Meera was up out of her seat before anyone could even ask a single question. It wasn't that she held any particular love for Ilona, but she couldn't have all her work undone by this traitorous witch, who had acted so high and mighty while undermining all their work. She was the reason why Elrasil still lived, why their assassination attempt failed.

"Whose blood is that?" Rehia asked. "You better tell me that you laid the bitch low."

Firaan once again shook her head before Jephena even answered.

"It's the Cultist, Lainor's. He was the one who heard Ilona's screams and tried stopping Kithra, and nearly lost his life."

That was most unexpected. The one they had trusted the least had almost given his life for a cause that he shouldn't have even been involved with. It didn't need to be said, but the Cultist had proved himself that he wasn't the traitor, if he hadn't already, when he nearly died in the Spire thanks to Kithra's treachery.

Meera looked Jephena in the eye. "Show me."

"Meera, we must—" Rehia called, but she was already heading out the door, and she didn't stop, even when the princess called for her.

She was surprised to see that she wasn't the only one who had left. The two sorceresses were right behind her, as was the prince. That was most surprising. He didn't have any skin in this game, yet he was acting like he'd been hurt.

What is your game, Manazhar?

Jephena led them through the streets to the smoking house, which wasn't far. The street was packed with sorceresses and soldiers alike. They were crowded around the smoking hut, which looked half-frozen.

"Lainor stopped the fire from spreading," Jephena explained. "If not for him, the fire would've spread much farther, and we would've had a real problem on our hands."

"Where is he?" Manazhar asked.

"Your soldiers took him to the infirmary to treat his wounds," the sorceress replied.

He glanced at Meera. "I know where that is."

"You go see your friend," Duinith said. "We'll take care of them and explain what has happened."

"You better not twist the truth to hide the involvement of your sorceress, or I'll twist your neck," Meera growled.

It was Jephena who answered. "That will be hard to do, as many of our ranks saw what Kithra did, and the barrier that she had erected around the village is gone."

Duinith's characteristic angry face showed itself. She gritted her teeth, and a vein pulsed on the side of her head as she steadily turned redder and redder.

"Let's go," Meera said to the prince.

They left the sorceresses to deal with the fallout, as she needed to check on Lainor and find out exactly what had happened. Manazhar led the way, and they were heading towards one of the bigger huts that stood beside the ashes of the longhouse.

Meera had tears in her eyes as she looked upon the place and what had happened to her poor friend. The little girl didn't deserve that death. It was a good thing Misidentify masked her aura, or everyone would have given her a wide berth.

The prince opened the door, and there was only one occupant of the many beds in the hut. There were about half a dozen beds, and that was it. There wasn't much else in the hut, save for some healing supplies in the back of the room.

A familiar face was tending to Lainor, who looked like he had taken a nasty cut to his face and shoulder.

"Leenai, give report," Manazhar ordered as he thundered into the room.

Leena stood and bowed her head. "Your Highness, he received a deep cut to his shoulder that nearly took his arm, but I closed the wound, and I'm in the process of healing it. The rest is of no concern."

Once again, Meera was impressed by the act. No one would be able to tell the two were in a relationship.

"Lady, I nearly lost my nose," Lainor said. "That is of concern to me."

"You could've asked your friends for a new nose and arm," Meera joked.

"Ha, very funny." The corners of his lips curled up slightly. "And welcome back."

Manazhar looked between them, but Meera ignored him and focused on the Frostweaver.

"What happened?" She asked.

"My grandmother's hut is close to that sorceress's hut. So, I heard a scream and went to investigate, and saw that the sorceress was leaving the hut with a large bag and blood on her hands. The rest you can pretty much guess."

"Which way did she go?" Manazhar asked.

"Towards the Winter Spire, of course."

Meera didn't need to hear anything more. She turned towards the exit and was about to blast off when she felt a hand on her arm.

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"Where are you going?" Manazhar asked.

"She couldn't have gotten that far. There is still a chance I can catch her before she reaches the enemy. We can't let her inform the Cultists that we have an archdragon."

Lainor sat up straight, only to flinch from the pain. "Wait, you found an archdragon?"

"Not found. I created one. It's your old friend, Tigris. I'll fill you in on the details later."

His eyes bulged with that piece of information. After all, he had lied to him and led the dragon astray, so she figured Tigris wouldn't be too happy to see him either.

Meera shirked her arm from Manazhar's grip. "Your Highness, time is of the essence. I need to go. Now."

"Oh, I'm not going to stop you. In fact, I'm coming with you. You should have a backup, in case we run into any enemy patrols or some such."

Meera thought for a moment and then nodded her head. She didn't have time to argue. Every breath they wasted here, Kithra got closer to the Spire. They needed to stop her or lose the element of surprise.

"Your Highness, do take care," Leenai called before they were out of the door. "I would recommend that you send another in your place, but you never listen anyway."

Even Lainor frowned as he looked between the healer and the prince.

"Thank you for your concern." Manazhar coughed and replied awkwardly.

"That was smooth," Meera said, once they were out of the hut.

Manazhar just rolled his eyes. "Let's just go."

Meera created a Tower Shield. "Hop on and hold on tight."

