciding to turn her attention away from her weak social skills before she began to dwell on her shortcomings and failures to the detriment of their mission, Leona turned her thoughts to their mission instead. She had learned that Samira had sent a scout ahead to the town to get a look at the Icebourne, but she had not heard back from said scout just yet. Leona thought through what she was going to say so that she looked halfway intelligent this time.

"If you're ready to head towards the town we need to protect, I'm ready to go." Leona notified Samira. The blonde was ready to get moving again because moving helped keep her somewhat warm. She also wanted to get to the town sooner rather than later so that she would be in a position to defend it when the Icebourne was spotted.

Leona was going to ask a question about how they were supposed to fight it but realized that she was getting a little ahead of herself. They would have to get some information on the creature from Samira's scout before they could start coming up with a way to take it down. Once they had the information and had come up with a plan of action Leona was sure that she and Samira could take the Icebourne down in time to save the town and its people.

[Post Word Count: 1,034]
[Leona's Word Count: 2,074]

"Unfortunate, but understandable. I had a feeling the chances of you knowing anything more than I did would be slim. These creatures are very old so whatever information there used to be about them has long been gone from history. It is likely only the oldest of dragons and gods know anything more. Still, I had to ask just in case. If only to have a bit more optimism when it comes to dealing with something we know very little about." And that was the problem. Samira was not overly confident with the current mission of taking that Icebourne down before it became a bigger problem for the people of Iceberg. She preferred knowing more than she did when going into a mission. As it stood currently she could barely call the conversation a mission briefing. There was no information. There was no real plan. Just use whatever and hope it worked well enough to bring the creature to a halt. Not exactly reassuring for the success people were expecting.

"I suppose at the end of this we can be the ones to add to the knowledge records. That is a bright silver lining, I think. Provided that we do not utterly and completely fail or do not survive, of course." The small smile she had brightened. Just a little. There was also a new gleam in her eyes that was not there before. Excitement with that small silver lining? Yes. Indeed. The lack of information on the behemoth was also a positive in a way. Samira had always been fascinated with myths and legends. To be a part of uncovering the truths and fictional aspects of those great ancient beings was quite a thrill for one such as herself. It was such a rarity. A once in a lifetime opportunity! It was just a shame that it came with extreme strings such as danger and possible death attached.

Kukulkan scoffed... if snake deities were even capable of such a thing. Whatever it was, one can be certain she meant it rudely with Leona's next chosen words. Head towards the town? Just like that? While knowing full well the scout that was sent had not been heard from? Was that bravery or just plain foolishness? Both maybe? "The Wizard Saint of Courage living up to her title. It does take a certain amount to charge right into danger with zero clue, I guess." Kukulkan uncoiled herself and began to move her serpentine body around the pair of mages. She could feel the glare coming from Samira. The avatar spirit didn't particularly care, but she supposed that it was best to switch her tune a little before the nagging came in. "Sweet Little Desert Lion, if we had intended to go straight for the town that is where we would have set up this meet and greet. It would be a far better location than the middle of nowhere, don't you think?" The serpent chuckled, naturally at the expense of Leona, who she was beginning to think lacked a special functional part of her human brain. How she was still alive to be called one of the Wizard Saints was beyond any comprehension. Was Leona being watched over by a god as well?

Samira rolled her eyes. The disapproval of the serpent's choice of words and the tone was written all over her face. Still, she couldn't deny the partial truth of them. They were not headed straight for the town. Not entirely anyway. "Apologies for her lack of... tact. Politeness is not one of her traits. She does mention some truth, though. The original plan was to find the creature and deal with it before it reached the city. Waiting for it to arrive and dealing with it then has a much higher probability of failure. Basically, the city could be destroyed before we even had the chance to do anything. We do not know the full scale of its power and all we have to go on are the possible exaggerated myths about it. Going by that, well, it could potentially destroy the city just by breathing. As you can imagine that might create a situation where we blink and the city is nothing more than a footnote in Iceberg's history. That would go for ourselves as well if we happen to be within the city at that time. So, the best idea I had was to intercept it beforehand. Based on the first reports the creature was moving slowly and nowhere near the city just yet. Else, it would have already been too late by the time they created the mission request. I would have preferred my scout return with confirmation on some of these details, but I can gather that his silence is confirmation enough on some of them." Anhur wasn't an easily dealt with spirit. He was an avatar of a war deity. Anything he knew he couldn't handle, which in that case the behemoth was exactly that, he would have distanced himself and took great caution. Something had happened, and quickly too considering none of the other avatar spirits or even herself had picked up on it.

"I also wanted you to see something so you get an idea of what we are dealing with to some extent. It is why I chose to meet here." Kukulkan stopped her circling and straightened herself next to her summoner. Samira climbed and hopped onto the serpent's back. "It is not far, but does require flight." She waited for Leona to be ready to follow before having Kukulkan take off.

(Word Count: 932
Samira Total: 3255)

Leona suspected that Samira was pulling her punches when she expressed disappointment in the Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf not knowing anything about the Icebourne. Samira had every right to be disappointed. As the Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf, Leona was supposed to be an expert in several fields of lore ranging from mythical creatures to magical ingredients. However, the blonde was not an expert in any intellectual field. Right now Leona was only a novice when it came to conducting research.

Her problem was not a lack of research materials to study. Silver Wolf had a lot of books pertaining to magical lore, magical ingredients, mythical beasts, and other subjects relevant to the guild's mission. Leona even had a modest personal library to draw from if the guild library did not have what she needed.

Leona's problem was something else, something deep within herself.

Every time Leona started to study a subject she would either get bored or run into a difficulty and find an excuse to put the project on the back burner, where it would languish until she eventually forgot about it altogether. She would resolve to study something else and she would start off strong but eventually get distracted and shove her new project aside. Breaking that cycle and studying a subject to the point of mastery was something that Leona really needed to do if she wanted to begin to live up to people's perception of Silver Wolf as a guild with an intellectual mission. That self-improvement project would have to wait for later, though.

As if Samira's polite disappointment was not enough to make Leona feel humiliated, the giant serpent chimed in with more overt and less polite criticism of the blonde.

It started off with a backhanded compliment about how much courage one had to have to go into a danger zone without any knowledge of the danger one was facing. It then uncoiled and began to move around the two mages, causing Leona a bit of alarm. Leona felt her skin crawl as the giant serpent slithered around them. She silently hoped that it did not accidentally or deliberately brush up against her at any point while in motion.

As it moved the serpent directed another jab at Leona and gave an audible chuckle after taking the shot.

The giant snake stated in no uncertain terms that if Samira had wanted to meet Leona outside Hietz the Goddess of Humility would have told the blonde. Leona had to admit that it had a point there. If Samira had wanted to meet outside the town instead of here, she would have specifically requested that Leona travel there when she sent the text message.

However, the chuckle after its remark made Leona more than a little angry.

She was not sure if Samira or the serpent saw her face, but Leona's eyes narrowed in anger for a moment. Leona could tolerate the insults because the scaly summon had spoken the truth on both counts. However, it had made the mistake of laughing at Leona and being laughed at was something the blonde had a lot less tolerance for. Leona was so insulted that her indignation almost overcame her fear of the giant serpent.

If it kept on laughing at her, it would learn the hard way why Leona was named after the lion.

Shoving aside any thoughts of getting revenge for the time being, Leona would have to grin and bear it. She would need Samira's help and she would need the scaly summon's help too. Swallowing her irritation, Leona spoke to Samira.

"You're right, Samira. We need to deal with the Icebourne before it reaches the city. We've got powerful spells and we've got powerful summons. Between the two of us, we should be able to stop it well before it reaches the city... if we play our cards right." Leona asserted that Samira was right in making the suggestion to intercept the Icebourne before it reached the city they were supposed to protect. Being proactive was the best way to defend the city. The blonde was trying to be smarter than she used to be and not blindly rush into a fight, especially not against something with the kind of power that the Icebourne was touted to have. Leona wanted to get some information on the opposition before making an attack, but time to get the complete picture was not something they had.

"There was something that you wanted to show me, huh? Hang on and let me summon Winged Lion again." Leona said to Samira as the serpent stopped slithering between them and straightened out, presumably so that the teal-haired mage could board it for travel. Leona then turned around and raised her hands to the sky, telepathically summoning Winged Lion again. The winged lion soon arrived and landed gently on the snow a short distance from Leona, folding its wings up to its sides and standing nearby in a regal posture while waiting for Leona to give it a command.

"OK, my transportation has arrived. I'm ready to go whenever you are, Samira." Leona said to the Goddess of Humility. The blonde was eager to see what it was that her partner wanted to show her. Samira claimed that it had something to do with what they were dealing with and at the moment Leona's attention was focused on learning more about what they would be dealing with.

[Post Word Count: 908]
[Leona's Word Count: 2,982]

A small nod was given as a reply when Leona had made it clear that she understood and agreed with the... well not plan really since there was not much of one just yet, but the thought behind it. The summoner remained silent and stared at Leona for a moment as she spoke further and even summoned the winged lion back. The narrowed gaze of the blonde was not easily missed. Due to the balaclava it was the only thing that stood out on her face. It was a bit concerning but not at all unexpected. Kukulkan was known for pushing buttons and she had apparently pressed Leona's. Not too far just yet, but quite enough to see an expression that Samira had not seen since the time they were in that cheese world. Actually, it was difficult to tell which narrowed gaze was more intense. The one back then or the one that showed itself presently.

Leona said nothing about the comments. No acknowledgement was given towards the apology either. She was showing remarkable restraint by keeping her tongue and actions in check. Samira could respect that. Appreciated it, even. They had time before the Icebourne caused a catastrophe but not much. Spending that little time in a minor conflict over words was not wise. That all could be sorted out later if need be. Provided no one snapped before then, of course. Luck would not be on their side if that occurred. They all needed level and cool heads for what they were about to face. Or so she could wisely assume.

"Very well," Samira plainly stated with another small nod, acknowledging Leona's words that she was ready. Her verdant gaze turned away from her fellow human and focused on the giant serpent she now sat on. Gently, she patted the smooth green scales. "Kuku, if you please." There was nothing else to be said. Their minds were linked and the plumed serpent wasn't an idiot or deaf. Samira now wanted her to take her there and also lead the other Saint and her lion around. Wonderful.

"I am reminding you again that you owe me. The next time Anhur pulls a disappearing act with Janus on vacation at the same exact time you better learn to use your legs. Or at least be better at controlling your flying spells. I still can't erase the memory of the last time from my mind. Pathetic and nightmarish."

"Not disgraceful?" Samira inquired with slight amusement. The offensive ramblings of the avatar spirit did not bother her much anymore. They had been together for too long now for that. Besides, quite a number of her spirits tended to do the same thing. It got old very quickly. One spirit in particular had already frequently described that day as a disgraceful use of the magic of himself and his original. It had been why she was so amused and why she had chosen that specific word. Even Kuku and the others had to hear the whole speech back then.

