Blue Flame

The guild messenger arrived at dawn with orders that made my stomach drop.

"Ken of the Healing Light and Executor Nia of the Blue Flame. You are commanded to investigate a Sephis anomaly on the eastern approach. Departure immediate."

I looked at the sisters, who were barely awake over their morning tea. Karin's gauntlets lay beside her bowl, the new light-crystal integration still catching the early sunlight. Kaguya had her notebook out even this early, documenting something with the Sun Quill.

"How long will we be gone?" I asked.

"Unknown," the messenger said curtly. "The anomaly appeared three days ago. Guild healers are requesting Executor intervention."

Karin sat up straighter. "Want me to come with you?"

"The orders specify only Ken and Executor Nia," the messenger replied before I could answer.

Kaguya looked up from her notes, concern flickering across her face. "Be careful out there. Document anything unusual; we might learn something new about Sephis behavior patterns."

"I will," I promised, gathering my medical kit.

Reika appeared in the doorway, already fully armed and alert despite the early hour. "I heard the messenger. Eastern approach?" When I nodded, her expression darkened. "That's been quiet for weeks."

"Any advice?" I asked.

"Trust your instincts. Nia's good in a fight, but she doesn't think like a healer." She glanced at the sisters. "Keep an eye on things here while they're gone."

Nia was waiting at the city gates, her usual predatory smile notably absent. She looked tense, almost irritated.

"Ready, healer?" she asked without preamble.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

We walked through the barrier in uncomfortable silence. Only when we were well outside the dome's protection did Nia finally speak.

"I'll be honest," she said, blue flames dancing around her fingertips. "I was hoping they'd send Yamada instead of you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"It's about experience, Ken," she said quickly. "You're untested in real combat. The rat king was different; you had backup, support. Out here, it's just us."

I understood her concern. On paper, I was the guy who cooked dinner and performed medical procedures. Not exactly intimidating.

"I'll try not to hold you back," I said.

She glanced at me, something like guilt flickering across her features. "That came out wrong. I just... my methods can be brutal. I don't want you getting hurt because you're trying to keep up."

◇◇◇◇

The eastern approach was quiet in a way that made my skin crawl.

Birds, insects, even the wind had vanished. Only our boots on the dirt road made any sound. The air felt thick, oppressive, like the moment before a thunderstorm.

"There," Nia pointed ahead.

At first, I thought I was looking at a field of flowers. Dozens of round, pale objects scattered across the ground in rough patterns. It was only when we got closer that I realized what they were.

Eyes. Sephis eyes, each the size of a dinner plate, sitting motionless on the ground and staring directly at the dome behind us.

"Intelligence gathering," I said. "They're learning our patrol patterns, defenses, maybe even counting personnel."

"That's what I thought too." Nia moved carefully between the eyes, which tracked our movement independently. "The question is how to stop them without triggering whatever response they're designed for."

I studied the pattern. The eyes were arranged in concentric circles, pulsing with their own rhythm. Each eye seemed connected to the others somehow, part of a larger network.

"What happens if we destroy one?" I asked.

"Let's find out."

Nia sent a focused stream of blue flame at the nearest eye. It immediately closed, sinking into the ground and disappearing. But within seconds, two more eyes sprouted from the same spot, larger and more alert than the first.

"Adaptive," I observed. "Each replacement is an improvement over the original."

"Which means we can't just burn our way through them." Nia frowned, studying the field. "We need a different approach."

That's when the trap revealed itself.

The ground beneath Nia suddenly cracked open, and a mass of writhing tentacles burst upward, wrapping around her legs and arms. She screamed, blue flames flaring desperately as the tentacles began secreting some kind of acidic substance.

"Ken!" she gasped, struggling against the grip. "Can't... break free!"

The tentacles were covered in the same crystalline growths I'd seen in other advanced Sephis. Where they touched Nia's skin, the crystals began spreading, creeping up her arms like living tattoos.

I moved without thinking, light blazing from both hands. But instead of attacking the tentacles directly, I focused on the crystals themselves. Light flowed into the corruption, burning away the infection before it could take hold.

Nia's flames suddenly roared back to full strength, blue fire hot enough to melt stone. The tentacles released her with a shriek, retreating back into the ground.

She collapsed to her knees, breathing hard. Her arms were covered in acid burns where the tentacles had held her, the skin raw and blistered.

"Hold still," I said, kneeling beside her. "This is going to hurt."

Light flowed from my fingers into her wounds, but gently this time. Healing light, warm and restorative. The acid burns began to close, new skin growing to replace what had been damaged.