The prince did as she asked. Meera blasted off into the air and brought the prince along. To his credit, Manazhar didn't cry out, nor did he do so in excitement or fear. Once Meera cleared the trees, it was easy to see which direction the Spire lay. She beelined for it, while scanning the forest floor for any movement, as did the prince.

"There!" Manazhar pointed. "Take us to the right."

Meera did so and saw Kithra running at an unnatural speed. She must have been augmenting her speed with some skill. She was close to the clearing that the Cultists had created by cutting down the trees around their walls.

There was no way Meera would let her get to it. She was about to pick up the speed when something invisible crashed against her Mirror Tower Shield, and it cracked into many small pieces. The prince gasped before he tumbled out of the sky.

Meera quickly caught him by the arm before he hit the treetops. She promptly picked up the speed before Kithra launched something else at them. Even this much delay had put her ahead. Without any warning to the prince, she blasted towards the Spire. Then she dropped into the trees and landed right in front of the treacherous sorceress.

Meera didn't say anything; instead, she shot tiny mirrors from her armor. Three chakrams floated out from her back and hovered over her head. The prince drew his sword and grasped it with both hands.

[Sorceress of Barriers – Level 432]

The prince was strong enough to take her on by herself, but Meera was not going to let him take that chance, especially since there was some score that the sorceress had to settle with Meera. Her eyes bored into Meera's with such utter hate that she could feel it in the air.

"Why?" Meera asked.

"You ask that of me. You? I lost my home because of you. I lost all my friends because of you. I lost my mentor because of you. More than that, you and that bitch Kalrina killed my sister."

Meera frowned. She didn't know who her sister was. There weren't many sorceresses that she had personally killed, save for a whole lot of Aksha's daughters, Aksha, and the one that sat on the Conclave of Five. The one they had sent after them, as Kalrina, Lainor, and she made their escape from the dragon keep.

"Of course, you don't remember her," Kithra seethed. "Her name was—"

"Nikai," Meera said. "Your sister's name was Nikai. I remember everyone whom I've killed."

She clapped mockingly. "Oh, good for you. It still doesn't lessen the hurt you've caused."

"She wouldn't have died if you lot had just let me go," Meera said quietly. "All I wanted was to leave that place, but you and your sisters didn't want to let me go. Wanted to use me to lure in my brother and take control of the great prophecy."

"I don't care. She was my sister!" Kithra raged. "And then you had the audacity to pretend to be this great saviour, because you're so strong. When all your power is because you sent a dying woman on her way."

"And to take revenge on Meera, you're going to damn the rest of your sisters," Manazhar spoke up. "If that isn't the mark of a coward, then I don't know what is."

Kithra turned red with anger. Her clenched fists shook, and then it was gone. Whatever rage there was in her seemed to have evaporated into thin air.

"Then let me be a coward. My revenge is the only thing that matters."

She thrust a hand forward. Snow drifted off the ground as an invisible barrier raced towards them. Meera pushed the prince out of the way. The barrier continued cutting through branches and roiling the ground as it collected snow to smash against a massive tree. It groaned like a great beast, and a few moments later, the tree had toppled over.

If the Cultists didn't know they were here, they surely did now.

Meera heard the shouts and cries of men and women. A moment later, she saw the first of the Frostweavers zipping through the trees.

She turned her attention to the sorceress and launched all three chakrams at her. Kithra must've erected a barrier around her, as her chakrams bounced off it. One actually made a crack. It appeared as a spider-web-like crack in thin air, but Kithra quickly repaired it.

Manazhar swung his sword in an arc, and it extended more than ten feet in size, cutting through tree trunks cleanly. The sorceress's barrier also stopped it.

Meera could fight her and eventually get through her annoying barriers, were it not for the Frostweavers that were clearly visible. But that didn't mean she wouldn't give it her best shot. She jumped to the side and shot more tiny mirrors out of her armor, littering the area with mirrors.

Before Kithra could realize what she was doing, she raised her hand and activated Mirror Shard Fury. Glittering mirror shards, the size of kitchen knives, launched out of her hands and clashed against Kithra's barrier, not giving the sorceress a moment's respite.

Kithra had to actively fix the cracks that formed in her barrier, or it would've shattered in the first assault. But there was another problem.

"I hope you have a plan, Reverent Lady," Manazhar hissed. "They are almost here."

Meera smirked. "Oh, I have a plan, alright. Just watch my back."

She stopped as the Cultists arrived and circled them. As she had said, Manazhar watched her back like a hawk. His sword didn't waver an inch.

Kithra laughed. "Looks like I'll get my revenge sooner than later."

"Get ready," Meera whispered to the prince. Then smirked at the sorceress. "Not today."

She activated Mirror's Wrath and exploded every single mirror that she had scattered throughout the trees.

As soon as the first one went off, Meera grabbed Manazhar's arm and took off into the sky. Explosions reverberated throughout the woods, felling trees and destroying the Cultists' ranks. She wasn't sure if she managed to kill Kithra, but one thing was certain—they couldn't wait around any longer.

"We need to strike fast and hard," Manazhar said, as if reading her thoughts.

"Oh, I agree, wholeheartedly. Time to ring the drums of war."

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