Between the walls of ice, the fire spirit's barriers, and Snatcher's and the minion's traps, there was really only one way to go: Directly through the battlefield. As soon as the girls reappeared back in the ruins, they tore down the remains of its broken, stone streets toward Snatcher's tree—weaving around whatever obstacles stood in their path.
The closer they got, the more the storm around them echoed Vanessa's first. The wind was fierce and loud, ripping through the landscape in what sounded like a chorus of shrill screams. Trees bent and moaned against the strain of them. By then, the forest was covered in so much a blinding blizzard that it was hard to tell the falling snow apart from the fog blanketing the burning section of woods. The familiar dirt paths Hat knew were rapidly becoming hidden under the thick layer of white. Something snapped above, and the girls narrowly evaded a wide branch crashing to the earth as they raced on.
Luckily, their Toasty Badges must've been working. It was still cold, but not enough to bother either of the girls to the point of slowing them down: They were definitely warmer than they should've felt. Hat Kid silently thanked the Badge Seller, wishing only that they could've gotten their hands on the accessories before their trip on their Artic Cruise.
Alive or dead, not everyone was as safe from the cold as they were. The girls saw some stragglers dive through the heavy mist that encompassed the burning woods to escape the ice tailing right behind them. Not every minion was strong enough to join the battle and had to evacuate with the other vulnerable souls. Nevertheless, most of them directed their fellow Dwellers ahead of themselves, using potions to slow the advancing ice.
One lagged behind the rest, frozen to the spot not by any sort of cursed magic, but by whatever thoughts or memories of his old life attacked him in that moment. He knelt on the ground in fear, his face buried in his hands.
Hat Kid had no idea how strong their possessed forms were against the cold, but she had seen souls frozen as statues in Vanessa's manor. This wasn't a simple matter of life or death for anyone here: The queen's powers had grown so strong that getting caught by the ice now could mean an eternity trapped in conscious stillness. She didn't want to risk leaving them be if they couldn't escape by abandoning their doll-like bodies.
She and Bow broke their straight course, the former reaching for her own stash of potions while the latter pulled the minion back by the arm and gave him an urgent shove, "Keep going!"
Shards erupted like thick, glass fragments at Hat fired at an oncoming rush of ice. The young aliens shielded their faces with their arms against the downpour while the loud explosion shook the minion back into the present. He kicked up powder behind him as he hurried after the other Dwellers.
Not all were so lucky. Immediately after, someone screamed to the girls' right—another minion, running as fast as he could until a spike shot up from the earth and pierced straight through his abdomen. A blue streak that was his soul tour from the doll and continued to bolt toward safety. Beyond that one, a third: This one with her foot already caught by the ice with it rapidly climbing her legs. Again, Hat and Bow Kid rushed to help. Hat braced the minion under her arms as Bow used her umbrella to break her free.
It was like this all across Subcon Forest as the ice kept up its strong charge. Now and again, another scared cry would rip through the air. Every ounce of vegetation was quickly being devoured by the frost. Nearing one of the fire spirits' barriers, it was long before the young aliens had to pivot; however, not before seeing the two opposing elements clash violently against each other.
As the ice tried to expand, it hit the fiery wall, both forces scaling upwards in attempt to overcome the other. They climbed on top of each other like twin mobs—desperate, greedy hands of either element shoving their enemy down and stretching for the barren treetops, higher than Hat Kid had ever seen them reach alone.
The barrier refused to give and the ice began to curve back like a breaking wave—toward them. The girls had to pivot, nearly skidding on the slick rock of a hidden trail as they turned toward a desolate section of woods. It would've been easier if they could've taken the main paths directly to the broken bridge splitting Vanessa's domain with the rest of Subcon. As things looked now, they would have to circle around.
Granted, this had been part of Snatcher's strategy to slow Vanessa's own progression through the forest and keep her from tearing through important areas: It was just disorienting. Hat Kid already had to learn to navigate through Subcon once before and now it was more difficult than ever to find anything familiar. Her mind scrambled to remember any kind of marker for their location, the frightening weather only adding to her confusion.
The girls didn't hear the crunch of snow behind them and couldn't tell the pale grey figure apart from the dark silhouettes of trunks and boulders through the snow. They didn't know that one of the statues came rushing after them until it was nearly within arm's reach—sensing the danger by instinct alone. A sharp gasp tore from both Hat and Bow as they split apart, throwing themselves away from a swift grapple.
Losing her balance, Hat Kid rolled down a small, covered slope; her thick coat snagging on briars, her body shattering through the undergrowth's tangle of thin, frozen branches. Thankfully, it wasn't that steep or long a fall, so although she struggled to catch herself, it didn't hurt when she at last anchored against a thick oak and caught her breath. Her eyes frantically searched above, "Bow?!"