"How?" she whispered, staring at her arms as they healed.

"The corruption was interfering with your flame channeling," I explained. "Once I burned it away, your natural abilities came back."

She looked at me with something that might have been respect. "You saved my life."

"You would have done the same for me."

"Would I?" She seemed genuinely uncertain. "I thought you'd be a liability out here. Turns out I was the one who nearly got us both killed."

I helped her to her feet. "The trap was designed for Executors. It specifically targeted your flame channeling. Without that interference, you would have broken free easily."

"Still." She tested her restored arms, flames dancing around her fingers. "Thank you."

"We're still being watched," I said, looking at the field of eyes.

This time, instead of destroying the eyes individually, I gathered light in both hands and released it as a brilliant flash. The light washed over the entire field, causing every eye to slam shut simultaneously.

For a moment, the ground was still. Then it began to smoke.

The eyes didn't reappear. Instead, the earth where they had been started to crack and crumble, as if something underneath was dissolving. Within minutes, the entire field looked normal again.

"Clever," Nia said. "You overloaded their ability to process light. They burned out trying to adapt to that much input."

"Sometimes the indirect approach works better than brute force."

We walked back toward the dome in comfortable silence. Nia seemed different now, less guarded, more thoughtful.

"Can I ask you something?" she said as the barrier came into view.

"Sure."

"When I was trapped, you didn't hesitate. You knew exactly what to do. How?"

I thought about all the emergency situations I'd faced, both in my previous life and since arriving here. "Experience, mostly. When someone needs help, you don't have time to second-guess yourself."

"And what if you're wrong?"

"Then you learn from the mistake and do better next time," I said. "But you didn't have time for me to doubt myself."

She nodded slowly. "I understand. It's like combat. Hesitation gets people killed."

"Exactly."

◇◇◇◇

We returned to find chaos at the clinic.

Reika was there with two plague doctors, their masks reflecting the lamplight as they bent over someone on the examination table. Only when we got closer did I see it was a young girl, maybe sixteen, pale and sweating with obvious pain.

Something about her face made me pause. The delicate bone structure, the way her dark hair fell across her forehead despite her fever. She reminded me of someone. My sister, back in-

A sharp, stabbing pain lanced through my skull, so sudden and intense that I had to grip the doorframe to keep from staggering. The thought scattered like smoke, leaving only fragments. Someone important. Someone I'd lost.

"What happened?" I asked, pushing through the lingering headache.

Reika looked up, relief evident even through her stern expression. "Thank the light you're back. This is Maya, Nia's sister. She collapsed three hours ago with severe abdominal pain."

Nia pushed past me to her sister's side. "Maya? Maya, can you hear me?"

The girl's eyes fluttered open. "Sister... hurts so much..."

I moved to examine her, noting the fever, the way she guarded her abdomen. When I gently pressed on her lower right side, she screamed.

"It's her appendix," I said after a moment.

"Her what?" one of the plague doctors asked.

"A small organ that's become infected. It needs to be removed surgically, or she'll die."

The plague doctor scoffed. "Surgery is barbaric. Fire therapy will purge the corruption."

"This isn't corruption," I said firmly. "And fire therapy will kill her faster than the infection will."

Nia looked between me and the plague doctors, conflict written across her face. These were guild authorities, people she was supposed to respect. But she'd just seen me heal her arms with precision the guild doctors couldn't match.

"What do you need?" she asked quietly.

"Clean instruments, boiling water, and everyone except my assistants out of the way."

The plague doctors started to protest, but Reika cut them off. "This is Ken's clinic. His patient, his rules." She turned to the doctors. "You can observe, but don't interfere."

◇◇◇◇

I'd never performed an appendectomy without modern equipment, but the principles were the same. Find the appendix, ligate the blood supply, remove the infected organ, close the incision.

"Nia, I need you to keep Maya calm," I said, positioning my instruments. "Talk to her, hold her hand. Kaguya, you're my primary assistant."

"Will it hurt?" Maya whispered.

"Yes," I said honestly. "But I'll work as quickly as I can."

I began the incision, speaking calmly to keep everyone focused. "The appendix is a vestigial organ, meaning it doesn't serve any vital function. When it gets infected, the body's immune response causes swelling and pain."

As I worked, Maya's face kept drawing my attention. The resemblance was uncanny. The same stubborn jawline, the same way she bit her lip when scared. My sister had done that too, especially near the end when the treatments weren't working and she was trying to be brave for

Another spike of pain, worse this time, made my hands shake for a moment. I had to pause, breathing carefully until the agony receded. Focus. This girl needs you now.

