The relief at the sight of the soldiers of Song and Snow fleeing back the way they'd come put Chenzhou and Mingzhe on their knees. Along with many others, whose energy and willingness to fight, or rather their ability, left them as their enemy fled, and two sleepless days of panicking finally caught up with them.
Most of them collapsed where they stood, gasping for air as their muscles twitched from overexertion. Even the horses seemed to collapse under the weight, lying down right next to their riders.
Chenzhou's legs were so weak he couldn't stand; they started shaking so hard his knees knocked together when he tried, so he crawled back to Eirian, ignoring the scorched earth cutting through his gloves and into his palms.
Mingzhe stumbled after him, and they found Eirian with Vitali, Wayland, and Tanning nearby. The three sub-commanders were sprawled on their backs, staring up at the sky, eyes vacant. Chenzhou paused to check that they were still breathing.
They were just so exhausted that they looked dead. His own sub-commanders and Mingzhe's probably weren't faring any better. Wherever they were.
Eirian looked like some abnormal dwarven-like thing emerging from their egg. Chunks of her were falling away, like pieces of an eggshell, revealing the bloody layer underneath. It made his stomach bubble and gurgle and rise like it was going to empty itself all over the ground.
But as he got closer, he could see fresh, pink skin underneath, like a newborn emerging from the womb.
Parts of her face were swollen and singed. Her eyebrows, lashes, and most of her hair were either gone or had taken on that crimped, fragile state that would break away at the slightest movement. She looked horrifying but powerful. Still alive and breathing and victorious.
Chenzhou fell to his knees in front of her, heartbreaking because he knew how proud she'd been of her hair and how carefully she took care of her appearance. It would bother her for a while, until she'd recovered some level of them. "Eirian?"
She winced, her lips bloody, but after a moment she managed a small nod. Clumps of her hair fell away.
Chenzhou reached out to touch her and recoiled at the last moment. She looked so fragile that it occured to him that touching her would only make it worse. "I- can I touch you?"
She looked down at herself, or tried to. Her movements were limited and jerky. "N-no."
"I'm going to find a healer." Mingzhe swallowed. Pale and shaking, he managed to push to his feet. He just stood there for a moment, looking at Eirian and Chenzhou, with something complicated in his eyes. "I-" He stopped, chewed on his lip. He wasn't the type to be overly emotional or to display any notable amount of emotion in public, but it seemed to overwhelm him now.
Chenzhou could understand the feeling. The terror and awe that had filled him watching Eirian unleash her magic had been more draining than the flight from the wildfire. He'd thought he'd seen the expanse of her abilities before, but that was nothing compared to what she had done here.
Chenzhou hadn't understood at first. He doubted anyone had when the wildfire had seemingly changed direction and converged on Eirian. It had reached such heights that it would have blocked the sun from view if the smoke hadn't already done so. Even though the smoke was still so thick the world was covered in darkness.
But they'd all seen the fire absorbed into Eirian's magic and then into her.
Chenzhou couldn't even begin to imagine how that was possible, wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own two eyes.
Eirian croaked and tried to speak. It sounded painful, raspy, and low. "Hu- hu-" She looked frustrated at herself. Mingzhe took half a step forward, like he could help her, before sharing a frustrated glance with Chenzhou. Neither of them was capable of helping her, and it stung. "-ry. Hu- ry."
Carefully, she reached up and touched her throat.
"Hu- ry?" Chenzhou repeated, sounding it out and then, "Oh! Hungry!"
Eirian looked relieved, and Chenzhou felt inordinately proud of himself.
A laugh bubbled out of him that he couldn't contain, and along with an immense wave of relief, lifting some of the weight off him. "Of course, you're hungry." If Eirian was hungry, she was going to be fine.
They were all going to be fine.
Mingzhe snorted, clamping a hand over his mouth, and Chenzhou had to turn away from him, lest he start laughing too.
Eirian glared at them as best she could, but it looked more like an awkward wink crossed with a sneeze in her current state, which was too much for both of them.
The soldiers and tribesmen around them watched the three of them as Mingzhe and Chenzhou collapsed into helpless laughter, like they were mad.
~ tbc