Bits of snow and ice flew into the air as Shesh galloped forward at full speed, Anyu's knife outstretched in front of her as they charged directly at Siku. The indweller woman bared her teeth at them as she ran forward, her own sword poised to strike. There was rage and violence in her eyes, a revenge so pure that her bright blue eyes seemed to glow with the intensity of it.

But Anyu was done letting indwellers get the better of her. She had learned a few things herself these past weeks, and she intended to show Siku just what she was dealing with.

In a practiced movement, Anyu raised her foot to lean against Shesh's back. In the split second before they clashed with Siku, she launched herself off of him with all her strength, soaring into the air.

Shesh immediately veered left towards the boys and Sakari while Anyu flew over Siku's head, rolling to land on her feet behind her. Turning her fall into a seamless motion, she instantly turned around and raised her snow-knife to strike. With any luck, Siku would be taken by surprise and this battle could be won before it ever truly started.

But it couldn't be that easy, of course. Moving so fast that Anyu's eyes could hardly follow her, Siku turned around and met the arc of Anyu's knife with her sword. The sound of it seemed to echo out into the far reaches of the tundra, the unearthly chime of bone and ice colliding.

Grunting in effort, Siku pressed forward with inhuman strength, forcing Anyu back several steps. Anyu breathed heavily, tightening her grip around her knife even as her stomach dropped from under her. She didn't have the strength with only one hand to defeat Siku in single combat. She was doomed to fail.

Nonetheless, she grit her teeth together and charged back into the fight

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battle, Shesh had lowered his head and charged straight into Sakari, hitting the startled young woman square in the stomach and sending her flying back into the snow.

Shesh snorted at her direction in contempt, as if to say: You're going to get what's coming for you.

"Shesh!" Kano cried incredulously.

Shesh turned and galloped towards him, immediately giving his cheek a lick in a gesture of happiness.

Kano wiped the slobber off his face, too happy to even feel disgusted. "Good to see you too, buddy," He said, leaning against the reindeer's flank for support. He hissed in pain, clutching the open wound on his torso to try and staunch the blood. He didn't think that he was making any progress.

Tavra, weak and beaten, also gratefully leaned against Shesh's side, his eyes darting fearfully to where Sakari had been thrown back.

Both of their hands were still chained together with her icy shackles. Kano's mind raced, trying to find some way to break free of the chains. There was no way they could ever hope to defeat Sakari like this.

Sakari's form started to get up and Kano looked toward Tavra in panic.

"Get on Shesh's back," he said hurriedly. "Go to the summer indwellers- they'll protect you."

"What?" Tavra replied, his yellowish-orange eyes wideneing. "No way. I'm not leaving you- you can't defeat her by yourself."

Shesh huffed and blew steam out of his nostrils, a noise of agreement.

Kano's brow furrowed in frustaion. "But-"

"Aren't you forgetting about something?"

Shesh and Tavra darted away and Kano dove into the snow as a blast of ice whistled past them. Sakari was fully recovered from her surprise and back on her feet, looking disheveled and just as angry as ever.

Tavra had swung himself onto Shesh's back, urging the reindeer to take several steps away from the enraged indweller before them. Sakari caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and narrowed her eyes at them. She raised a hand to shoot another icicle.

Tavra's eyes widened and he snapped Shesh's reigns as a spike of ice as large as a small tree shot towards them. Shesh ran peripheral to Sakari. Each of her attacks seemed to land at the spot where the two of them had been only a split second ago, and they only kept getting closer.

"Sakari!" Kano shouted above the crash of ice and the pounding of Shesh's footsteps. "Shouldn't you be attacking the one who humiliated you?"

Sakari's gaze whipped towards him, her eyes burning in fury. She raised a hand high in the air and brought it down in one swift motion. An icicle materialized out of this air and launched straight for him.

Kano grabbed a handful of his chains and ducked down into the snow, dodging the projectile at the last moment. It had come so close that he could feel the wind of its momentum rustle his hair.

Sakari let out a laugh, seeing him lying on the ground. "Have you finally had enough, Kano?" She taunted.

Her smile vanished when Kano stood back up again, dangling his broken chains for her to see.

He grinned, wrapping the end of the chain around his right hand and whipping it around to his left. "Not quite."

