“So they say.”
Esther swallowed and kept serving.
No one looked at her like she was royalty. No one bowed. A few thanked her. Most didn’t. They were too tired, too hungry, too busy surviving to care who she was.
That hurt.
It also felt… honest.
By the time they returned to the orphanage, Esther’s limbs felt like they belonged to someone else. She sat heavily on the steps, breathing hard, fingers trembling as she flexed them. Herbracelet weighed heavily against her wrist—a familiar anchor, a familiar cage.
She slid it off.
The relief was immediate. Her magic loosened its grip, the constant pressure easing like a held breath finally released. For a moment, the world sharpened—colors deeper, sounds clearer.
Too clear.
The ground beneath her feet vibrated faintly. Just once.
Esther stiffened, heart pounding.
“Essie?” Nythir asked quietly.
“I’m fine,” she said quickly, forcing the magic down, shoving the bracelet back on. The pressure returned, comforting and suffocating all at once.
She stood too fast.
The shout came a heartbeat later.
“Korin!”
A boy stumbled, clutching his arm. Blood welled bright against dirt. Esther’s breath caught painfully in her chest.
“No,” she whispered.
She was there before anyone else, hands glowing instinctively as she knelt. Her magic surged—too much, too fast—fear feeding it like fuel. The air crackled. A nearby squirrel twitched.
The ground beside them stirred, and Esther got a horrible feeling in her gut that this had happened once before.
A squirrel corpse, long dead and stiff, jerked upright as if yanked by invisible strings.
Lyssara screamed. Again.
Korin gasped in horror.
The zombie squirrel chattered.
Esther swore.
Vorrik stomped it flat without hesitation, leaving only fur, dust, and the faint sound of traumatized silence behind.
Korin stared at the flattened spot on the ground like it might bite him again.
“I’m so sorry—” Esther began.
“For the love of the stars,” Lyssara groaned, rubbing her face, “that is the second undead squirrel this month—! Why is it always squirrels?!”
Esther wished the earth would swallow her whole.