Kuku said nothing at first, instead giving only a low annoyed hiss. Her large serpentine body began to slither forward through the white snow. "Careful that I don't change my mind while in midair." That matter was then dropped so she could gain Leona's attention because surely the blonde had already forgotten that she was supposed to follow the giant four winged snake. The avatar spirit was giving no credit to Leona on anything whatsoever. "Don't fall too far behind, Desert Lion. I don't like waiting for the slow to catch up." Whether she meant physically slow, mentally, or both was unclear. One could assume she meant slow at flying, but it was Kukulkan. No one would be surprised if the statement was factual for the other as well.

The winged serpent gave her wings a few flaps, ridding them of any cold substances that had started to form upon the mix of scales and pink feathers. The action also warmed them up, ridding them also of the stiffness that had settled in while being idle for so long in the wasteland of ice. Then she was in the air. Her flight was smooth and quick. Even though Iceberg was cold she was still one with its winds. As she should be. The essence of the actual god of winds was strong in her and it would not let her be anything less. Still, she didn't take off like a rocket. Her speed should have been enough for the winged lion to follow easily. Or so the serpent assumed. She'd at least give him a bit of credit. She'd even almost pity him for having to carry around that nearly useless Wizard Saint. No one ever pitied her though for having to fly Samira around so she didn't see the point.

Just as Samira had stated, the flight had not taken long. She had purposely made sure to remain close by after having checked it out herself earlier. Around the time she had received the official mission request from the Iceberg city, she had also received another by way of invasive telepathy. The two were related, she had quickly come to find out. What had been the mysterious request? To investigate a great disturbance that even a long ago acquaintance felt from within his ice temple on the other side of Iceberg. Did he plan to aid in the matter even after finding out what it was that caused it? Of course not. Not even a hint of information was given. Useless dragon.

The serpent led Leona and her winged lion around a mountain. From their viewpoint it was a typical solid mountain. Once on the other side, however, it was clear something was not quite right. The mountain's surface was partially destroyed. Cracked, crumbled, and had giant gaps. At its base even more damage could be seen even through the blinding white of the snow around it. An ugly colossal hole was there, its depths deep and dark. Its total coverage exceeded that of the largest dragon that had been recorded. No evidence of an explosion was around, and it was very unlikely someone dug it even with magic. It was far from being a smooth hole with clear edges. Something had torn the land apart. Pushed through it. As if forcibly breaking through a cage with nothing but natural strength and brute force. That is where the Icebourne had come from. Hidden away within a mountain base. Either imprisoned, trapped, or just happened to be where it decided to sleep one day to later wake up centuries later.

Kukulkan stopped slithering through the air and hovered right above the hole. Both she and Samira waited for Leona and the winged lion to come closer. If they didn't then Kukulkan would move towards them instead so that the two summoners could speak without having to shout at each other. "I believe this to be where the Icebourne originated from before it set its sights on Heitz," Samira stated plainly. The intention of revealing the Icebourne's origin point was to allow for Leona to see the damage it could cause when it was not in an actual battle. She needed to see for herself at least that much so she could plan her actions accordingly and survive. "The reasons on why it was hidden away here aside, I consider this to be enough proof that we will need to be extra careful. Do not hold back on anything." Samira stopped and thought for a second, tilting her head. "Unless whatever you do destroys the town. Then hold back just a little." Some might have taken that as a form of a bit of humor despite the situation, but since Samira spoke it so seriously it was hard to tell if that was her intent or not. Whatever the case, what came next was Leona's final opportunity to decline on helping before they went on to find it. "Do you still want to help me deal with this creature? I will not think less of you if you decide to go back."

"Psh. I will." Kukulkan added but said nothing more. She wasn't going to beg for Leona to stay and she didn't care if she left. It was entirely her decision.

(Word Count: 1388
Samira Total: 4643)

Leona listened to the serpent named "Kuku" talk to Samira about some incident from Samira's past that the blonde was not privy to.

Leona heard the summon comment to Samira about a debt and then remarked that the next time two unknown people vanished Samira would have to get around by either walking to where she needed to go or learning to use her flying spells with greater proficiency. Leona was not sure what the serpent was talking about, but right now she had more important things on her mind than Samira's personal business. The Wizard Saint of Courage quickly climbed on board Winged Lion and settled into her "seat" on his back.

Leona watched the serpent get into forward motion while saying something to Samira about it "changing its mind in midair." Leona frowned deeply. That sounded like a veiled threat directed at Samira and Leona did not like threats of any kind directed at her teal-haired friend. The blonde took a deep breath to keep herself from saying or doing something that she would regret and telepathically directed Winged Lion to take off and follow the serpent.

While Winged Lion prepared to take off Leona heard Kuku direct another jab at her.

In the latest jab Kuku cautioned Leona about how the former disliked having to wait for the sluggish to keep pace. The blonde narrowed her eyes just like she had done when the serpent had chuckled at her earlier. That giant snake was really pressing its luck right now. Kuku was lucky that Leona was keeping her temper in check out of respect for Samira or the blonde would make the snide serpent pay for its snide remarks.

Leona took another deep breath to calm down and watched the serpent flap its wings to remove the snow and any other materials that might have built up on them while it was grounded before taking off. Winged Lion followed suit and flapped his wings to remove the snow from them, then ran forward for about twelve steps to build up enough speed for takeoff. He then jumped into the air and flapped his wings several times to get airborne.

Once in the air Leona telepathically repeated her directions to follow the winged serpent and Winged Lion did so. He followed Kuku with ease and after a brief flight the pair came across a mountain that they immediately began to fly around. Leona looked down at the mountain and did not see anything special about it... it was a run-of-the-mill mountain in the middle of a really cold place. Why had they come all the way out to this mountain when they needed to find the Icebourne and stop it before it reached the city they were supposed to protect?

Then as Leona was guided around the mountain she saw why Samira had gone out of her way to lead the blonde here. The other side of the mountain looked like it had been partially destroyed, but the Wizard Saint of Courage had no idea what could have done that much damage. Leona looked down at the base of the mountain and saw a giant gaping hole that was very deep, so deep that light was unable to reach the bottom.

The Wizard Saint studied it carefully and tried to figure out what could have made one that big.

There was little possibility that a lone mage had made it using magic. There was also no sign of explosives being used. Leona looked a little harder and noticed that the edges of the hole were not clear and smooth. Rather they were ragged.

Ragged like something had forced its way out of the mountain.

Whatever had done so had a lot of strength.

Leona did not have much time to think about what could have the strength to accomplish such a feat because she noticed the flying serpent stop all forward motion and begin hovering over the hole. Leona telepathically ordered Winged Lion to descend and stop at the right side of the serpent so that she could talk to Samira without having to shout at her. Winged Lion wordlessly obeyed and soon came to a stop exactly where he needed to stop. Leona faced Samira and listened to to the teal-haired mage's words.

Samira hypothesized that this was where the Icebourne had come from. Leona nodded in agreement with that hypothesis. Then her partner informed her that the size of the hole in the mountain was sufficient evidence that caution was advised when engaging the Icebourne and added the command to not hold anything back once they had engaged it. Samira soon amended her remark to add the stipulation to hold back a little only if anything Leona did while fighting the beast ran the risk of destroying the town. Since Samira had added the stipulation in such a serious tone of voice despite it sounding like a piece of dark comedy, Leona kept a neutral face and nodded instead of saying something that could construed as a flippant remark about the danger that faced Heitz.

Leona listened to the wind blow for a few moments before the teal-haired mage addressed her again.

Samira offered Leona a chance to back out of helping the Goddess of Humility protect Heitz from the Icebourne. Samira claimed that her opinion of Leona would not be lowered if Leona accepted the offer. Instead of responding right away Leona kept quiet for a few moments before she made her decision... not that the choice was hard for her.

Within seconds Leona had decided to stay and was about to tell Samira that when Kuku took the opportunity to take yet another jab at the blonde.

Kuku remarked that it would think less of Leona if the latter chose to back out of the impending battle with the Icebourne. Leona clenched her teeth and kept her mouth shut despite the growing temptation to say something back to the snide serpent. She maintained eye contact with Samira as she gave her reply.

"I'm not backing out, Samira. I'll help you deal with the Icebourne." Leona informed her friend. The Wizard Saint was not going to run from this challenge. A lot of people were counting on her to save Heitz from an enormous beast that was heading right for it. She was the Wizard Saint of Courage and she was going to do her best to demonstrate the virtue that was in her title.

Besides, Leona was not going to give the snide serpent a legitimate reason to laugh at her if she could help it.

[Post Word Count: 1,102]
[Leona's Word Count: 4,084]

"Hmmm?" Kuku turned her head to stare at the Wizard Saint. Her natural wicked look did well to hide it well, but the serpent was intrigued and mildly surprised by Leona's answer. There was more confidence there than she anticipated as well as enough restraint and intelligence to ignore her. She couldn't decide whether she liked it or not. Maybe Leona would be more useful than she had originally believed. Could she really set her expectations for her a little higher? The serpent turned away. Probably not actually.

Samira slowly nodded. In that case, they were now officially in the job together. Heitz, the behemoth, and even themselves would be having one very eventful day. "Very well. We can start tracking the creature from this point. It should not be difficult in theory." That was the trick phrase there, "in theory". The whole time Samira was there she had not seen any sign of the creature. If it was so tall and large it should have been able to be seen, and possibly heard, for miles. Its path of destruction should have been easily apparent. Instead, it was the opposite. Samira supposed it was possible that it had just traveled a lot further than she had been led to believe to the point it could no longer be seen. Maybe a mountain in the path or the wintery icy fog covered it. There were many explanations for it, but she wasn't so convinced it was something so simple and natural. Perhaps elusiveness despite its great size was one of its ancient abilities.

"There are breaks in the ground that lead away from this disaster. I concluded earlier that they are likely the behemoth's tracks. It is the path I sent my scout to follow so be cautious and keep alert as we follow them," Samira advised before patting the serpent below her on the neck as a sign to get moving. Kukulkan shot Leona another glance as she gave her wings a flap. She did not warn her of keeping up again. The winged lion did well enough the last time. Instead, the feathered serpent had another thought. "Desert lions," Kukulkan called, referring to both the winged lion and the little Wizard Saint of Courage that commanded him. "I am tired of you following me. You take the lead this time."

Curious. Samira did wonder why Kukulkan made the suggestion. It wasn't because she was tired of being followed, she knew that. The serpent's pride was too great for that. There was something else to it. If she really wanted to think less of her summon she would think Kukulkan made the suggestion due to Anhur's disappearance. Send the lions first so they get smacked around and give time for her to react safely. She didn't want to think that way about Kuku though. Even if it was quite possibly very true. "An interesting idea, but there is a more cautious approach."

