Take Only as Directed

It was surreal watching the red of Remmi’s robes disappear behind those rows of flesh rending teeth. The determined smile on her face, full of purpose and confidence. It was burned into my memory. What had been the point? The dragon had consumed the Aethik slime anyway. So why had I lost my best friend?

I don’t remember how many spells I threw at the dragon, each as ineffective as the last. All I know is that by the time I was done, I was on my knees, sobbing into my hands. My throat stung from all my screaming. My arms felt like lead. My shoulders felt like they were carrying the boulders Remmi had dropped earlier. That had been a sight. If I had been stronger, taken my classes more seriously, would I have been able to save Remmi, to at least stop the slime? Would my lightning spell have been enough to actually stun it? The what ifs piled in my mind, growing exponentially until Yssa cut in.

“Get up, Alva.” Yssa’s voice was hoarse and commanding, but I felt the loss in it. They had been rivals. They had been friends. Brought together by their unparalleled talent and love for me, she and Remmi had formed a bond that I would never fully understand. But it was over now and all that was left were our memories.

It was hard getting to my feet. My legs were like flan. Thankfully the dragon was going through something or other. It was hunched over and, if I pretended that I could read dragon expressions, it looked to be grimacing. If I had to guess it was struggling to fuse with the Aethik slime, but part of me hoped it was Remmi giving it indigestion.

“Here,” I mumbled, reaching into the pocket of my blue robe and producing the vial with the golden seed in it. I held my hand out, offering it to Yssa without meeting her gaze. “I know stopping the dragon before it destroys more of the school is important to you and this should help you hold out until help arrives.”

I could feel Yssa examining the vial after taking it from me. She was probably as hesitant to trust me as Remmi had been, which was understandable. But there were fewer variables this time. The seed or marble or whatever you wanted to call it was inanimate and harmless. It didn’t need ingested; it just needed to be fused to a catalyst. Doing so would refine Yssa’s magical energy even further, slightly boosting the power of her spells but more importantly reducing the Aethik she expended by, ideally, around ninety percent. At worst seventy.

“What—“

Yssa dropped to her knee, pulling me down with her to the ground. Her hand slipped from my sleeve, like her arms had turned into pie crust that had soaked in gravy too long. I took her hand in mine and squeezed it — like the dragon, she was keeled over, her face in a pained grimace. But why? Had she already used up too much magic? It seemed unlikely. Yssa’s Aethik core was only slightly smaller than Remmi’s. The only difference was how much they could output at once and Yssa’s magic was one of the most efficient in recorded history. Then again, how much magic had she used holding off the dragon alone?

“Yssa, what’s going on? If you can’t fight anymore, we need to at least try and escape.”

“That… pill…”

My eyes trailed the direction Yssa nodded at, landing on the vial that had contained the golden seed. It was empty, but that didn’t explain Yssa’s current disposition. There was the possibility her wand was backlashing her magic energy from the haphazard field modification. Normally catalyst modifications were done at an enchanting table or altar. Looking down at Yssa's wand, it was still barely holding together, which was odd since fusing the golden seed should have flooded it with magic allowing it to repair itself. Then why...

“You didn’t.”

“Did… what? I took the pill you gave me.”

“It wasn’t a pill, Yssa! It was a catalyst enhancer! You should know that being in the advanced classes!”

“Ah. That makes sense. I guess I’m so exhausted I failed to consider— GAH!” Yssa pulled her hand from my grasp and hugged her stomach, falling onto her side, writhing in pain.

“What do I do?! I’ve never heard of a case where someone ate a catalyst enhancer. Maybe it’ll just give her a stomach ache and pass later. But that doesn’t help us now! We’ll be dead before later comes if the dragon starts attacking again and Yssa’s in too much pain to make a portal.” I took a deep breath, my eyes flicking between the dragon and Yssa. If I started carrying Yssa while the creature was distracted, we might be able to make it back inside the Grand Cathedral. But then what? It would either chase us down or just rampage through the rest of the school. And where was the faculty? It had already been at least ten to fifteen minutes.

“Listen to me Yssa,” I finally said, pumping myself up mentally for the trial to come. “I’m going to pick you up and we’re going to run to the Cathedral.”

A wry chuckle came from Yssa’s balled up body. “We both know you skip physical training. You can’t even pick up a wheat rat and I weigh three times that.”

“That’s what magic is for,” I retorted, raising my wand. I gave it a quick wave over Yssa to levitate her… but nothing happened.

“You’re out of Aethik,” Yssa laughed again, this time a bit heartier, a bit less pained. “But we’ll be fine.”

My brows furrowed together. Would we be fine? In what world? I rubbed the bridge of my nose with my fingers, squinting. Yssa was right, I was out of magic. My eyes burned and I struggled to keep them open. Has the sun been this bright? Was this what the other students had seen just before they were turned to ash?

No. It took several seconds for my eyes to adjust, but it wasn’t the dragon or the sun. It was Yssa. Yssa who was now back on her feet emitting a pure radiant light that swallowed every shadow like the sun at noon. A warmth washed over me, reinvigorating me, stealing my exhaustion and sorrow from me and replacing it with confidence and determination.

“Yssa, you’re…”

A cheerful giggle came in response as Yssa’s light flashed brighter for a moment, almost as if she were flexing it. Then it gradually dimmed until there was a soft aura around the young aristocrat.

“What is this?” My mind raced through different hypotheses. “The only explanation is that the seed was absorbed by her core. Yet there’s no record of that ever being done before. Does that mean this is some sort of taboo? Surely someone would have tried this by now. Or had all their attempts been failures so it wasn’t recorded? There’s no doubt Yssa is leagues above the average mage.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

Yssa nodded with a smile and I noticed that her arm, along with all her other injuries, had completely healed. I didn’t need an Aethik reader to tell me she had recovered all her magical energy and then some either. I could feel it, which was unheard of.

“Leave this to me,” Yssa said, her voice firm and reassuring. Her glowing golden hair seemed to ever so slightly float behind her and she handed me her wand. “Hold onto this for me.”

“But how are you going to fight without it?” I protested. Had her odd transformation filled her with some unhealthy bout of confidence?

“I… can just tell. I’m unsure how long this will last. I just know that I feel more powerful than I ever imagined possible and if I strike quickly I can end this.”

I hesitated, debating whether to argue the point further. I didn’t. “Alright. Just come back to me. I can’t bear the thought of losing you, too.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Yssa took my hand between hers, catching me off-guard, and pulled me into an embrace. “I’ll always be by your side. I’ll always protect you.”

My cheeks flushed pink and I turned toward the dragon. It was regaining its footing, though with immense effort.

“Then go. Kill that wretched creature and avenge Remmi.” I could feel my voice crack at Remmi’s name, the image of her disappearing for the last time flashing in my mind again. Once Yssa was finished, I’d gut the beast and get Remmi’s remains. It’s the least I could do.

Wrapping my arms around Yssa, I hugged her tight, squeezing her, trying to channel all my grief, all my rage, and all my frustration into her.

“Come back to me.”