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@rose-colored-fancy

I agree with your less evil plan to instate the evil plan later. XD

And oh my. I’ve never met Liorah, but she sounds… terrifying. It might be really interesting to see how Niarok reacts to her, though, so if you ever bring her in again… XD

 

Yila

Yila stared deep into the flames of the fire. Why was it that she only cried on Niarok’s shoulder when there were other people around?

Why couldn’t she just be strong in front of them and weak when no one but her brother could see?

He was the only person she trusted anyway, mostly because he was the only one who could understand.

And even he hadn’t seen her admission of guilt coming, even with his discernment that had gotten her out of about three hundred and thirty seven or so messes.

At least he knew now.

She could see that time coming when they’d have a deep discussion about it when no one else was around. She couldn’t decide if she was excited about it, or dreading it.

At least Niarok had a wound to heal.

She glanced over her shoulder as the man with the blinding red hair gritted his teeth while Niarok packed his bleeding wound.

Maybe the castle would heal him fast enough for Niarok not to have to fight the man into a stitch-fest.

That had to be his least favorite job, even if it was on his sister who pretty much let him do anything to her.

She’d seen the pain in his eyes whenever he had to…

She stopped that thought. Needles made her squeamish.

Not swords. Not other weapons that could easily kill her without a second thought.

But needles? Nope.

Yila shook herself back to the present. She didn’t trust herself to get lost in her thoughts. It inevitably led to flashbacks, which inevitably led to guilt and anger, which inevitably led to embarrassment and weakness that she didn’t care if Niarok saw but cared a lot if anyone else saw.

There were a lot of anyone else’s present right now.

Yila turned back to the fire, staring into the mesmerizing dancing flames. She knew a couple people who could harness flames with their eyes. Side-effects of telekinesis. She’d always thought that was a cool power.

But then again, sharp hearing was a pretty cool power too.

Fwoom!

Yila spun around, her hand automatically gripping her smallest throwing knife.

The man’s hair was… on fire?

Burning.

With flames.

And he was trying to extinguish it with his hands.

Yila almost yelled at him to ask why on earth he would let his hair catch fire just like that, but he didn’t look at all concerned. Just really really embarrassed.

The flames were out in a few moments, and the man caught Yila’s gaze. His cheeks turned slightly red, and he glared at the floor like he could catch it on fire too.

He looked so childish, pouting about his embarrassment that way.

But then again, most people did that.

Yila had learned the hard way that embarrassment was just a part of life. You move on.

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the fire, removing a knife and sharpening it.

Her fingers moved nimbly with the iron slab, fashioning a deadly razor out of the edge of the blade.

Her hands, which had been nearly purple with the cold, were warm and only slightly reddened.

She looked toward the entrance of the cave and noticed that it had stopped snowing.

And the entrance had turned from a hole into a tunnel.

It receded into blackness, and the temperature in the air was rising rapidly.

There was a metallic grumble, and Yila’s insides curled.

“Well, well. I must say you did a pretty good job on that challenge. I’m really getting sick of the doctor being so nice. Maybe I ought to remove him from the picture,” the castle boomed.

Niarok stared up at the ceiling, and Yila’s lips curled.

“You would severely regret taking my brother from me.”

It took Yila a moment to realize she’d spoken the words, and that she was standing with her knife bared.

The castle laughed. “You tempt me, weasel, to try. However, I do think I’ll enjoy his reaction to my next challenge.”

Then there was silence.

Nothing happened.

And everyone in the cave slowly relaxed.

It appeared Lord Castle was waiting a little while before he tortured them again.

 

@everyone

Thought I’d take the initiative and save everyone from hypothermia… XD