Samira once again turned her glance to Leona. "If you have any summons willing to follow the trail ahead of us then you should allow them to do so. We will probably need their help regardless so the sooner they are active, the better. I will be doing the same." As soon as she said that two keys on her keyring glowed. One a fiery orange, and the other a bright grey. A portal of flames and falcon hieroglyphics appeared further ahead of where the beginning of the trail was located. A falcon flew through and screeched majestically. It wasn't his true form, but that was not required just yet. The second portal took the form of a small circular storm. This time a humanoid summon came through. Immediately he shivered and hugged himself as if that would keep any warmth he had from escaping his body. "Dammit, Samira!" He yelled in agitation as he turned his dark eyes on his summoner above him. "Do I look like I naturally dress for this kind of weather?!"

"You knew it would be cold... Have you not been paying attention?"
"He's an idiot. Did you expect him to dress appropriately for the occasion? He would rather complain like a child."
"Shut up! I wasn't expecting to be needed this time. I was in the middle of a crossword puzzle. Not going through my winter wardrobe."

The bickering and those type of comments were perfectly normal for Team Samira. Her current team of spirits was chosen for now with enough room in her power to call on more if needed. Now to see if Leona would call on more to bulk up their group. After that, they would be ready.

(Word Count: 779
Samira Total: 5422)

"Yeah. It should be easy to track the Icebourne from here. In theory." Leona echoed her companion's belief since she had nothing to contribute to the conversation. The key words here were "in theory." If it were that easy the pair should have spotted it from a mile away, but that was not the case.

Leona listened to Samira talk about the tracks and how they were the ones she had sent her scout to follow. The teal-haired mage also warned Leona to be cautious and vigilant while following the trail. If she had been given that warning earlier the blonde would have asked why because the size of the creature should give it away, but after visiting this site Leona knew better than to mouth off like that. The Wizard Saint of Courage took her companion's words seriously.

"OK." Leona replied laconically to Samira's words. She watched Samira's winged serpent flap its wings before making a suggestion to Leona. Kukulkan wanted the "desert lions" to take the lead for the next portion of the trip. Leona was about to take the serpent up on the suggestion when Samira stepped in and suggested another course of action.

Samira suggested that instead of Leona taking the lead the latter should send summons down the path first. That was a good idea. Why risk danger this early when Leona could send summons?

If the summons got into trouble it would not be a big deal because Leona could just summon them again when they were struck down. Leona hated to take such a cavalier attitude towards the welfare of her summons, but the truth of the matter was that they could be summoned again none the worse for wear if something happened to them. The same could not be said for Leona herself.

"OK Samira, I've got a few summons in mind. Lemme bring them out before we move on." Leona replied. Wasting no further time, she raised her hands to the sky, channeled magic into them, and summoned Tempest Avian.

"TEMPEST AVIAN!" Leona called out. The rotund metallic owl descended in the center of a tornado and soon hovered in place at Leona's left. Leona raised her hands again and channeled magic into them, then summoned Sky Champion Rafale.

"SKY CHAMPION SUMMON!" Leona called out. Moments later the green-clad summon appeared and descended until he was hovering at Leona's right side. He floated stoically while Leona turned to face Samira.

"OK, Samira. I've got my summons out with the ability to summon one more if I have to or need to." Leona notified Samira that the Wizard Saint of Courage could bring out one more summon if the situation called for it. While Leona had been busy bringing out her summons Samira had brought out two of her own, a falcon summon and a humanoid summon that the blonde had never seen Samira use before.

The humanoid figure complained about the cold and as always the snide serpent had something to say, this time commenting that the summon refused to dress appropriately and would rather complain like a child. He shot back that he was doing a crossword puzzle, not sorting through his winter wardrobe. Leona blinked.

Summons could do crossword puzzles?

And what was a crossword puzzle?

Choosing to let that pass without comment instead of saying something stupid and inviting more scorn from the winged serpent, Leona instead chose to focus on the task at hand, which was finding the Icebourne.

"I'm ready to get going whenever you are, Samira." Leona notified her companion.

[Post Word Count: 596]
[Leona's Word Count: 4,680]

Kukulkan was quite satisfied with the new plan. Instead of Leona and her winged lion acting as a singular meatshield, there were now four separate summons to act as that role. In her view anyway. That may not have been the true intent but that was what they were to her. She was very fragile, after all. She couldn't have some gigantic creature of ice smack her right out of the sky as if she were a pesky fly. The others could play that role while she kept a safe distance that gave her time to react in a way that was beneficial to her. And Samira too, naturally. It was her duty to keep her safe, and the serpent supposed any human getting hit by the Icebourne directly may become flattened like a pancake. Either way, she had what she wanted so she was pleased. "If you're done complaining you can start moving." The winged snake snapped, her patience getting thin despite getting her way just a moment ago. In the end, she was never truly happy.

"Yea, yea. Don't think I don't know why you're demanding we all go first." Susano, the summon with the human appearance, knew how the serpent thought, but he also picked up on Samira's own thoughts earlier the moment it was suggested that Leona go first. It was cowardly, but he didn't expect much out of the snake. He also didn't care about being ahead of the group. It just made things more interesting so he left his comment at that and dropped it. Now if only he wasn't so damn cold. The desire to ask the flaming falcon to set him on fire was growing. "Okay, ladies, let's get moving." With that said, Susano created an air current around him that pushed him from the ground and allowed him to move around in the air. It wasn't flying technically, but he didn't exactly have any wings. The best he could do was use his own magic to make a form of flying possible to keep up. Like hell was he going to run around in the snow and ice.

The falcon, Ra, circled around the group and then quickly changed direction to soar ahead of them, passing Susano. He had no comments to give, even if he considered the bickering between his fellow summons to be immature and disgraceful. Kukulkan began to move after that, her massive serpentine body slithering smoothly in the air. Even if her personality was anything but graceful her way of flying certainly made her look like a majestic creature of the sky. Samira glanced at Leona but said nothing. There was no reason to delay any further with conversation and it was quite obvious that she and her summons were expected to come along.

Susano stayed relatively lower to the ground than both Ra and Kukulkan. It was easier for him to pick up the massive breaks in the ground that could be considered as the Icebounre's tracks. Among the blinding white snow and dark ice, it was a bit difficult to tell from too high above. Ra didn't seem to have any issues. Although he was no eagle his eyesight was superb. It was this eyesight that made him notice something up ahead long before they had reached it. The flight had been quiet and uneventful until then. He screeched and circled around to the back of the group where he would then fly to and land on Samira's shoulder. Leona's more bird-like summon might have been able to spot it as well. He really didn't know about the abilities of the others nor did he really care. Speaking with his own summoner was the priority.

Up ahead was the equivalent of a battlefield. One of a battle that had already ended some time ago. It was where the Icebourne's tracks had led. Bodies of the Heitz army lay scattered around. The scene was the remnants and evidence of the first battle the people of Heitz had with the Icebourne, the very one that had caused them to make their request for aid. Generally, the old battlefield would have been something they could just fly right on by. After all, the Icebourne had already moved on and all of the Heitz soldiers down there were long dead. Samira had Kukulkan stop though. There, the giant winged serpent hovered. "Leona, wait." She was unsure if her fellow Wizard Saint would hear her, but she had to speak up either way. Hopefully one of Leona's summons had picked up on what's ahead and got her attention.

Up ahead was not just the old battle scene, but also a barrier of thick glowing ice that blocked their current path. It rose to such a height that flying over it without passing out from the lack of oxygen would be quite the feat. That was not all though. There were others down there. Not exactly human in origin or really technically alive. They were more elementals than anything and most likely the ones that set the barrier up, that or the Icebourne had set it up and they were left to guard it. Neither Samira nor her summons knew for sure just from looking. Either way, it seemed that they were expected, and the Goddess of Ishgar could guess that Anhur was the cause of that. She could sense him nearby as well, but it was faint. He must have clashed with those things below and paid for the encounter. Now it was their turn apparently.

(Word Count: 926
Samita Total: 6348)

Once Samira's humanoid summon had indirectly brought the matter to her attention Leona noticed what he was talking about. Kukulkan was awfully insistent that Leona and her summons lead the way. The blonde began to think, something that was a challenge for her since she was neither a deep thinker nor a frequent thinker. She was also prone to reaching the wrong conclusions more often than she liked, but in this case Leona could not help but to wonder about something. If Samira listened very carefully she could hear Leona's brain cells working overtime as the blonde entertained an idea.

Was Kukulkan afraid of the Icebourne?

It seemed that way. Why else would the proud winged serpent suddenly insist on Leona taking the lead? It was not because the snide serpent who had repeatedly voiced her disdain for the Wizard Saint had a sudden change of heart and saw Leona as eminently qualified for her title.

Doing her best to make sure that the only entity she had to fight was the Icebourne, Leona kept her observation to herself. Instead she focused on Samira's humanoid summon, who had insisted that they get going. Glad to meet a summon of Samira's who did not have utter disdain for her, Leona spoke to him.

"OK." Leona said to him. She was tempted to call him "Mystic Kung Fu Warrior", but that might not end well for her. Instead she would let him tell her his name whenever they were not busy. Leona followed both the flaming falcon summon and the Snide Serpent Supreme as Kukulkan moved forward and the humanoid summon stayed closer to the ground.

"Tempest Avian, follow that summon!" Leona ordered Tempest Avian to follow the humanoid summon and pointed towards him so that the owl would know what to follow. The rotund metallic owl wordlessly dove down and flew behind him while Leona followed them from above with Sky Champion Rafale in tow.

Eventually the two reached a battlefield and Tempest Avian telepathically let Leona know that there were a lot of bodies down there. Leona quickly surmised that the bodies were members of Heitz' army who had ventured out to stop the Icebourne before it could reach their city. They had failed, but it was not for lack of effort. This was why the Wizard Saints had been called in.

Leona noticed that Samira and Kukulkan had stopped and she managed to hear Samira implore her to stop. Leona telepathically ordered Winged Lion to stop as well and he smoothly came to a halt in midair. Just then Tempest Avian telepathically informed her of an "ice barrier" in the path. Leona looked forward and saw what he had meant.

It was a very large and very tall barrier made of glowing ice. Flying over it was not a feasible option because Leona could not breathe in thin air and she was uncertain if Samira could or not. Leona's attention was soon diverted from the ice barrier to something below. Tempest Avian reported the presence of two humanoid figures made out of ice. Leona looked down below, then looked at the ice barrier.

Leona began to think again and soon reached a hypothesis.

There might be a connection between the two.

"Hey Samira, do you think that if we take down those ice figures that we can remove that ice barrier from our path?" Leona asked her fellow Wizard Saint.

