For a second, those within were too surprised to do anything other than stand there. A second was far too long for their own good. Ice and frost coated the room. It shot underneath her friends’ boots and into the hearts of the Pillars.
This time, Eira didn’t keep their hearts beating. They were as still and as cold as the grave.
“Eira?” Alyss whispered, staring at her with a mix of horror and awe. As if she didn’t recognize her.
“What are you doing?” Olivin moved for her, recovering faster than the rest. “This isn’t what we?—”
“I thought you wanted to annihilate all Pillars.” Eira gestured to the frozen room. “That is what I did.”
“According to plan.”
“Plans change.”
His eyes shifted and he saw the buildings covered in frost and her walls of ice. Panic widened his eyes and his lips parted. “Now everyone will know you’re here.”
“Good.” Eira glanced to the rest of them. “We’re leaving.”
“Good?Good?” Olivin grabbed her wrist, as if he had been about to jerk her toward him, but his fingers unraveled with a hiss. The flesh was pink, burned from the cold. He ignored what must still be stinging. “How is Ulvarth now knowing you’re coming ‘good?’”
“Ulvarth might think it’s Adela coming…which she also is.” Eira stood a little straighter. “Let him prepare for her arrival. If anything, this could distract from me.”
“You’re risking too much.”
Am I actually? Or do you not like seeinganyrisk?She wanted to ask, but couldn’t. This wasn’t the time or place.
“What’s done is done. What’s next?” Cullen interjected himself into the conversation. Olivin shot him a glare.
“We’re leaving. Now. We’ll find the stables and take the best horses. On the way take whatever you think we might need—any supplies you see. We’re riding straight to Risen.” As Eira finished speaking, she was already walking out, Yonlin meeting them.
“What about Lorn?” Olivin asked, partly chasing after her now.
“What about him?” Eira parted the wall of ice like a curtain with a wave of her hand, unveiling chaos beyond. Men and women ran through the streets. Most of them didn’t seem to be Pillars or Shadows. Many seemed to be citizens taking advantage of the chaos the ice had created. “He looks like he’ll be fine. We cleared the majority, if not all, of the Pillars.”
One looter ran from a shop, hands laden with goods that tumbled to the ground as he skidded to a stop. A finger rose to point at her.
“Ah—A—Adel—” With a scream, he was gone, scampering away. Eira didn’t mind how his terror felt in the slightest.
“Well, I think Ulvarth will be preparing for someone else now.” Eira glanced back to Olivin. He sighed, a forlorn softness clouding his gaze. She stepped closer and tilted her head, looking up at him. “It will be fine.Iwill be fine.”
“Sometimes I question if that’s true.”
“Then stick with me and let me show you.”
Some resolve returned to his expression at that. Eira smiled slightly. Olivin did the same. And, with that, she moved on.
They did as she commanded and took what they needed. Ducot had no qualms over smashing windows to reach around and unlock doors. Alyss focused mostly on the houses that were already empty, picking like a hesitant bird. Cullen was asurprise; he was right beside Ducot, loading a pack with all manner of goods.
Olivin and Yonlin took up the rear. It surprised her. The questions associated with it lingered as they rode out of the town, simmering until they slowed to a trot among rolling plains and grasslands.
Eira tugged on her reins, falling back to Olivin’s side. She wasn’t going to let this be. Not when there was so much still ahead of them that they needed to work together through.
“If you do not wish to come with me then?—”
“We’re with you,” Olivin said. Though he sounded more conflicted than ever before. Yonlin wouldn’t even look at her.
“Truly,” Eira insisted. “We can find a safe place for you both and?—”
“We didn’t come to pillage and steal,” Yonlin interrupted. He sounded more wounded than outright angry. “We came to protect our home, to make Meru right again, do good by and help her people. Not to freeze their towns and pilfer their resources.”