Anyu and Siku continued to fight viciously through the snow. Siku was masterful with her sword, and Anyu unaccustomed to using a knife one handed. The odds were against her.

Yet Siku wasn't having an easy time of it either. Her brow furrowed in consternation, and she put all of her force behind every blow. She was using all of her effort in this fight. It made Anyu wonder how the summer indwellers were faring on the mountaintop...

Anyu ducked a jab of Siku's sword and backed away, keeping a safe distance between them for a moment.

Siku twirled her sword around expertly, but then directed the point into the snow.

"Think carefully about who you're fighting for, Anyu," She said, a warning in her tone.

Anyu didn't deign to respond, only charged back at her with her knife. Siku dodged each of her strikes with ease and moved back once again.

"Your grandmother is still manipulating you Anyu," Siku continued, her voice growing harsher. "Just as she did to me. Break free of her!"

Anyu grunted and slashed down. Siku blocked the strike, their blades meeting between them. Anyu's eyes widened as Siku used her free hand to reach over and punch her sharply across the jaw. Anyu flew back, somehow managing to keep a grip on her knife as she tumbled through the snow. Perhaps it was her instinct for survival, which seemed to always be with her no matter what else changed. If she lost her weapon now, she was done for.

Anyu stood back up, panting hard.

"My grandmother isn't manipulating me," She said. "She loves me- that's what true family does."

Siku frowned, staring back at Anyu. Her expression filled with melancholy all of a sudden, and there was genuine pity behind her eyes. It took Anyu aback.

"Oh, Anyu," Siku said. "I loved her too. Yet she betrayed me." Siku took a slow step forward. Anyu kept her guard up, but didn't move away. The woman's now tattered and ripped fur skirts trailed in the snow behind her.

"Do you think it was an accident that you found your way to Adlivun?" she pressed. "Don't you think your ama gave you that tamga for a reason?" Siku looked positively affronted. "She sent you here to kill me, her own sister, knowing full well that you would most likely die before succeeding." Now a sly grin replaced the sorrowful expression on her face. "Now tell me Anyu, and think carefully before answering: do you remember how you got here?"

Anyu froze in place, her mind racing. No, she didn't remember how she'd arrived here in Adlivun, in this world of legends and myths. She only remembered being lost in a horrible and sudden blizzard...

Doubt crept into her heart as she stared across the snow into Siku's cold blue eyes. What if Siku was telling the truth? Why would her grandmother send her here without telling her anything, without explaining it all to her first? It didn't add up.

Anyu closed her eyes and took a long, calming breath. No. That's exactly what Siku wanted- for her to grow mistrustful of those she trusted most in the world, for them to fight and tear each other apart. It was how she'd imprisoned the summer indwellers so many years ago- she wouldn't let her succeed again.

Her grandmother would have a lot to answer to once Anyu returned home. But before then, Siku had to go down.

Anyu's gaze cut sharply to the side, where Sakari, Kano, and the others were still engaged in a desperate battle. Sakari was strong, but it was three against one and her inua was clearly beginning to run out. Siku was letting the younger girl be hurt and beaten for her own aspirations.

Anyu turned back to Siku, her voice cool. "It seems to me you're the only one here manipulating her granddaughter."

Siku growled low in her throat, her expression darkening at seeing her tactic fail. Her mood for talking seemed to have passed. She lashed out with her blade, slicing across the space where Anyu's neck had been a moment before. Anyu ducked and rolled away, brushing the back of her hand against the icy ground before she stood back to her feet and faced Siku again.

Siku's ice blue eyes were pure rage as she moved forward to follow Anyu. When her foot came down on the spot Anyu had touched, it sunk down a foot through the circle of melted permafrost. She snarled and tried to step forward, but her leg was stuck, if only for a few moments.

Anyu's heart fluttered like the wings of a bird. She would never get a better opportunity than this. She took advantage of Siku's disadvantage to attack, plunging her knife straight towards the woman's heart.

Siku looked up as Anyu charged. With a grunt, she kicked her leg forward, shattering the ice surrounding her foot and stepped back onto the surface. She quickly parried Anyu's attack with her sword and moved forward, pressing Anyu back once again.

No, Anyu despaired. That was my chance, and I missed it. Siku would not fall for the same trick twice, and she now had the upper hand.

Siku only seemed to grow angrier, her teeth bared and her pale hands clenched into fists. There were tears in her fur dress and frost still clung to the leg that had just fell through the permafrost.

