FROST
Chapter 71: Silvermist Vs. Gail

Chapter 71: Silvermist Vs. Gail

Later that night, when Silvermist, Mila, and Adeline finally returned to their chamber, the atmosphere shifted the moment the door creaked open.

The warm quiet they had hoped for was nowhere to be found as Gail was already pacing by the window, arms crossed and scowl locked in place like she had rehearsed it all evening.

The second they stepped in, Gail snapped her head toward them, eyes burning."Where have you been? What were you doing—no, better yet, what exactly did you do this time, Sil?"

Silvermist barely made it two steps into the room before Gail’s barrage of questions hit like a storm. Mila let out a long sigh, already reaching for her slippers, while Adeline shuffled behind them, visibly unimpressed by the drama awaiting them.

Gail didn’t mention anything about trailing them earlier that day—about how she and Amethyst had followed Mila and Adeline toward the West Wing only to lose them the second they crossed into the Hall.

Their presences had vanished completely like mist under sunlight, and whatever petty report she might’ve had vanished along with them.

Cullen, who had initially supported the idea of following them, had already dropped the suspicion after seeing how aggravated both Gail and Amethyst had become. It wasn’t worth the headache. But Gail? Now that her targets had returned, she wasn’t letting them go without answers.

"I mean, seriously!" Gail barked, stepping forward. "It’s always the same. You, Mila, and Adeline come back and everyone of us had to pretend like nothing happened. You think we’d be fine with that? You think the gods made this place so you could treat it like your personal playground? And damn..."she gasped. "What happened to your hair?"

Silvermist stopped at the edge of her bed, her hand still on the bedpost. She turned her head slightly toward Gail, her expression mocking. She had already anticipated that question, because c’mon. It’s so obvious. "Hair dye, no big deal and it’s not my obligation to report to you, Gail," she said coldly. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

That earned a sharp gasp from Matilda and a dramatic "Oh no she didn’t" from Candance, who had both been quietly sitting on their beds until now, watching the scene unfold like a live theater show with front-row seats.

"I have the rights to know, we all have!" Gail snapped, stepping closer. "Since all you’ve done since you arrived here is make everyone’s lives more complicated and even put all of our lives in danger, we demand to know what you have you been doing together with Adeline and Mila"—she gestured toward Mila and Adeline.

Mila, who had just started fluffing her pillow, rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they stayed in her skull. "Oh my gods, how many times do I have to tell you? I clearly repeated it at least five times earlier. We were sent on a mission personally assigned to us by the gods. It’s not some bedtime excuse, Gail. Which part of that sentence needs interpretive dance for you to get it?"

"Shut up, Sparrow! I’m not talking to you!" Gail shouted, jabbing a finger in Mila’s direction.

"Oh really?" Mila arched an eyebrow. "Could’ve fooled me. You literally said my name. Twice."

Gail was about to clap back when Adeline walked out of the bathroom, her face still damp, holding a towel that looked way too big for her tiny frame. None of them even noticed her entering the bathroom.

She strolled past Gail without sparing her a glance, her voice flat. "If you’re so jealous about us getting a personal mission from the gods, Gail, why not improve?"

Gail blinked, stunned.

Adeline turned around once she reached her bed, towel slung over her shoulder. "Seriously. Get stronger. Train better. Read more. Pray more. Do something other than hovering around Silvermist like a rejected security spirit. If you want to stay relevant, stop acting like an obsessed ex. Your lack of importance isn’t her problem—it’s yours."

"You brat!" Gail hissed through clenched teeth, her face red with fury.

Silvermist, who had been quietly sitting on the edge of her bed, ran a hand slowly across the soft fabric of her blanket. Without looking up, she spoke calmly—almost lazily.

"Or perhaps..." she began, her voice dripping with amusement. "This isn’t about the mission at all."

Her fingers stopped. She lifted her head, gaze sharp and glinting with wicked delight as she turned to Gail.