"I'm alright!" came a reassuring shout. A brief glance allowed her to spot her friend only a short distance away, having slid further left.
Meanwhile, the statue hadn't given up chase, looming over them from above. It was closest to Hat Kid. It stared down at her before bounding down the slope an instant later. The child's eyes roamed the trees, looking for any branches low enough to scale without luck. She drew her umbrella, hoping to bat the stone figure's attack enough to make an opening to dodge it a second time.
She didn't get the chance: A massive, dark blur shot down from the treetops before she could, swinging into her opponent hard enough to throw it off course. The two figures landed in a fierce scuffle, their movements so wild that it took a moment for Hat to recognize her rescuer as one of the spiders.
It tried to cocoon the statue without success, the two fairly matching in physical strength if not size. Failing at that, the spider released a banshee-like screech and continued to wrestle the other along the ground. Hat and Bow Kid made sure to keep their distance as they regrouped, using the nearby trees as shields between them and the fight in case the pair still came barreling their way.
The pair hadn't made much distance when they noticed two more of the giant arachnids appear to help their kin. They quickly clicked at each other before the first moved out of the way enough for the two new arrivals to fire their own webbing at the statue. It was still a struggle, but working together, the trio managed to lift it up and away into the trees. Shortly after, a stone arm fell where the statue first attacked them.
The girls used the threads left behind to climb into the forest canopy themselves. There, the winds were even stronger, but they could see well enough to spot a green bonfire not far from their location. There was another bright light darting through the undergrowth: A fire spirit bringing more fuel to its elders. Using the surrounding webs to brace themselves from the harsh gale that threatened to cut them down, Hat and Bow scaled across the trees toward the lights until they could find a safe path back on solid ground.
All the while, spiders covered the treetops. Despite the dropping temperatures, they moved in a frenzy, fitting their cold-blooded nature. It was hard to say how much of an effect Vanessa's storm had on them or if they even minded the cold at all. Hat Kid wondered—if they hadn't been recruited for the battle—if it was possible that they could've just sat on the sidelines entirely without any concern for themselves.
A few seconds later proved that that wasn't entirely the case though as a second horrible, shrill screech reached them. Looking down, the girls saw that the ice had caught up to one of the eight-legged spirits. The tables had turned, frost creeping over every part of its body as it thrashed in the snow to try to free itself—long streaks carving into the frozen earth beneath it. As far away as they were, there was nothing that either child could do except watch in terror as the beast gradually stilled—now itself cocooned.
A second, similar cry followed. They had to keep moving! Narrowly avoiding a small squad of statues, Hat and Bow Kid leapt past them and out of the cover of branches without looking back. In minutes, they found themselves racing alongside a fire spirit that appeared from another corner of the woods with a bundle of sticks both in its arms and mouth.
Although near any of the bonfires was likely the safest place to be outside of the burning portion of forest, it was still chaotic. First, the girls had to weave through the fight surrounding it. Statues and freed souls alike battled the swamp spirits guarding the foxes' dance. Some had even possessed broken fragments of their destroyed bodies to maintain a heavier defense: Arms weighing down ankles and loose rock levitating and then tearing through the air as wild projectiles.
Hat and Bow kept close to the fire spirit for protection as they ran past, covering their heads. The creature didn't stop even after reaching its goal, tossing the sticks into the roaring flames and immediately turning back on its heels toward the woods once more for another run. After skidding to a halt in its place, the young aliens could now collect their bearings enough to tell that they'd reached the swamp.
Above them, the nearby barrier wavered. The fire stayed strong, but it too rippled against the storm. The elder fire spirits moved furiously in their dance, unable to give the girls even the slightest attention as they once did—any break in concentration dangerous.
Hat Kid grimaced. Would the barriers really hold? The fire spirits weren't able to prepare any paintings for this as they had for their ritual, and even if they had, no one in their right mind would've neared Subcon during this storm to get caught in them. The fire spirits needed that captured living energy for their rebirths, but did Subcon alone—in its current state—even have enough fuel to maintain their powers now?
A few of Snatcher's minions also hung around, both helping protect the foxes and gathering fuel. It made her feel a little easier, seeing them bring in wood and coal from their own supplies to dump into the flames. Part of what made gathering fuel so difficult for the fire spirits as well was their poor relationship with the Dwellers, so with any luck, maybe their work combined would be enough.
Several meters away, a tree suddenly fell into the swamp. The water sent flying from its collapse froze into pellets before hitting the ground. The girls ran toward the sight, eying the jagged shape that remained of its trunk. Rather than having taken damage solely from the ice, it had been split by sheer force.
