Locci:

Okay, he opened a hole with his teeth. What now?

Wrapped around a cocoon of thick, thorny vines, the buff guard was in a predicament. His plant-based, surprisingly warm prison hindered his movements, cramped in like he was back in his mother's womb, ready to be delivered.

Ugh. I should've used another comparison. Childbirth is repulsive...

Nevertheless, his sharp fangs could only take him so far before his jaw ached, begging for the sweet release of an amputation.

Mmm. It sounds too gruesome. Am I losing my touch? Perhaps it's the grimdark stories I read between time skips. What? Do you think I can command time to narrate so seamlessly for you?! Get real.

Nonetheless, the cocoon suddenly halted before desperation gained ground in his mind. He impatiently moved his head to see if the bard was finally about to deliver the finishing blow, only to find a grinning, golden Wolf twirling his sikpha staff as if they were joshing around on winter.

"Locci, my boy!" He plunged the staff's base onto the snowy floor. "Guess you really regret not taking fire magic lessons, do you?"

The black-furred guard rolled his eyes.

The golden guard pointed the crystalline tip of his staff at his prison. From it, a concentrated beam of fire carved through the vines, just enough to not hit Locci's fur. The spell shifted upward, cleaving the cocoon in half.

The large guard awkwardly stretched his arms, legs, and other articulations as Euraidd leaned against his shoulder. "What a morning, eh? Don't tell the captain, but I'm kinda happy we're out of that clone army nonsense..."

Locci half-smiled in sympathy, but it was completely shattered as Hufen's distressed cry rang from behind. "I can't find Tarb!" Her chest heaved visibly through the armor, her eyes oozing out worry. "I've found an empty cocoon with a hole, but there's no way he could've escaped through it! It's too small!"

Her brother's nonchalant demeanor neutralized. "Tizohi almighty... Did someone get to him? The bard?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea." She strode towards them, her steps hurried and impatient. "If only the captain was here..."

A tinge of an idea blinked in Locci's mind, prompting him to raise his paw. "I think we should go to Tarb's cocoon. We might track him if he escaped by himself."

"How?" Hufen halted before the male Wolves. "The winds are still too strong to pick up any smells."

The black Wolf glanced at his large feet, hidden in the deep snow. "The snow is too deep for the weather to cover so soon. His pawprints must be still there."

"Better than nothing," Euraidd muttered. "Sis?"

The cream-colored Wolf nodded, taking a deep breath that went out as a grey mist. "Let's do it." She turned back around.

Before his foot escaped the cold crater, his legs slackened, reducing into lumbering masses of flesh and fur as if his mind and body were losing synchrony. His eyes widened as a sharp sound poked his ear, crawling from the overbearing noise of the raging currents.

"The bard!" Hufen howled, a faint aura enveloping her finger before she pointed it at her ear. From it, a beam of freezing water molecules, wrapped and propelled by air, clogged the orifice by encasing it on ice. "Please, don't fall unconscious just yet!" she implored as she repeated the process with her ear.

After hastily protecting her brother's ears, she did the same with Locci's. Slowly, his movements were recovered.

The female mage tapped her staff twice on the snow, a signal to follow her lead as she stared intently at something in the background.

A vaguely humanoid figure wavered amidst the suffocating blizzard, slowly approaching them. It took only a few seconds for Locci to recognize the flapping part of the silhouette as a cape, so large and impractical that they only knew one person who would wear it unironically on the battlefield.

"The Knight..." he muttered to himself.

Euraidd came to the same conclusion, his smile brightening as he frantically waved, shouting at him.

Then, the figure's Saniya appeared on their natural radar. It wasn't Asra's...

The careless twin got on his toes again, hopping towards his fellow guards. He muttered something that could not be heard by any of them, his words blocked by frigid earmuffs.

His sister didn't respond. Locci swallowed hard when "the Knight" appeared in their limited view. The construct's armor plates were made of rough, bumpy wood, and the spandex underneath them was represented by a mesh of tightly knitted grass. The same was true for its cape. Its wooden helmet possessed an empty cavity where the visor should go, empty and alarming, sending shivers down the muscular guard's spine. It felt like the creature could suck out their souls from the mere act of glancing at the void.

