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Liorah

“There. That wasn’t so hard was it?” Lorcan said, confidently.

The black, slimy creature knit itself together again. I raised an eyebrow.

“Brilliant. You were very successful,” I said, sarcastically.

Misu assessed the situation. The black, slimy creatures were coming nearer and nearer, coating the floor in oily slime, like oversized snails.

I felt the ripple of uneasiness as Misu stared at the creature. Then there was a flash of light so bright it hurt my eyes. There were eyes and wheels and so much light I felt sick. My knees were trembling and I hurriedly looked away, covering my eyes against the light.

“– of the glory of his kingdom forever and ever,” I hadn’t even realized I was praying until it was over. Well, I needed all the help I could get.

The light had vanished and Misu stood before the charred ashes of the slimy creature. The dark skies were a harsh contrast with Misu’s light, which still left glowing spots on my vision. If I’d had any doubts about him being a Messenger, that had passed. It matched the vague descriptions I’d heard, though they hadn’t even come close.

I gave a nervous giggle, a ridiculous response considering my trembling knees and pounding heart.

“I get what you were going for and I appreciate it, but a heads-up would be nice next time,” I told Misu, still giggling.

Ferran crushed one of the creatures with his staff but it bounced back, not in the least harmed. He smacked the creature halfway across the room, which was far more effective. Azar was yapping, tail swooshing in utmost delight. She hadn’t had this much fun in weeks.

“Do we have any weapons besides blinding heavenly light? You know, most of us can’t do that, last time I checked,” Ferran said, dryly.

“How would I know? Do you think I encounter these often?” I asked,

“I wouldn’t be surprised at anything.”

“Let’s burn them and toss the ashes to the wind,” I said, dramatically.

“Why do your solutions always involve fire? I’m getting concerned.”

“You should.”

Ferran didn’t reply but dug around in a pouch at his belt, similar to the ones used to carry money.  It was a small rock, and he drew his knife.

“Ferran, to your left,” I warned.

“Keep them off for a minute, could you?” Ferran asked.

I hurled another stone at the massive wolf charging toward us. They were the least of our problems, considering the murder slime, but we couldn’t neglect them. Ferran trusted me to protect him and I wasn’t going to let anything go wrong.

There was a shower of sparks as he struck the flint. One of them landed on an oily creature.

There was a fountain of blinding light as the creature exploded, far too near Ferran. A part of a building crumbled, then collapsed with a shattering crash, landing in between me and him. I couldn’t see him.

The light from one creature’s explosion touched on another and it happened again, the bang making my ears ring.

“Ferran?”

Nothing.

I couldn’t see anything. Where was he? Was he alright? Had he gotten hurt? I wasn’t going to let that happen. I couldn’t let it happen, he’d trusted me.

I pulled myself onto the crumbling, smoking ashes of the building next to me, and scrambled over the ruins. My foot caught and I slid sideways, barely managing to keep myself from falling. My knees scraped across the rubble. My hands were raw already but I kept running, barely noticing the height and the rubble around me.

There was rubble on three sides. I couldn’t get past it. I looked up, it was higher than my head but jagged. I gritted my teeth and climbed, my feet slipping with every step. I was so high now, almost twice my height off the ground. My stomach churned at the view of the sharp ruins at the bottom.

I slowly got to my feet, trying to see past more rubble to where I had last seen Ferran.

My foot slid toward the edge of the building. I took a step backward, but the sheet of metal I was standing on was slippery and now I completely lost my footing. I was still trying to grab at the edge when I was already in mid-air.

I was going to die. What did this castle have with high places? Was that really necessary? I was going to die and my last thoughts were sarcastic. This was spectacular.

I hit the ground almost as hard as I feared, barely managing to break my fall with my back and shoulder as I’d learned.

“Ow, was that necessary?” Ferran asked.

I opened my eyes. I didn’t remember closing them. I had somehow managed to crash into Ferran and knock him off his feet even though I hadn’t seen him, or perhaps he’d seen me falling and had tried to break my fall. He was looking down at me with a combination of amusement and worry.

“I should be asking you that. It exploded and I didn’t see you,” I said, spitefully. My voice caught, and I realized my throat burned with barely suppressed tears of sudden relief.

“I was right here, I’m fine. Didn’t you get hurt?” he asked, worried.

“No, but you scared me,” I said, getting to my feet. I sounded angry. Why?

“I didn’t mean to, but someone needs to take a note that those things are highly flammable,” he commented, then got up himself.

We were close, trapped in by the piles of rubble. I tried to take a step backward, then tripped on a loose rock. Ferran barely reached out and caught me around the waist before I cracked my head open on the rocks.

My original purpose had spectacularly failed and we were now closer than before. I looked up, somehow both embarrassed and amused at our ridiculous predicament. Why was my heart racing so ridiculously fast and why was Ferran blushing?

He let go of me so hastily I almost fell again.

“So, now we have to get out of here,” he said, hurriedly.

“I suppose,” I said, rubbing my temple, trying to focus again. Why could I still feel his arm around me? I was ridiculous and stupid, and silly. I shook my head. We were in the process of dying and I couldn’t think about anything except how worried he’d looked when he’d asked if I was hurt.

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@noah-cochran

I actually wrote this before you posted and now the storylines don’t match up XD Oops XD I love Hugon more with every passing post, he’s almost as sassy as Liorah XD