Anyu took a step back, breathing hard. At this rate, Siku would tire her out eventually and kill her. She needed a better idea- any idea.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Kano and the others in the midst of their fight with Sakari. Tavra, now in his wolf form, and Shesh ran back and forth around her, distracting and frustrating her to no end, while Kano lashed out at her with his broken chains from a distance. He was weak and tired, but he was managing to stand his ground. Neither of them would be able to keep this up for much longer either.

Siku began to push Anyu back. Anyu's deflections were becoming weaker, and they both knew it. The numbness in her left wrist was fading, the blinding pain slowly seeping back into her skin with each blow.

Kano was struggling as well. He kept dodging Sakari's ice spikes, but he couldn't get close enough to take her out. Shesh and Tavra tried to get inside of her range but were pushed back by her attacks each time. It was hopeless. They were going to lose. Kano met Anyu's eyes across the ice for a brief moment. They had come to the same conclusion.

An icy projectile hit Kano in the shoulder and he was sent flying backwards onto is back. He gasped, trying to sit up as Sakari smiled and raised a spike in the air.

Tavra growled in panic and charged directly at Sakari- He wouldn't make it in time. Kano raised his arms, preparing to whip the chains forward to protect himself.

He met Anyu's gaze again. Siku had her stumbling back, barely able to keep up. She charged towards her, sword forward, and Anyu nodded imperceptibly.

Two things happened simultaneously. Anyu thrust her knife through the air and Kano lashed out with his chains.

Sakari only had time to frown and turn slightly before Anyu's knife caught her, piercing her through the side. She fell forward with a gasp, unable to get up.

The edge of Siku's sword just barely grazed the side of Anyu's throat, the coldness of it sending goosebumps down her skin, before chains wrapped around her torso and harshly dragged her backwards.

She made a noise of surprise and frustration, her eyes moving between Kano and Anyu with anger. After a moment she recovered from the unexpectedness of the attack. Anyu paled- she was now completely weaponless. 

Then her gaze landed on Sakari, where she was pinned to the ground by Anyu's knife, shivering. A strange silvery liquid began to flow from her wound, like blood made out of melted iron.

Siku grit her teeth, turning her cold eyes to glare at Anyu. Leaving Sakari, Kano joined Anyu in surrounding her, and Shesh and Tavra galloped over a moment later. They kept a hesitant distance, watching the angered goddess try to break free of her chains.

Siku stood up, preparing to fight once more. She took a firm step forward- and was forced back to her knees as an arrow sprouted from her shoulder. Kano and Anyu whipped around to look behind them.

Igni, a wooden bow raised in his hands, and a group of summer indwellers ran towards them across the ice, each looking colder and more furious than the last. They fanned out around the fallen tyrant, weapons and glares directed at the woman in icy chains. Their eyes seemed to radiate heat- not warmth, but a blazing, raging fire of revenge.

Siku looked around herself once, seeming to assess the situation. Her gaze rested last upon Igni's uncompromising expression at the head of the group. Then her shoulders fell, her head slumping forward. She only raised her face to defiantly meet Igni's.

"Help her," Siku said, nodding toward the spot where Sakari lay. Even beaten and defeated, her every word sounded like a command. "Please."

Igni didn't move, and the other indwellers seemed more than happy to gloat over their victory. But after a moment, he nodded.

A few of the indwellers unhappily went to tend to Sakari as the rest remained surrounding Siku's fallen form.

Kano cried out suddenly, cringing in pain, and Anyu bent to put an arm around his shoulder, holding him up. Tavra instantly morphed back into the shape of a boy and supported Kano's other arm. Shesh's huge form stood faithfully beside them, his stance one of fierce protection. Anyu tightened her grip on Kano as her heartbeat slowly returned to normal, the fear of the past few hours slowly abating. It was over- they had won.

Igni stood looking down upon Siku. Everyone seemed to be waiting for his word. There was no triumph or gloating in his expression- only firm determination and a resilient will.

"Siku," he said at last, addressing her directly. "You have imprisoned your brothers and sisters, ruled Adlivun as a tyrant, and destroyed the balance of the earth." His words were strong and clear in the sudden silence- Anyu imagined that they carried out into the whole tundra. "And now, you will face justice."