“I’m done, I’m done, I’m so done,” Rexi thought, heart flapping like a trapped sparrow as her aching legs burned like coals.

The thunder warhorse closed in, lightning cleaving the night like a blade through bamboo, and Rexi swallowed cold spit like frost.

“Am I about to die…?”

“As if~”

She ran, sprang onto a little stone mound, and spun, her cloak fluttering like a raven wing in the snow-glow.

Snap.

She mimicked the enforcement captain, flicked a finger, stuck out her tongue, and winked, a playful spark in a dark storm.

Nothing happened—no magic flare, no strange ripple—only the hush of winter like a still pond.

But the captain’s mount skidded hard, legs tangling like crossed strings, then pitched him over like a flipped beetle onto white earth.

“Hahaha, hehehe~~” Rexi clutched her belly and pointed, laughter bubbling like warm steam in the cold.

The captain seethed, mind knotting like thorny briars, baffled that his thunder warhorse would stumble on flat snow.

It had handled knife-back cliffs before; what on earth was wrong tonight, with moonlight thin as paper?

He hauled himself up, scooping his lance, and checked the warhorse, hands steady like a hunter’s on wet leather.

No real damage—he set the horse upright, but two steps later it tripped again, legs crossing like tangled roots.

“Pff—hahaha~” Rexi doubled over, joy popping like firecrackers in a festival lane.

“What did you do?!” the captain roared, raising his lance, voice cracking like winter ice.

“I didn’t do a thing~” Rexi spread her hands, innocence bright as a cat’s grin. “Maybe your riding’s trash. Maybe it thinks you’re a hack.”

“You—!” His chest heaved like bellows, anger sparking like iron on stone.

“Fine. You’re set on defying the law.”

He tapped the lance to the ground, and mana flooded in like a deep tide, the pitch-black shaft blooming blue like foxfire.

Thunder growled and lightning braided tight, the weapon humming like a storm-kite in fierce wind.

Rexi stuck out her tongue, mischief sharp as mint. “Charge your magic slow if you want. I’m not playing. I’m out.”

She hopped off the stone and sprinted deeper into the forest, breath threading like mist through fir shadows.

She glanced back at the captain, still gathering power, and pouted, a tiny ember of spite glowing in her eyes.

If not for certain worries, I’d make you tumble like your horse—she thought—fate mirrored like a twin blade.

The captain kept channeling, lightning sketching a lion on the lance like ink in the rain, and he raised it to aim.

Rexi saw the motion and didn’t fret; confidence lifted her like a kite on wind, sure she could slip the strike.

Once he lost his mount, he’d be mud-bound; catching her would be like chasing leaves in a gale.

Then her boot hit something soft-hard, hard-soft under the snow, and she pitched forward, face-first like a falling plum.

“Ow—what is this? Karma slapping me back?” She sprang up, heart jittering like a grasshopper, and looked down.

Where her step had kicked away the crusted snow, a black-haired girl lay hidden, eyes closed, chest still as stone.

How—why is someone lying here? Shock surged cold as river water through Rexi’s veins.

The captain finished his chant and hurled the lance, steel tearing the air like a hawk’s dive, lightning-lion roaring low and thick.

“So fast! I have to dodge!” Rexi spun, urgency snapping like a drawn bowstring in her ribs.

She took one step—and froze—eyes pulled back to the girl in the snow, conscience burning like a lantern in night fog.

If I run, she dies; the thought stabbed like a thorn, and Rexi grit her teeth like bitten ice.

No. I have to save her.

She crouched, slid her hands under the girl’s armpits, and dragged, muscles trembling like taut reeds in wind.

But she didn’t have the strength; the drag was slow as syrup, and the storm-lion’s charge hammered closer like a drumbeat.

Regret bit her like winter gnawing bare fingers. “I’m screwed. If I drop her now and run, can I still make it?”

The thunder lance split trees like straw, flying straight for them, breath-hot, and it was already within arm’s length.

“Seems… too late…” Rexi went still, fear settling like wet ash on her tongue.

The black-haired girl’s eyes fluttered, and Lucimia forced them open, gaze locking on the charging lion like a hunter on prey.

“You—you’re awake?! You’re actually alive! I thought you froze—though it’s useless; we’re both dying here…” Rexi’s head drooped like a wilted leaf.

Lucimia flicked a look at the green-haired girl hauling her, then fixed on the oncoming lance, focus sharp as a needle.

She lifted her hand, weak as drifting snow, and let it fall, weighty as a shut gate upon a path.

A spatial rift peeled open in front of them, black seam slicing the world like torn silk, and the lightning-lion plunged in.

It burst out from the woods to their side like a storm breaking a dam, the strike thrown wide by bent space.

Boom—!!

It smashed into the brush pile, the ground shuddering like a drumskin, whole trees toppling and snow geysering into white clouds.

A wall of broken trunks rose like a barricade, standing between the two girls and the storm’s teeth.

The lance was stopped; Lucimia’s head tipped heavy like a stone, and she fainted back into the snow.

Rexi, still reeling from the rift, stared at Lucimia again, shock crackling like dry twigs in a blaze.

“Hey—hey, why’d you faint again? Don’t die on me.” She shook the girl gently, hands fluttering like moth wings.

No response—only quiet, winter-thick and pale as milk.

“She’s got black hair… I didn’t notice before. Could she be Bloodkin?” Curiosity pricked like a needle.

Rexi pushed at Lucimia’s lips, and found two fangs, sharp as white thorns against the cold.

Her Bloodkin disguise hadn’t faded; the teeth shone like moonlit hooks in the night.

“Ha, she really is. So she’s Bevi’s kind. Should I drag her to Bevi?” The thought ticked like a little clock.

Bevi was the only Bloodkin Rexi talked to—someone not quite a friend, a winter companion like a passing robin.

“But that’s far, and I can’t haul her. Better warm her up first.” Her mind spun like a leaf caught in a whirl.

“Those soldiers are still chasing me… These fallen trees help… but time’s short.” Frustration scratched like a cat behind a door.

Rexi scratched her head, griping at herself, brain buzzing like bees in a jar, stumped for a plan.

“If nothing else, I’ll use that. Keep it shallow, it should be fine. Yeah.” She set her jaw, resolve hard as ice.

The thunder warhorse found its stride again, hooves drumming like rain on a roof, as the captain and soldiers cleared the mess.

They reached the spot where Rexi and Lucimia had been, and a soldier hurried up, voice cutting like a knife through cloth.

“Captain! I just saw the murderer and another black-haired girl run that way!” He pointed right, arm straight as a spear.

“Black hair? Bloodkin?” The captain’s eyes narrowed like shutters. “So a Bloodkin blocked my strike? Rexi has a helper?”

He rubbed his chin, quick thought sliding like oil. “Leave a squad to hold this place. The rest, with me, pursue!”

“Yes!” Their answer snapped like a banner in wind, and they thundered right, breath steaming like white smoke.

On the left, in a tangle of brush, Rexi poked out her little head, grin sly as a fox beneath snow.

“Nyeh~ so dumb.” She giggled, voice tinkling like bells, and vanished into the winter-gray.