Chapter 6

Se-le-ni

Bo-lo-to grinned at me. The same grin as the last time I’d seen him, only this time, he stood against me and not by my side. He lifted his hand, and a blue flame erupted from his palm, floating above it as if attached by an invisible thread. He was one of the most powerful magicians of our race, and I had often thought how I would never want to meet him in battle. But it was too late for that now; I had no other choice.

“Stop it!,” Me-la-ni screamed.

Her voice cut through the room, and for a moment, it was the only thing existing. Did she know the reason I had first decided to journey with her? Had she ever suspected why I had stood by her side all this time?

“So you believe you can stand against me?,” Bo-lo-to sneered.

I suspected Me-la-ni must have said something else, or maybe Joshua had raised his dark voice, urging us to stop. But I heard nothing else now, only Bo-lo-to.

“I believe you’re nothing but a coward,” I answered.

I gripped my sword tighter in my hand. It lay heavy, just as I remembered it all those centuries ago when we had last fought together. In those times, Me-la-ni had slept next to me each night to shield us from the cold. I had laid awake long after she’d fallen asleep, feeling her breathing next to me.

“This will be the last thing you do”, I snarled.

He raised his hand, and the invisible thread snapped, and the blue flame shot towards me. I dodged it, and for a moment, he stood stunned before another flame appeared in his palm.

“So you’ve practised,” I see.

I lunged at him, cutting at his hand. He side-stepped and threw another flame towards me. I avoided it and cut once again but missed his hand, and he retreated into the corner.

“Se-le-ni!”

Me-la-ni’s voice cut through the battle. She had never called me by my name, never mentioned it to my face. I don’t know how many times I had dreamt about hearing it from her.

“Stay out of this battle, Healer!”, Bo-lo-to sneered.

He raised his arm to shoot another flame when a loud bang erupted from the room next door. He startled, and I charged at him. The first cut took his wrist and the second his elbow. He screamed, and the blue flame vanished from the palm of his hand, and he fell to his knees. The door opened, and Ko-ra-ri stepped out. He looked around, confused, until he saw Bo-lo-to huddling on the floor.

“What are you doing!?, he screeched. Why do you always need to play battle?”

He shifted his hand, and a large light bubble appeared in the room. He was an expert magician as well, I knew. The light wrapped around Bo-lo-to, and he faded, his body flickering until there was nothing left. Ko-ra-ri cast one last glance at us before he nodded at the others, and they stepped inside the bubble. They were gone in a moment, and the cottage was empty.

Me-la-ni ran towards me and put her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder.

“I should have known that, “Joshua said.

“We couldn’t have known, they had cast a blinding spell over the cottage,” Ka-ma-la said softly.

I glanced at them, but the warmth of Me-la-ni’s skin against mine made my thoughts blur together. She whispered something, but I couldn’t hear what and when I opened my mouth to speak, the younger of our guests said,

“It isn’t safe here any longer, we need to leave.”

Me-la-ni extracted herself from me, and the loss as her skin lost contact with mine made me wince.

“Where shall we go?,” she asked and stepped over to Joshua.

“I know,” Ka-ma-la replied.

She took hold of Me-la-ni’s sleeve, and once again, we formed a circle, and the ground disappeared beneath my feet as we travelled.