muscle in his body was tense and he was staring into the air, in the direction of the sound.
Selissa watched him silently, barely daring to breathe. She was surprised to see that except from a few rips in his clothes, he appeared completely unharmed from the blast he had taken earlier.
Suddenly the singing stopped. With it, every other sound of the forest seemed to stop. Complete silence fell over them.
The hand that was holding her arm tightened its grip almost painfully. “We have to get away from here… Now.” Alassane said. Selissa felt a lump forming in her throat at his urgent tone. No matter what it was, it was bad. Very bad for Alassane to be reacting this way.
Despite her aversion to fleeing she didn’t hesitate to follow when Alassane set into a sprint.
The only sound was the sound of their footsteps, muted by the grass, echoing through the silence as they ran. Nothing made it seem like they were being followed, but Selissa wasn’t fooled. Though she could neither hear them nor see them, she could feel the aura of dread surrounding her. The exact same feeling as when she had first met Ardeth.
Adrenaline, and something she only faintly recognized, surged through her body.
She heard something move to her left and almost stopped to see what it was. Alassane, however, was not slowing down and Selissa forced herself to keep going.
More movements… She tensed up as she realized it was coming from both sides. There was more than one…
‘Behind you.’ She didn’t hesitate. She swirled around, just as the first attacker hurled themselves at her. The kick she sent towards them hit the stranger in the stomach and sent them sailing through the air.
She heard Alassane stop a few yards behind her. Her breathing was heavy, but somehow she didn’t feel tired.
Energy was coursing through her. The same energy that she had felt just before she sent Alassane flying through the air. But instead of rejecting it, she embraced it.
Two shapes slowly began to close in on them, like wolves on their prey.
“My my, it seems Ardeth was right…” A low voice said. Selissa couldn’t determine if it was male or female. “She is a feisty one.”
“Should be more fun then.” Answered another, definitely female voice. The one who had been singing…
She stepped out of the shadows. The moonlight fell on her face, illuminating her features.
It was a young woman, probably still in her late teens. She was not that tall and slenderly built, giving her the appearance of being even younger than she was. Short, blonde hair hung into her eyes, but did nothing to disguise the cold look in them.
The black tattoo under her left eye confirmed what Selissa already knew. She was a Demios. And so was her partner probably.
As if on cue, the other stepped forward and revealed his face. Like his partner, he was not tall, but he had a strong build. His brown hair was shaggy and had reddish tint to it. There was a smile on his face, but there was no warmth in it.
Unlike Ardeth, there was no amusement emitting from those two, only cold ruthlessness. Somehow, Selissa didn’t know what was worse.
21
Selissa desperately wished she had her swords with her. They might not have helped her much, but at least they would have been a comfort to have.
She backed up slowly, until she felt her back hit Alassane’s. She turned her head slightly to look at him out of the corner of her eye, but didn’t dare turn her back on the two Demios that was watching them, like predators waiting to pounce.
“Now would be a good time to use that trick you used to scare off the last one…” She said, pitching her voice so only he could hear it.
Alassane shook his head, barely noticeable. “He was alone and unprepared. It won’t be enough this time.” He said in the same low tone.
“Now, isn’t that lovely…?” She muttered. Despite her best efforts at being sarcastic, her voice came out a bit shaky. She turned her attention back to the issue at hand.
The man was slowly inching closer, while the woman hadn’t moved at all. Selissa saw him look over his shoulder at his partner and send her a brief nod. Then the predator pounced.
ℓ
Selissa immediately jumped away from Alassane to avoid the hit. Only too late did she realize that she hadn’t been the target.
The man rammed into Alassane and knocked him to the ground. Before Selissa even managed to make a move to help him, she was knocked off her feet by a blow to the side of her head.
Everything spun in front of her eyes for a short moment, before she was able to see clearly again. She scrambled back on her feet and looked up to find the blonde woman watching her calmly. How she had reached her so fast, she didn’t know, but thinking back on the surreal way Ardeth had moved, maybe she shouldn’t be so surprised.
