Keeping it Frosty

Startled cicadas buzzed to a crescendo, frightened frogs released sharp shrills, and slumbering doves awoke with loud hoots as bright light accompanied by a chilly killing aura spooked them to their cores. All this was caused by the rugged woman with azure eyes who began cutting her way through the forest. Twigs crunched at her heels as an exasperated Leo tried to catch his breath while Eliza worked wonders at cleaving every single branch that dared to block her path. This is what she had trained for, this is what she had been made for after venturing deep into the unknown forest for these past three years.

Too bad Leo couldn't say the same.

"Wa - wait -," Leo yelled, yet was only greeted by a healthy portion of dark leaves. "I - I can't see-"

"Quit yammering! Run faster!" Leo's mother shot back with an unintentional gust of icy air.

Upon impact, Leo's arms and legs went taunt, his knife going wild as it missed its mark and impaled itself into the thick dark bark beside him.

"Ha… ha… nooooo."

Wrapping his gloved hands tight around the dagger, he heaved and heaved with his frail body, but with every second the torch's glow faded.

"For pete's sake!" Leo wheezed, forgoing his knife and running head first after the last few glimpses of fire before him. His arms rapidly flailed left and right as twig after branch threatened to block whatever little rays of torch light he had left. After what felt like the hundredth log that nearly jeopardized his footing, Leo slammed right into Eliza, nearly spilling all the arrows from her quiver.

"AAA-"

An icy hand quickly dropped the blazing torch, clamping Eliza's mouth shut with a high probability of frostbite.

"Shhhh!" Their mother scowled, her forehead throbbing as if she wished she could punch the freckles off Eliza's face. But not a second passed before dried leaves threatened to spark up a bonfire. Without a second thought, Eliza's mother's frosty hand hastily reached down and unloaded their mother's most powerful ice spell, encasing the burning roots, undergrowth, and earth in an entire one meter circle of frost.

With a long hiss, their racket subsided and fervent wolf yelps finally entered the ears of Leo. A sturdy Yew bow suddenly jabbed his stomach, forcing him to bend over as his eyes bulged.

"Idiot," Eliza fiercely whispered, "I literally almost kissed my lips goodbye just because you rammed into me."

Leo gritted his teeth, wanting to mention how no one would kiss those lips anyway, but held his tongue in the darkness as a sudden chill ran up his spine. He could have sworn it was his mother's ominous mana induced suppression, but the moonlight only helped so much in actually catching a glimpse of his mother's face. Another blip of red light suddenly flashed again, exposing Leo mother's tall thin back as she reached outward toward the few bushes blocking their view. Hand wrapped tight around her Yew bow, her gloved hand gently pushed to the left so she could peer at the scene before them.

Cinders crackled and fires sparked as what once a nice mushroom and bush filled clearing now held five red sporadic fires that dared to chew their surroundings. Partially roasted gray pelts were exposed by the flames as wolf lay after wolf lay on the ground twitching and whimpering. The remaining three gray wolves went into a frenzy, baring their canines as they circled the rosewood tree in the center of the clearing. One suddenly barked, sprinting to the base of the trunk, attempting to make a jump for the lowest branch.

However, a bright red ball suddenly lit up the deep violet flowers in the rosewood tree's canopy. It illuminated a tanned fist and a bulky orange haired frame, shimmering as a pair of eerie eyes pulsed red. With a large heave, a long arm dashed forward, releasing the tongue of crimson fire in its grasp as it began to sail through the air. And just like its brethren, the flames struck the wolf smack dead center on its forehead, blinding it as it ran head first into the tree, thus knocking itself out.

Barking madly, the last two wolves whimpered at the sight of their pack burning, crying, and on the verge of death, forcing their morale to finally hit rock bottom. Taking careful steps back, they were about to abandon their already ludicrous assault when a voice rang out in the distance.

"Idiots!"

A ball of orange fire lit up the opposite side of the clearing as it arched through the air, hitting one startled wolf on the side of its face.

"AWWOOOOO!"

