Chapter 123

“Even if His Majesty completely dispersed the blizzard with his divine power, it would take some time to cover this distance. I would say he should be about halfway there at this point,” Emil said, indicating a point on the map between Elo’s territory and the mansion.

Ilyin studied the point Emil indicated, then put her own finger on the map at Bilften mansion.

“Then we should depart now,” she said. Her finger glided across the map, drawing a line to where Emil expected the second wave of Yesters to be hidden.

“We hit the second group of Yesters. We don’t need to wipe them out – we only need to make sure they don’t reinforce the other group,” she continued. She turned to Etra.

“Etra.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Move with our reinforcement. If they do engage the Yesters, go to Elo and warn them,” Ilyin said.

“Ma’am, I…,” Etra began to interject. My place is here, taking care of you, she thought, but as her eyes met Ilyin’s, her protest faltered into silence.

“You have to go, to make sure Emil won’t be accused of moving the army on his own,” Ilyin said. Aden wouldn’t doubt Emil easily, Ilyin knew. But any moment of confusion on a battlefield could bring disaster. It was essential that Aden knew who ordered the reinforcement.

“It’s alright, Etra,” she said smiling.

“Yes, ma’am,” Etra said, nodding in acceptance.

Ilyin returned to the map. According to her foresight, no other army or monsters lay between Elo and the Yesters. With her other hand, she drew a line from the Yester’s base to Elo’s territory.

“Then, Etra,” she said, “Once Aden and the knights are done at Elo, bring them to the reinforcement’s location.”

The reinforcement will just need to hold their ground until then, Ilyin thought, her eyes shining.

***

Emil wanted to disagree with her plan. He hadn’t yet experienced the foresight himself, though the Delrose that went to the warm region had. They’d seen it predict a surprise attack on their master.

Aden and Ilyin’s group had left first, and the remaining Delrose left behind had heard the situation from Milo. There had been some skepticism, but what Ilyin had foreseen had actually come to pass.

But…what if she’s wrong this time? Emil couldn’t help having that doubt. And if the foresight was correct, that was a problem of its own.

“If the second wave of Yesters is that large, there’s no way our army will be able to stop them.”

The main army of Delrose could help Elo because of Aden. His divine power could kill more of the monsters than several knights. Particularly if the monsters were Yesters, weak against the heat he could summon.

“I know,” Ilyin replied simply.

“And we can’t leave the mansion empty….,” he continued.

“Of course not,” she said. The knights needed a home to return to. She raised a hand that went to Delrose’s necklace.

“I’m going to use the divine object,” she said, her voice steely with determination.

She put a hand on Etra’s shoulder, sensing the objection she was about to raise.

“I know it will be difficult,” she said, “but the divine object’s everlasting fire burns until I will it to stop. I will use it to block the road.”

There was no other way. Trapping the Yesters with fire was all she could think of. She pointed at the map.

“Thankfully, the mountain pass that Emil indicated is narrow,” she said. “The fire will be enough to trap them here.”

But success would depend on the Delrose knights arriving with firewood, enough wood to transfer the everlasting fire.

“It takes a long time to go around this mountain. Even with the Yesters’ speed in the blizzard, they would lose a great deal of time going around.”

And Aden would easily beat the Yester armies separately. She tapped on the mountain range.

“Go first, pile up firewood, and transfer the fire.”

Ilyin would give them an everlasting torch. It would take her power to start the fire but moving it to a torch would at least mean she wouldn’t collapse.

Ilyin gripped the necklace tightly. She wouldn’t let Aden be attacked from behind like in her foresight. She looked down at the map.

“Promise me this,” Emil said, looking up sternly at the Mistress. His hard stare would normally be seen as rude, but she could see the fierce loyalty in his eyes.

“I have heard that it hurt you to use a divine object before,” he said, his words hard, unrepentant. “Never do anything that would hurt His Majesty.”