The blizzard roared like a hungry monster, wrapping the group in a shroud of relentless cold. Every step was a struggle, every breath scorched their lungs with its chill.

  The heat detector hung from Luna’s belt, emitting a faint hum that marked its activation. Everyone walked in silence, their thoughts lost in the snow and fear.

  Joás, handcuffed but calm, advanced with an unsettling tranquility. Despite the cold, he showed no signs of discomfort. He seemed unaffected by the storm, as if the ice couldn’t touch him. Luna watched him from the corner of her eye, analyzing his every step with precision. Despite his apparent docility, there was something about him that kept her constantly on alert.

  Joás —“Do you want to ask me something, miss? I’ve noticed that since we left, you haven’t stopped looking at me with those charming little eyes. So go ahead, shoot those questions that are making you restless.”—

  With a slight sigh, Luna looked at him with a calm but piercing expression and responded,

  —“I have millions of questions for you, honestly, but I know some are not appropriate for this moment or the situation...

  But I’ll ask you two questions. Why did you come without resisting? And, more importantly, why were you unconscious in the middle of that place?”—

  Joás’s face showed a flicker of astonishment at such questions, followed by a soft laugh.

  —“I figured questions like that would come, but I have to admit it’s a bit impactful hearing them from you, with that serene look. I suppose that’s why you’re the leader. And what can I tell you? A response like ‘I fell in love with your face and your figure’ wouldn’t be valid, right?

  The truth is I’ve been looking for ‘Eliot’ for several days. And I suppose, just like you all, I’m desperate, drained, reaching my limit. So I stopped to consider my options: should I kill these strangers and exhaust myself even more to continue the search? Or should I take advantage of this charming lady and her group of monkeys? The answer was clear.

  Although, honestly, the idea of going to your colony and probably being used as a guinea pig —at best— doesn’t thrill me too much.

  And as for why I was lying in that place... let’s say I reached my limit. Just like you, I get tired. The desperation of searching for Eliot for days without rest left me without energy... and I simply collapsed.”—

  Luna’s face showed no emotion, neither satisfaction nor calm, at Joás’s answers. She only looked at him with a serene expression and said in a calm voice:

  —“I see... then let’s find that boy named ‘Eliot.’”—

  With astonishment drawn on his face, Joás couldn’t help but murmur:

  —“What a cold woman...”—

  A dense silence marked the group’s progress and the passage of time. As the minutes and hours went by, exhaustion became more evident in the face of that senseless march, which seemed eternal and directionless...

  —“The detector is picking something up…”— Luna announced, her voice cutting through the silence.

  Everyone stopped. A faint light blinked on the device, indicating a weak but real heat source to the northeast.

  —“Could that be the boy?”— one of the explorers asked, hope trembling in his voice.

  —“It’s possible,”— Luna replied, tightening her grip on the detector, looking toward the direction it pointed.

  The group advanced and found an improvised camp, with clear signs of recent use. Around it, several peculiar artifacts sparked curious intrigue. As they analyzed the scene,

  Joás let out a small mocking laugh, though his gaze remained fixed on the small improvised camp.

  —“Eliot is close, I know it. I feel his presence.”

  Elian scoffed disdainfully.

  —“Now you can also sense people? How convenient.”

  Joás didn’t reply, he only gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

  Luna raised a hand, ordering silence.

  —“We’ll advance carefully. Stay alert for anything. And you, Joás, cooperate silently... or I’ll be the one to shut you up with a kick.”

  —“Still with the threats?”— Joás replied in a soft, mocking voice—. “Relax, Luna. I don’t intend to cause trouble.”

  They kept moving forward, the detector’s signal growing stronger. But as they got closer, the cold seemed to intensify, and the storm grew stronger, as if something in the environment was feeding off the group’s presence.

  Suddenly, a piercing sound broke the silence: a scream. Sharp, distant, but unmistakable.

  —“That was a child!”— one of the explorers exclaimed.

  —“Formation!”— Luna ordered swiftly, drawing her sword.

  The group formed into a circle, weapons ready. The detector’s signal now shone brightly. Joás took a step forward, but Elian pushed him back, aiming his weapon directly at his head.

  —“Don’t even think about moving,”— Elian growled.

  —“How scary, an armed gorilla is threatening me,”— Joás whispered in a playful voice, the temperature around him beginning to rise noticeably as the tension thickened.