"I'm about to have my summons take out those figures. Maybe getting rid of them will clear the way." Leona informed her companion. She then telepathically ordered Sky Champion Rafale and Tempest Avian to engage the icy figures. It took Sky Champion Rafale a little longer than Tempest Avian to engage the icy figures, but once he joined the metallic owl the result was one-sided.

Sky Champion Rafale cleaved one of them in half at the waist with a Sonic Slice while Tempest Avian destroyed the other with a single Hurricane Shot. Leona blinked. She thought that the humanoid figures would be tougher than that.

She then turned her attention to the ice barrier. It was still standing firmly in their way. Leona turned to her partner.

"Well, that didn't work. Do you think that there are more of those ice figures somewhere nearby?" Leona asked Samira.

[Post Word Count: 718]
[Leona's Word Count: 5,398]

"Perhaps," was all Samira said to Leona's question. Getting rid of the elementals did seem like the most logical approach. Although, if she were being honest, she had expected to feel more magical energy coming from that pair of ice aberrations. If they were meant to guard the barrier and stop anyone from getting through there should have been much more there. The barrier itself could be explained as the Ice Behemoth conjuring it. Still, the minions should have been radiating energy just as strong as their master if there were just two of them to hold the line. Perhaps they did not use typical magic and were strong physically. No. That wasn't it. Not if Anhur had trouble. Something else was there that she was missing.

Samira watched as Leona's summons took care of the elemental soldiers below. Quite easily in fact. Too easily. Samira's eyes narrowed suspiciously. True Leona and herself were formidable mages and as such so were their summons that acted as additional limbs. It still should not have been that easy. The barrier didn't come down either, which would have made sense if the Behemoth set it up itself. The Goddess of Ishgar was beginning to think that was not the case though. Especially not after Leona asked another question. Did she think that there were more of those elementals nearby keeping the barrier up? And that was it. Now it made sense. Something dealt with that easily did not have a lot of power by themselves. Their strength relied on numbers to overpower an enemy. "I do. I do not imagine that they are far or that we will have to wait long for them to make their appearance."

"Coming from down here that's almost the understatement of the year!" Susano's shouted sarcastically as he looked up at the flying mages and their summons. His voice may not have been as loud to Leona given the distance, but he knew Samira and Kukulkan could hear just fine. His voice had reached them even mentally just as theirs had reached his own mind. He had originally stopped at the barrier to give it a look while Leona was dealing with the two elemental distractions. It took only one hit with one of his abilities to see that it was one hell of a tough thing to break. The tornado winds that were unleashed with the swing of his blade did absolutely nothing. They couldn't even dispel the damn thing's power. It'd take a more powerful summon than himself to get rid of it. As unfortunate as it was for his pride. He disappeared into the low breeze of the icy land, becoming one with the wind for a split second before reappearing closer to where he had left the small group. That was when he noticed something was off. The wind. The ground. There was magic there. Ancient. Cold. Definitely not something to bring to a party. The vibes he was getting were threatening and not at all like the welcoming rays of sunshine elsewhere. Not that the rest of Iceberg was welcoming... or had great doses of happy sunshine... where was he going with his thoughts anyway? Oh, right. It was bad and he felt like he was standing right in the middle of a violent army of brainless ice servants.

"His thoughts are giving me a headache. I am already dealing with the 'courageous' Wizard Saint. Can you at least get rid of the fly before I have to devour him to regain my peace of mind?"

"Try it and see what happens!" Susano shouted, daring the feathered serpent to do as she suggested if he wasn't forced away. He wouldn't stay too focused on the bickering between himself and the flying pair of boot leather though. He was a bit too smart for that. Loudmouthed and sarcastic, sure, but still had a functioning brain. "But just hold that thought for a bit." The wind spirit prepared himself for what he knew was coming.

Kukulkan hissed in disapproval but that was all. "Here they come," Samira stated calmly under her breath. In that instant the snow and ice of the ground rose and swirled, creating more of the elemental servants that Leona's summons had already taken care of previously. Except now there were much more than two. Way more. Susano acted immediately, sending a harsh slice of piercing wind that cut down many in the way. They fell to the ground in pieces. A minor victory that only lasted seconds. The pieces rose and the snow and ice swirled once more, piecing the servants back together by using the energies of the others around them. Considering how many there were though he couldn't exactly stop. He was being swarmed and had to start hitting them with even basic attacks while teleporting out of harm's way.

Samira would watch for a few moments, having done nothing and still resting on the scaled-back of Kukulkan. She decided taking them all out at once was worth a chance. But with which ability? After all, there needed to be a balance. One that was just enough for the job without going too overboard. The biggest of spells needed to be saved for the ice Behemoth in case they were necessary. Ra probably could have gotten the job done, but he had already settled on saving his energy for the ice behemoth. If Leona had sent her summons to help deal with the ice servant army Samira would make a request that would also serve as a warning. "Leona, I am about to use a spell that may be harmful to your wind allies. Can you please have them move out of the way?" If Leona had gone there to help it would be Susano giving the warning for all of them to get out of there. If need be, he'd even dare to swoop the Silver Wolf guild mistress off her feet and carry her while running far out of range. Naturally, the elementals would attempt to follow, but it wouldn't last for long since they would soon be forced to halt entirely.

Once Samira was sure that it was fine to cast the spell without injury to an ally, she would raise her hand and connect with her source of magic power and that of the celestial realm that it was tied to. With a gentle wave of that same hand, the spell was conjured and fully activated. On the ground of snow and ice a massive glowing circle was traced, and within its boundaries a gateway opened. The bright whirling energy stopped the many servants of the ice behemoth, stunning them as they now stood in a reality that was in between both the normal reality and that of the celestial. This same power emanating from the gateway began to break them into several pieces like the pitifully made ice sculptures that they were. They were delicate things, after all. Strangely enough. And just like that, they were no more. The ice barrier that blocked their way vanished. The two renowned mages would be able to continue their quest.

Samira dismissed her spell now that it was no longer needed. The ice servants did not return or reform. That did not mean that more would not show up, though. Some more powerful were likely to show up along the way or even while fighting the Behemoth itself. Speaking of, the monstrosity could now be seen in the distance now that the barrier that blocked the view was taken care of. It moved slowly. Very slowly. The ancient creature was in absolutely no rush at all. Assuming it could move any faster. No wonder it hadn't reached Heitz yet.

(Word Count: 1293
Samira Total: 7641)

Leona blinked when Sky Champion Rafale and Tempest Avian dispatched the two funny-looking ice creatures so easily. They were made out of ice and ice was not known as the strongest substance known to man. Even if it had been magically reinforced the creatures had totally shattered with ease. Then again, Leona had sent out two of her strongest summons to do battle, so she did not know what she had expected out of the ice creatures.

Leona listened to Samira's response to the question the former had posed earlier about whether there were more of the ice creatures in the area and Samira's answer was in the affirmative. Samira then stated her belief that there were more nearby and that they would soon emerge from their hiding places to renew the struggle. That observation earned a sarcastic remark from the humanoid summon who was standing way down below.

The Wizard Saint of Courage heard Kukulkan take only a light jab at her by twisting her title around and implying that simply being around Leona was an onerous chore. However, the brunt of The Great And Mighty Kuku's ire was reserved for the humanoid summon down below. Leona was not sure what he had done to incur such ire, but it probably had something to do with the fact that he was not a fabulous flying serpent like Kuku.

Maybe Leona should make Kuku a giant mirror that surrounded it so that it could be around its favorite being all the time.

The humanoid summon gave a belligerent retort and the snide serpent hissed. It seemed like Kuku was more talk than action. Leona was amused by how the snide serpent that talked a big game suddenly clammed up when someone called it out on its talk.

Her attention was diverted from the banter between Samira's summons and directed instead to Samira's warning that more of the ice creatures had showed up. If it was a fight they wanted Leona would oblige them. Her summons were still active and still ready for battle.

"Sky Champion Rafale, Tempest Avian, attack those ice creatures but don't attack the human-looking guy down there! He's with Samira!" Leona telepathically ordered her summons. Both of them went into action alongside Samira's summon. Sky Champion Rafale flew around at high speed zigging and zagging between enemies and striking back with his violet energy blades whenever the opportunity presented itself while Tempest Avian deftly weaved around attacks despite his rotund body and fired back with a Hurricane Shot any chance he got.

The two summons were doing a good job of taking care of business, but Samira's summon was no slouch himself. Leona watched the action from her lofty perch on Winged Lion's back and was content to let her summons do the fighting. They were strong enough to handle themselves and smart enough to act on their own initiative without her having to be on the ground with them. Leona noticed that the ice creatures were not putting up any opposition worth mentioning and was watching the action when Samira issued a politely worded warning that Leona might want to get her summons to safety.

The blonde blinked and looked at Samira for a few moments.

"I'll move them right away!" Leona finally replied after an awkward pause. She had a good idea of what was coming. She had witnessed Samira using one of her most powerful spells against a group of Pergrandian soldiers during the border clash, a spell so powerful that Leona was amazed by the power her friend wielded. Those ice things had very little chance of surviving what Samira was about to throw their way.

"SKY CHAMPION RAFALE, TEMPEST AVIAN! GET OUT OF THERE!" Leona telepathically ordered them. The winged summons wordlessly obeyed Leona and flew to her side, where they waited for further instructions. Leona watched Samira begin the light show. It was hard to properly describe because Leona was mesmerized by how the spell manifested, but once the spell had been cast the ice creatures were no more. That spell was one reason Leona went out of her way to avoid angering Samira.

When Leona finally picked her lower jaw up off of Winged Lion's back she noticed that the ice barrier had vanished along with all of those ice creatures. The path was now clear for them to pursue the Icebourne. Leona observed it for a moment and noticed that it was moving at a pace that was best described as "glacial."

Whether it was that slow because it was so massive or it was that slow because it was daring the mages and their summons to pursue it was unknown. Maybe Leona was overestimating its intelligence when she hypothesized that it was moving that slow to lure them in, but she knew nothing about the creature. Earlier Samira had warned her to be cautious when dealing with the beast, so Leona was not going to charge in without some idea of what it could do. The blonde considered the wording of her question carefully before asking it.

"All right Samira, now that the ice barrier's not a problem anymore, how do you suggest we approach the Icebourne? Do you think it has any kind of defenses against flying threats?" Leona asked Samira. Despite taking time to think her question through Leona was sure that it sounded dumb anyway. She was also sure that the Supremely Snide Serpent would have yet another jab aimed at Leona's intelligence ready to go. For once Leona did not care what a talking flying snake with a superiority complex had to say about her.

Leona wanted to know exactly how Samira wanted to approach the giant creature before the two of them made their move. Leona felt that asking for an approach to the problem was a reasonable question to ask regardless of what Kuku had to say about it. Besides, the Icebourne might have some anti-air capabilities and Leona did not want to fly right into a storm of anti-air projectiles if she could help it.

