46 The Frost Lizard

With Ms. Dia's tracks blown away by the storm, Vanessa and Jaivva were left wandering around aimlessly through the town. They were lost.

At one point, Jaivva scanned the area with her sensory magic. She didn't find Ms. Dia, but there was something else nearby. Some type of large creature. They needed to kill the old woman first. But they couldn't let the beast roam loose.

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Dani rose from the furniture complaining. Not only was Jeff being himself, but Vanessa and Jaivva ran off. At least Hakim was getting Mina and Leira together.

Staring at Hakim, "Let me take the girls back"

"Really," whimpered Hakim as he could not believe he was going on a solo mission of saving the two stronger girls.

"Yeah," said Dani sarcastically, "My magic's better. So I can actually protect them. Besides, all you're doing is getting them to run away and get back to the train so we can leave".

Hakim reluctantly ran off without further complaint. Dani led the two girls outside. Their sleigh was broken and Dani was cursing. Jeff grabbed her shoulder only to be smacked in the head by her gun.

Watching Dani beat the crap out of Jeff, Leira asked, "Do you think we're gonna make it"?

Mina shivered and shrugged, "No".

"Damn, Jeff done fucked up," said Andres running by.

"Again," added Logan.

Dani stopped beating Jeff for a moment, "Logan! Andres! Get me and the girls out of here"!

Jeff objected, "Dani, Wait-".

"No," yelled Dani, "You wanted to help the old bitch, now you can deal with her"!

"Half of our team's trying to fight her," said Jeff.

Dani rolled her eyes, "I don't care. That's not my problem. My concern is to take these two girls up".

Jeff opened his mouth when Logan threw him a brown bag, "Hey Jeff, here".

After Jeff caught it, Andres cheered, "Go get 'em, tiger"!

Mina ran off with the girls and her two boys whereas Jeff began trying to figure out what to do. Leira was curious while Mina was scared by the red anime aura around Dani which signified her anger.

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Past many dismembered gingerbread men, Jaivva led the way through town. The buildings were actually pretty short. There were even crates by each house that could be used to jump onto the roofs. They came to a large area. Maybe it was a field of some sort. They couldn't tell due to the harsh winds and thick snow.

Jaivva stopped, "It's here".

The storm grew, darkening the area more. Even the streetlights were barely visible. Jaivva could barely feel her hands.

A giant wave of snow struck against them. They used their blades to defend themselves but were still knocked to their backs.

Only ice was felt against their blades. A faint figure resembling a tail swung not too far from them.

There was something in the distance with red eyes glowing. Its figure was barely noticeable. Had to be bigger than any home in town.

It prowled, blending in with the dark. The red eyes would blink momentarily hiding it for just a bit. The girls would find it at a different angle.

Vanessa held her blade out in a firm stance, "Charge Lightning".

Sparks came out her feet while strands of lightning traveled along her blade.

Jaivva ran flipping a few hand seals, "Yellow Thrust".

A cyclone trapped the beast in place. Its winds surpassed the storm, yet remained contained.

The beast fought to pass the storm. Its claws slowly dug out.

Jaivva shot out red lightning bolts which didn't even phase the creature. Its grin was becoming transparent.

"Saturn's Fall," roared Vanessa, shooting a giant stream of light into the beast.

Its light seemingly flew through the creature. The entire area was lit for mere seconds. In this instant, they'd seen a large horned reptile with a bright blue coat of ice around its body. Its legs were bold with spikes going down its back.

The lightning itself struck its icy armor. The screech was heard as though glass was being scraped in their ears. Not a shard of its armor chipped.

Vanessa's blade trembled a little too much, causing the lightning to hit a few houses in the distance.

The beast itself grinned through the dimming light and swooped its claw towards them.

Jaivva swung her blade at its it whereas Vanessa countered with her Vermillion Flower. Neither could deal any damage.

The beast swung another claw. Jaivva jumped towards it to flash a small light in its eyes that temporarily blinded it.

The creature swung its body before she could hit its eyes with a weapon.

The girls seized the moment to run through the burning houses.

The beast sniffed its way to track the girls. Occasionally it would hiss to grab their tastes. The flames didn't scare it. The frost lizard continued searching while its vision slowly came back.

It kept its head low to stay on track of their scent.

Vanessa jumped out with an axe she found. It was enchanted with her flames. Though she swung hard at the lizard, it broke in half.

The lizard bit at her. She luckily made it back into the house quick enough. Her and Jaivva ran out a window on the far side.

Running away, the creature was still chasing them. A rip of air that banged was heard. A flash of space shot the lizard's head into a house.

Jeff was aimed in from a rooftop, "Run"!

The girls listened, as Jeff ran on top of the roofs a different way.

The lizard climbed up after him. Jeff ran firing his gun after so many feet. It didn't appear as though he was doing much damage, but the lizard knew he was a serious threat. Jeff's bullets were rather a special kind that ignored most defenses.

Jeff jumped down and ran into an alley. The lizard followed him in.

Jeff dived into the snow, "Fire".

A row of gingerbread men with mechanical formed arms shot at the lizard. Jeff joined in until it died.

Flashes of light tore through its ice armor. Shards shot back towards Jeff. The lizard fell back screaming. It was unable to move. Its red eyes were hidden by its blood. Its skin was exposed to the harsh storm. Jeff grinned at the sight of a blood trail leading to his victim.

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The storm was finally easing away. Vanessa and Jaivva ran into a group of gingerbread men with a sleigh.

Vanessa hopped in, "How are we going to drive this"?

"I don't know," said Jaivva, "But these little guys seem like they know their stuff.

The gingerbread men loaded themselves into the sleigh and turned it on. It's a new feature the girls hadn't noticed before. The sleigh lit up despite being made from sugary delights. The engine roared as the sleigh shaked. Shortly after, a gingerbread man held his hand onto a little control panel causing the sleigh itself to move.

"Oh, um. Wait!" cried out Vanessa, "We still need everybody else".

The gingerbread man drove forward just as a bang echoed from the nearby mountains. An avalanche was coming.