  Before the situation could get out of control, in the distance they saw a child running terrified, jumping and dodging frozen vehicles and rubble in the area.

  Behind him loomed a gigantic figure chasing him with steps so powerful the ground trembled with each impact. The silhouette of that terrifying being grew clearer: a humanoid monster with the lower half of a scorpion and the torso of a person. Instead of hands, it had long antennae, and from its head sprouted massive twisted horns. But its most disturbing feature was its colossal tail, which split into three sharp stingers, ready to strike.

  —“A Frostspawn!”— shouted one of the explorers.

  Luna reacted first.

  —“Defend the position! Hold your ground! I want the shooters to stay here and cover us, while the strikers and I move in to distract the Frostspawn and rescue the boy.

  Once the child is safe, shooters, aim straight for its head. We’ll attack its giant legs. Be careful with those huge pincers and those damn stingers! I don’t want anyone dead!!!”—

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  As everyone prepared to follow their leader’s orders to the letter, a look of satisfaction appeared on Joás’s face as he realized he had finally found the little boy he’d been searching for. Determined not to waste another minute, flames burst from his wrists, melting the handcuffs that held him, which fell to the ground completely liquefied.

  With a swift movement, he dashed toward the boy as the group —and Luna— watched in disbelief. Joás leapt high, propelled by the flames from his hands, lifting himself into the air.

  From that height, Joás shouted to the little boy, a huge smile on his face:

  —“Eliot! I’m here to take you home and save you!”—

  The child, hearing the voice from above, stood stunned. Suddenly, he saw Joás descend upon the Frostspawn, crashing into it like a meteorite, stunning it with the impact. While airborne, Joás used his left hand to stay aloft and unleashed a stream of fire with the other, striking the creature directly. The monster ignited, but quickly extinguished the flames by shooting a burst of frost over itself from one of its three stingers, leaving Joás astonished.

  —“That’s strange… I’m sure that should’ve burned it alive…”— Joás muttered in surprise as he watched one of the monster’s massive pincers slicing diagonally through the air toward him. At that moment, Luna, with incredible speed, grabbed him by the jacket and yanked him to the ground, saving him from the attack.

  With a cold, composed expression, Luna shouted to the group:

  —“Stick to the plan!”—

  Then, turning to Joás with a look of irritation, she said, pointing at the creature:

  —“I don’t know how you've survived this long, but that thing won’t fall as easily as the last one. If you’re not going to help and only get in the way, stay here and let us save the kid —and your pathetic life while we’re at it.”—

  Resolute, Luna drew her sword, giving the hilt a subtle twist that ignited the blade in flames. She launched herself at the creature, which was already under fire from the shooters in the rear. Taking advantage of the Frostspawn’s confusion, Luna lunged at one of its legs and, with a single fiery slash, cut it cleanly off.

  The creature, overwhelmed by the pain from its charred and severed limb, reacted instantly, launching its stingers at Luna. She dodged two with astonishing reflexes and enviable agility, performing precise, acrobatic maneuvers. But the third stinger, coming from her blind spot, caught her off guard, leaving her no time to react.

  Fortunately, Elian and the rest of the strikers arrived just in time, attacking the stinger and knocking it away with a powerful strike.

  Elian shouted in frustration and rage toward Joás, who was still stunned by Luna’s battle with the monster:

  —“You damned lunatic! What the hell were you thinking, throwing yourself alone at a Frostspawn like that?! Seriously, I want to beat you senseless just for being such an idiot…”—

  Luna, impressively calm, responded as she assessed the situation and watched the monster regenerate its severed leg:

  —“Either way, we’re wasting energy if we can’t destroy or cut off its head.”—

  With a sigh of exasperation, Luna looked at Joás and then gave an order without hesitation:

  —“Change of plans. Hey you! Suicidal idiot on the ground —get up. I’ve got a plan for you now. I want you to handle those annoying stingers and buy us time. Elian and the others will focus on its legs. I’ll take care of cutting that bastard’s head off.”—

  Snapping back to reality, Joás replied with a playful smile and sarcastic tone:

  —“I can’t believe I made myself look so useless and pathetic. Fine, Luna, use me however you see fit. This time I’ll be helpful and cooperate.”—

  Luna nodded coldly, unaffected by his sarcasm.