If Leona and Samira were going to fight the Icebourne together it would be prudent to coordinate their actions before the fighting started. While there was a good chance they might have to deviate from the plan at some point during the fight due to the chaos of any battle with a tough opponent, having a basic plan to go on was never a bad idea. Even someone as eager to prove themselves worthy of their honored titles as Leona knew the value of coordinating her actions with partners.

[Post Word Count: 1,104]
[Leona's Word Count: 6,502]

"I've had just about enough of this," Kuku commented, frustrated once again with the supposed Wizard Saint. Was that woman a Wizard Saint or some lowly novice that just started mage school? Did the Magic Council just bestow such a supposedly grand title on just anyone whether they were capable of any real thought or not? The flying serpent wanted to find some way to have a sliver of respect for Leona but thus far she was proving to be very disappointing. The woman had zero leadership skills if she couldn't take charge even once.

Samira stared down on the serpent she rode, her eyes narrowed seriously. Now even she was starting to get upset at the summon's words. Leona had graciously offered her help and was doing well at that. Being the target of such comments was undeserved. "Enough of that, Kuku. I did not summon you here to have you consistently disrespect a friend."

The winged serpent scoffed at that. "No. You summoned me to freeze while flying your Goddess of Ishgar ass in this frozen wasteland. Is my mood really surprising?"

"You know better. Please behave from this point on or at the very least keep comments of that sort to yourself."

"Hmph. Whatever. Get on with answering the questions already so we can get moving."

Samira smiled then. A small wicked smile that was rare for most people to see. Only her summons would really recognize it now as everyone else that had witnessed it in the past fell off the face of the world with no explanation. Kukulkan's attitude no longer phased her and so she dismissed it as a little mischievous thought came to mind. She decided to let the serpent continue if she so desired. The consequences of it would come in due time, especially if permission was granted. "Apologies, Leona." Her glance turned on Leona for a second before falling once again on the winged serpent as the next sentence came from her lips. "If you ever feel the need to strike Kukulkan because of her rudeness you are given permission to do so."

"WHAT?!" The winged serpent turned her long neck around so her cold yet surprised gaze could see the summoner that dared make such a suggestion.

Samira continued smiling, holding in the cackle that she wanted to let out. The reaction was just as she expected. It was another thing that Kukulkan should have known. Samira had no qualms with people sticking up for themselves when faced with the verbal assault of a snake that didn't know how to keep quiet. That would not be the first time someone violently sent the flying reptile back to her homeworld for that reason or the last. "I would, however, prefer that you wait until we are done with our mission here first."

"That is summon abuse, you traitor."

"Only if there is no reason for it." Samira patted the scales of the serpent. Kukulkan and some others caused their own trouble. Just because she was their summoner didn't mean that she couldn't see their faults. Just like anyone else they needed to learn and suffer the consequences of their words and actions. Within reason, of course.

Now it was back to business though. The behemoth might have been moving ultra slowly but it was still moving. Her focused gaze returned to Leona as she spoke. "I cannot assume that it does not have defenses against flying enemies. I know very little about this ancient creature so we will have to be open-minded to its capabilities. As of this moment, everything is a possibility. The only thing we do absolutely know is that it can create ice walls as well as smaller minions. Even if it does have flying defenses that is likely our best way of getting near it without the use of teleportation abilities. As much as I would like to say staying near the ground is safer I am not willing to bet my life on it. Without proper avoidance, we would be crushed. At least by air, there are a bit more mobility options." Truthfully Samira probably could handle being on the ground just fine. She did have some spells to help with getting around a gigantic monster before being crushed but that was just not the option she cared to go for. Not when she could just stick to the air. Besides, she also felt that flying was also best for Leona as well. At least until they could figure out where to go from there. Some ideas came to Samira's mind, but whether or not they could be done was something they'd need to test out. "First we should try finding weak points. There is also a possibility that we can land on the back of the creature and do damage that way. Perhaps we should start there."

"Why not just summon Geb? He's just as big."

"...Perhaps. I would rather not have a battle between two colossal giants though." Or three if Leona happened to have an extra-large summon. "It is an option regardless. Do you happen to have any summons that are roughly the same size as the ice behemoth, Leona?"

Technically there was another option that Samira was purposely not suggesting. It was the obvious and most simple one. Just use the most powerful spells to obliterate the behemoth in no time. For now, she was avoiding that strategy as much as possible.

(Word Count: 910
Samira Total: 8551)

Leona had long since grown tired of the Snide Serpent's cutting remarks, which seemed to come to it as naturally as breathing did. Leona had been wanting to say something to it for the past several incidents, but the blonde had kept her mouth shut because Samira was one of the few friends she had in this world. Besides, it was not a good idea to antagonize a Goddess of Ishgar, even if said goddess was a friend. Leona had no choice but to let this incident slide out of respect for Samira.

Kukulkan made yet another snide remark and Leona silently resented it like she had resented all the other remarks. This time Samira took a stand and chastised Kukulkan for the latest remark. Leona tried her best not to listen in, but she could not help but to overhear the teal-haired mage refer to the blonde as a "friend." Leona was not sure how to feel about that. She halfway paid attention to the ensuing exchange between summon and summoner as she thought about what she had just heard.

On one hand, she was glad that Samira considered her a friend.

On the other hand, Leona was uncertain if Samira was her friend because she really liked Leona or was her friend because Samira felt sorry for her.

Leona would have time to sort that out later. Her attention had been diverted to what Samira was telling Kukulkan. Leona tried her best not to eavesdrop on the conversation between summon and summoner, but the blonde still managed to pick up on something very interesting. Samira faced the blonde and apologized to her before the former turned her attention back to the serpent she was riding and dropped an unpleasant surprise in Kukulkan's lap... if Kukulkan had had a lap to begin with.

Samira had just granted Leona verbal permission to give Kukulkan a fist or spell to the face the next time the snide serpent said something rude to the blonde.

Once she understood what she had just been told Leona felt a surge of good cheer. It was sad that one of the few times in recent memory she felt joy was when she had been given permission to strike back at a giant flying and talking serpent who had been rude to her. Feeling joy over something like that probably made Leona look utterly pathetic, but on this occasion she was willing to look pathetic in exchange for being given what she had just been given. The only thing Samira asked for in return was for Leona to wait until this job was finished before the blonde exercised her new privilege. That was a reasonable request to make.

"I'll be glad to wait until we're finished here, Samira." Leona readily agreed to Samira's request. From now on Kukulkan could no longer hide behind Samira to avoid retaliation for snide remarks. From now on Leona was free to strike back against the snide serpent, but she would not abuse the privilege. Too much. But before Leona could dream about knocking Kukulkan around like a giant scaly pinata she needed to focus on what she came here for, which was defeating the ice creature.

Leona shifted gears and listened to Samira speculate on the ice creature's abilities. She speculated that at this point it had unknown potential and recited the two abilities the pair had seen it demonstrate earlier. The Goddess of Ishgar then suggested that their best hope of survival against the giant beast was to stick to the air. That suggestion quickly led to a possible way for the pair to take the giant beast down by turning its size against it. That method was to land on its back and attack it there.

Kukulkan then opened its mouth again. Leona was wary of yet another verbal barb being slung at her, but instead the serpent made a suggestion to Samira. That suggestion was to summon someone or something named "Geb." Leona listened for Samira's verdict on Kukulkan's idea.

Samira put the idea on the backburner for the time being and then turned to Leona to ask if the latter happened to have a giant summon available. Leona faced Samira and shook her head.

"I don't have an extra-large summon, Samira. All of my summons are human size." Leona replied in the negative. She could see where a really big summon would come in handy when contending with the ice creature, but in a moment of insight she could also see why Samira wanted to keep a clash of the titans as an option of last resort. The duo would have to use means other than that one to take the ice creature down. At least they already had one option on the table and that was to climb onto its back and look for a weakness to exploit. Having flight-capable summons to carry them to the giant beast made the option sound a lot less foolhardy than it sounded.

Leona was prepared to fly towards it and try to leap onto its back to put their "climb onto its back and look for a weakness" plan into action, but before she committed to that risky endeavor she decided to talk to Samira about it.

"I'm planning to use my summons to distract it while I try to get low enough to jump onto its back. Unless you really want to join me, you might wanna hang back in case things go badly. It's your call." Leona said to Samira. It was up to Samira what she did. She could either join Leona right away or she could hang back a bit and see how Leona fared before joining the attack. The teal-haired mage was a lot smarter than Leona and knew what was best for her, so the blonde would let her decide what she would do. While Leona waited to hear her friend's response she tried to determine the best way to approach the giant beast from the air.

Flying in front of it would be utter stupidity. Flying in from the sides would be somewhat safer, but that would make Leona's landing platform smaller than it had to be. Flying in from behind would be the safest approach that would also give her a large landing area, but the creature might be expecting that and might have a countermeasure waiting to use.

Leona was not sure if the creature was really that smart as to be able to plan for someone landing on its back. She might be overthinking things. Leona took a deep breath and faced ahead. No matter what approach she chose she would have to choose one quickly and commit to it... she did not have all day to stop the ice creature before it reached its destination.

[Post Word Count: 1,138]
[Leona's Word Count: 7,640]

The snide serpent had been caught off guard by Samira's decision. The Wizard Saint of Courage now had permission to act more violently towards her and it seemed the blonde was relishing that allowance. She had accepted it with no hesitation. "Of course you will." For once there was no sarcasm, but what did she have to be sarcastic about with that comment? Leona was a good-natured little mage. Doing exactly what was requested before standing up for herself. There was something to be said about permission being required in the first place. Another regarding if Leona could even summon that courage she supposedly represented by title. If her train of thought hadn't completely crashed she might have come up with something more to say as additional triggers. It would be her way of daring Leona. Then again it'd probably be such a waste of an effort. Kukulkan was betting that the Silver Wolf Guildmaster would be eaten by the behemoth long before things became a bit more problematic for her.

When Leona answered the question regarding the size of her summons Samira was somewhat relieved. Partially there was that feeling of disappointment but that only existed within her due to that option being nearly scrapped. Geb would be on his own there if they really went that route, and she wasn't quite sure if he was strong enough to hold the behemoth by himself even if his size could match. The clash of the titans was on the back burner for now along with some other ideas. That left traversing the back of the creature and doing what they could there. Samira didn't consider it too bad of a plan. There was a lot of room for error, mistakes, and surprises considering they knew basically nothing going into it, but it was something and they couldn't hover around all day strategizing. The two of them were very powerful and renowned mages. They'd be fine until they weren't, and Samira wasn't planning on the latter part of that statement coming to pass.

