"Are you sure we shouldn't ask them for help?" A Grenir emerged from a hidden corner in the Council Chamber after Rivi, Rufi, and I had left. "The envoys of Undeath are never weak, and that Shadow Chimera seems to be hiding a great deal of strength too."

"Silence Fereth," The Grand Elder frowned at the newcomer. "Our pride has not grown so frail as to accept the aid of outsiders in the affairs of the tribe. How will we face our ancestors if we cannot stand on our own two feet, and strive with our own two hands?"

"I think you underestimate that shadow." Fereth sighed. "To practice necromancy in the Goddess' domain without her approval is already quite a feat. And besides, as an envoy of the forces of the Goddess, don't you think it's their affairs as well? Even if they didn't handle it themselves, just reporting the matter to their superiors would probably be sufficient for someone to come handle it for us. They probably wouldn't even ask for recompense."

"You think too highly of this Goddess usurper. The Ghost Throne will always belong to Our Lady. She is the one who watches over our ancestors in death, not this foreign goddess."

Fereth shook his head. "It's not about thinking highly of her or not, Grand Elder, the fact remains her forces are capable, far more capable than anything we can muster."

"Enough." The Grand Elder pounded the ground with his fist. "We will handle this problem ourselves or fail and prove ourselves worthy of the Hall of Ancestors with our courage. There is nothing more to be discussed."

Fereth scowled. "As you wish, Grand Elder." And walked through one of the snow walls, the ice melding around him.

***

I woke the next morning to find Rufi looming over me licking my face. "Stopp, Rufiii." I groaned, trying to cover my face from the encroaching tongue swipes.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Rivi loomed over me, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Ready to do some ice bathing?"

"Wh—what!" I shot up, rubbing my eyes not sure if I heard correctly. "Y-you're not gonna…" I imagined Rivi dumping a bucket of ice water on my head to make me wake up properly.

Rivi tilted her head. "I'm not sure what you're thinking of, but ice bathing is one of the Grenir traditions we're taking part in today. Why? Shy?" She chuckled as a light red blushed my cheeks.

"No," I muttered, I didn't like the idea of being naked in front of Rivi, but I'd already bathed with her once so how bad could it be? I shook my head to clear away the stray thoughts. "W-wait, but ice bathing? Isn't that like…way too cold? This is a Grenir thing, right, but we're like…" I gestured at my obviously not furry body. "Not built for things like that."

"Hehe," Rivi giggled. "Is that what you're worried about? Don't worry I've done this before. The temperatures are very…survivable." She gave me a little eyebrow wiggle.

"That doesn't sound reassuring." I said breathlessly.

"Arrooo." Rufi whined. Putting her paws up on my leg.

"Not you too!" I looked at her betrayed. "Rufi, how could you want to take an ice bath, aren't…" I was about to say either kitties or dogs, but I realized she didn't fit into either category. "Critters like you not supposed to like baths? And besides it's going to be really cold, right?"

"Rooo," She nuzzled my leg sadly, looking up at me with big puppy eyes.

"Since when have you become so willful?" I sighed exasperatedly, picking her up in my arms. "Fine, I guess we can do ice bathing. But there's going to be something to warm us up afterwards, right? It may be surprisingly warm out for where we are, but I don't want to be cold all day."

"'Surprisingly warm out,'" Rivi chuckled. "It's the middle of summer and you're still using spells to keep yourself from getting too cold."

"Shut up!" I felt the tips of my ears grow hot. "Not everyone has the constitution of a dragon, alright? I'm not sure about much about Crimson Wraiths, but they can't have been very good at dealing with cold, considering how I've been struggling since we left the dungeon."

Rivi grinned. "Then this will be good practice for you. Come on," She hit me lightly on the chest. "We shouldn't keep them waiting."

"Alright, alright." I grumbled as I got up. "Just don't blame me if you get cold too." I said tamely.

"Hehe, impossible. I could withstand a thousand ice baths without breaking a sweat!"

I chuckled a little. "You're not supposed to sweat, idiot, it's an ice bath."

"Who are you calling an idiot?" She lashed out at me with what felt like a pillow made of air magic.

"You. Idiot." I laughed, trying to replicate her trick, but I only managed to make somewhat blunted wind blades come out.

"Hehe, your air pillow really needs some work," She shook her head as the blades dissipated around her. "A good air pillow works regardless of level!" She beamed proudly then whacked me again to demonstrate her point.

"Stop, stop, I yield!" I laughed as she continued whaling on me. "I'm not good enough at magic yet for this kind of thing."

"Hooo?" She stopped. "Then maybe I'll have to teach you then, I wouldn't want my future pillow fights to go unreciprocated."

I laughed, "I don't know if that's quite as important as getting me brushed up on combat magic, but I'll have to take your word for it."

"Oh hush," she shook her head. "With me at your side, who needs combat magic? Stuff like this is far more important."

"If you say so." I shook my head. "Now shouldn't we get going? Who was it who said something about not wanting to be late?"

She rolled her eyes, and made her way out of the hut, as I pulled out some fresh clothes to change into. "I really should have taken up Rivi's offer for some swimwear. That'd make this whole ice bathing thing a lot less embarrassing." I shook my head, lamenting my past failures as I got changed.

"Alright," I stepped out of the hut where Rivi and the Grenir from the day before were waiting. "I'm ready."

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