Meera had just finished relaying what she had seen of the Cult's home. In the princess's cabins, there weren't many sorceresses present. There was Duinith, a daughter of Aksha, and a couple of others whose names Meera didn't know. Firaan was nowhere to be found, who was no doubt performing her sick experiments with what remained of Valan.

Meera almost felt bad for the severed head, but then he had killed Drysa, and all the sympathy evaporated into thin air.

Like she had expected, the daughter of Aksha stared daggers at her. No doubt it chaffed her that Meera was able to find out so much more than she had in the two weeks she had. Duinith was pacing the room in deep contemplation. The other sorceresses were watching her nervously and wouldn't meet Meera's gaze. They would steal glances her way and then quickly look away, as if they were scared to meet her eyes.

She couldn't fault them, after all, they were being forced to work with the person who had destroyed their home, and very way of life.

"So, are you thinking something, or are you just pacing to keep the weight off?" Meera called.

Duinith stopped immediately and glared at her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Rehia cut her off.

"Meera," Rehia said sternly.

Meera raised her hands. "Okay, okay. I won't antagonize your witches anymore."

"Duinith, what has you so concerned?" Rehia asked politely. In a tone that Meera would not have expected the princess to take with anyone.

The old witch sighed, looking almost human. "It is the walls, Your Highness. If what Meera reported is true, then we must be cautious in how we proceed."

That's obvious.

"How so?" Rehia frowned. "It just seems like an ice wall, nothing that we should have a problem smashing through."

"Yes, but those symbols that Meera saw, which very well could be runes. Magical runes that were etched into the wall to make it impervious to magical attacks, and seeing as how all our skills are magic-based, we might have a hard time breaking through it."

"How do you know that?" Meera countered. "You haven't even seen the wall."

"No, but Aksha reported the same," Duinith said. "Those are runes, though of which variety I cannot say. Though Ilona might." She snapped her head to one of the sorceresses, and they ran to fetch Ilona. "We're lucky that she was able to survive…" Her eyes snapped to Meera for a brief moment before she continued. "The dragons."

"Then we should be taking her to the boundary wall," Rehia said, reading Meera's mind. "The best way she can help us is for her to see the runes herself."

"I agree, Your Highness," Duinith said.

A long, awkward moment seemed to stretch on to eternity, where no one knew what to say or if anything needed to be said at all. But one thing was certain—the hateful and nervous glances towards Meera never stopped. To which she always gave them a smug smile. She knew she was playing in a pit of vipers, that she was the villain to their stories. Perhaps even more so than the dragons, but it wasn't her that set the dragons on them. Nor was it she who decided to make their home in the petrified body of an Archdragon. They did all that and suffered the consequence.

Ilona finally arrived, saving them all from having to breathe the same air. She was a petite woman who didn't look any older than Meera, but then she could be a century old. One could never tell with these sorceresses. She had a mole under her right eye, which accentuated her beauty. Her lustrous black curls were perfect, even despite the hard travel of the past few days.

Meera hated her instantly.

No matter how hard she tried, she could never in her life look that pretty and those curls…She found her anger surging again, and she cursed Garas, the Phoenix Protector, who had butchered her hair in their fight. It still hadn't regrown to its original length. Just one death was not enough for him. She wished she could kill him at least one more time.

She drew a deep breath and focused on the new sorceress.

[Sorceress of Letters – Level 348]

Meera squinted. "I thought she would be the sorceress of Runes."

"No, that would be her mistress, Raisa," one of the names sorceresses said through gritted teeth. "She fell to your treachery."

Meera shrugged. "Well then, curse your gods that they put me in your path."

She drew a sharp breath. "You—"

Duinith clicked her tongue, and the woman quieted immediately. It was like someone had flipped a switch, and the sorceress lost her ability to speak altogether, but the older sorceress couldn't take the vitriol from the woman's face.

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Duinith turned to Ilona without even glancing at Meera. "Ilona, how efficient you are with runes? Can you identify a set of runes that are etched in an ice wall?"

The woman looked like she had been asked to sit in for an exam that she hadn't studied for. She gulped. "I should be able to. After all, runes are letters."

"Then let's head out," Meera said, standing up.

Everyone in the room, save for the princess, tensed up at that. The unnamed sorceress who had spoken before even had Mana swirling inside her. The daughter of Aksha was close behind. There was a part of Meera that hoped they would attack, but they didn't.

"Relax, everyone," Meera said. "You guys are all so tense. I can take her to the boundary wall within minutes. No one here has that capability, and I am the strongest one here."

She said the last bit to gauge Duinith's reaction, who was about a hundred levels higher than her. And Duinith did not disappoint. Her nostrils flared, and for a brief moment, her Mana spiked, but she got it under control immediately.

"That's a good idea, Meera," Rehia said. "You can take Ilona to survey the wall. We'll await your return."

"But Princess—" Duinith started, but Rehia silenced her with a hand.

"Meera is a part of our merry band now, and I trust her not to intentionally harm anyone."

"Of course not," Meera replied. "I'm not a sadist, piece of shit that likes to treat people like garbage and pass decrees like desecrating the dead."

