After concluding the deal between them, Elisa began to gather firewood and Miriam looked for the best logs to make the door that would seal the entrance to the cave. When they returned, the dragon took charge of building it, while Elisa helped Neminah with the fire and the food.

Once everything was finished, and since that door was reliable enough, Miriam decided they could all sleep that night without needing anyone to stand guard. But, to be sure, Elisa would seal part of the door with earth magic, hoping to make it even more robust. This was so that everyone would be at their best for what might be a very long day.

That night was an incredible night's sleep for everyone. Neminah slept like a baby, and even Miriam and Elisa woke up full of energy and in an incredibly good mood. Whether it was because of the much-needed rest or because they'd made progress in regaining their friendship, it didn't matter, they were cheerful enough to exchange smiles from time to time.

After a very tasty breakfast, the three of them left the cave in the direction of the trolls. Hoping that this time they could do more than just watch.

Halfway there, Neminah's sensitive sense of smell picked up something troubling.

"Sis! - the girl shouted, alerting her two companions. - I smell... I smell blood."

"...Are you sure?"

Neminah nodded, confident, but extremely dismayed, something that worried Miriam. She had a bad feeling and with that, she immediately ordered them to pick up the pace.

They didn't have to get too close to realize that something really bad happened. The smell of blood was intense, and now even Elisa could easily pick it up.

"What the hell was going on here?"

When they arrived at the scene, they found the torn bodies of the trolls they found the day before, dismembered and scattered in a huge pool of blood. The girls stared in horror at the image of hell, trying to comprehend what they were seeing. Miriam ordered Neminah to stay at the edge of the clearing, just in case, and together with Elisa, began to search the bodies, hoping to find something that would give them some clue as to what had happened.

They walked around the site, looking over the pieces of what were once trolls, noticing that some parts of the bodies were missing, especially the heads.

"Do you think this was done by humans?"

"No, humans can barely fight only if they do it in a very large group so they can overwhelm them. There were five trolls here. If it had been them there would have been more tracks and they wouldn't have torn them apart like this, much less abandoned them. Besides... - Miriam pointed to the torso of one of the trolls, showing Elisa the marks on it. - That's definitely not the work of any human."

On the severed torso, lying in the middle of the clearing, there were large claw marks running across the entire chest. There was even a gash from which part of its internal organs protruded.

"Whatever did this, it did it with the intent to kill in a sadistic way, not to eat or defend itself. There aren't many monsters that would kill just for pleasure."

"Unless..."

"Unless?"

"Unless someone is controlling them and has ordered them to..."

"Elisa that..." she stopped mid-sentence, considering what this might imply. Then she continued in a tone of voice that showed how disturbed she was by the thought. - It could be much worse if it turns out to be true."

They took one last look at the place, feeling frightened at the thought of what would happen if it turned out to be true. Someone who was able to control a monster that could make such a massacre was definitely bad news.

Miriam approached one of the trolls' arms, which was still holding one of their giant clubs. On it, there were marks of having hit something incredibly hard, but which seemed to have been stained with blood, though clearly different from that which soaked the ground.

"At least," she added with some relief in her voice. - it looks like these bastards managed to defend themselves to some extent, and it wasn't entirely a one-sided fight."

"You mean they managed to drive off whatever it was that attacked them?"

"...I hope so. Although..." Miriam surveyed the place once more. She counted the parts of the trolls that were scattered about and asked feeling confused. - Doesn't it look like one is missing?"

" S-sis, I think we should go."

Neminah's frightened voice reached the girls. Her ears had been pricked back and she looked very scared as if her instincts were screaming that she should leave as soon as possible.

"Do you think we should go back?" Elisa asked, seconding the opinion of the younger girl. Miriam looked at her calmly, noticing that even she looked quite disturbed. She thought for a second, considering which course of action would be best.

The trolls were dead, which was the reason they had come in the first place, and, while there might be more, staying knowing that there was something that could slaughter these monsters in this way was... well, a terrible idea. While they hadn't managed to get as many levels as she would've liked, at this point she couldn't afford to risk them all just for that.

