ShadowSong [Book 1 & 2: Complete] [NaNoWriMo16/17]

Chapter 79 - Something Will Burn

Week 1 NaNo Vote Goal #1: 185

Cryo did a lap to assess the situation from an aerial perspective before he landed.

With her long, dark hair in pigtails, Ella was easy to spot, as was Olivia beside her, auburn ponytail pulled over her shoulder. The pair were surrounded by a swarm of guards in shiny helmets that had a set of eyes on every direction. From what Cryo could tell, every guard was fully armoured and equipped with a sword and two lightblasters each.

After a quick glance around the courtyard to confirm there were no suspicious individuals lurking in the shadows, Cryo descended and landed among the guards with a blast of icy wind.

"You sure make an entrance, don't you?" said Ella, brushing her fringe back into position. "I wasn't sure how long we were going to be waiting for you, but given the way you speak Temple I should have known you'd be precisely on the dot."

Cryo raised an eyebrow. "Speak Temple, you say?"

"Yep," said Ella. "All formal and ridiculous." She wrapped an arm around Olivia's shoulders and pulled her close, much to the caution of the guards around her. "Good thing I have Liv with me, or I'm pretty sure I'd go insane today just from listening to you and all these Pillar guards talk."

"Are we good to go?" said Olivia, glancing at Cryo before she quickly snatched her gaze away.

Cryo felt like he'd been stabbed.

The captain of the guard straightened and turned towards Cryo. "We have prepared the Gleamerbike carriages to take us to the hospital. On the Cryophoenix's command, we will move."

Cryo swallowed down everything but his duty and gave the guard one sharp nod, making an effort to keep his gaze away from Olivia. He was doing the best thing for her. For him. He had to be. He would take that stab to his heart a million times if it meant she would never take one to hers. "Let us go."

The guards--all seven of them--took their formation around Ella and Olivia, led by their captain at the front. Cryo took his place behind the two girls, who leaned in close to each other, whispering and pointing with a variety of laughs and giggles. Ella didn't look anything like the girl that had been in the holding cell the past few days. She didn't look like the girl who had spoken to Jason about the hurt she didn't know how to deal with. She didn't look like the girl who had been overtaken by the compulsive urge to draw, or the one who had faced both Banshee and himself and told them that she was not going to let the Serpent control her.

Yet, if Cryo watched her long enough, he saw how her fingers kept lifting up to fiddle with the ends of her pigtails draped over her shoulders. He saw how she kept holding her breath and glancing around when Olivia wasn't looking, like she expected to find someone standing at every corner, waiting for her, watching.

And... on the few occasions he allowed himself a glance at Olivia, there was something different about her, too. It wasn't quite nerves, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was that quiet steel that let her face down anyone without backing down. A determination to stay firm and steadfast with the girl beside her.

Many would have dubbed her the weakest target in their group, the most defenseless, but to Cryo, she was by far the strongest.

Their group made it to the skyshrine at the edge of temple grounds where the Gleamers had been parked. A few Speakers stood at attendance, straightening up at their arrival. They assisted with the organisation, and as was the true temple way, they were extraordinarily efficient and the guards and the girls were boarded and driving off the golden starstone within minutes.

Cryo flew overhead, maintaining a height that would leave him relatively unnoticeable at a single glance towards the group, yet allow him to intervene quickly if trouble appeared. He kept his wing beats steady, his frost reined in and his eyes sharp. A group this large moving through the city would draw attention, but it wasn't entirely out of the ordinary. The presence of a Luminary, however, would only cement the fact that they were expecting trouble.