RAVENNA'S FINGERS TAPPED against the table in front of her. Anxiety sizzled through her. It was hard to breathe, hard to focus. Her mind kept darting from one thought to another. Ice soldiers surrounded her, pressed within all the crevices of the dining hall. Almost every chair around her was occupied. She and Vyses had worked all night to create their massive army, only stopping to take a break when rays of sunlight began to filter through the windows of the castle.

She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat, her arms folding across her chest. Slowly, she sucked in a deep breath and forced it back out.

Would their soldiers even be enough?

Someone cleared their throat. Her eyes fluttered open. Vyses stood had taken a seat in the chair across from her. His eyebrows were arched. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine," she assured him. She spied the food that he'd prepared spread out atop the table. "Is this breakfast?"

He nodded. "We should go ahead and eat. Lyth should return to join us soon." He hesitated for a moment, his gaze focused on her face. "I have to admit, lass. I am very curious to see what he has to say about the King's army."

"I am too," she agreed. She eyed one of the soldiers that sat beside her. It sat, back ram-rod straight, in its chair. It was unmoving, immobile as a solid block of ice. "I hope all of the soldiers will be enough."

"They will be," Vyses said. He smiled reassuringly at her. "Our soldiers are much stronger than humans. It will just as it has been with the guards in each town that we've freed, our soldiers are no match for them."

Ravenna let out a quiet sigh. A strange rustle sounded from behind her. She glanced back over her shoulder, just in time to see a bright, crimson colored light appear. The light stretched, morphing into a tall, rectangular shape. Lyth stepped out of it.

"You're back!"

He blinked at her, his expression stoic. His gaze shifted to Vyses. "I did as you asked," he announced.

"What did you learn?" Vyses asked.

Lyth eyed the ice soldiers that stood around him. "I believe that the King's army consists of five hundred men, roughly. There were several rumors floating around. A few of his soldiers are trained, pulled from the kingdom's official military reserves. Others are merely random citizens who were drafted to fight. The army left the Capitol about a day ago, and has roughly four days of travel before they reach our borders."

Vyses smirked. "Extended times of peace and comfort do tend to make humans ignorant," he remarked. "We will easily out number and over power them. We have nothing to fear."

Ravenna instantly felt more relaxed. It was good to know when the fight would take place, instead of constantly having to anticipate a surprise army outside the city walls. She stood and stretched out her arms. "I think I will go explore the market," she announced.

Lyth took her seat. He pulled a plate of food closer to him and started to inhale it. Vyses bid her goodbye and continued to discuss the rumors with Lyth. Their voices were quickly lost as Ravenna weaved through soldiers that lingered in the halls. She made her way toward the grand entrance, her fingertips brushing over the spell that ensnared her wrist. Crowds were only good for pickpocketing —and there was no use in trying to pick the pockets of the soldiers that surrounded her.

The ice soldiers spilled out into the forest that surrounded the castle. It was like walking through a crowded market, or a crowd that surrounded a public execution. The soldiers did their best to move out of her way, but it was hard for them to move themselves. They shuffled this way and that, pushing against each other and the trees to make space for her.

When she made it to the gate, she managed to breathe out a sigh of relief. The soldiers had thinned out enough, allowing her anxiety to fizzle out. She stepped through the portal. The magic washed over her —a familiar feeling of warmth scanning over her body. She opened her eyes and looked around the marketplace.

A strange sense of sadness flooded through her.

The market seemed different. It wasn't as vibrant as she remembered.

Ice soldiers clung to the edges of the market, quietly patrolling the streets. Even with their modified armor, they seemed to blend into the background, muted reds and blues hidden within buildings made from weathered wood. There weren't as many townsfolk in the market —at least it wasn't as crowded as it had been the last time she'd ventured into it. The humans that did roam around were quiet, withdrawn. There were no laughing children, no shouting vendors. Only hurried footsteps and brisk conversation.

Ravenna immediately searched for the bakery. It didn't take long to find. Most of the tables were empty. An older man stood behind the counter, his sleeves rolled to his elbows and his hands kneading a mound of dough. He greeted Ravenna with a small, welcoming smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Hello, how can I help you?"

She hesitated in the doorway, her gaze flickering around the bakery. "Something seems different today," she remarked. She moved further into the room, taking a seat at one of the tables. "What is going on?"

The baker paused. His gaze dropped, away from her face, and focused on the dough in front of him. "I suppose you are new to town," he said.

"I am." She watched his reaction carefully.

His jaw clenched. A few moments of silence passed, and then she noticed glassy tears building within the corners of his eyes. He took a deep breath and then flashed her a smile. "You really picked a bad time to visit," he told her. "I'm sure that you've noticed the magical creatures that plague our town."

"The ice soldiers?"

He nodded. "Have you heard the rumors?"

"Not really," she admitted. "I have been traveling over the last month or so. This is the first town that I've seen them appear in."

The baker pushed the dough aside. He dipped his hands into a bucket of water and dried them on his dirt-stained apron. "They appear out of nowhere," he told her. He rounded the counter and pulled out the seat across from her. "No one knows where they come from. Rumor has it that they are connected to some travelers, but we don't know who they are or how to stop them. All we do know is that they come into our town, our homes, and kill anyone with military training. Anyone who dares to protect our city. It doesn't matter how young or old."

That kind of disturbed Ravenna. She frowned at the baker and folded her arms across her chest. "Surely no children are harmed."

"Most of the younger ones are too scared to react. My neighbor lost his boy, only twelve years of age, to the attack yesterday." The baker seemed to sink down into his seat. "My daughter lost her betrothed."

"Oh," Ravenna breathed.

"Our town is still recovering," the baker told her. "That is the difference that you see. We are mourning. We are grieving at the loss of our loved ones."

"I am so sorry for your loss," she told him, earnestly. She genuinely meant it. It hurt her to know that so many people grieved. It was also necessary, though. She had witnessed firsthand how corrupt, how evil the Imperial guards were. Their sadness would eventually heal with time. Their hearts would move on.

For now, it was just a necessary evil.

The baker nodded. "Thank you," he said. "I can't imagine that you could completely understand what it means to lose so much. I hope that you never experience something like this."

Silence passed between them. Ravenna opened her mouth, prepared to respond with something kind, when a massive tremor shook the city. The walls around them quaked, dirt and small splinters of wood raining down upon their heads. Both she and the baker bolted to their feet and rushed outside.

Bells rang across the city walls —a frenzied sound of alarm chorusing through the city streets. Ice soldiers rushed toward the entrance to the city as humans fled indoors.

"What is happening?"

"We are under attack!" The baker pulled at her arms. "We need to get inside, now!"

She shook herself free of his grasp and darted out into the streets. Attacked. The city was under attack. That meant that the king's army was already here —a whole four days earlier than expected.

And that meant that Lyth had been wrong.

hey friends!

I just wanted to give you a heads up that I think this is the last "normal" sized chapter. The next 5-6 chapters will be roughly 700 words a pop (and it will be noticable, considering this chapter is literally 1400 words). Again, I'm really sorry about the length .-. 

Thank you so much for being so patient with me! I really appreciate it so much! ❤