I walked into the barracks where a group of Yetis were playing some sort of card game. They looked up at me and grins spread across their faces.

"Hey, kid you're back!" Leif said. Leif always told me his name meant Sturdy Branch. Which seemed a bit literal for a name.

"Is that a Soulwielder staff?" Another Yeti asked. I couldn't remember his name, he looked new. Actually, a lot of them looked new.

"Yeah, I was assigned here by the Corporation," I replied, scanning the crowd. "Hey, where's Proritz?"

Their smiles slowly faded. "Proritz and his squadron were surprise attacked by an Ice Dragon. Most of them were killed in the struggle, Proritz managed to get off with just an injury. Proritz's son Oritz should be with him in the medical shack."

"Proritz has a son?" I tried thinking back to what he'd said to me. He'd never mentioned his son.

"Oritz and he were in a fight at the time. Oritz believed Proritz was too old to be fighting in the army, Proritz insisted he was fine. Even though 67 is incredibly old. Especially for a Yeti. So he refused to mention his son. Of course, he ended up badly hurt so his son dropped the argument to just be there for his father." Leif explained.

I clenched my first. People were always dying, but now it seemed like everyone I knew was ending up dead. I walked out of the barracks down the path to the medical shack.

The shack was a mound of ice blocks in a half circle with a large rounded entrance. Inside was a bed with a glass of water, a first aid kit, some food, and extra blankets.

Proritz was fast asleep but I could tell his berating was ragged. A large bandage stretched beneath the covers from his shoulder.

Oritz stood beside the bed, watching his father solemnly. There was a white eyepatch covering his left eye, he also seemed to have a metal hand. His top left hand was clearly painted white. The shade was off and I could see some bronze.

Oritz had the same icy blue eyes all Yeti had. He was taller than me by a large amount as Yeti were naturally taller than most people. His swords were slung around his back, unlike the other regular soldiers. Only a General was required to keep themselves armed at all times. He seemed to be pretty old, maybe in his mid-40s.

Oritz glanced at me. "What do you want, kid?"

Despite being 13 I was a kid to this Yeti. "I used to go to camp here. Proritz was the one I spent the most time with. He always seemed distant and sad, I think I know why. He was regretting the argument. I'm sure he wanted to make up with you."

Oritz sighed. "Thanks, kid. That's surprisingly intelligent from an 8-year-old."

"I'm 13."

"That makes more sense."

I chuckled. "Let's go somewhere. No use in just sitting here and being sad."

Oritz reluctantly nodded. "You're right. Let's get something to drink." We walked out of the mound together, getting to know each other.

Apparently, Oritz wasn't apart of the army and actually had a small shop where he sculpted ice, but he wanted to be there for his father and it was a tradition for his family to be in the army. His shop was being run by a friend at the time.

Oritz also told me his name meant Rising Blade. I figured that was because his father's name meant Original Blade.

We sat down in the mess hall with iced tea. We continued talking for a while. Oritz told me how happy he was that he wasn't assigned to the Melting Point and got to stay with his father.

I told him about being a Soulwielder and my encounter with Lycitor.

"You fought a Lizolis? I can't believe you're alive." Oritz said, scratching his chin. "They're powerful warriors for sure. Even their weapons are dangerous."

"Well, I'm not sure how I survived the fight. I had something really weird happen to my Soulwielder staff. Then he said something about being an Elemental. I'm not sure about any of it, but I know one thing for certain. I want to find him and help my friends move on to Zionlyium."

Oritz sat in silence, thinking. "If he's a Lizolis odds are he's in Fiorione. You should go on an expedition there, maybe get a few people on board and take him down. Or try telling the leaders about him."

"That's a good idea. I'll ask Lily to talk to them for me. Thanks, Oritz." I smiled, forming a plan in my mind. I was going to stop Lycitor and save my friends.

Suddenly an alarm began to sound. "3 large hordes of Snogers approaching! All hands on deck!" Xorg's voice commanded over the sound of the alarm. Oritz and I stood up and we rushed out of the mess hall.

Oritz fortunately already had his swords slung around his back so we were able to run to the exit. I pushed the door open and we found ourselves out on the barren snowfield, the snow wall right behind us.

We ran through the field, more Yeti were joining us until the entire army was in position halfway across the field.