"Is it about Levi?"

The room went still. The other four girls gasped.

"Gail’s face contorted. "What—"

"You’re acting more desperate than usual," Silvermist went on, a small smirk curling at her lips. "I figured you’d gotten tired coming after me, but then, look who I met earlier."

"I—I don’t care about Levi!" Gail stammered, but the tremble in her voice gave her away. "I—I’m talking about everyone’s safety."

Silvermist tilted her head. "Mm-hmm. Sure."

Adeline flopped onto her bed with a yawn, now already dressed in her night gown. "This is better than the scrolls Mila reads me at night."

"I know, right?" Mila muttered, getting under the covers. "Drama and delusion. A perfect bedtime combo."

Gail sputtered, looking from girl to girl, furious and flustered, her arguments unraveling faster than her pride. The lights dimmed slightly as the room’s enchantment responded to the late hour.

And with a dismissive yawn, Silvermist pulled the blanket over her legs and said, "Now if you’re done screaming, Gail, some of us actually need sleep to recover from real responsibilities."

Gail stood frozen, fists clenched, jaw locked. Then—something in her snapped.

With a guttural yell, she thrust her hand forward. The air around her twisted violently, drawing in with a sharp whistle like a vortex collapsing on itself. A pulse of wind shot from her palm in the form of a searing air ball, charged with enough force to shatter bone.

"Sil!" Mila screamed, Adeline gasped.

But instinct kicked in. Silvermist rolled from the bed just as the spell detonated where she had been. The entire bed exploded with a deafening bang.

Feathers, splinters, and shreds of fabric burst into the air, raining down like ash from a battlefield. The mattress flipped and slammed against the wall, cracking the stone.

Silvermist hit the floor, chest heaving as she scrambled to her feet. She looked up sharply, now fully awake and wide-eyed.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?!" Mila shouted, placing herself between them again, but Gail wasn’t listening anymore. She was only muttering something behind gritted teeth.

Her hair whipped around her face as the air grew heavy and sharp, reacting to the storm of emotion she barely kept in check. "I’m so done with your arrogance," she seethed, voice breaking with fury. "You act like you’re way better than anyone—like you’re special. But you’re not. You’re just a parasite that drags the rest of us down!"

Silvermist stepped back, breath quickening. "You’re insane—"

A second blast rocketed toward her.

She dove to the side, rolling across the cold stone floor just as the wardrobe exploded behind her, sending shards of enchanted wood flying. Candance shrieked and shielded herself. She is unable to hold a barrier up that she had to hide behind her bedside table. Matilda scrambled out of her bed, shouting for someone to intervene.

Mila raised her hands to cast a barrier, but the wind around Gail surged and shattered it before it could form.

"Gail—enough!" Adeline shouted.

But Gail had lost it. Her voice cracked through the air like a whip. "I’ll tear that fake crown off your head myself!"

Silvermist was already running—dodging, weaving, but Gail was relentless. A final blast struck the chamber’s wall behind her. Stone cracked.

And then the wall exploded. The entire side of the chamber burst open in a roar of debris and wind. The bright night air screamed through the gaping hole, cold and wild.

Silvermist’s eyes widened as the ground vanished beneath her. She tried to grip the edge, but the sudden gust from Gail’s magic caught her mid-motion and knocked her back.

She fell. Her body spiraled downward from the height of the chamber they are in, stone and dust tumbling with her.

She reached out—called to her mana, but then... nothing answered. The sealing was in place.

A sickening dread bloomed in her chest. She couldn’t fly. Couldn’t soften the fall. Couldn’t do anything.

She crashed through the first canopy of enchanted ivy below, branches snapping under her weight. Then another—until she hit the earth, hard, with a brutal thud that forced the air out of her lungs.

She lay there, motionless, surrounded by a scattering of leaves, broken twigs, and remnants of her nightgown now torn and dirtied.

Somewhere above, voices were shouting. Chaos. Screams. Mila and Adeline calling her name.