Leona didn't have much criticism for the idea. She went along with it, possibly seeing some wisdom in the strategy or because there wasn't much else she could change. Samira nodded, acknowledging Leona's intent and plan. "Sounds wise. I will do the same but will attempt to land at a different point. If something goes wrong I might have to alter my part of the plan. Either way, you at the very least should make it." There was no way Samira was going to let Leona go off alone while she hung back and watched. The two of them were a team so they'd tackle the behemoth as one. Besides, she couldn't very well allow Kukulkan to get her wish by making Leona a sacrificial pawn. That was nowhere near the reason why she asked Leona to come all the way to Iceberg to help.

'Hey, just so you know, this thing is still moving.' Susano said in his usual smart alecky tone. There was way too much talking and hovering around. He himself did not do that or wait. After the ice minions had been taken care of he kept going forward, quickly catching up to the slowly moving Behemoth. By the time he was right behind it he looked back towards the mages, wondering where the heck they were. He wasn't supposed to be the one doing all the work. Where were the actual living nukes that insisted on dealing with... whatever that thing was supposed to be.

The behemoth stopped moving after taking one last thunderous step. It raised its air and sniffed the air. Not that it needed to. The creature had already sensed something behind it. Not so much the magical signatures further behind. It didn't care until something was within reach, which now something was. Powerful but small. A fly. The long tail of the creature moved across the ice and snow. To the behemoth, it was a gentle movement without much force. To anything on the ground, the movement would have been strong enough to damage a mountain. That was also before accounting for the tidal wave of snow and ice that was created and pushed further by the tail.

"Oh, for celestial's sake! I didn't even do anything yet!" The summon cried out as the massive amount of frozen water was coming at him. He was already cold. The last thing he wanted was to be buried in that mess. Once again he disappeared, becoming the wind itself and getting out of there before it was too late. His form re-appeared on the Icebourne's tail, a dangerous location for more than the fact it was still moving. The tail was fully covered with thick frozen spikes and that same sort of spikes continued to form a line that went all the way up the creature's back to its neck. The closer to the head the bigger they were. Susano held on to one of the spikes to keep his balance as the tail moved and the rushing mixture of snow and ice rushed past him, threatening to shove him off with any mistake or loss of stability in his stance. 'So if you all ever make it over here to help I'll go ahead and let you know that I don't think the usual stuff is going to break through this thing's skin.' If skin was what it could be called. It was more like armor. He very much doubted that any of his tricks would do the job unless he was ridiculously repetitive with it. They had to find a weak spot.

Samira looked towards the Icebourne the moment Susano's voice had entered her mind. Of course he went right on ahead and didn't wait until they had agreed on a plan. It was something she disapproved of but it worked in their favor technically. The Icebourne Behemoth had reacted to his presence immediately. If there was any hope within her that the creature was just misunderstood and peaceful it was now completely gone. No hostilities had been done against the creature and yet it had made the first move. There was the possibility it thought the tiny man behind it was part of the group of Heitz warriors. Samira considered that the creature had been provoked before Leona got there. Unfortunately, that was a possibility they couldn't rightly find out without first stopping it and most likely destroying it.

Samira looked to Leona and gave her a quick reassuring nod. Nothing really had to be said. They had the working of a base plan and needed to go from there. "Kukulkan, let us get going."

"Do you think the others would be angry if I accidentally dropped you into the mouth of the creature?" Kukulkan asked as she flapped her wings and began to move forward. It was a sarcastic joke, of course. Never would she do something like that against her summoner under normal circumstances. Samira's reply would be unknown by that point to Leona. The winged serpent was giving space between herself and the winged lion. That way the two mages could act as two separate teams that would come in at different points. Naturally, she'd take the safety of both herself and Samira as a priority. She'd ensure her flight was a little slower so Leona and the winged lion would get there first.

(Word Count: 1239
Samira Total: 9739)

Leona did not know what to expect from Samira when the blonde had proposed her plan. She was not sure if she expected Samira to dismiss it as too risky and chastise Leona for even talking about it. If the situation was not so urgent Samira likely would have come up with a safer alternative, but considering what was at stake, they had little choice but to proceed with the risky plan.

"All right then, Samira. I'd better get going. I'll see you when you get there." Leona said to her companion, pointedly ignoring the Snide Serpent's remark after Leona had been given verbal permission to strike back whenever Samira's summon exhausted the blonde's patience. She would have plenty of time to knock the giant winged serpent about later. Right now she needed to focus on stopping the giant creature that was currently plodding towards Heitz.

"OK Winged Lion, fly behind that giant beast and get me as close to it as you can!" Leona informed her faithful summon what he was to do.

The Winged Lion silently moved forward and began to flap his mighty wings to increase airspeed. Leona and Samira had spent quite a bit of time talking things over and the Wizard Saint of Courage was going to have to play catch-up. Fortunately her summon of choice was a fast flyer despite his unusual appearance.

"Sky Champion Rafale, Tempest Avian, follow me!" Leona telepathically instructed her two other summons. They quickly followed Leona and flew on each side of her... Sky Champion Rafale was on her left and Tempest Avian was on her right. Together the Wizard Saint and her summons put their plan into motion.

Ignoring the intense cold the best she could, Leona hung onto Winged Lion and watched the ice beast carefully as he began to approach its back. Leona watched for any signs that it had caught onto her plan and was about to activate some sort of anti-air defense ability it had. The Wizard Saint held her breath as Winged Lion got close to the ice beast and her summon began to slowly descend. The large number of ice spikes on its back prevented Winged Lion from landing directly on its back, but Leona's plan was to jump off and land on its back, then go from there.

Leona had better get her jump just right because if she overshot her landing zone chances were high that she could accidentally impale herself on some ice spikes. That would be a messy and humiliating end to her career. As Winged Lion continued its slow and careful descent Leona took a deep breath and prepared to make a leap of faith. Then she had an idea.

Why not let Sky Champion Rafale take her down the rest of the way?

Sky Champion Rafale was not nearly as big as Winged Lion. He could get her closer to the creature's back and he could help Leona land with greater precision than she could achieve by jumping from Winged Lion's back. The only problem was that the humanoid summon could not quell her fear of heights like the lion, but there was no time to arrange things for her comfort. She needed to get on the ice beast's back now.

"Sky Champion Rafale, I need you to pick me up by the waist and fly me as close as you can to the giant creature's back!" Leona telepathically instructed her summon.

"Understood." Sky Champion replied. Leona stood up and braced herself for pickup by the humanoid summon, who had gracefully maneuvered behind her in mid-flight. She felt him pick her up and watched Winged Lion fly onward as her forward motion was temporarily halted.

"I've got you. Hold on." Sky Champion Rafale told Leona. She held her breath as he began to fly towards the creature's back and she was carried with his hands around her waist, leaving her suspended horizontally with only his hands keeping her from an unpleasant fall. Fortunately for her Rafale's hands held her tightly as he slowly descended until the Wizard Saint was hovering a few feet above a gap in the spikes just past the middle of its back.

"This is as close as I can get you without touching the spikes!" Rafale told her. Leona was not pleased with what she was seeing, but there was no choice in the matter. This was her stop.

"OK, Rafale. Let's do this!" Leona said to him. Rafale flew a little further ahead, then spoke to Leona.

"OK, I'm about to drop you into the gap. I hope." He said to her. Leona blinked. Was he about to actually let her go and fall into the gap?

"Wait, what do you meant you're about to drop-" Leona asked him before being interrupted by the drop. She did not have time to scream before landing in the gap on all fours on the creature's back and being bounced around like a pinball between the spikes. The disoriented Wizard Saint had better hurry and find a way to stop herself from bouncing about before she bounced right off its back and took a lethal fall to the ground.

Leona bounced between the base of the spikes for a few bounces while sliding left. Her hands grabbed frantically for the nearest spike and she got her left hand around one but could not quite get her right hand around it before she released it. Leona bounced around a third time and she grabbed for another base. This time she got both hands on it and managed to hang on long enough to steady herself.

Leona took a deep breath and pulled herself towards the spike, then used it as a support as she stood up. Once the Wizard Saint was steady on her feet she took a deep breath and hung on for safety. She had pulled off her unorthodox plan to get onto the creature's back, but now she needed to begin looking for a way to kill it before it reached its destination.

But first she needed to let Samira know that she had landed safely.

Leona's first thought was to use her iLac to call the Goddess of Ishgar, but she did not have time to fumble around for the device. Her second thought was to use her Ranger Laser Rifle's scope or her SHG-IV Smart Glasses to reflect light towards Samira, but she was afraid to let go of the spike that was keeping her on her feet. Then she looked skyward and saw Tempest Avian flying a short distance overhead. That gave her the idea to use him as a messenger.

"Tempest Avian, I need you to go tell Samira that I'm OK and that I've landed on the Icebourne's back!" Leona telepathically communicated with her summon.

"Will do." Tempest Avian replied. He banked left and vanished from sight while Winged Lion and Sky Champion Rafale flew a short distance overhead waiting for further instructions. Deciding to catch her breath for a moment, Leona opted to wait for a response from Samira before moving on.

[Post Word Count: 1,186]
[Leona's Word Count: 8,826]

Summoner and winged serpent kept an eye on Leona and her wind summons as they sped off, distancing them quickly in order to catch up with the Icebourne. Kukulkan continued to move at a casual speed. It was not slow by any means, but certainly nowhere near her full speed. Samira approved of the pace, but for a different reason than the flying snake she rode upon. She could watch Leona get close to the creature and make her move to land upon its back. If need be, she could intervene. Something going wrong for her teammate was much more noticeable while she was in a position to see it than if she was trying to make her own move against the Icebourne. Being able to watch over Leona couldn't last forever, though. Eventually, even Kukulkan was close to the Icebourne now. Samira had to take her eyes off of Leona at that point and focus.

Kukulkan begrudgingly flew higher. The creature's massive height called for it and no doubt one of its weak points had to be near the head. It made sense to drop off her rider near it while also still on the back. Getting that close was not something she wanted, though. One illy timed movement from the Iceboure and her joke of dropping Samira into the jaws of that creature could become a reality, or worse, find herself trapped within them. Even as a spirit that could not technically die that way preferred not to have such a fate for a mere second.

Fate was both fortunate and unfortunate. The two were fortunate enough that they could fly by the creature's head without it taking notice of them, or if it did it didn't seem to care too much. The unfortunate side of fate was that if there was a weak point on the head they'd have their work cut out for them. The creature's armor-like skin was thick and looked completely unbreakable even when the highest of powerful spells. The eyes could be a target, but blinding the Icebourne might just send it into an unstoppable rage. There had to be something else... preferably something that did not mean getting close enough to fire a blast inside its open maw to destroy it from the inside. There were so many simple solutions, but all of them so very dangerous. Samira could not decide which had the highest probability of success with the least amount of consequences.

