Qube instantly regretted letting her temper get the better of her. She was supposed to be the cool-headed one. Instead, she was now just cold. The second she stomped into the alleged guardian tower, she realised that what she had assumed were snow-covered bricks outside were actually just bricks of ice.

The entire Wizard’s Tower was made of ice.

Suddenly she was very glad that the others were wearing protective clothing. Even though her clothes looked the same, she was certain that the frost-resistant outfit was somehow protecting her. Otherwise she would have frozen instantly.

In the middle of the silo of ice there was a snowmage, similar to the one outside. She could tell it was a snowmage because it was wearing a pointy hat, and robes. But this one had a face. And a wand. And eyes. Beady, black little bits of coal, that managed to emote pure rage without any facial muscles.

It kind of reminded Qube of Squiggles.

It had branches stuck in its side that each ended with three little prongs. Qube felt its gaze sweep over her as the door slammed shut behind her. It blinked, little snow eyelids flickering over the coal, when it couldn’t see her.

Qube started to back away, reaching for the door behind her to escape, when the Chosen One barged in, shoving her closer to the snowmage.

“Oh hey, a snowman,” the Chosen One said. “Cool. Heh, get it? Cool. Cuz it’s—”

The snowmage pointed its wand at the Chosen One, and instantly unleashed a barrage of snowballs.

“[Fire Wall],” Definitely Bad Guy called from behind the Hero, at the same time as Qube cast [Lesser Shield]. A wall of pure flame sprung up before the Chosen One, destroying the snowballs before they even had a chance to reach the magical shield now protecting the man.

The Mage of fire glared through the steam at the construct of ice. The magical masters sized each other up, before they simultaneously sneered. Quite how the snowmage managed to sneer with only pieces of coal for eyes and a mouth was a question that would haunt Qube later on, but for now she had far too much to do to worry about such technicalities.

Definitely Bad Guy flicked his wrist, pushing his hand palm out towards the flame. The [Fire Wall] started to encroach on the snowmage. Slowly, achingly slowly, it slid across the floor, melting the ice beneath it. The snowmage wasn’t idle, though, and as soon as the flames got too close it bounced away, hopping on its flat bottom for all the world like a giant rabbit.

It bounced higher and higher, cresting the top of the [Fire Wall] before launching a cluster of deadly icicles at the Chosen One. The Hero slid out of the way, and then kept sliding.

“No-no-no-no!” he shouted, his arms windmilling as he tried to stop himself. He stopped flailing long enough to jam his Sacred Sword into the ground, slowing his involuntary ice skating.

Qube had been about to cast [Lesser Haste] on the Hero, but stopped herself as she witnessed his undignified journey. She didn’t think he would appreciate uncontrollably sliding any faster.

One hand still pushing the wall of snowmage doom forward, Definitely Bad Guy raised his other hand, and aimed for just where the snowmage was about to clear the [Fire Wall].

“[Fireball]!” he cast as the snowmage’s upper half popped above the wall. The attack blew the snowmage’s head clean off.

Last time he’d cast that spell, it’d been [Lesser Fireball]. Qube stared at the Mage with a combination of admiration and jealousy. Had he been growing stronger without her noticing? When had he gotten that upgraded spell? The only way she’d gotten an upgraded spell had been directly from the Bestowal pedestals.

Had he just been holding back before? She’d thought he was weaker outside of his Wizard’s Tower — oh. They were in a Wizard’s Tower. In a Wizards’ Academy. He was probably tapping into something.

The snowmage’s head splattered against the far wall, and Definitely Bad Guy relaxed, dropping the [Fire Wall]. Qube was about to go up and congratulate him (as well as ask him if she could also tap in to this source of power or if it was only for people who went to the academy) when the body of the snowmage started hopping up and down, shaking its tiny twig fists at them.

“Um, Chosen One, Definitely Bad Guy?” Qube asked. Definitely Bad Guy stopped panting, and the Chosen One looked up. He’d finally managed to stabilise himself and was carefully shuffling back to them.

The snowmage skated over to its smushed head, and waved its hands over the lump of snow, which rapidly reformed back into its original shape. The snowmage triumphantly picked its own head up, and plopped it back on its body.

“Oh that’s so annoying,” the Chosen One groaned.

“Chosen One, did you maybe want to try talking to the snowmage?” Qube asked, worried that everything had exploded into violence so quickly. Surely there was some way they could resolve this without harming a being who was only doing their job?

“Well you’re the one who just burst into its home without warning,” the Chosen One pointed out, as Definitely Bad Guy recast [Fire Wall]. “I was perfectly happy to sequence-break it.”

“It couldn’t see me! And you shouldn’t have reacted so weirdly when I told you my idea!” Qube huffed.

“What, I can’t be proud of you?” the Chosen One asked, as the Mage next to them once again started pushing the [Fire Wall] towards their enemy. “It’s so nice to know that I’m having a positive influence on you!”

“I am perfectly— that is, I’m not— you!” Qube lost herself in a swamp of half sentences as the Chosen One started laughing at her.

“[Fireball]!” Definitely Bad Guy cried, once again decapitating the snowmage. This time, however, he kept pushing the [Fire Wall] closer, not letting up for an instant.

“Come now, my glitch student, you should be proud that I have praised you,” the Chosen One said in an imitation of an old man’s voice.

“I am not your student!” Qube protested, stomping a foot. The half-melted ice cracked underneath her. She hurriedly moved away from said crack.

“Aw, you’re hurting my feelings,” the Chosen One said sadly.