But all Silvermist could hear was the ragged sound of her own breath—and the numbing throb in her ribs that told her if she didn’t do anything, she’d die.

Dirt clung to her arms, cuts bloomed across her knees, and something warm was trickling down her temple. Her breath came in short, sharp gasps as she tried to push herself up—only for her arms to buckle beneath her.

The impact had shattered the lower garden fountain. Its marble basin was split in half, water gurgling out like lifeblood into the ruined grass. Broken vines and twisted iron from the perimeter fence lay scattered across the crushed stone path. Cracks radiated from the epicenter of her fall, splitting through the tiled courtyard like lightning scars.

As she shifted, agony flared in her side—her ribs were likely fractured. Her arms trembled, palms bleeding from catching herself during the crash. She coughed and spat dirt.

Above her, wind stirred.

Silvermist’s head lifted slowly, her bloodshot eyes narrowing through strands of silver hair now matted with soil and sweat.

Gail hovered down from the shattered wall like a vengeful spirit. Her night gown danced with the wind, her face twisted with delight, madness barely masked behind her dead eyes.

Silvermist’s heart pounded. She didn’t even know Gail could bend wind this good. It carried her like she was born in it, and she landed with elegant cruelty a few paces away from Silvermist’s crumpled form. Her bare feet landed on the broken tiles beneath her.

"Look at you," Gail purred, pacing in a slow circle around her. "So proud. So powerful. Now on your knees—bleeding."

Silvermist said nothing. Her fingers dug into the dirt, trying to anchor herself as she pushed through the haze of pain.

Gail smirked. "Where’s your arrogance now, ah?"

Suddenly—flashes of light. Three figures teleported into the courtyard with resounding force—Ezekiel, Sebastian, and West.

"Gail!" Ezekiel’s voice boomed as he extended an arm, already conjuring a containment glyph.

But then a ripple of golden light appeared and a figure placed a hand on Ezekiel’s arm, stopping his movements.

East now stood between them in the blink of an eye, robes barely rustling from the flash of his arrival. With a simple wave of his hand, he blocked the three men with a translucent golden barrier that shimmered faintly like liquid sunlight before even one of them could cast a spell.

"Stay back," East said, calm but firm.

West’s expression hardened. "East! Undo this now," he groaned. "Silvermist doesn’t have any mana. She’s die."

"She won’t," East replied, eyes never leaving Silvermist.

Sebastian looked at him, fidgeting. "But, East!"

"Trust her." East’s tone turned unreadable. "Just trust her."

Ezekiel’s brow furrowed. As much as he wanted to trust Silvermist, the fact that he knows she can’t use her own magic makes his fists clench.

But East didn’t budge. "And yet, this is exactly the moment she must decide."

West stepped forward until he nearly touched the barrier, his voice low with fury. "You’re gambling with her life."

"I could be," East turned to West. "But everyone is watching... even the gods."

The silence that followed was heavier than the air around them.

"Will she let her rage take control again?" East murmured, lips quivering as he watch Silvermist crawl helplessly on the ground . "We needed this to save her from any brutal judgements from the gods once they found out about what’s happening between her and Frost."

They only looked at Silvermist, whose hands were now gripping the stone, blood dripping from her chin, and did nothing.

"This is the moment that will define her. Not the strength of her mana, but the strength of her choice," East mumbled.

Behind them, the rest of the apprentices began flooding into the scene, gasping at the ruined courtyard, the shattered fountain, and the girl on the ground.

But East raised a hand, and the crowd stayed behind the barrier—silent witnesses to what would come next.

Gail raised another blast of air, cruel delight still etched across her face. Silvermist, battered and broken, looked up at her with narrowed eyes, blood coating the corner of her lip—but not fear.

Slowly, Silvermist stood up, stretching her battered body. "Alright, Gail," she groaned. "Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you."

Gail grinned. "Bring it on."

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