Leona's plan to wait on a response for Samira was not going to be as pleasant as it probably originally sounded in her mind. The creature soon caught on that something was on its back. Like a small bug crawling on its back. A very tiny bug but still something that shouldn't have been there and annoyed it. The magic auras around it were also starting to give it a headache. The behemoth got down on all fours, its front claws piercing easily into the white-covered ground and causing minor earthquakes to spread across the region. Like a wet dog trying to dry its fur, the creature shook its body back and forth in an attempt to remove the thing on its back. That thing being Leona. It didn't care for her titles or power. It had no worry or fear. In its mind she'd be sent flying right off and be gone. Hopefully she could prove it wrong.

As if that were not enough to deal with, bolts of concentrated magic came flying towards the behemoth. They had been fired from the cannon defenses that were set up around Heitz, and clearly, the people aiming the weapons were either blind, stupid, or had zero consideration for anyone else that happened to be in the area. Some had managed to hit the large creature. Not that it really took much notice immediately. The strikes felt more like small pinches than anything. It did pause its shaking though and, finally, it reacted with a thunderous roar. Not out of anger but out of supremacy. From its opened maw it shot out large ice spikes that soared towards the city, hitting some of those cannons that had dared strike against it. Other spikes had hit buildings and structures that were in the line of fire.

Samira, at that moment, had been too busy to deal with the spikes. A shot of cannon fire had struck Kukulkan. Neither had anticipated being attacked from the city or by magic cannon fire of all things. Samira's defenses had kicked in, as that was how the protection and link with her spirits worked. It was automatic and the barrier that had surrounded her absorbed the damage. Kukulkan was not as lucky and had to take the full damage. She was a sturdy serpent though and it'd take much more than that to make her poof back on home. However, the winged serpent had lost her balance, and her cold wings had been injured. There wasn't enough time to properly react besides throwing caution to the wind and crash landing on the behemoth itself. Both were relatively fine all things considered. Samira stood up and began to heal the injured summon with her magic. Ra had flown off somewhere during the middle of those attacks, but she did not waste time enough to wonder or ask what he was doing. She knew Susano was still riding that tail for whatever reason. That was it for her team. They had made it. For now. With the unplanned cannons entering the mix their idea might have been a mistake.

For now though, the creature was distracted. Its focus was back on the city and away from the magical insects crawling along its back. The creature slowly moved forward again, still on all fours. There would be some peace for now. Long enough to find Leona or one of her summons. She hoped they were all alright.

"I am going to find Leona while the Icebourne is calm. If those cannons keep firing we will have to rethink our plan a bit."

"RETHINK OUR PLAN A BIT?! THEY HIT ME!" Kukulkan loudly shouted, her anger and rage at the situation causing her to just about reach her limit with that day's episode of stupidity. "We should let that city be destroyed. What kind of people fire weapons on the ones they asked for help?! If this Icebourne doesn't destroy them first I will." The feathered serpent glared at the summoner threateningly. Her anger was serious. The summon could very well attempt such a thing if not calmed down.

"Stay here or go home, Kukulkan. I can handle myself from here." There wasn't real time for a talk of the heart or any of that nonsense. The serpent was free to leave or remain there. Whichever she wanted. Samira was hopeful that either way the avatar would calm down, else she'd have to take care of that situation herself later as well. With those words said, Samira left the large snake there to find Leona or her summons. Kukulkan just curled herself up and snorted mockingly. Idiots. All of them. Still, she was a loyal summon and rather than leave she stayed in that realm. For now. There was only so much her level of tolerance could take.

(Word Count: 1219
Samira Total: 10958)

After the rough landing on the back of the Icebourne thanks to the enviable precision of Sky Champion Rafale and nearly falling off of the beast thanks to her inability to get a grip, Leona had nearly fallen off before she could really get going. Now she was hanging onto an ice spike for dear life while waiting for word from Tempest Avian about Samira's status. Unfortunately for the Wizard Saint she would not have the leisure of waiting for Tempest Avian to return because all of a sudden the ice beast suddenly stopped moving and remained still. Leona's face drained of color as she quickly realized that that could mean only one thing.

The ice beast somehow knew that she was here!

Leona hugged the ice spike she was holding onto for dear life as the Icebourne began to shake its body furiously. It shook back and forth while the Wizard Saint of Courage hung on, hoping that she would not somehow be tossed up into the air and come down on top of one of the ice spikes. Just like landing on one when she had attempted to drop onto the beast's back earlier would have been, being launched up into the air and coming down on a spike would have been a messy and humiliating end to her career. Eager to avoid that fate, Leona held on and hoped for the best.

The Wizard Saint was being jostled to and fro and had nearly lost her grip a couple of times but was holding on when suddenly saw unusually large projectiles of magic start whizzing by her. Leona highly doubted that that was the work of Samira because the latter would have likely warned her before opening fire. Then Leona remembered the briefing Samira had given her earlier.

The large magic projectiles were coming from Heitz!

If they were coming from Heitz, that meant that the Icebourne was getting closer to Heitz than both Wizard Saints and the citizens of Heitz would have liked. Leona frowned at both the realization and at the fact she had taken too long to make her daring move. Projectiles continued to whizz by her, slam into the ground close by, or miss completely.

"OH COME ON!" Leona shouted in frustration at her predicament. The ice beast had been doing its level best to shake her off and had come close to succeeding a couple of times before the barrage had started. Now she had to contend with both the questionable accuracy of Heitz' defenders and a determined creature trying to throw her off of its back.

Leona was hoping to hear from Tempest Avian so that he could give her one bright spot amidst the mayhem unfolding around her, but as they frequently were, her hopes had been dashed. She heard nothing from the rotund metallic owl. There was a silver lining to all of this... at least the ice creature had ceased trying to shake her off and focused instead on whatever it was that had drawn its attention. She did not know how long that respite would last, so she had better figure out a plan of action while she had a chance to.

Leona was trying to think of a plan to take down the beast when she heard from Sky Champion Rafale.

"Leona, are you OK?" Sky Champion Rafale telepathically asked her.

"So far. Why?" Leona asked him.

"Things are getting hectic and I haven't seen you in awhile." Rafale replied. Leona looked around her and saw that things were indeed hectic. They had been that way for awhile now... he was late to the party.

"I'm OK. I'm just-" Leona was telling Rafale when he interrupted.

"I'm going to fly to the right side of the beast. I'll meet you there!" He instructed her. Leona looked back to the left and saw the unpleasant sight of Kukulkan plummeting towards her.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Leona shouted in disbelief. She quickly turned and ran towards the waiting Rafale, grabbing his hand. He latched onto them tightly and went up, pulling her off of the beast's back mere moments before impact. As she hung onto Rafale's hands Leona's stomach turned into knots and did flips when she spotted the ground below. Her acrophobia was starting to take effect and she wanted to land on the ground now... just not after being dropped.

"Head for the ground as soon as you can, Rafale! I'm getting really nauseous!" Leona shouted to Rafale that he might want to hurry up.

"Will do." Rafale calmly replied. He then began to gradually lose altitude as Leona hung on and helplessly watched the ground gradually get closer a little faster than she would have liked. After a few minutes of anticipation Leona's feet finally touched the ground when Rafale gently deposited her on the snowy ground.

"THANKS. RAFALE." Leona gasped before she dropped to all fours and her stomach began to slowly untie itself. She probably should have stayed on the Icebourne's back, but she did not want to run the risk of getting flattened by The Snide Serpent landing on her. A large magic projectile landed about three meters away from her and kicked up a cloud of snow. Leona promptly jumped to her feet and turned to face the town.

"OH, FOR PETE'S SAKE! AIM AT IT, NOT AT ME!" Leona shouted in frustration. She watched more shots whizz by the ice creature without even coming close to hitting it. Leona took a deep breath, then turned to face Rafale.

"Rafale, have you heard from Tempest Avian?" Leona asked her summon. He shook his head.

"No, not at all. He should have reported to you by now." Rafale replied. Leona sighed and faced the Icebourne.

"Great. Just great." Leona fumed as she watched the beast plod towards Heitz. After the Great And Mighty Snide Serpent crashed into the Icebourne events had been a blur. Leona hoped that Samira had not been on board when the Snide Serpent made impact with the ice creature. Leona took a deep breath and faced Rafale again.

She should have just stayed on board the ice creature and taken her chances.

Now she could not even distract it and buy Samira time to find a way to kill it.

"Great. It's on the move and I'm down here. I'm not doing anyone any good by standing here." Leona said dejectedly. She had acted on instinct and now she was on the ground in a location where she could not help anyone. At least when she was on its back she had been something of a distraction.

"What do we do now, Leona?" Rafale asked her.

"We need to find Samira." Leona replied to him. To make matters easier she opted to remain in place so that the two mages did not somehow miss one another. Moments later Tempest Avian showed up out of the blue and landed beside Sky Champion Rafale.

"I apologize, Leona. I was unable to locate Samira." Tempest Avian apologized.

"It's all right, Tempest Avian. We'll just wait here for her." Leona calmly replied. She was not going to charge off in a random direction and compound the mistake she had made in leaving the Icebourne's back by getting lost. Then she had an idea.

"Would you mind flying overhead in a circle so that Samira might see you?" Leona asked Tempest Avian.

"Certainly." Tempest Avian said and took off. He gained altitude and was soon flying about three meters overhead and flying in a wide circle. Hopefully Samira would see him and head for his location.

[Post Word Count: 1,272]
[Leona's Word Count: 10,098]

Leona or her wind summons were nowhere to be found. Strange. The behemoth was huge. Larger than any beast and walking on it was like walking on a mass of spikey icy land. The towering spikes could be blocking sight but there still should have been some sign of her fellow wizard saint by now. Troubling. Well, then again they did have a plan. Leona was probably looking for weak points and getting the job done. It was time that she did the same.

A little observation later and Samira noticed a liquid blue substance making a slow thin trail towards her feet. She took a step out of its path, taking notice of the cold mist floating from and above the liquid. The goddess dared not touch it. Not even with the soles of her shoes. The next step was to follow whatever it was and its source. Samira had a theory but she had to be sure and if she were correct then she found a place to start the destruction of the icebourne.

The blue trail led the summoner towards one of the spikes that marked the behemoth's spine. The strange icy substance oozed from beneath it. Samira stepped up towards the spike and looked closer. The surface of the spike was cracked and a small hole was at the base that caused the substance to flow right out of the body. The icebourne's blood. It was a minor injury she had concluded. One that was more akin to a small negligible cut of one's finger. The blasts of the cannons had managed to do something to the creature after all. They were nowhere near powerful enough to pierce through the armored skin completely and never would be even with repetitive shots. That was what Leona and herself were there for though. A weak spot had been located and now could be taken advantage of with minimal power used. Samira was grateful for that. Now she would not be obligated to use overly excessive and powerful spells that would destroy much more than just the behemoth.

