The suffocating pain spread throughout her body, an agony that would seemingly last for an eternity. But Alira didn’t have an eternity. The Loch wouldn’t let her be before it had finished her. Alira knew that even when she recovered her breath, even as things calmed down with the Loch seemingly having left her alone.

  If the Loch was anything like her, it wouldn’t leave a job unfinished.

  { Loch can’t open portals on demand. It most definitely has a few set up in advance. }

  Alira swam away, even as she was still shaking. Pain shot up like electricity through her spine, stabbing at her side where broken ribs slowly reconnected, and fractures reversed. She felt a moment of guilt for the late-night surprises sent to Cion after promising him to be more careful.

  Despite the agony surging through her body, Alira dared not linger on the rock she had been sent to. The Loch had previously predicted exactly where she would be, after dodging the boulder to gift her a log to the ribs.

  { It’s here. To your left. }

  Alira snapped back to her left at Xia’s warning. There she finally saw the cause of her misery. Other than its innocent-looking face with round eyes and the fact that it stood on four hoofed feet, the Loch could barely qualify as a deer.

  Its sleek, opalescent silver body was a stroke of embodied moonlight. A long tail, resembling less of a deer or a horse and more of a betta fish, flowed behind it. Shimmering gills lined the side of its neck while fins extended at the base. With its front heels raised, the Loch greeted the intruder to its territory.

  Alira stared straight back at it. She thought for a moment about why the Loch showed itself, placing herself in its hooves. Mercy. It was giving her one last chance. Funny.

  On-surface Exchange. She took a deep breath of cool air. The pain in her ribs was quickly subsiding, but her determination soared. She had firmly decided that Loch was hers.

  From the two previous attacks, she noticed a pattern of objects hurling out of the portals, which the Loch likely had laid out on the other side. It was relying on eternal forces to do damage, meaning the majestic beast itself had weak physical output. At least it wasn’t confident enough to directly charge at her.

  It was impossible to guess where the portals were placed, thanks to them being invisible. The entire body of water was a landmine. Only the Loch had to go to the other side to set things off the moment she was in the way of any of its traps.

  If it couldn’t predict her movement to react fast enough, she had nothing to be scared of. Alira took out a handful of coins. The Loch reacted to her movement with a twitch of its ears. She flicked a coin as far forward as she could, and in a blink, the distance between them was halved.

  It raised its feet, but Alira’s coins flew faster, hitting its hind leg. In another blink and another Position Exchange cast, Alira got her hand on its smooth, soft fur. The loch jerked at her touch, its body spasming.

  She took a moment to flash a big, close-mouthed grin at the nervous beast.

  Movement Bind.

  With nothing else to her disposal, Alira cast a Bind on it, tying it to herself. It used all its strength to break free. Alira resisted it with all of hers.

  It is weak.

  Alira thought as she put two fingers in her mouth to take out a Movement Exchange spell half-cast to the coins above. The Loch howled, at least it looked like it howled as spirals of waves pushed against her. Alira grabbed a handful of the beast, gritting her teeth and straining her muscles to keep it down. It was weak—for a beast.

  The Loch was still stronger than her. With her hybrid characteristics, she could hold it down for a few minutes at most. Alira struggled to unfold the paper without tearing it as it quickly became soggy. She slapped it on its back and cast.

  Icy air smacked her the moment Alira reemerged from the water. The frequent use of Position Exchange had her vision spinning, taking a noticeable toll on her body. Alira’s stomach turned. She swallowed hard to keep the sourness that had crawled up her throat down.

  “Form a contract with me!” Alira shouted at the dazed Loch. “One year at most! I will let you go in less than a year.”

  “Bhah!” The Loch barked. Despite the language barrier, it could be clearly understood as a ‘No, fuck you.’

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Alira heard a hiss from behind as footsteps approached. “Alira, you—”

  “Stay out of this!” Alira yelled at Raine, her voice raw and rough. The worst thing that could happen was for the Loch to fall for the protagonist’s charm and decide to become his familiar.

  Alira almost sighed when the Loch dashed toward the lake without throwing him a glance. It was time for round two. Alira chased. Adrenaline rushed, spiking through her veins. She ran at the top of her speed, easily catching up to the Lock to stay just a step behind its tail.

  It jumped into the lake with a large splash, followed by yet another when she did. Water overtook her senses. Alira quickly noted that On-surface Exchange was slowly running thin. She estimated it could last her one more round after this at most.

  The Loch was home in the lake, gliding past the violet waves. Alira was slower in water; in a matter of minutes, it was way ahead of her, diving to the depths where its Portals were. Oh, no, you don’t. Alira threw a coin and cast. In a flash, she stood where the Loch had been.

