233 Battling Solo, No Surprises

"It's my turn to attack," she muttered to herself. 

Vy lunged forward. Despite her obscured vision, she was able to claw onto one of the moles. She extended her sharp claws and clawed deep into the mole's lower body. The poor creature squealed in agony as blood oozed out from its wounds. The fresh red liquid dyed the fur in shades of red. 

The other two moles were relentless. Seeing Vy distracted with their comrade, clobbered forward at her. The other burrowed into the ground. Vy swerved her body, using her tails to push back the incoming mole. 

As it flew away into the distance, hitting hard against a rock formation, Vy clawed down on the mole that was trapped in her claws. But the mole did not give up. It successfully struggled free and burrowed into the ground. 

"Oh no you don't!" Vy exclaimed as she clawed at the mole. 

She missed it by an inch as it burrowed through the snow and into the dirt. But Vy was not about to let it go so easily. She began to claw at the hole. Swiftly, she pushed her snout through the hole and clamped down on the rear of the mole. 

-Gotcha- she said to herself with a grin. 

Without missing a beat, she dragged the mole out of its escape route. The mole flew through the air. It landed with a thud on the snow, dazed by the sheer force. Just as Vy was about to let her guard down, her Familiar reminded her. 

-Vy, there's still one more.- 

She looked around. Everywhere was covered in snow! Vy tried to listen, but her prey might have gone too far beneath the ground for her to catch. With some quick thinking, Vy came up with a plan. She looked around and found the hole the mole had burrowed. 

Vy saw a growing pile of snow and dirt. She moved over to it and used her tails to sweep it away to the side, revealing the hole it had dug. Placing her snout into the entrance of the hole, she took in a deep breath and breathed out a stream of blue fire. 

She might not have eyes in the tunnel that the mole had dug, but she made sure to cover the entire track that the mole had made. Vy hoped that even with the intense heat of the flames, it would force the mole to resurface. 

As she continued to breathe fire into the tunnel, Vy did not watch her back. The other two moles, which were thrown back by her, beelined for her and leapt onto her back. As soon as they caught hold of her fur, they used their sharpened claws to slash down on her back. 

Vy cried out in agony as the pain of the fresh wounds intensified. The repeated clawing of the mole tore through her fur and into her flesh. The moles had assumed their combined weight would keep her down. 

He turned to Aether. 

"Please! You are her Familiar! Can't you help her?" he said with tears in his eyes. 

Aether was not a heartless creature. He too could feel the pain Vy was feeling from the injuries. What Lycster did not know was that Vy had given him specific instructions for a situation like this. 

No matter the situation, keeping Lycster safe took priority.

But that was just part of it. Aether had full confidence in Vy. He knew she could overcome it, no matter what it took. 

-Have faith in your sister, she will be alright.- Aether replied. 

Lycster could not quite understand how Aether could watch Vy being beaten just like that. 

"She clearly needs your help!" he pleaded again. 

Aether turned to look at the boy. 

-You, of all people, should know the strength that she has. Don't you believe in her?- 

Lycster was at a loss for words. He knew his sister was strong. But it was his fear of losing her that made him so anxious. The last time their lives were in danger, he lost an arm and his sister lost her eye. Together, they recovered from their physical injuries. But the emotional pain lingered on. 

If they could weather that ordeal together, Lycster was going to be strong for her now. 

"I do believe in her," Lycster replied. 

He looked out into the distance, where his sister courageously fought against the mole creatures. 

He shouted with vigour, "You can do it, sis! Get them good!"

Hearing her brother's support for her empowered Vy with a new force of strength. While she was still unable to rid the moles off her just by shaking them off, she had a better idea. Vy covered her entire body with blue flames. 

As soon as the flames burned the moles, they tried to climb off her. The flames continued to burn them as they got back onto the ground. Vy surrounded herself with her flames as she panted. 

The moles tried to burrow but the relentless blue flames continued to burn their paw with each step they took. When they tried to escape, Vy summoned a ring of blue flames to trap them. 

"You're not going anywhere." she declared. 

She made the circle smaller, forcing the moles to move closer towards her. Realising that they had to take their last stand, the moles lashed out at her. Vy was ready for them. The first mole launched itself at her, claws ready. 

Vy swerved her body and covered the tips of her tails in flames. Without the slighted hesitation, she used the full force of her tails to impale the creature. The second mole was not deterred. It made a mad dash towards her from the side. 

Removing her blood-soaked tails from the carcass of the mole, Vy leapt forward to meet the mole in combat. Instead of using her claws, she unhinged her jaw. She clamped down on the nape of the mole with great force. 

She could feel her sharpened teeth tearing through its skin and flesh. Followed by the crack and splinter of its bones. The mole struggled in her jaws. To end it's life, Vy bit down even harder, severing its head from the body completely.