“I’m not — I mean — I am?” Qube stopped mid incoherent tirade. “I’m so sorry, Chosen One!”

“Nah, I was lying,” the Chosen One said, grinning cheekily at her.

“You!” Qube practically combusted.

“Meet your doom!” Definitely Bad Guy commanded, as the [Fire Wall] pushed the snowmage against the far side of the silo, and evaporated it. The snowmage opened its broken coal piece mouth, revealing razor-sharp icicle teeth, as its ice boiled.

“[Frozen Heart],” it screeched, pointing a burning twig at Definitely Bad Guy as it melted away, leaving behind a small pile of singed, but still intact, coal. The wand and arms burned away to ash.

Definitely Bad Guy dropped his arms, his exposed chest heaving as his tattoos throbbed. Qube and the Chosen One snapped out of their argument.

“Huh, you just wrecked that snowman,” the Chosen One said, impressed. Definitely Bad Guy continued to pant, ignoring the Hero. Suddenly he pressed a hand to his chest, and staggered.

“That last attack,” Definitely Bad Guy whispered, “it was a terrible curse.”

“[Minor Cleanse],” Qube said, instantly attempting to remove the curse. The Mage shook his head, but gave her a small smile of thanks before looking back at the Chosen One.

“We must hurry,” he said. “We do not have much time before it takes full effect, and I am completely frozen.”

Oddly enough, the Chosen One didn’t seem terribly upset about the fact that one of his party members had just been cursed. Perhaps he was used to it, given half of his companions were cursed. This was a tad more urgent from the sounds of things, though!

“Sure, what do we need to do?” he asked, sounding almost bored. “Lemme guess, it has to do with the grand—”

“The Grand Working,” Definitely Bad Guy interrupted the Hero. “Whatever magics it uses should be powerful enough that I will be able to counteract this curse.”

“I mean we were going to do that next anyway. I don’t know why the added haste was necessary to raise the stakes,” the Chosen One muttered to himself. Qube frowned, shocked at his attitude.

“Definitely Bad Guy didn’t choose to get cursed,” she said, reprimanding him. In fact, he probably wouldn’t have even been cursed if the Chosen One and her hadn’t been squabbling.

Oh no. If she’d been paying attention, rather than getting into a silly argument with the Hero…

“I’m sorry,” she said to the Mage, who still had a hand pressed to his chest. “I shouldn’t have allowed myself to be distracted in the middle of a fight. This is my fault.”

The Chosen One winced.

“No, look, it would have happened anyway, it’s—” the Hero cut himself off as he took in both Qube and Definitely Bad Guy’s expressions. Definitely Bad Guy was grimacing in pain, and Qube was biting at her bottom lip, trying to help the Mage stay upright. The Chosen One closed his eyes briefly, before snapping them open again.

“All right!” he said, focusing on Definitely Bad Guy. “Come on Sparky, let’s get you to the next tower!”

The Hero picked up the Mage, and plopped the man onto said Hero’s broad shoulders, causing Definitely Bad Guy’s robe to flare out around his head. Qube quickly averted her eyes, trying not to accidentally stare at what had just been revealed.

“Hold on tight!” the Chosen One said, gripping Definitely Bad Guy’s ankles as he jogged out of the guardian’s tower. Just before he exited, however, he swung around, and quickly jogged back to where the snowmage had melted, bending down and scooping up the lumps of coal in one swift action that caused the Mage to cling to his head with his one free hand.

“Nearly forgot the loot,” he said cheerfully, and then jogged back out of the tower.

Qube, meanwhile, was racing along his side, trying to check in on Definitely Bad Guy.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, carefully looking ahead. “Do you need any healing? Are you cold? What’s happening with the curse?”

“It is designed to slowly transform the subject into a snowmage,” Definitely Bad Guy said as the Chosen One crunched his way along the rough path towards the final Wizard’s Tower. “I can only hope that the loose mana from the Grand Working will be enough to halt the process.”

“But can’t we just go to the Head Mage and get him to fix it?” Qube asked. “Or the Mage of Life; he specialised in curses, so surely he would be able to remove it? Why would the guardian at the Wizards’ Academy use such a powerful curse? Wouldn’t they be worried about it killing their students? Also, why would they have a guardian at all? What was the purpose of having a guardian in one of the towers?”

Qube stopped when she realised that Definitely Bad Guy was too busy trying not to slide off the Chosen One to answer her questions. That didn’t mean she was satisfied, though. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got about the whole situation.

The Wizards’ Academy was supposed to help people learn. Furthermore, the Head Mage had asked them for help completing their Grand Working. It was only because those prideful Mages couldn’t cooperate with each other that they were even in this mess in the first place!

And what was that about, too? What, they couldn’t put their egos aside for the good of the kingdom? Their own students had been kidnapped, several of them killed, and they couldn’t get along long enough to do their own Grand Working? They had to sit around for six years, six years, just in the hopes that someone would wander over and help them out?

Why, if Definitely Bad Guy hadn’t happened to join their party, and happened to tell them about this, then the whole cohort of Wizards would still be sitting around, amulets complete, waiting for someone to come and act as a messenger to fetch their silly little items and do what they’d all been too immature to even try!

And even if they were prideful, and dangerous because they would lash out, as the Head Mage had said, that still didn’t explain why they’d decided to put a prophecy cursed snowmage guardian in one of the prophecy cursed towers who would then attack them without a prophecy cursed word!

As soon as they got Definitely Bad Guy cured, there was going to be a reckoning!