The Ice Serpent's head was the size of a wagon, jaws yawning open to reveal fangs longer than Malik's forearm. Frost steamed from its mouth as it roared, the sound echoing across the Shattered Icefields.
The ice beneath Malik's boots buckled. He felt the pull of the abyss beneath.
"Malik," Zyren said, backpedaling, "we don't have to fight it. We can—"
The serpent struck, and Zyren dove aside mid-sentence, tumbling over a jagged shard of ice. "—okay never mind, yeah, we have to fight it."
Split Sight in Overdrive
Malik's Split Sight Thread snapped into full clarity. One vision showed the serpent coiling for another strike, tail sweeping left. The other showed its massive body breaking through the ice in an attempt to crush them from above.
He chose both.
"Zyren! Duck left! Glaive girl, hit its flank on my count!" Malik barked.
The woman raised a brow at the nickname but didn't argue.
The First Exchange
The serpent lunged — Malik rolled under its fangs, stabbing his spear into the softer scales under its jaw. Ice-blood sprayed, burning cold against his skin.
Zyren, somehow still holding the half-burnt blunt between his teeth, hurled a chunk of jagged ice at its eye. The creature reeled, snapping its head toward him.
"Oh, now I've got its attention—" Zyren didn't finish before leaping away as the glaive-wielding woman charged in. Her weapon flashed, runes along the blade igniting as she carved a deep gash in the serpent's side.
The Risk
The Split Sight flashed again — in one vision, Malik saw himself stabbing the serpent's mouth and ending it quickly. In the other… he saw Zyren impaled by its tail while they celebrated.
His stomach knotted. The wrong move here meant losing his only real friend.
The Kill
"Zyren, bait it right!" Malik shouted.
Zyren sprinted across the ice, serpent following, tail smashing pillars apart behind him. The woman darted forward, her glaive catching the tail and slowing it just enough.
Malik leapt, landing on the serpent's head. The spear in his hands pulsed with the Thread's resonance as he drove it between the creature's eyes.
A thunderous crack rang out as the serpent's body went limp, crashing back through the ice.
Aftermath
Zyren collapsed on the snow, panting. "We… are… insane."
The glaive-wielder wiped her blade on the serpent's scales, then glanced at Malik. "You give orders like someone born to lead. What's your name?"
"Malik."
She smiled faintly. "A good name. I'll remember it." She turned to leave, her fur-lined coat swaying — but not before casting a look over her shoulder that lingered just a little too long.
Zyren smirked once she was out of earshot. "Oh yeah… she's trouble. Definitely your type."