  Her stomach lurched, and this time, she couldn’t contain it. It was a good thing they were beneath water, and she’d skipped her dinner as well. She waved the barf and bile away, not stopping a second more than she needed to. Her vision was spinning. She wouldn’t have been able to tell where the Loch was if it weren’t for the gleam of its body.

  She could push herself. Alira was confident in her ability to recover stamina as a hybrid. Anything that was hurting like a bitch would fade away thanks to the Bind. She knew that.

  Alira stopped her chase, letting the Loch slip past her grasp.

  No.

  She could go back and forth until it gave in, but the Loch wouldn’t stick around with her even after they’d formed a contract.

  She never did.

  Despite her mother’s best effort to block all her paths to become a Hunter, she still ended up figuring out a way to a Hunter academy. She did part-time work behind her back, applied for academies without her knowledge, and took any chance to get what she wanted and slipped past the chains the woman had placed around her in the name of safety.

  She would never stop trying to wriggle her way out.

  Even now, trapped in another world by a higher power and despite having what was practically a grand mission from a divine being, all she had ever been doing was to run away. To go back home—to return to her comfort.

  Even if someone told her it was just a few years off her life, it didn’t mean anything to Alira. The time was hers and hers alone, and she wasn’t wasting it away doing what she didn’t want to.

  The Loch will do the same. It will ditch me the moment it can.

  Alira’s eyes lowered, casting down on the dark void of the lake it had disappeared into. The only way to get it to follow her out of its sanctuary was to destroy it.

  If there’s no Earth, I would have no choice but to wholeheartedly save Staywes.

  Air bubbles left her behind as Alira sighed. She took a deep breath in, filling her lungs until they felt like they were about to burst. Alira didn’t ask for Xia. She could feel the connection to him in the weak currents radiating throughout her body. Quiet but alive. It could be the reason she didn’t feel the cold anymore.

  A string that extended from the core of her soul to the depth of his. To him. And his power.

  Then, she let go and summoned the flames. The flames answered—like they had been waiting since forever.

  At first, it looked like nothing had changed. Then, it became warm. Orangey red hue slithered around her hands, appearing for a moment before it was lost to the dark blue water. But the fire didn’t die easily. Sizzling and hissing noises vibrated through the water around her. It got hot. Fast.

  Her instinct screamed at her to get out of the water. She entertained it for a brief moment. No. Raine would stop her. The Loch had a better chance of interrupting her if she was out in the open as well.

  { Scared of a little fire? }

  Xia’s voice sounded, sweet delight dripping off each word. Alira knew she wasn’t. He knew she wasn’t.

  The fire grew large. The lake couldn’t swallow it. Water couldn’t drown it out fast enough. Alira felt herself heating up. Her face burned like she was standing a few inches before an open oven. Towers of flames shot up to the surface. They spun around her, stirring the lake itself.

  Just then, Alira sensed something snap. Her cast was sharply cut off, and so was her air supply. She immediately understood that something was wrong on the surface. Alira bit on her lips and braced herself. The floor of the lake appeared almost closer despite Alira keeping herself at the same spot. Almost. It would take the entire night to get rid of the entire lake at this rate.

  Water bubbled up, seething madly. She was being boiled in it. So was the Loch’s home. Her skin was melting. It felt like it was melting. She would rather not check. There was no point in checking anyway—the Bind was healing her just as quickly.

  Xia’s flames weren’t anything like she had seen last time, no longer confined to the small of the vault or her fear of burning everything down. It sprang unrestrained like a madman. A complete curtain of fire and steam blocked her off from the rest of the lake as she stood in the eyes of the clashing storm. In her delirium, Alira felt as if it was protecting her. Keeping her in its scorching embrace, safe from the rest of the world.

  There was more. Power surged through her entire being. She sensed a truly bottomless abyss of raging fire. Go ahead. Alira replied to it. Burn it all down. She couldn’t feel the pain anymore.

  “—Bak!”

  Alira heard a call somewhere in her daze. Rather, it was more of a curse. Unfortunately for them, she was far too gone to return the favor.

  “Stop!! You crazy woman! Fine, I will form a contract with you!”

  A voice pierced through the water. Alira wondered if she was beginning to hallucinate. Xia was scarily quiet, and there was no one else around who could speak. But she reacted to the word ‘contract’.

  Alright, Alira answered. It’s a deal. Now, take me out of here.

  That was the last thought she had before she lost all control, her body going limp. The fire fizzled out in a few temperamental whirs. Without light, there was only darkness. And fuzzy black painted her world.