The Demios didn’t make any move to attack her, so Selissa watched her warily, trying to decide on a plan of action.
She could take her on alone or go help Alassane… Out of the corner of her eye she saw bright blue flames shooting past her and decided that Alassane would probably be okay.
Turning her attention back to her opponent, she tried to decide what the best approach was. The girl had to be slightly younger than her, and she knew she had the physical advantage as she was both taller and stronger. But she was also unarmed and she had no idea what this Demios’ ability was.
“Never charge into a situation, before you know all the details.” She could almost hear Master Teren’thil voice instructing her.
She turned around abruptly and started running towards Alassane. She had to force her into revealing her abilities, before she made a move. The best way to do that was to keep her distance for now.
However, she had only made a few steps, before her path was blocked by scarlet flames shooting up in front of her.
“What the—“ She exclaimed in shock, barely managing to stop before tumbling head first into the ten feet tall flames. They were so close she could feel the heat licking against her skin and she jerked back to avoid getting burnt.
Was this another one of Alassane’s magic tricks? No, She thought. His flames were blue…
So the Demios girl could control fire… Selissa swirled around to face her once again, only to discover her gone.
Biting back several phrases that a girl who grew up in a temple shouldn’t even know, she surveyed the area around her.
There was no sign of the blonde woman, and the flames blocked her view of the place where Alassane and the other man had to be fighting.
She felt sweat slowly run down the back of her neck. She wasn’t sure if it was the heat from the enormous flames or just pure fear.
She had to be here somewhere, watching her.
Suddenly Selissa felt very uneasy about being separated from Alassane. She might need the backup soon.
The flame wall blocked the entire path to the east, the area around it covered by dense woodland. Somehow the fire didn’t catch on to it, but she would have to wonder about that later. First she would have to get around it.
She started running in the opposite direction to find a way around the clutches of trees and bushes that blocked her way. She didn’t get far.
This time, the wall of flames didn’t just cut off her path. The flames roared to life all around her, soon forming an infernal circle of hissing fire.
She looked around frantically, but there was no gap in the wall. She was trapped.
Anger and desperation flooded her. “Come out, coward!” She yelled. “Come out and fight instead of hiding behind your little tricks!”
Someone laughed. It was a cold and joyless sound.
Selissa spun around trying to locate the source, but there was nothing but fiery, red flames all around her.
“Who’s hiding?” A voice said. “You’re just not looking.”
It was coming from her left. Selissa turned around, but still found nothing but fire. She was just about to yell out again when she saw it.
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A face in the fire… No, a face made of fire.
The flames twisted and danced and formed the shape of a woman. The Demios…
Lips of fire stretched into a sadistic grin, as the fire woman took in Selissa’s shocked expression. “Cat got your tongue? You were breathing fire before, weren’t you?” She laughed. Selissa gritted her teeth in frustration. She had no idea what to do, so she opted for stalling.
“Well, aren’t you a funny one?” She shot back.
The smile immediately disappeared. “Not really.” She said calmly. There was only deadly seriousness in her voice now. “And I’m not here to play. Let’s end this.”
Selissa watched as the figure raised her blazing arm and suddenly the flames started twisting violently. Several shapes started forming in the fire. All around her, flaming wolf-like beasts took shape. Hideous, snarling faces stared at her and long clawed paws cut into the ground.
Selissa started to back away in horror, just as the flaming shape of the Demios raised her arm towards her. On their mistress’ cue, all of the flaming beasts shot out of the fire and attacked.
22
There was fire everywhere.
Selissa screamed in pain as flames burned every inch of her skin. She stumbled back, swiping uselessly at the flaming beasts. The more she tried to push them away the harder they came at her.
She fell to her knees and tried to cover her head with her arms, but the fire surrounded her. It felt like the flames were trying to devour her and there was nothing she could do. The only thing she could focus on was the sensation of being burned alive.
