“I really, really love it!” Meyara squealed in extreme happiness, she kept bouncing like a cute puppy. "It was incredible! Saves a lot of my precious time! Do you think we could make another deal so I can go back and forth here in a flash?”

“Uh … I don't think so. What more promises would I ask of you? You have fulfilled the most important thing.” Eva observed the men lying near the Lake of the Lost. Some of them were already sleeping soundly in no time. Meanwhile, Galen was looking at her, his gaze contained a meaning that was difficult to translate.

“Right! What else can I do for you … hmm.” Meyara tapped her own chin in serious thought. Her eyes almost seemed to be closed as she frowned deeply. “What about the sisters' agreement? We have to meet regularly to make sure one of us is still alive, share stories, give souvenirs ….”

“S-sister?”

“Stop right there." Adriel, who was getting fed up, finally spoke. “Don't push it, Meyara. You know very well that you don't want to be anyone's sister."

"But I can't lose this opportunity!"

“What opportunity? Aren't you ashamed about wanting to take advantage of Eva so openly?”

"Shame? The ones who should be ashamed are those men who are said to be mature and strong!" Instantly, the atmosphere that was originally calm turned tense after Meyara said this while pointing at Galen and his friends. "They go around proudly in the name of their responsibilities as heads of the family, while boasting that they only want to earn a living, but what? In fact, they only want to seek their own pleasure in life without the shadow of great seers!”

"You don't know what you're talking about, little girl.” Galen stepped up and growled under his breath. Very offended by the words of a girl he had only known for a short time.

"What? It’s true! You're all playing around out there while the women here are exhausted from worrying about you all the time!"

“Playing around? We’ve tried our very best, but nothing works. What else can we do?”

“You have to try harder! Is hunting animals and making something useful that difficult?”

“Again, you have no idea how we spent most of our time on the Everford river, moving from one land to another, hiding from royal soldiers who would never hesitate to put their damn guns to our heads just because we were a trespassing minority!”

While saying all that, Galen continued to step closer, until he was standing right in front of Meyara, the toes of their shoes touching. With great courage, Meyara remained upright, looking directly into the man's eyes while Galen's anger had reached its peak. Meyara could probably see the snow that was hit by his fiery words melting into a puddle.

Galen stole a glance at Eva, catching the sadness on the woman’s face. He took a deep breath before stepping back.

"Don't say anything if you don't have the slightest idea how hard it is to live out there. All that torture is beyond the suffering we feel living on this endless expanse of cursed ice."

Galen was about to leave, thinking that he had managed to get rid of all his frustration. However, after only taking no more than three steps, he was stopped again by Meyara's firm words.

“What right do you have to complain about all that in front of me, in front of the seers who have done everything for you? They are even willing to share their lives with you!” The girl threw a tantrum again. Even though she wasn't used to minding other people's affairs, she couldn't help but speak. All these problems reminded her of what her father once said.

Stolen story; please report.

“You don't know what it's like to be helpless, not that I expect you to, but darling, why don't you try to help these people?”

Why should she understand what it feels like to be hopeless? Why did everyone who faces a dead end ask for help from others instead of trying to find a way out themselves?

Meyara was really fed up with the competition over who was the most unfortunate in the world. Especially if she heard it from the mouth of a tall and muscular man, who should have no trouble toppling even a mountain.

She was also starting to get fed up with herself for taking advantage of situations like this to vent her own frustration which actually had nothing to do with Frostfell’s people. She might combust any moment now.

“Alright, that's enough. We're all too tired to have a proper conversation right now.” Adriel interrupted. He carefully kept Meyara out of everyone's sight, taking her to one of the igloos they had previously occupied. “Eva, do you mind if we stay here again? We need to rest even for a moment.”

The question broke Eva's trance. She, who had been silent all this time, immediately signaled to her friends to bring lots of warm clothes. “Of course I wouldn’t mind. We even intended to ask you to stay the night. It's very dangerous to travel in the dark, especially if you haven't had a good night's sleep before."

Adriel nodded and accepted everything the seers gave him and Meyara. Ignoring Galen who was still staring intently at them. They were just about to pass through the igloo entrance, when suddenly Meyara let go of Adriel's embrace and approached Eva once again.

“Curiosity will prevent me from resting in peace,” she said demandingly. She only needed a glance at the lake to make Eva understand what she meant.

“Okay. There's no harm in looking at the lake first before calling it a day. It will only take a moment.” Eva tried to convince Adriel, who looked ready to forcibly pull Meyara into the igloo. “Let's get closer to the edge of the lake."

Meyara swiftly followed behind Eva. Excitement coursed through her body, dispelling all the negative emotions that were initially languishing inside. She didn't know what to expect, or what she would see, but her body was almost buzzing in anticipation.

Adriel watched everything while keeping his distance. For some reason, he felt he shouldn't get too close to the lake water. He also wanted to pull Meyara away, but the girl was already kneeling with her upper body floating above the surface of the water. Her head tilted to the right as she studied the reflection of her own face.

“Have you started? Am I really not going to see anything?” the girl asked impatiently.

Eva chanted a spell while closing her eyes. Her other seer friends slowly approached, gathering near her for support. Meyara was still watching everything calmly until Eva finally opened her eyes.

It was almost too late for Meyara to stop herself from screaming in surprise. Eva's irises seemed to change color rapidly, and shook violently because of it. When she looked at the lake, her eyes burned orange like a blazing fire.

As if all that wasn't surprising enough, Eva suddenly gasped in surprise and started whimpering in pain. The woman squeezed her own chest before other seers hugged her body tight. Meyara rushed to her side in confusion.

“What? What do you see? Why are you reacting like that?” When Eva didn't answer amidst her labored breathing, Meyara turned to another seer. "Is it normal for her to be in pain like this? Is there something wrong?"

Meyara couldn't help but feel uneasy with the way things had changed. At first she had thought that reading the prophecy would look and feel calming, full of bright white colors, just like the atmosphere in Frostfell itself. However, what she had just seen from Eva's eyes could not be said to be reassuring at all.

She even swore that she had seen the lake water ripples a little more wildly than usual. It was as if the lake was holding back an explosion that was about to erupt from its deep waters.

For a few seconds, Eva just caught her breath, trying to get it back to normal. Her previously sullen face had returned to a calm expression when facing Meyara. Her seer friends were not far from her.

"I wanted to ask if you’re sure you still wanted to know everything, but just by looking at your eyes, I could tell that your resolve was made up," said the woman. “But I'm sure it will still come as a shock to even the toughest of humans.”

“Stop beating around the bush!” Meyara said firmly, but she seemed to continue biting her lower lip anxiously. Eva's words didn't help her calm down at all. "Just tell me everything you see. Don't diminish it in the slightest."

“There's a lot of fire and destruction in your future, Meyara.”

***