Not too far ahead mounds of snow began to rise from the ground. The Snogers consisted of packed snow and icicles. They were vaguely humanoid, with icicles for claws and teeth. They were easy to destroy so they often attacked in massive hordes.

Before long the entire first horde had risen and were charging through the snow. The Yeti let out a roar and unsheathed their blades, running to meet the Snogers. Then everything went into chaos.

The Yeti quickly cut down most of the Snogers, I stayed in the back with Ortiz, trying to think of the perfect spell to use.

"They always charge into battle blindly, but when they miss a few Snogers the beasts circle around them and close them in." Ortiz said with a sigh.

I snapped my fingers. "Then I'll take care of the leftovers!" Pointing my staff in the air I shouted. "Aquatic wave!" I slammed the tip of the staff into the ground, creating a shock wave that destroyed every single Snoger in its path.

Just as the last of the Snogers were defeated twice as many as before rose from the ground and attacked.

From the Glacier, volleys of condensed ice breath struck the battlefield. Only a few of the attacks actually struck their target.

Concentrating I fired a small blue ball into the sky, the ball fell back down and generated a massive explosion, wiping out a few enemies. "The power of the Water Bomb." A few of the Snogers made their way over to us. Oritz drew his swords and I swung my staff around.

Oritz chopped through them, meanwhile, I hit their heads off with the staff. In no time the Snogers were gone.

Oritz was breathing heavily. "That was great! It goes much faster when I have someone else staying in the back to help."

Finally, all the monsters were cleared out, everyone began to head back inside. Just as we were turning to leave from seemingly nowhere a Water Giant appeared.

The giant was fairly humanoid. His teeth were incredibly sharp along with his nails on his hands. His body was tinted bronze and he seemed to be wearing a seaweed loincloth. The giant was at least thirty feet tall, making me feel especially small.

In his hand was a giant spear. Water swirled around the spear's tip. The entire spear was as tall as the giant and made of some sort of coral-like material.

He opened the palm of his hand and water orbs fired from it. Hitting groups of the Yeti. They began to retreat quickly before more of them could be destroyed.

I stood there, clenching my staff. I was trying to think of a fire spell. Oritz stayed with me, looking at the giant with wide eyes. "Impossible. That's a water creature. There's no way it could be here."

"We can't worry about that right now. Cover me while I prepare a spell, we'll need all the power we can get!" I told him. Oritz drew his swords.

The Water Giant lumbered forward, swinging his spear. Oritz spun and dug both of his blades into the side of the spear before it could bowl me over. He grunted and held his place.

Meanwhile, I ran through all the steps to perform the move I was thinking of. I started by holding my staff out in front of me and moving it in a circular motion.

The Water Giant pulled his spear back and raised it into the air, pointing the tip at Oritz.

"Bring it on! I haven't had a fight like this since I first joined the army!" Oritz readied himself. The spear rushed towards him, he jumped back the spear impaled the ground. Spinning the blades in his hands Oritz charged at the Water Giant.

Oritz leaped into the air, throwing his blades forward into the Water Giant's chest. Then he braced his feet against its stomach and pushed against it, pulling his blades free and landing on the ground unharmed.

The giant screamed in pain, it fired a water sphere at Oritz. The Yeti took a deep breath and countered with his ice breath, freezing the sphere in mid-air. The sphere exploded, leaving Oritz uninjured.

The Water Giant charged another water sphere in its hand, but this time he grabbed his spear and it became encased in water. He raised his spear in the air, it fired off multiple blasts into the sky. Oritz saw an opportunity and began slicing at the giant's legs.

I buried the butt of my staff into the ground beneath me. Drawing on the faint inner heat of the planet. My Fire Orb began to heat up and glow. The air around me condensed with heat. I almost worried I would pass out. No! I will not fall! Oritz can't hold that thing forever. Next, I must speak the ancient Lizolis words!

Remembering every single bit of work we did on the Lizolis species I recalled what I had to say. A rough translation would be Great Firebringer, General Of the Maker! Bless my attack with the everlasting power of the white flame!

Oritz looked up in the sky at the volleys of water blasts began to fall back down, deflecting a few that almost hit him with his swords. However this left him wide open, the Water Giant slammed the entire spear onto the earth.

"Hey kid, I just want you to know! If we survive this, you can count me in on your expedition! I'll help you kill that Lycitor, no matter what it takes!" Oritz shouted to me instead of running out of the way.

