The silence that followed Jacob's death lasted exactly long enough to register.
Then the two elders at the back of the formation moved.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
They didn't wait for an order.
The moment the head left the body both of them were already pushing through the crowd, cutting forward through the guard formation with the particular urgency of people who had just watched something happen that could not be allowed to stand without a response.
"That!!!"
One went straight for Ember.
A hand reached out with the full weight of a great mage behind it, aimed at her head, the intent clear and simple and completely without hesitation.
Crush.
"Fool!!"
Ember didn't step back.
She met the reach with both palms already igniting, sparks catching into full flames in the space between one breath and the next, scorching through the elder's robes before he could close the distance properly and forcing him to pull the hand back or lose it.
She pushed into the space his retreat created.
