[His eyes widen in surprise as the creatures are impaled by shards of ice from someone other than himself. He's almost a little impressed, inclining his head in a gesture of acknowledgement. One cryomancer to another.]

You keep secrets, Emperor.

[Which would also be a conversation for another time. He tosses his ice axe into one of the creatures and follows Cao Pi towards the tavern, turning and shooting ice balls occasionally as he goes. He could freeze a small section of the square, but that would hit the non-hostile creatures as well. If it came to it he'd do that as a last resort, but the more innocents that could be spared (if the forest creatures could be called innocent) the better.]

Anyone with foresight would have barricaded the door. But I'm not sure many here are combatants.