  —“Do what you do best. Just don’t get in the way.”—

  The tension in the air was palpable. The Frostspawn was still standing, despite the blows. It roared, unleashing blasts of frost and ice across the field, while the group encircled it with precise coordination.

  Luna darted toward the creature, dodging its attacks with swift, deadly movements. Each slash from her flaming sword cut deep into the monster’s flesh, leaving behind trails of soot and frozen blood. The Frostspawn’s screams echoed like terrifying howls, but they didn’t slow the group’s relentless assault.

  Joás, seizing the opportunity, soared into the air and unleashed torrents of fire from his wrists, incinerating the monster’s stingers one by one. The scorched appendages fell to the ground, blackened and shattered, as the beast writhed in agonized frustration, still clinging to life.

  Elian and the strikers struck the creature’s legs with calculated ferocity. Each blow landed like a thunderclap, prompting guttural roars of pain as its massive claws slashed at the air in desperate retaliation. But the monster was weakening, and Luna and her team showed no mercy.

  Finally, Luna saw her chance. With the creature no longer able to defend itself, she lunged for the final strike. In a fluid, brutal motion, she cleaved one of its rear legs with her flaming blade, slicing through flesh with a wet crack. The limb fell, gushing frozen blood like a frigid river.

  The Frostspawn dropped to its knees, its massive body trembling, a ragged breath escaping its maw filled with black ichor and fractured ice. Yet it still wasn’t dead. The creature glared at Luna with savage fury, as if its monstrous will refused to die.

  With a chilling, lifeless gaze, Luna approached the weakened Frostspawn. Her face showed no emotion. Her eyes were hollow, as though the beast before her was nothing more than a nuisance to be erased.

  —“Time to end this abomination,”— she said in a quiet, almost monotone voice, her flaming sword glowing in her hand.

  The blade came down with surgical precision, slicing through the creature’s neck with the sound of tearing flesh and splintering bone. Its head dropped to the ground, and a geyser of frozen blood erupted from the wound, flooding the field with a thick, dark mixture of ice and gore. The body collapsed, its great claws twitching in a final, desperate spasm —but its life had already slipped away.

  The earth trembled beneath the beast’s weight, and the air filled with the stench of frozen blood sizzling against the ice. The creature, though dead, convulsed briefly —its limbs spasming, as if struggling against the inevitable. Each twitch was a reminder of its pain, of the torment it could no longer escape. Slowly, the spasms ceased. Its severed head lay still, eyes frozen in a final expression of terror.

  The silence that followed was even more unnerving. There, on the ground, lay the Frostspawn’s monstrous corpse —its massive figure distorted in death, cloaked in a layer of frozen blood pooling in dark puddles beneath it. The land had consumed it, but not without bearing the mark of its suffering. The quiet that surrounded it was heavy, thick —as if even the wind feared to disturb the scene.

  Joás stared, unable to look away from the mangled corpse and the figure of Luna. “She’s beautiful…” he thought to himself.

  The once-terrifying mass of flesh was now just ruined meat. The sight of such grotesque death and the lone girl standing above it, sword still burning, filled him with a strange mix of awe and horror. There was no glory in that victory —only the bitter taste of survival.

  Luna, unmoved, looked down at the corpse and whispered with terrifying calm:

  —“We don’t celebrate death. But this one was necessary.”—

  With a subtle gesture, she signaled the others toward the boy, who still stood frozen in fear. Joás, with a sarcastic smile, lifted little Eliot from the ground and embraced him tightly, his eyes scanning the battlefield and the chaos that surrounded them.

  —“Hey, Eliot. Were you scared? Don’t worry. The worst is over. You’re safe now, little one,”— he said softly, though his voice carried an echo of sadness.

  Surprised, the boy hugged Joás back even tighter, tears of relief and joy pouring down his face, grateful to be saved —and to live another day.

  As the group gathered, the echoes of battle faded, but the heavy weight of the fight and its toll lingered. The Frostspawn’s body lay still and harmless, where frost and frozen blood shimmered under the pale daylight. A cold wind swept the field, as if nature itself mourned —or condemned— what had just occurred.

  Luna, without pausing for even a second, spoke in a low but firm tone:

  —“This isn’t over. But for now, we’ve earned a moment of peace. Stay alert.”—

  The group moved on, leaving behind the monster’s corpse —a symbol of their victory, but not the end of what was still to come. The battle had been brutal, but the path ahead was far from finished.