It didn't surprise Hat Kid that Thane Fen had stuck around his own territory rather than protect another part of Subcon. The Florist was with him as well, but was struggling more than the swamp's ruler against the barrage of attacks from the storm and statues combined. She was at a heavy disadvantage against the ice, whatever plants she summoned quickly withering in the cold. It was jarring to watch, given how she'd taken out so many of Vanessa's knights by herself before. Now, the weather had become so severe that the powerful vines she manipulated as well as any of her own limbs were shrinking and dying to that same shade of dismal black that consumed the rest of the woods.
In contrast, the Thane was terrifyingly impressive to watch. He kept near the frozen water's edge, fluidly moving among the dead reeds and striking the statues with expert precision. Each hit led to another chunk of their stone bodies crumbling away.
The two girls raced to back up the Florist as a statue charged at her from the front. Both Hat and Bow each grabbed a potion and threw it at the attacker. The blast didn't destroy it, but it did buy time.
"Lily!" the Thane shouted, tossing the Florist his spear. She caught the weapon on command as if she had practiced the move, quickly adjusting it to her own grip. Thanks to that, she was able to raise it in a defensive hold before the statue could lunge at her with a downward swing.
What shocked the two aliens more than that or how easily Thane Fen gave away his weapon was how little he actually needed it. The surface of the swamp was beginning to freeze over again; however, right before it could, the Thane stepped backward into it. There was no chance for the ice to encircle him as he raised his hands over the muddied water. It lurched around, following his movements before shaping into massive versions of the grimy, webbed hands Hat Kid had personally been attacked by on one of her first trips to Subcon.
For the second time that day, the young aliens dropped to the ground—only now to avoid getting caught in the Thane's wide swing. The impact was so fierce that one statue was thrown back and cleared in half upon colliding with a nearly boulder. Another was taken, the sludge enveloping it like a serpent before sharply dragging it down into the water with a crash. It was like watching someone catch a fly… Whether thanks to the Thane or the weight of its own body, it didn't recover, a grey soul bulleting out of the water a moment later. Another swamp spirit chased after it.
One more statue was pulled into the water. One more soul darted out of it to try to escape the swamp spirits or find a new body to possess first. The Thane's eyes were wide and wild, seemingly glowing from the thrill of combat. His usual calm, if snide demeanor was broken by the fierce grin that now stretched across his face. The absolute pleasure he took from the battle was disturbing.
"Stay alert, Dweller spawn," he seemed to hide a laugh, not sparing the young alien's a glance, "It'd be a shame for someone who matched my water lily to simply die in the crosshairs."
Hat and Bow were so distracted by the jarring show of power that they both flinched when a painful, canine yelp sounded from behind. They turned in time to see a bundle of sticks scatter at their feet. Another one of the ghosts on Vanessa's side had managed to slip through their defenses and attacked a fire spirit from behind. The fox was knocked into a wall of frozen spikes, shivering against the cold and strain on its body. The light of its fur fluctuated in a hazardous way.
A third swamp spirit was quick to move in before the greyed soul could launch a follow-up attack. Hat Kid tried to run around them to help the fire spirit back up, but someone quickly grabbed her arm—the Florist—and pulled her away. The child dug her feet into the ground in refusal, opening her mouth to shout, when a burst of color cut her off.
Seeing it first just from the corner of her eye, terror reared into Hat Kid's mind: She'd seen the spectacle of light only a handful of times—when she helped collect those cursed paintings for the fire spirits and they had erupted with the bonfires as they died. This one was not taking part in a ritual dance though, and as weak as it looked when it burst into flame, she naturally assumed the worst.
However, the child quickly realized that the fox wasn't incinerating itself as she thought, but taking a new shape. The multicolored bands on its limbs and tail now seemed to ripple across its entire body, its fur bristling with sparks. Its form now radiated so intensely that both girls could feel the heat of its flames even at a few meters' distance and the snow under it rapidly melted away. Most noticeably, as the fire spirit stood back up, two new limbs burst from its sides. Its eyes had changed from their usual pale, practically unseen yellow to a strikingly clear white.
As if he hadn't nearly hit them earlier, Thane Fen continued to battle as he clicked his tongue disdainfully, explaining over his shoulder, "The vermin's just overheating… They tend to lose control like that when they're exhausted. It's drawing too much from its core for energy, but it shouldn't be stupid enough to off itself yet."
"Not stupid! You stupid!" came the fire spirit's angry reply, nearly spitting flames. With the fight still on though, rather than keep arguing, the fox spotted its collection of sticks and quickly hurried to pick them back up. Perhaps it was just Hat Kid's imagination, but on top of its change of form and heat, the spirit moved faster as well—almost literally blazing through the trees to reach the bonfire before taking off once more.