"I don't like having to leave things like this. But you're right, we'd better go. We'll go back home and tell Mom about what happened here. Maybe it's-"

Suddenly a shiver, much worse than the one she had felt the day before, ran down her back. A great feeling of anxiety gripped the cub. Her instinct was screaming at her that something was there, something extremely dangerous. She began to look everywhere as the feeling grew stronger. Something told her to look up, and that's when she saw it. A huge beast was plummeting straight toward them... no straight toward Elisa. Miriam reacted immediately by running towards her.

"ELI!"

The blonde, who was walking towards Neminah oblivious to anything, turned around when she heard Miriam's shout. She was surprised, not only by the scream but also because Miriam hadn't called her that in years. When she saw her, she was practically on top of her, tackling and throwing her to the ground. The instant they both fell a strong gust of wind assaulted them and a scream of pain escaped the cub's lips. Elisa was dazed and very confused. What happened? She wondered. Miriam had clung to her and was now hugging her tightly as she moaned in pain. Elisa opened her eyes and, looking at the dragon's back, noticed that half of her tail had suddenly disappeared.

"Miriam!? Your tail!"

"That... that's not important."

"Not important? But-"

"Eli, we have a very big problem."

With difficulty Miriam got up from on top of the blonde, positioning herself in front of her, covering her from the thing that appeared, the winged terror.

"Problem-?"

Elisa swallowed her words, fear reflected in her eyes as she looked at what was right in front of them. A monster they definitely shouldn't face, one that Reilanis warned them to be careful of. A Wyvern. A huge lizard, perhaps 2 meters tall and 6 or 7 meters long, covered in grayish-green scales, and intense yellow eyes, with its classic reptilian slit pupil. Its forelegs were replaced by wings, and a long tail with a razor-sharp tip. The mouth was full of sharp fangs, which dangled from the piece of Miriam's tail that had been torn off. The monster landed on the ground and watched them carefully. Its surprise attack was missed and now it was waiting for a new opportunity to attack.

"Sis!"

"Stay where you are!"

Neminah who noticed what had happened, screamed and tried to run towards them, but was immediately stopped by Miriam, who never took her eyes off the monster that was watching them cautiously, moving slowly around them.

"This is nothing, so stay where you are. We can't risk it coming after you."

"Miriam, what do we do?"

Elisa slowly picked herself up off the ground, and like her companion, kept her eyes on the Wyvern in front of them. She asked, perhaps hoping that she did have some plan, but knowing that there was no hope that she had anything. A monster of that rank, at the level they were at, gave them almost no choice.

"Do you want me to be honest or do I give you hope?"

"That bad?"

"To tell you the truth, we don't have much of a choice here. It's cautious for now, but when he decides to attack..."

With the level they were at, perhaps just a swipe, a scratch, or even the brush of its tail, would be enough to finish them off. Miriam was racking her brain trying to come up with a solution, but there was so little she could do...

"We can only face it and hope for the best."

"What about escaping? We should try to distract it and get out of here as fast as we can."

"It won't work. Eli, I'm pretty sure this bastard is responsible for what happened here. And if I had to guess... I'd say those trolls got here because they were running from that thing."

Elisa went silent. She had connected the dots too, seeing that this beast was to blame for the chaos with the monsters in the mountains. And if it was so persistent as to have given chase for several days to those trolls... she didn't even want to think about how difficult, if not impossible, it would be to try to escape from that thing. If they tried, they could take advantage of the thick forest to hide and avoid him for a while, but by the time they reached the pass connecting Cedarstone to Torias, they would be completely exposed.

"Then... we have no choice but to fight..."

"What a damn bad luck." Miriam cursed, frowning. She began to think as she analyzed her opponent, one who could very well kill them all effortlessly. But before she could do so, the Wyvern became tired of waiting and rushed towards them. He crawled with a speed faster than his body seemed to allow it, aiming directly at Miriam, whose blood and flesh already tasted.