‘This isn’t real.’ A tiny bit of hope flared to life at the sound of the voice. Selissa clung to it desperately.
“Help me.” She whispered. The pain from the burns was overwhelming, but she forced herself to concentrate on the voice.
Her pleading wasn’t left unanswered. She felt her veins pulse with energy and her body filling with power. She felt it spread under her skin and ease the pain from the burning.
‘Fight fire with fire.’ This was the same power she had recklessly let loose on Alassane. But suddenly she realized that in this moment, she knew how to use it. She let instincts take over and forced the energy to flow into her palms.
She threw her arm upwards, blasting away the nearest beast. It disintegrated into a rain of sparks, before finally disappearing into thin air.
Selissa wasted no time and got to her feet. Another surge of energy was sent flying towards the next beast and with a roar of flames it disappeared. The other blazing creatures followed their comrade, as they too got blasted into oblivion.
After ridding herself of her assailants, she looked towards the flame wall. The Demios was watching her appraisingly.
“So you do know how to use Cadeyrn’s powers…” She said slowly.
Despite her mind screaming at her to attack her and not hesitate, the words made Selissa pause and watch the woman surprised.
“What do you mean?” She asked. Cadeyrn’s power? How could it be an archangel’s power she was using?
“Ardeth was right… You really don’t know anything.” She said incredulously.
Something inside her snapped. “No, I don’t! Apparently no one finds it necessary to tell me anything!” She snapped. “So why don’t you tell me? What is my connection to Cadeyrn?”
The Demios scoffed. “You really can’t figure it out on your own?” She said mockingly. “And here I thought Cadeyrn would at least have chosen a smart host.” She gestured towards the flames and the entire flame wall started moving.
“Host? What are you talking about?” Selissa asked shocked as she warily watched the contorting flames. They slowly started taking shape and soon a huge flaming snake raised its head above them.
“Since you obviously know his name, I assume you know the story about what happened to him?” She asked. The snake was circling its enormous, blazing body around her, ready to strike.
Selissa discreetly took a step back. The flaming wall had been consumed by the snake and she was no longer surrounded by it. She looked around for any signs of Alassane, while she answered the woman. “He sacrificed himself to seal away the demon Azarial.”
Suddenly the flames flared up. “Don’t you dare say his name!” The woman screeched. The fire snake reared its head and hissed silently, responding to its mistress’ anger. Selissa warily took a step back, eyes never leaving the enormous, flaming creature.
“Let me ask you something… Do you know what happened after the angels performed the seal?” The Demios asked scornfully. “What Cadeyrn did to secure the strength of the seal?”
Selissa hesitated to answer. This woman was clearly unstable. “No?”
A chuckle escaped her. “He sealed himself away on earth, so he could continue to power the seal. He sealed himself away in a human.” She said the word as if it burned her throat.
Selissa froze. Was she saying…?
She didn’t get a chance to think further about it as the snake chose that moment to strike.
She barely managed to get out of the way in time, as it lunged for her. Missing her, the snake crashed headfirst into the ground and dissipated.
For a moment Selissa thought it was gone. Clearly, she was wrong.
Flames started to coil themselves around her. The snake wrapped itself around her like a rope. She cried out in pain as it burned through her skin.
‘It isn’t real.’ She tried to listen to the voice, but this pain felt very real.
She threw herself through the fire, biting back a scream as it burned everywhere. Her entire body was covered in burns and blisters and her legs collapsed under her.
“Why don’t you just give up?” The scorn in the Demios’ voice was evident.
She heard the crackling of flames above. She desperately wanted to move, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. She looked up to see the snake rushing towards her… Only to disintegrate into thin air, mere inches before it collided with her.
She heard someone scream. And this time it wasn’t her.
To her surprise, she realized the pain had disappeared. She sat upright and looked down at herself. No burns on her skin. Her clothes weren’t burned either.
“Aiken, I thought you were going to take care of him!” She heard the Demios woman shrieking.