One of the plague doctors leaned forward. "You're cutting into her without fire purification?"

"Fire would cause more damage than healing," I said, carefully dissecting down to the infected organ. 

I found the appendix easily, swollen and red with infection. Using careful movements, I tied off the blood vessels and removed the inflamed organ. Maya whimpered but stayed still, her sister's voice keeping her calm.

"There," I said, beginning to close the incision. "The infection is out. She'll be sore for a few days, but she should recover completely."

Nia was crying, openly and without shame. "Thank you," she whispered. "I don't know how to repay this."

"Just help her heal," I said. "And maybe trust my methods next time."

She laughed through her tears. "After today? I trust you with my life."

The plague doctors left muttering about unorthodox procedures, but Reika stayed behind to help with Maya's recovery.

"There's something you should know," she said quietly as we cleaned up. "Baron Gregory has submitted a formal recommendation to the council."

"What kind of recommendation?"

"He's proposed that you be inducted as a substitute Executor."

I nearly dropped the instruments I was cleaning. "What?"

"Think about it," she said. "You've proven yourself in combat, you work well with the other Executors, and you have unique abilities. Most importantly, it would give you political protection."

I looked at Nia, who was helping Maya sip water. "What do you think about this?"

"I was opposed initially," she admitted. "But after today... you saved my life, then saved my sister's life. If that doesn't qualify someone for Executor status, I don't know what does."

Maya looked up from her water, still pale but alert. "Thank you for saving me," she said quietly.

"Just rest and heal," I replied. "That's what matters now."

Reika cleared her throat. "About the Executor position, Ken. The council meets tomorrow morning. Gregory's recommendation carries weight, especially after today's events with the anomaly."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means you don't really have a choice," she said bluntly. "They either induct you officially, or they start asking uncomfortable questions about your abilities. Questions that could put all of us at risk."

Nia nodded grimly. "Political protection works both ways. You're either inside the system or you're a threat to it."

I felt the weight of inevitability settling over me. "Tomorrow morning, then."

"Tonight, we celebrate Maya's recovery," I said, changing the subject. "All of you, stay for dinner. I want to make something special."

"You sure?" Reika asked. "Maya should probably rest."

"Something light and easy to digest," I assured her. "Perfect for someone recovering from surgery."

◇◇◇◇

I sent Karin to fetch ingredients while I prepared what I called congee, though I explained it differently to avoid confusion.

"It's rice porridge," I told the assembled group as I stirred the pot. "From my homeland. We cook rice in much more liquid than usual, stirring constantly until it breaks down into a smooth, creamy texture."

Maya was propped up on cushions, color slowly returning to her cheeks. "It smells good."

Watching her smile weakly as she inhaled the aroma, I felt that strange pang again. She looked so much like someone who used to smile at me the same way when I cooked for her. Someone who would sit in the hospital bed, grateful for any small comfort I could bring. My sister always said my cooking was the only thing that didn't taste like medicine, even when

The pain hit like lightning this time, so severe I nearly dropped the ladle. My vision blurred at the edges, and for a moment I couldn't remember where I was or what I was doing. When the agony finally faded, I found everyone staring at me with concern.

"Ken? You okay?" Karin asked.

"Fine," I managed, though my hands were still trembling. "Just... tired from the day."

"The key is patience," I continued, trying to focus on the present. "The rice releases its starches gradually, thickening the liquid naturally. It's gentle on the stomach, easy to digest, but still nourishing."

Karin peered into the pot. "How long does it take?"

"About an hour of constant stirring. But watch this." I ladled a small portion into a bowl, then topped it with finely chopped scallions and a drizzle of sesame oil. "The garnishes add flavor without overwhelming the stomach."

Nia tasted it carefully. "This is... different. Warming, but not heavy."

"In my homeland, we serve this to people recovering from illness," I explained. "The smooth texture means the body doesn't have to work hard to digest it, but it still provides energy and nutrients."

Maya managed a full bowl, the first real food she'd kept down all day. "It's like... comfort in a bowl."

"Exactly," I smiled, though the expression felt forced. "Sometimes the best medicine is just taking care of someone."

Reika set down her empty bowl. "You know, Ken, maybe being an Executor isn't such a bad thing. You'd have resources to help more people, protection to keep doing this work."

I looked around the table at these people who had become my found family, at Maya who was alive because of modern medical knowledge, at the simple meal that represented everything I wanted to preserve in this world.

"I suppose you're right," I said. "If I have to be an Executor to keep saving lives, then that's what I'll do."