Published at 5th of August 2022 12:29:10 PM

Today is especially cold.

Coming from a winter region person, that meant something, Ilyin thought. Even the inside of the mansion was cold the first time she'd felt cold in the mansion. Of course, other people in the mansion had felt it before.

It wasn't just because she spent a lot of time inside. Just recently when Ilyin collapsed the mansion had been quite cold. Of course, today the reasons were different.

The snowstorm outside is severe.

If Aden raised the temperature for the mansion, then shouldn't the outside be raised as well? But today, even the grounds just outside the doors were cold.

Is April normally like this? she asked.This must be the actual April, she thought. But the maid changing her bedsheets shook her head.

No, ma'am. I've never seen weather like this before.

If someone who'd lived her entire life in the winter said that it meant this was especially cold weather. Ilyin looked outside worriedly.

I heard that the colder it is the stronger Yesters are, she said.

Yes ma'am.

The entire mansion thought Grandmaster Den left, but of course, all the 7th floor Delrose knew that Aden had left. The maid who changed Ilyin's bedsheets fluffed the pillows and added thicker blankets before she finished tidying.

You should be warmer tonight!

Everyone is sleeping warmly, right?

It seemed the maids in the Arlen mansion had been given terrible beds. Ilyin remembered the rundown building they and the other servants had been shoved into. What was Delrose like? She should take the time to look one day.

Of course! said the maid. She sounded confident, and Etra looked relieved. Ilyin smiled thankfully and lay down on the bed.

Be well, ma'am. Call me if you need anything.

Etra and the maid bowed deeply and hustled out, leaving the room quiet. Ilyin looked out the window. The snowstorm outside made the world a blank field of white.

Feeling strangely anxious, she brushed the back of her hand, the hand Aden had held tightly. Like him, she was hoping everyone would be fine.

***

She felt swirling movement again. Ilyin opened her eyes and instantly felt enveloped in a surreal feeling. It was all too familiar, the rushing movement around her.

It was the same foresight she'd had last time. April, the terrible blizzard, Yesters screaming in a whiteness so heavy one couldn't see ahead. All the same as before. The way they were shoving each other was the same.

This was the future Ilyin knew.

The Yesters that run into the Shiny Elo's territory would hit the Wall of Light and bounce off. They would clamber over themselves, grinding each other into the wall with all their might to try to break it down.

Kyak!

The Wall of Light would hold. Because it was already shown to her that it would.

But then why was she having the dream again? Ilyin looked around anxiously. Something must be about to change, but what?

The distance between Yesters and the Elo closed quickly. Even though Elo's Wall stood before them, the Yesters rushed without hesitation. Just like the Yesters that ran in the coldest winds, they moved much faster in this storm.

Kyaaaak!

The Yesters rushed past her. Soon, Elo's Wall would shine.

[Ahhhhh!]

Then the dream changed. Thefuturechanged, and Ilyin couldn't believe her eyes. The Wall of Light didn't refuse the Yesters they pierced through it and flowed inside.

The knights standing within, who'd believed the wall would hold them out, were stuck with surprise and overwhelmed.

[Ah]

It was a tragedy beyond imagining. Ilyin had no words. She wanted to turn away but couldn't. Even if she'd closed her eyes, the sounds were too real to ignore.

The Yesters that had crossed the Elo's boundary without resistance went straight forward and began destroying everything. The garrison building the knights were using collapsed, and the flustered knights that hurried out with swords drawn all went down swiftly under the Yesters' attack. Covered with Yesters, many of the yellow buildings of Elo soon looked orange as the sunset.

[Stop them!]

From what Ilyin could see, there was no proper command structure among the Elo's knights. With only the panicked need to stop the Yesters but no organization, no strategy they had no hope of mounting an effective defense.

Kill the ones holding swords first!

The Yesters weren't stupid. They knew which humans were the biggest threat to them.

[Your Majesty, the Wall of Light isn't there!]

Ilyin heard Idith's urgent voice. She moved slightly, and in the dream, she was suddenly near the Delrose knights. Aden's horse raced through the snow. Aden's teeth were clenched, one hand held out in front toward the travesty before him, the blue light of the divine power shining from it more brightly than she'd ever seen.

Kyak!

The Yesters before him. As though knowing staying grouped together meant defeat, they spread out and began attacking the helpless people of Elo.

Thump, thump!

A vibration resonated through the ground and up through her body, pounding like her own heart. It was like the sound of a many-legged beast running through the blizzard, and it thundered in her ears as though it were right beside her.

But it wasn't on this battlefield but rather coming from a hill away off. As Elo's buildings fell before her, she turned and moved herself to the source of the sound.

Kyak!

It was more Yesters many more. A throng of them huger than any she'd ever seen in her foresight, and all running toward Elo's territory.

A second wave.