As if that... thing couldn't get any creepier, glowing runes flashed in the construct's chest plate, shoulders, and helmet as he sprung towards Euraidd, arm twisting for a punch. Knowing his role flawlessly after years on duty, Locci jumped between them, blocking its blow by crossing his thick forearms, negating the impact.

The black-furred canine swatted the faux Knight away with both arms, then sprinted at it as it lost its balance. Locci's eyes widened in shock as he felt its Saniya coalescing on its arm before it blocked a punch from him, only making a small dent in the wooden plate. Just who was this Daien?

The plant-based doppelganger counterattacked with a series of blows - not reminiscent of its real-life counterpart, most likely taking inspiration from its creator's fighting style. It dodged Locci's strikes, climbed on his arm, and struck his muzzle with a devastating kick!

Before it could press on the offensive, a soaring fireball forced it to maintain distance. The guard looked back at his companions, who nodded reassuringly, gripping their staffs firmly, the sikpha crystals on them sparkling with energy.

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Spikey protrusions emerged from the replica's knuckles, forming a set of improvised brass knuckles. Locci's heart ran with the possibility of death, his mind tormenting him with everything he still hadn't experienced with Lorith - the places they could visit, the birds and flowers they could photograph and collect, respectively...

...

Well, deadly or not, he signed up for this. Of course, he only did it because someone as big and bulky as he was expected to apply to law enforcement, but he grew to love this life gradually, especially with the company of those two. He was acquainted with Hufen in their puphood, and Euraidd was the easiest Wolf to coexist with, so it didn't take long for them to find their footing as a team. Even the more extroverted twin didn't needle him about his reclusiveness.

The twins respected him as he was, so he was more than willing to repay this camaraderie. He would be the wall that shields them against any danger!

The clone lunged at Locci, who responded by summoning a Saniya barrier. It struck the spell relentlessly, forming small holes in its foundation. Nonetheless, it mattered little since this was only a ruse for the replica to be occupied as he clawed himself a tunnel, using his affinity for earth magic alongside his unbeatable core strength. He kept himself in a shallow enough depth to sense his opponent's borrowed Saniya for the perfect ambush...

Knowing the mages were keeping the doppelganger at bay by using weaker, barely taxing spells, Locci prepared the second phase of their combined tactic. Entering in a fetal position, the guard poured a sizeable amount of Saniya into the dirt and rock around the earth's womb, making it tremble with power as he willed it to create a center point of mass where the material compacted and created an area of high pressure and heat.

This technique demanded much concentration and time to be usable in combat. Fortunately, Locci had the twins carrying out the stalling part. Months of teamwork drills brought them to this moment...

The heat and crushing pressure slowly pushed the targeted earth to dissolve and coalesce into a sphere of molten, scorching magma. His muscles throbbed painfully as his Saniya rippled to repel the viscous, searing substance from his skin. He needed the twins to get out of the way at once.

"You two can feel this spell coming..." The temptation of letting go and ridding himself of the strain was palpable. "Stop wasting time!"

Hufen:

"Raidd! Keep it in that position!"

The cream-colored Wolf watched as her brother engaged in direct combat with the pseudo-Knight. However, as shown by its performance against their close-quarters expert, Locci, the plant-based construct was way more formidable than Yuki-onna's ice clones or Asra's reports of Grýla's pego jam golems. Although they could destroy it with a strong enough spell, they are the only members of the Squad with access to healing magic, so their Saniya reserves must be preserved amidst this crisis.

...Unfortunately, her brother put less importance on that detail, clearly demonstrated by his conjuring of a too-powerful fireball, which connected to the golem's chest, burning less from its now-blackened chest plate than they expected. Hufen noticed the shape of the replica's runes - all the same sigil used for Saniya storage. Judging by the number of symbols carved in its armor, Hibagon prepared this construct with time and care.

The female mage ran circles around her opponent, who was busy guarding against a flurry of Euraidd's staff strikes. After the male mage connected a disorientating swing to the side of its helmet, she pounced at its back! Unfortunately, its cape unraveled into multiple strands of grass, similar to Hari-onagu's hair, wrapping around and incapacitating Hufen's limbs, torso, and muzzle. Her core strength wasn't enough to fight against the bindings, regardless of its weak material since it was powered by Saniya.