"Utterly useless mutts!"

Another fire ball flew, but missed the last wolf by a meter as it fled with its tail between its haunches, scared witless at the harrowing events.

"What the actual -," Leo's mother muttered with a growing grin on her face. Another source of fire this deep into the forest only meant one thing.

Sure enough, two small orange eyes began to glow deep within the darkness. Crunch after crunch, a tall orange Ignis Ape treaded into the clearing, glaring at the smaller Ignis Ape that now was scrambling to the farthest branches away from the new arrival.

"Fleeing is useless," declared the taller Ignis Ape as orange wisps of flame lit up its palms as it drew a circle in the air.

"Blaze!" it cried as heat emanated from the earth, small blips of orange fire rising from the ground in a clockwise fashion until the entire rosewood tree was surrounded in a ring of orange fire.

"Submit, young one." The arrogant Ignis Ape drawled, taking a step through the fire and coming out unscathed on the other side. Not a single one of its hairs was affected by the intense heat that made even Leo's group sweat behind their thick bushes.

"AAA!" The young Ignis Ape cried in defiance, firing one, two, and then three red fireballs at the part of the ring of flames closest to it, yet the ring only calmly flickered away for a split second. Gnashing its teeth, the now imprisoned young Ignis Ape jumped down from the tree and batted its chest with water in its eyes.

"AAA!" It screamed, motioning to all the whimpering wolves that previously suffered its wrath. Its fingers uncurled and uncurled as it grasped the hairs on the top of its head as it began to lightly sob in the blood scattered battlefield.

"AAA!" It wailed, its big eyes releasing a tear as it fell to its knees while glaring in contempt at the approaching Ignis Ape.

"This is the way. Peace is not an option." The haughty ape declared as it straightened its back, almost replicating how a dignified human would stand. "Learn from the past sovereign."

Shaking its head, the younger Ignis Ape stood up gradually as its brown eyes pulsed red. Red wisps of fire escaped its mouth with every breath as its hair began to shimmer red. "AAA!"

With fists full of red flames, the Ape ran headlong over the smoky corpses of the wolves, yet it didn't make it halfway before a blast of orange fire exploded before it. It flew backwards, skidding against mushrooms, roots, and landing in a pool of crimson wolf blood.

"Shit!" Leo's mother cursed as she knocked an arrow from her quiver as rapidly as her fingers would let her. "Everyone, aim for that egotistical ape!" she whispered fervorously.

Not needing to be told twice, Eliza and Leo drew their bow strings until they turned taunt. Not checking if they were ready, their mother sucked in a breath and whispered, "chill." Slowly, snowflakes formed on the tips of each one of their cocked arrows and, with three silent thwacks, the blue tipped arrows sailed through the air.

THWACK THWACK

"AAAAAAA!"

Two arrows found their mark, impaling deep into the Ignis Ape's shoulder and thigh. Orange fire flew a meter of the Ignis Ape's mouth while orange light flooded out of its eyes like spotlights. Swiftly, its wounds began to freeze over, yet the Ignis Ape began to inhale and exhale briskly. To Leo's astonishment, the frost began to melt as sparks of fire flew off the hairs surrounding the ice. All three of them immediately scrambled to knock more arrows, their mother's face now shining with a light sheen of sweat.

Just as the imperious Ignis Ape spotted them, a flaming red fist struck it in its cheek and its upper chest. Losing its balance, the older Ape spewed orange flames from its mouth again, forcing the younger ape to jump back. Placing both hands near its hips, the younger Ignis Ape rapidly sucked in air while forming a large ball of fire between its palms.

As if on cue, Leo's mother yelled "Chill!"

All three of them released their bow strings, letting the arrows fly with snowflake trails in their wake. Before the Ignis Ape even heard the arrows piercing the air, a large torrent of red fire struck its stomach while ice encrusted arrows stabbed it in its exposed back and head. Blood sprayed before quickly forming icicles, yet they quickly evaporated into crimson mist as the older Ignis Ape finally eked out its last wisp of orange flames.