[System Notification: Warning! Distorted Realm stability at 35%!]
"We need to go down," Llewellyn said. "How deep is this lagoon?"
I had no idea. Could we even survive the cold? I couldn't believe I had the chance to buy those earrings to breathe underwater and didn't!
I activated Exploratory Analysis again, focusing on the ice beneath us.
[System Notification: Ice thickness: 2.3 meters. Water depth below: 284 meters.]
Llewellyn also did something and the Knot lit up underwater, massive beneath the ice.
Goddamnit.
"We can't go down like this," I said. "If we do go down, it needs to be quick, only to sever the Knot, or we'll freeze if we don't drown first. Let me just—"
I jumped out of the way as some big fragments of ice rained down.
"Sorry!" Gléonwon shouted.
Penguin vibrated anxiously around my wrist.
"It's fine," I told him. "Don't worry. We can handle it."
I activated Elemental Insight.
The itch in my chest scraped hard and my vision blurred then sharpened until the Threads were visible.
I exhaled.
I'd been worried the Threads would only be underwater, but they actually extended upward, covering the whole area.
"I can see the Threads, they extend up here! I'll start flagging!"
"Got it!" Llewellyn shot back.
The System chimed.
[System Notification: Elemental Insight is active! Flag for prioritization?]
I got to work immediately.
The first Thread tore open. Ice creatures spilled out and came at us across the frozen surface, shaped vaguely like wolves.
Llewellyn's sword blazed with Fire and cut through three at once, then he jumped in front of me to intercept the other two before I could even raise my sword.
I took a deep breath and scanned for the next one. Air was better than Ice as far as I was concerned, since I could only use Water.
I flagged an Air Thread.
Wind creatures shaped like pterodactyls burst out toward the sky then plunged down, coming straight at us.
I threw up my shield, and the creatures slammed into the barrier hard, giving me time to counterattack with Water. Not the most effective, but at least it was doing something.
Through the bond, I could feel Llewellyn's absolute control, and I could sense what he was going to do next.
Amazing. We needed to test this properly when we weren't in a life-or-death situation.
His sword flashed, cutting through two air creatures at once. They dissipated with a screech.
Some Ice wolves were still circling around us too.
In the dark, the only sources of light were Gléonwon's Fire above us and the Knot beneath us.
An Ice wolf lunged at Llewellyn from the left while an air creature dove from above. He switched Elements mid-strike, Fire for the Ice wolf and Earth for the air creature. Both went down.
I rolled out of the way, while more Ice chunks fell down from above us, and chose a Wood Thread this time.
One Wood creature came at me. I swung my sword and Water burst from the blade. The creature grabbed at my leg. I kicked it away and slashed downward. The sword cut through and the thing fell apart.
I panted.
How could I be more effective here? Llewellyn was fighting off at least five creatures at once, while I could barely handle one!
[System Notification: Warning! Distorted Realm stability at 24%!]
And there was that countdown too.
Above us, Gléonwon's Fire lit up the sky again, more meltwater falling down.
Think. What could I do?
I expanded to the Magic Field—and suddenly… Wait.
Gléonwon's Fire. From the Field I could use it!
I pulled it from the Magic Field and hurled it at an Ice wolf. It vanished in a burst of steam.
Llewellyn looked at me, startled.
"What was that?!"
How was I even supposed to explain it?!
"I'll explain later! Just go with it!"
Honestly, I felt elated. This was incredible. I just had to be careful not to melt the ice we were standing on, at least until we were able to tackle the Knot!
I needed to try it again immediately. I flagged another Ice Thread and more Ice wolves poured out.
I expanded to the Magic Field again, found Gléonwon's Fire blazing overhead, and pulled it down. The Ice wolves exploded into steam.
Yes!
An Ice wolf lunged at me. I grabbed more Fire and hit it until it evaporated, then flagged two more Threads. Air and Wood creatures came at us.
We kept fighting. The Knot was thinning, but… not fast enough.
[System Notification: Warning! Distorted Realm stability at 21%!]
Fuck, fuck.
An Ice bear charged at Llewellyn. He destroyed it with Fire, then looked at me.
"I need to get down there!" he said. "Don't flag any more—I need to melt the ice covering the lagoon!"
"If you melt it, we'll fall in!"
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Wait, wait," I said. "Let me…" I took out the Sea-Blessed Boots from my equipment, but… I couldn't just change here!!!
"System, can you equip these for me?"
The boots appeared on my feet.
Whoa. So it really worked.
Amazing.
"Okay," I said. "What's your plan?"
"Wait, I bought those too," Llewellyn said, and equipped them too.
Once he was done, he thrust his sword deep into the ice and summoned Fire. The ice started to melt as his blade sank deeper and deeper.
Damn. It was working fast.
The ice kept melting. A huge section cracked and broke away, revealing dark water beneath and the gold pulsation coming from the Knot.
I stepped back as the water spread toward my feet, then stepped forward onto it.
The boots held.
Best purchase ever.
Llewellyn pulled his sword out and the hole widened rapidly.
[System Notification: Warning! Distorted Realm stability at 17%!]
Llewellyn summoned Wind and lifted off the ice, landing on a bank of ice that had just separated.
"I'm going to dive in!" he shouted.
Was he insane?!
"Don't even think about it!" I shouted back. "It's too deep and it's freezing! You'll die from hypothermia, even if you manage not to drown!"
"I'm not suicidal—I can do it!"
"Don't you dare! I swear I'll dive straight after you! Don't even try it or I'll knock you out myself!"
"Do you have any better ideas?!"
I ran across the water surface.
An Ice block crashed nearby. Gléonwon melted it mid-fall but the spray still hit us.
The Knot was huge, easily visible now through the water. The itch in my chest was intense, pulling me toward it.
"What are you doing?!" Llewellyn yelled—then just seemed to think better of it and ran after me.
"Stay there!" I yelled. "I want to try something!"
"Absolutely not!" Llewellyn said. "All your plans end up with you bleeding to death!"
"I promise this one won't!"
The idea had just come to me but now it was burning through me. It might not work at all but… I needed to try.
I focused on the diamond-like feeling deep in my chest, right within the itch. My Authority. Could I wield this?
I reached out for the Water around us with my mind and mentally ordered:
"Bring it up."