Duinith squinted her eyes, and she didn't need her Essence attribute to see the hateful aura bursting out of the witch. In a way, Meera wanted her to attack, as that would give her a legitimate reason to put this one out of her misery. Though, Kalrina would never forgive her for killing Duinith by her lonesome but at least the worlds will be a better place without this one.

She passed the old sorceress a smile and moved for Ilona, but Duinith blocked her path.

"If you do something to the girl—"

"You will do nothing," Meera interjected. "Didn't Veridiana forbid you from harming me? Now, get out of my way, you're wasting time."

She didn't budge from her spot.

Meera stepped up until they were face to face. "Move or be moved."

"Duinith," Rehia said. "Please step aside."

The older sorceress stayed put

"I won't ask again."

Finally, Duinith stepped aside, but the aura coming off her was one part rage and one part humiliation.

"Thank you," Meera said. Then she smiled at Ilona. "Come, let's go flying. Oh, don't be scared, I haven't dropped anyone…yet."

None of the other sorceresses seemed to like the idea of sending Ilona with Meera, but then they weren't in charge anymore. They had to be good little girls and follow orders.

Meera put the sorceress on the ground, a little rougher than she could've. Ilona let out a small cry as she fell on her behind, dirtying her pretty clothes. Meera had expected them to be wearing dresses, as they had gone to war like last time. But they couldn't be blamed then since they were forced to evacuate the dragon keep so suddenly.

"You could have let me down a little lighter," she protested as she rose, dusting herself off.

"It's just a little dust," Meera replied. "You'll be fine. The Winter Spire is that way. We're walking the rest of the way."

They were still far from the wall and within the forest. She had let them down here because she didn't want to risk getting exposed so fast. She could get away quickly, but having to lug this sorceress around would slow things down somewhat.

They walked in silence, with Meera in front. Though she always had the sorceress in her sight. People always betrayed themselves when they didn't think that Meera had eyes in the back of her head. One thing became certain to her that this girl didn't have a single bone of self-preservation in her body.

She was more worried about her appearance than about herself. She kept fidgeting with her clothes and making sure her curls were fine. She hardly glanced around at the trees, trying to assess her surroundings.

Oh my God, I was just like her. Well, maybe not as superficial as that, but still quite similar.

She was driven by her need to find Neel, whereas this woman seemed vain. Finally, Meera couldn't take it anymore.

She stopped walking and turned around. "You're not taking a stroll through your backyard. You're in enemy territory. Keep an eye out for the enemy. Look for signs of danger. The way you're walking, you're going to walk right into a trap and not even know it."

"And whose fault is it that I'm in danger?" she shot back accusingly.

Meera frowned. "Hey, it's not my fault that they had no one else to send with me."

"Yes, it is," she snapped. "If you hadn't brought that archdragon, I wouldn't be here. I would never have to leave Akhessai. Mistress Raisa would have never died trying to protect me." Tears brimmed in her eyes. She sniffed. "Not all of us are fighters. I never wanted to…I only meant to learn. To gain knowledge, and I didn't mean to fight and be pulled into wars with all that death."

"If you were anyone else, I would feel sad for you, but you're a sorceress, so…" Meera shrugged.

"Why, just because I'm a sorceress, I don't deserve any sympathy. If that was the case, then why did you work with Kalrina? She murdered people."

"I know exactly what she's done and what's been done to her."

"And is it so hard for you to show me the same sympathy?" Ilona said. "I was sold to the sisterhood by my father when he learned that I had a hint of magical capability. I didn't want this life, but I had just passed the test and become a sorceress when you barged into my home. So, yes, you put me into all this danger. I would've been content and safe back at the dragon keep if you hadn't shown up with that murderer."

Meera drew a deep breath, stepped up, and placed a hand on her shoulder, making her flinch. "If I'm so dangerous, then you should take care in how you speak to me."

The girl was trembling, and Meera felt bad for her now, but she couldn't change the past. She had done things that she had felt were best back then, because the sorceresses, the dragons, and the Cult had left her no other choice. But even if a few of them were good, that didn't excuse the fact that they had wanted to keep her prisoner.

"Let's go finish what we came here to do," Meera said.

The girl gave a trembling nod.

It didn't take them long to reach the edge of the woods. Meera motioned for her to stay low, and they hunkered down behind a low bush.

The sorceress gasped when she saw the boundary wall. "I've never seen those runes before."

"So, they are runes?"

"Yes, but the language must be ancient," Ilona said. "It's like an amalgamation of a bunch of languages. That letter seems like some form of Sarahi. That one seems like Irothi, and that one is from the dead language, Nemshal. How can that be?"

Meera tapped her on the shoulder. "We're going to have to answer that back at camp."

"Huh?" She frowned and looked up at Meera.

"We have company," Meera whispered.

They did indeed have company. A patrol of Frostweavers must've spotted them hiding in the bushes and were moving from tree to tree, trying to encircle them. They were waiting to make a move on them once they were all in position.

"What do we do?" Ilona asked.

"Fight."

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