Without more time to think, both girls dodged the huge reptile's charge, barely escaping the jaw that was closing on them. Miriam darted to the right and Elisa to the left, trying to confuse the Wyvern and gain time to think of a strategy. But things would not be so easy. The monster continued his pursuit of Miriam, attacking her multiple times with his jaws and depriving her of any moment of rest. Elisa, far away, was trying to think of something she could do to help, but she had no idea if her spells could even give the huge monster a scratch. "But if I don't do something now..." The blonde made up her mind, she had to do something to help her, and she needed to do it fast.

Miriam, though hard pressed in the face of the Wyvern's constant attacks, noticed Elisa in the distance, preparing a spell. "But which one?" She knew her ability and her magic, but she wouldn't know what spell she would be preparing until it was cast. That was the advantage and disadvantage of the casting speed Elisa was counting on. "No, that doesn't matter. All I need to do is allow her to connect a direct hit. I count on you, Eli."

Elisa brought her MP up and held back her spell, trying to find the right angle at which she could hit the Wyvern and hopefully cause enough damage for Miriam to reposition herself. Something much easier, seeing that Miriam was moving with great dexterity around the place, dodging by inches the constant harassment of her furious foe. With a great effort on her part, she managed to give the blonde the chance she needed, who fired her spell instantly.

"[Stone Lance]"

As the name suggests, a spear made of stone formed in front of Elisa, and was launched at high speed toward the Wyvern who was completely unaware of the attack that was headed straight toward his body. In less than a second, the spell hit the monster's left side, causing it to move a few meters to the side, but nothing more. Fortunately, the blow distracted him long enough for Miriam to run towards Elisa, allowing her a moment's respite as they were once again locked in a staring match. The wyvern looked more annoyed than before, snorting in anger, but remaining alert.

"Thanks for that."

"I'm glad it worked out."

"Me more than you. But see, we can work together if we put our minds to it."

Although that wasn't the time to laugh, they both let out an amused chuckle. Something to at least try to calm the tension. Elisa thought, "Maybe, we really can."

"Eli... I may have a plan."

"...Will it work?"

"I don't know, that's why I need you to believe in me. Eli, just this once, can you trust me?"

Elisa looked at her in silence for a long time. Miriam kept her attention completely on the monster that was walking slowly, surrounding them, waiting for a moment to attack again. She was in her typical combat stance, ready to leap into action again, to give it her all. Even when her tail, or what was left of it, was bleeding and must hurt like hell, she stood, unchanging, confident, brave. "Can I really trust a plan I know nothing about and don't know if it could fail?" Elisa closed her eyes and asked herself that question, remembering how it had been the last time she trusted that Miriam could do her job... and the way things ended that day. She opened her eyes and, seeing the cub's back, how much she grown and the effort that made her what she was now. That was enough to make her decision.

"I'll trust you. But you better not get killed or I'll go to hell and kill you again."

"*giggle* I'll keep that in mind."

"You better. So, what do I have to do?"

"The same thing you did a moment ago, only better."

"That doesn't tell me anything."

"Just channel as much MP as you can into a spell, make it as strong, sharp, and fast as you can. I'll take care of giving you room for a clean shot."

"You'll take care of…? Miriam... you're not saying you're going to fight that thing head-on, are you?"

"..."

"Miriam!" The blonde yelled, angry at the stupid idea her little sister was suggesting.

"...you said you'd trust me." Miriam, though Elisa couldn't see her, pouted, annoyed at how easily the blonde had changed her words.

"You...! Fine! But if something happens..."

"I know."

"...You're an asshole, you know that?"

"...Eli?" whispered Miriam after a little moment of silence, barely audible to the blonde behind her.

"...What?"

"Thank you."

"Just... stop wasting time."

Miriam braced herself, ready to run into the literal mouth of the monster, leaving Elisa with a flushed and a frown on her face. She took a deep breath, something that would also help her mentally prepare for what she was about to do.

"Eli, when I launch, cast the spell and wait for my cue."

"Hmph, you don't have to tell me."

"Then I'll entrust it to you."