"SIS!" Euraidd howled, his voice saturated with distress. "I can't afford to waste much time with you, monster! I'll send you packing with one spell!" he growled at the construct before sidestepping to get a better view of his sister.

At that moment, the cream-colored canine noticed their icy earmuffs had thawed, but the bard did not use this against them. Good.

The golden Wolf's staff glimmered as he prepared another spell. Before Hufen could protest, a fireball was shot from the green sikpha crystals, soaring fast towards her. The replica attempted to intercept the projectile, but the flame quickly changed its trajectory, circling the doppelganger and then snapping the tendril holding the female guard's right arm, then the rest with terrific speed.

Hufen hastily jumped away from the opponent, quickly joined by her brother.

"Enough. We cannot take it head-on. We must spend more Saniya to contain it on the right spot." she explained, her heart beating fast as she felt Locci's Saniya still too far away from the replica's position. At least the blizzard started calming down, giving them a clearer sight of the battlefield.

Euraidd rapidly twirled his staff, the glowing encrusted sikpha forming a shiny disc as it moved in a blur. "I think this spell is enough to send him there, but I need you to ensure it STAYS there!"

She silently nodded.

The golden mage freed the rotating staff from his hands, willing it to stay before the lunging construct, its cape tendrils ready to strike. From the crystalline-tipped tool, a powerful gust emerged, pushing the doppelganger closer to Locci's position.

Hufen ran around the spell, paying close attention to the moment its feet stepped on the intended spot as a cold mist radiated from her crystals.

"EURAIDD, STOP!"

Her sibling quickly complied as Hufen conjured a frigid beam directed at the target's legs! The powerful combination of water and wind magic showed its efficacy as it turned the replica's body into a popsicle from the waist down.

"Can you feel its Saniya, Locci?" Her mind was anxiously battered with doubts, her paws squeezing her staff tighter. "Please! We can't afford to waste more power!"

Her hold on the weapon slackened as a tremor emerged from the ground. Her mind entered in a numbing relief before her brother's words woke her up.

"RUN!"

Well, word singular.

Hufen freed her paws by holding the staff in her teeth, allowing her to run on all fours. When she glanced back, a booming eruption of lava expelled from the earth's womb! An orange and red geyser of molten rock soared high in the sky, splashing and sizzling nearby trees as a deadly rain, turning the snowy terrain into scorched ground and mist. The mage decided to run away just a bit farther.

The magnificent display ended as quickly as it came, the liquefied rock cooling into a blackened mush. Euraidd quickly reached his sister after the threat was truly gone.

"So, there's that." The golden mage muttered. "You think we've seen the last of the bard?"

Hufen shook her head. "Manipulating that puppet must be draining, but we've seen him going through worse. We must go and track Tarb fast."

Euraidd squeezed her shoulder. "On it, Sis." His eyes wandered in every direction. "Where's the big guy?"

On cue, something enormous emerged from underground, right between the siblings. The male yelled in panic, jumping as high as possible before the dust settled, revealing a furry black paw.

Locci dug himself out of the dirt, falling to his knees while breathing was prolonged and heavy. Hufen immediately touched his forehead, sharing a piece of her Saniya for the journey ahead.

"Scared the crap outta me, big guy!" Euraidd playfully chastised as he helped his lumbering companion to stand up by pushing him with his arm wrapped around the mage's neck.

"Feeling better, Locci?" asked Hufen.

The looming guard nodded. "We should get going."

"Don't we know it?" Euraidd glanced at the ravaged battlefield one last time before sprinting in the opposite direction. "To Tarb!"

Hufen and Locci followed his lead, running on all fours. At the same time, their noses were ready to detect any familiar smell, for better or worse, thanks to the halted storm.

Only a minute had passed, and the male twin already exclaimed. "I can sense two Saniya signatures ahead! One is definitely Tarb's!"

"And the other?!" questioned Locci.

Before Hufen could hear her brother's response, her fur bristled with adrenaline as she felt something quickly approaching them from behind.

...Then that feeling turned into a crippling panic as several other Saniya signatures entered her radar in several directions.

That second Saniya would be the last of their problems.

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