Celestial energy began to swirl around Samira's hand, which was now clenched into a fist. Physically she wasn't as strong as many others, but magically she was the opposite. A single punch that blasted celestial energy at the spike's base was all it took to break it apart and make an even bigger hole into the creature's insides. More of the blue blood leaked from the wound yet even still the creature barely noticed. Or didn't seem to care. If it even felt pain was still up in the air. Either way, there was now a vulnerable spot. More could be made by eliminating more spikes and then the larger wound could be used to seriously injure the behemoth or destroy it. A mental plan was set and it was much safer than getting near the sharp-toothed mouth of the behemoth to strike at the insides.

An executed plan didn't necessarily mean that there were no hurdles, however. This one was no different. Samira came to find out that there was more about that behemoth's blood than normal. It was its own separate entity even though it was still a part of the creature. The blood formed into big moving globs. Some went back to where the spike had originally been. The hole was shrinking slowly, telling Samira that they were healing the wound. The others decided to go on the offensive. They moved towards Samira even as she backed away. She wasn't going to take any chances that their intent was harmless.

Celestial energy appeared once more, but this time it formed fully into a blue bow of tiny shimmering stars. It was one of many bows that belonged to her zodiac summon, that one being a special version that was designed specifically for her use. A copy of the bow also materialized. It floated in the air without a wielder and it would attack without one as well, acting to the desire of Samira's will. With weapons now in hand, Samira would deal with the globs of blood, stop them from healing the Icebourne, and do more damage to the other spikes and weak points. The magic arrow assault began.

Kukulkan had gotten as comfortable as she could while waiting there coiled. That is to say she was far from being comfortable. She was still angry and it was still cold. Being an avatar spirit of a nearly forgotten deity had its advantages and yet also had its misery. She was still alive and suffering instead of just being dead. Ugh. She heard the shots of the magic arrow blasts, and also saw the flashes. Felt the magic energy too but she already knew well enough that Samira was the source of that. At least something over there was progressing.

Bored, Kukulkan wondered what Leona was up to and how useless she was being. The serpent couldn't detect any kind of wind magic coming from the Wizard Saint and, as a wind spirit, surely she would have detected something abnormal going on with the element. Or just some magic use in general that was alien to her. Yet there was nothing. If she was shooting at that armored skin and spikes.... well actually that wouldn't have been at all surprising. The serpent laughed to herself, amusing herself with those thoughts even though they were mildly annoying as well.

It was then as she shifted her coiled body that she took notice of something down below circling around. Kukulkan rose while moving closer towards the edge of the behemoth's body to get a better look. "What is that thing doing?" Kukulkan asked, thinking aloud as she watched Tempest Avian go around and around repeatedly. Had being the summon of Leona finally caused him to lose his mind? She'd believe it. Losing interest, the feathered serpent was content to let the bird continue whatever it was that he was doing. That was when her eyes took notice of something else familiar. Even her eyes could see well enough from that distance to conclude what that mass of living uselessness was. "That can't be- is she really- what is-" Kuku had no words. She couldn't finish a single sentence that was going through her mind. Was Leona truly down there on the ground instead of on top of the Iceboune? Was she expecting Samira and herself to see that sign of Tempest Avian flying around so they could meet up? Well, that did work actually, but by accident. That really only should have worked when the both of them were on the ground looking up. Not while on top of the Icebourne and being busy doing something instead of looking down at the scenery!

"SERIOUSLY?!" Kukulkan's wings spread out harshly and violently. She left the Icebourne then, taking off swiftly and charging downward towards the Wizard Saint down below. Not a single word was said and Kukulkan barely even slowed down once she was within range of the mage. Her tail wrapped around Leona as she flew by, grabbing and lifting her off the ground and into the air. Kukulkan swerved around and went back towards the walking mass of icicles and teeth. "You continue to lower my expectations of you, Wizard Saint," Kukulkan stated, the sarcasm over the title being thick. As much disrespect as she had shown Leona that day, even she did not think that the mage was capable of being so... so... so ridiculously incompetent!

Fortunately for Leona, the flight did not last long at all. Kukulkan did not slow down at all, not even when she reached the Icebourne and increased altitude further. Upon reaching the location of Samira, Kukulkan's grip on Leona loosened and she was dropped right there. The first instinct had been to throw her, but that mistreatment would have been too obvious and Samira would not allow that to occur without consequence. Still, the landing would have been rough enough if Leona did not slow the fall herself. She was a wind mage, after all, so she probably could. Not that the winged serpent put much more than that kind of credit towards Leona's abilities. The Silver Wolf mage had now reached the lowest of the low in her eyes just from the consistent stupidity. Kukulkan continued to fly on, leaving the two mages to their work and getting as far away from Leona before her mental affliction became contagious.

Leona would see that quite a bit of damage had been done. Several of the spikes along the behemoth's back had been broken into pieces. Perhaps Leona had even noticed the towering spikes splitting apart and disappearing before Kukulkan rudely picked her up. She now knew the reason if so. Puddles of the blue blood were everywhere. They were what remained of the blue globs. The flow of the normal blood had also increased, turning the single minor wound into a larger one. Not that the Icebourne seemed to care about that just yet, but it would soon once the real damage had been dealt.

One of the remaining moving globs noticed Leona as soon as she landed, but it was quickly shot at by a celestial arrow. The thing exploded into another puddle to join the others. "Oh, there you are!" Samira said right after noticing her friend. She had been busy dealing with the globs in the other direction so she didn't fully notice Leona being dropped in. Kukulkan had been noticed flying by, but that was all. Samira had a tendency to ignore something so common when it came to her avatar spirits. They were always close in one form or another.

The Goddess of Ishgar lowered her bow and walked up towards Leona. The floating copy of the weapon followed. "I am glad to see that you are safe. I lost sight of you earlier, but that was expected. It was not being able to find you that had me concerned for a moment." Samira hadn't put together that Leona was dropped off quite yet. Her first thought was that Leona had gotten there herself either with her magic or physical ability. As for Kukulkan nearly crashing into her earlier, well, neither summon nor summoner had noticed that either. Leona was saved by Rafale and gone before they landed, after all. "I have found where the earlier cannon fire had managed to pierce the creature and expanded upon it. Did you have any success?" Samira was ignorant of the fact Leona had been on the ground just moments ago and fully believed that she was scouting for weak points or doing something else useful. Kukulkan had not telepathically told Samira anything that had just happened.

(Word Count: 1796
Samira Total: 12,754)

As time went on Leona grew so angry at herself that she could not even think straight. If this was just a social occasion the two mages could laugh off her mistake as Leona having a blonde moment and move on, but this was no social occasion. The two of them were on a job and people's lives and homes were at stake. Leona had just made a very stupid mistake that she should not have made and the people of Heitz stood to suffer for her enormous stupidity.

Before Leona could grow even angrier at her own stupidity she was suddenly airborne. It was not by the hands of her summons that she was airborne, so who could have been responsible for the sudden flight? Leona took one look at the unexpected source of transport and frowned deeply.

It was the Great And Mighty Snide Serpent!

This was great. Just great. Leona's anger grew as she realized that she would owe her salvation to the very winged serpent she so intensely disliked. Leona's opinion of Kukulkan was not improving as the serpent tore into her about her incompetence. The Wizard Saint knew that the Snide Serpent was right, but she did not appreciate how the message was delivered. It felt like Kukulkan was kicking her while she was down and Leona did not appreciate that at all.

Keeping her growing anger in check with willpower that was nothing short of miraculous for Leona, she kept her mouth shut and took the verbal beating in silence. As much as she detested the Snide Serpent and wanted to make snakeskin boots out of the annoying flying reptile, Leona kept her mouth shut. The blonde had some capacity for gratitude even though her enemy had saved her.

After only a few moments Leona had been deposited on the back of the Icebourne and Kukulkan flew away to do whatever Kukulkan did between throwing snide remarks at Leona and being Samira's transport. The angry Leona felt her emotions rising again despite the fact that her scaly enemy had just done her a huge favor. They were temporarily sidelined when Leona heard Samira's voice and tried to calm down enough to avoid tipping Samira off to the blonde's enormous mistake.

That calm was almost broken when Samira asked Leona whether she had managed to find a weakness other than the wounds in the creature's hide that had been opened by the cannons of Heitz.

Just when she thought things could not get any worse, they found a way to get worse.

Leona had to think of something on the fly in response to Samira's question and she had to think fast. Leona actually gave the question some thought and thought so hard that if Samira listened closely she could hear gears turning in the blonde's head. Well, more like gears grinding against each other, but the point remained. After a minute or so of thought the blonde came up with something and made eye contact with the Goddess of Ishgar.

"OK, Samira, here's the deal. I haven't spotted any weaknesses other than the wounds that have already been opened in the Icebourne's hide, but I doubt that even with all of us attacking them we'll be able to bring it down fast enough before Heitz is wrecked." Leona said to her partner, making sure to keep her facial expression as neutral as possible and her voice as calm as possible. However, Leona's eyes were narrowed, a clue which would probably give her away to the mage who knew her the best.

"I don't think Heitz has enough time for us to get fancy, so I'm going to go with the simple approach. I'm going to fly in front of the creature and fire spells down its throat whenever it opens its mouth. As large as it is, I doubt it'll be able to stand that sort of attack for very long. I'll do that while you and your summons attack its wounds or look for other weaknesses. Maybe I can buy you, your summons, and Heitz some time by being a distraction it can't afford to ignore." Leona said to Samira, explaining her plan... such as it was. Maybe Samira would pass off the blonde's anger as concern over time running out. Maybe the perceptive Goddess of Ishgar would see through the flimsy cover story Leona had hastily thrown together in an effort to save her pride.

Leona took a deep breath, then telepathically summoned Winged Lion to fly to her location. Leona would not have much time to think before she was back in the action. Her "plan" was to fire spells down its throat and hurt it that way... she doubted that the soft tissues in its body could take much punishment, especially the kind of punishment an angry Wizard Saint could dole out.

This time there was no room for mistakes. Leona would have to get this right the first time. Thankfully she would have her other summons with her to make life a bit easier. She could either have them help Samira exploit the existing weak points or she could have them fly with her to serve as a distraction for her attack on the ice beast. She would decide on how to use the rest of her summons soon, but there was one thing she knew for certain.

The ice creature had to die before Heitz was destroyed.

Winged Lion landed on a clear spot on the creature's back not too far from where they were standing. Leona looked at Samira one last time.

"OK, my ride's here. Good luck, Samira." Leona bade her friend and partner. Leona then ran to Winged Lion and jumped on his back.

"We're gonna fly in front of the Icebourne and I'm gonna throw as many distance spells at it as I can when its mouth opens. Keep me as steady as you can and dodge any return fire!" Leona instructed her winged summon. Winged Lion wordlessly took off and Leona was soon airborne again. Now that she was airborne her thoughts shifted to killing the ice creature.

This was her last shot to save what face she had left.

She had better not mess this up.

[Post Word Count: 1,044]
[Leona's Word Count: 11,142]