Selissa looked up in confusion to see Alassane standing surrounded by blue flames. The blonde woman had several singed hairs and was glaring at her partner, who Selissa assumed had to be Aiken.
“Well, then don’t play around, Nadesha!” Aiken yelled back. “You could have taken that girl down long before!” Selissa noticed he was badly wounded. Blood was running down his face and he appeared to be limping.
“Why don’t you two stop bickering and get lost, before I stop playing nice?” Alassane said, before summoning up a handful of blue fire. Nadesha glared at him, before grabbing Aiken by the arm.
Alassane sent the flames sailing towards them, and she made a hissing sound, before she and Aiken took off into the wood.
Alassane watched them disappear. He didn’t seem like he cared that they got away so easily, because he merely scoffed, before turning around and walking towards her slowly. To Selissa’s surprise he sat down on the ground beside her and sighed deeply.
“Are you okay?” He asked as he looked at her. She hesitated for a moment.
“Somehow I am…” She said slowly. “I could have sworn I got burned to crisp.”
“It was just an illusion.” He said. She looked at him in disbelief.
“An illusion?” She said. “How could it be an illusion? I could feel the heat from the flames… And I know the pain was real.”
“It was all in your mind.” He said. “If your mind tells you it’s real, it will feel real.”
Selissa stared at her hands. Had she just been flailing around, blasting away at nothing but figments of her imagination?
“So the illusion broke when you
attacked Nadesha?” She asked slowly. She still had a hard time believing that none of it had actually happened.
“Yes.” He nodded. “The reason she had Aiken attack me was because she couldn’t uphold the illusion if she had to defend herself against outsiders.”
“I see.” She suddenly remembered something. She looked up at Alassane and held his eyes.
“We need to talk.”
23
Alassane didn’t even blink. “What did she say to you?”
Selissa didn’t skip a beat. “Something you should have told me.”
He pushed himself off the ground and looked down at her. “Let’s go back first.” He turned around and started to walk away.
Angrily, Selissa stood and ran after him. “I’m not going to let you wave me off this time!” She said determined. She had accepted his secret keeping for way too long. Alassane stopped and looked at her.
“I won’t. I promise.” He said. He was sounding so honest that Selissa’s anger subsided. “But we will talk back at the camp. If we talked here, you would probably regret you don’t have your swords with you to chop me up.”
For some reason, he sounded deadly serious about the last comment.
ℓ
The silence was heavy in the air as they walked back. Selissa slid her hands over her arms absentmindedly, still expecting to feel burnt skin underneath her fingers.
Catching herself in the act, she let her hands drop by her sides and stared emptily into the air. She tried to calm her racing thoughts, but to no avail.
He sealed himself away on earth. The words echoed in her mind, taunting her. She knew what they meant, but she still couldn’t accept the magnitude behind them. He sealed himself away in a human…
The night air suddenly felt very cold and she hugged her arms around her body.
In a human… She wanted to cry and shake her head in denial, but she refused to be that childish.
No matter how much she wanted to deny it, she knew it was true. All the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fit. How she had not seen it before, she didn’t know.
She had not noticed Alassane stopping and nearly barged into him, before she realized they had reached their small campsite.
She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts, before letting herself drop down next to her bag. Absentmindedly she traced her fingers over her swords sheaths, relishing in the feeling of leather against her skin.
“What exactly did that girl tell you?” Alassane had sat down in front of her, but she didn’t look up at him.
She continued to slowly drag her fingers down the worn leather of the sheath. “She told me about the seal Cadeyrn made…” The embroidering was old and nearly faded away, but Selissa still traced each line carefully. “She told me that he sealed himself away. In a human.”
Alassane was silent for a while, but she still didn’t look up at him. Right now she felt numb. It felt like every nerve in her body was heavily sedated and her mind was fussy, but at least she was calm. She feared that if she looked at him, she would lose it.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” She asked, her voice void of emotion.
He was silent only for a moment before answering. “It’s true.”
His admission somehow triggered the latent