The tip fired an aquatic missile that kicked up an absurd amount of snow. The missile crashed into Oritz, sending him flying into the air. As Oritz was falling a water attack flew directly at him from above.

Oritz held his swords in front of him to brace himself. The attack fell on him and he crashed into the ground, kicking up the snow that was on the ground.

Now filled with anger and the blessing of the Firebringer I wrenched my staff from the ground, swinging it around in the air. Finally, I held it in place, a moment later a ray of pure sun fire became visible in the sky, it looked almost like a comet. Lighting up the entire world.

"Star's Punishment!" I shouted the name of the spell and lowered my staff until it was pointing at the Water Giant. The ray landed directly on the Water Giant and the beast disintegrated along with all the snow around him, revealing a soaking wet black stone ground.

With the beast defeated I promptly passed out.

I found myself in some sort of palace. All the walls were darkened so I couldn't make out any details. I did notice Lycitor standing at the other end of the room.

"Boy! You wish to challenge me and free your friends, correct? I murdered them yes! Their corpses will haunt you, but you are right about one thing. I have their souls. Trapped. If you want to fight me, go ahead! I could use more life energy! You will find me on the outskirts of Fiorione. So I challenge you!" Lycitor laughed, I began running at him. But before I could reach him everything faded away.

I jerked awake. I was in the Glacial Outpost barracks. The first thought that came to my mind was Oritz! I got out of the bed, grabbing my staff and I ran to the medical center.

A Yeti was there, treating Oritz. "This is not good, not good at all." Then he turned to me. "Oh good, you are awake Soulwielder."

"What's wrong with Oritz?" I demanded. Oritz has a bandage over the right side of his ribcage and on his bottom left arm.

"His injuries are mild and treatable. The problem is that he was damaged by water magic. I cannot treat that, and the effect it has on him magnified the damage to the point where he will most likely not live if he is left here." The medical Yeti explained.

I put my hands together nervously. "How do I help him then?"

"I don't have jurisdiction to leave Frigidity, and it will take too long to get an extraction team to take him to where he must go. You can leave and take him to the healer who can save his life, but it must be right now. Get Xorg's permission. I can't imagine he'll deny it. I'll prepare Oritz to be moved to the next realm over."

I almost left but first I had to ask. "Wait, you mean Wurterence? Where in Wurterence?"

The Yeti was already moving around. "The capital, Aquosis."

I ran all the way to the observation deck. "General Xorg Sir, I need to take Oritz to Aquosis so his injuries can be healed."

Xorg turned to me and have a nod. "Go ahead. But call the Soulwielder Corporation before you go. You can use the video phone over there." Xorg pointed at a screen with a keypad built into the wall.

I went over and contacted Soulwielder Corporation. Lily picked up and smiled when she saw me.

"Oh, I'm so glad you called! I've been wondering when you were going to finally remember me." Lily smiled.

It felt nice to see Lily again. "Lily I have a few things to tell you that are important, first off I'm going to Aquosis to help a soldier in Glacial Outpost who was injured get the proper healing. And there's something I need you to tell the leaders." I took a deep breath and told her about what happened with Lycitor. If Oritz- no when Oritz recovered I wanted us to be able to go on the expedition as soon as possible, and now that I knew where Lycitor was I had to go.

Lily just listened and took notes. "Alright. Good luck in Aquosis. I'll pass your request on to the leaders." Lily was clearly nervous but I knew she could do it.

With that, I hung up and ran to join Oritz at the transporter. He was in a wheelchair, which couldn't have been comfortable. But it also would've been easier to move him.

"Now I can set it to take you to Aquosis. Just please be quick, seek out Adonia. She is a stellar healer and one I trust with Ortiz's life." The Doctor Yeti told me, pressing some buttons on a control panel. "It should be set, best of luck boy."

I wheeled Oritz onto the transporter and he vanished. I got into the transporter myself and followed after him, hoping and praying he would be ok.

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Thanks so much for reading today's chapter! I hope it was worth the wait. I tried to add some action as the last two chapters haven't had much. The story is really developing by now and I'm excited to bring you all the next chapter.

Today's question of the day is: Money or Love? In honor of the Splatfest I want your takes on this question to see what everyone thinks of it.

That's all for now, have a great day! Bye!