I could see purple system messages popping up in front of the giant living ice sculpture, but dared I believe my eyes?

  Mission Accomplished: Save The Damsel

  Skill Unlocked: Role Upgraded To Slayer Auld

  At that moment, the sense I’d had of the creature in my being disappeared entirely.

  “Oooooh no. Harley,” I warned, grabbing her hand and stepping backwards. “That thing is no longer my Slayer Companion, so I can’t sense it.”

  “Him,” my wife insisted. “He’s called ‘Auld,’ and there’s nothing harmful about him, Muriel. You don’t need to worry.”

  “Oh, because giant monsters that come alive after wine has been spilled in the presence of great music go so well for us?” I quipped.

  “Not just any wine,” Auld nodded to Harley. “But the treasured supply of someone in possession of strong magic, which connected to the song lyrics, ‘We’re running with the shadows of the night, so baby take my hand, you’ll be alright. Surrender all your dreams to me tonight; they’ll come true in the end!’ And what exactly are all your dreams about, Harley, love—“

  “Hey! You can’t call her that!” I scolded.

  “Mostly, I just wanted some more of those peanut butter thumbprint cookies,” Harley told him. “But a handsome devil like you is a welcome addition to the family.”

  “The family?” I spluttered. What was this nonsense, and why did it look like a New Year's love fest on the sidewalk in the dark of night?

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, this is the stupidest night ever!” I huffed, stomping away from them.

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  Harley and her new pal cracked up. Just what I needed. Two of them. There would be no peace. None at all.

  I made sure the bubble with the coffee goo was still attached to my foam rope and towed it alongside me, intending to storm off or something of that sort to make a statement.

  “I might be handsome,” Auld told my wife. “But devil, I am not. I’m a snow angel, thank you very much.”

  “With a triangle-tipped, demon-spawn tail and no wings or halo!” I called out, heading for our townhouse, which was only five doors down.

  “Bah! Who needs conventional attributes? Why limit yourself to the definitions others want to place on you? Angels don’t have to have wings, and who said everyone with a triangle tail has to be demonic? Idiots, that’s who,” Auld declared.

  I glanced over my shoulder to see Harley walking next to Auld with her arms looped around one of his massive ice biceps. I rolled my eyes.

  The thing was ginormous, bluish-white, polished, and had purple eyes. Not quite human looking, its head was topped with spiky ice flames instead of hair, and its teeth were a ridge of ice and a couple of pointy not-quite fangs.

  Oddly, it moved with stealth, not making the cracking, creaking sounds you’d expect from ice-joints rubbing together, and his triangle-tipped tail flicked back and forth behind him.

  I recognized Auld, of course. I’d been admiring him seconds before Harley had been attacked.

  The yard where he’d stood motionless minutes ago was no longer sporting a snow sculpture of an odd-shaped yeti-like creature. No, it had only a small silver flask overturned in the snow, dripping red wine on the white. I jogged over and retrieved Harley’s container, but all of its contents had spilled already.

  “Guess this magical supply is done for,” I told her, handing the flask off. “Harley, why did your bouncy power let you get hurt?”

  She shook her head, “It wasn’t the power! That worked, but it didn’t help, so I turned it off, but then I smashed into the pavement and cracked something in my chest, so I turned it back on to try and cushion myself.”

  She rolled her eyes, “Guess I need to practice with something yanking my ankles out from under me to perfect it for next time.”

  “Next time?!” My eyebrows climbed my forehead. “Please tell me that’s a joke.”

  “Well, Auld didn’t destroy the whole thing, Red. He just saved me.”

  I looked at Auld again, remembering Harley being pounded by some sort of coffee-ground goo from perdition, and my heart softened.

  “Thanks, Auld,” I whispered. “For Saving The Damsel when I couldn’t.”

  He patted my head, “It was a team effort. Neither of us could have done it alone.”

  And that was what scared me. I didn’t understand the big, bad evil guy we were facing this time, and I had no idea what we’d created to fight it in the self-proclaimed snow angel Auld.

  And that meant I didn’t have a clue about what to do next.

  They wanted a weapon. They forged a monster.

  A Dark Progression Fantasy about family, betrayal, and the cost of power.

  What to Expect:

  ?? Ruthless Politics: Game of Thrones meets Progression Fantasy.

  ?? Smart & Calculating MC: Survival requires brains, not just brawn.

  ?? Zero to Hero (Hard Mode): No cheat systems, just pure grit and magic.

  ?? High-Stakes Combat: Swordplay and complex mana theories.

  ?? Dark Atmosphere: Not for the faint of heart.

  ? No Harem / No LitRPG (Pure Fantasy).