Hurt the Princess

I let go of Alena’s hand once I felt like I could walk somewhat steadily on my own. .

Her hand and her arm alike both looked rather hideous, scarred by burns. She complained, but I didn’t want to risk leaving her exposed to my magic any further. As long as I could walk… That was good enough.

Was good enough. Got us almost halfway to the gate, in fact.

It turned out the most violent part of the fighting was taking place closer to the exit.

Another armoured soldier came flying towards us, rather literally. They were soaring in midair, and flew straight into a building next to us. Would probably have hit us if we hadn’t moved out of the way because of the noise the soldier made when they were thrown airborne.

A woman came strolling out from the direction the flying soldier had arrived from, from behind the cover of a tall building.

She wasn’t armoured the same way every other combatant we had seen so far was. She was wearing a long black leather coat, and matching trousers. She had dark purple hair to go along with her clothes, and was remarkably tall in stature, probably more so than myself.

A smile spread across her face when she saw us.

Was it just me, or… Did I recognise her from somewhere?

“Have we seen this woman somewhere before?”
“I don’t know her name, but… Wasn’t she one of the companions of that… What was his name again? Ah, that Elias guy.”

“Oh, I… I kind of barely paid attention to those guys.”

A small bolt of lighting passed between our heads. We would have been hit if I hadn’t stumbled towards the princess, making us move from our original position. Electricity was crackling between our assailant's fingertips. This woman’s aim was not to be trifled with.

Somehow both Alena and I were mostly unscathed. My cheek stung a bit, but that was all. The princess didn’t even react, if she felt anything.

“If you want to chatter, you should have done so earlier. I don’t get paid enough to give a couple of lovebirds any last words.”

Made sense. If you were going to kill someone, would you just attack them while they’re distracted or for some inexplicable reason wait until they had finished discussing everything they wanted to talk about first?

My personal guess was that most people would choose the former.

“I take it you’re here because you want my life?”, Alena asked.

“That’s correct. I still feel like I should say I have no personal ill feelings toward either of you. But the money I will get, and the circumstances… Together they were rather convincing. Judging from your last few escapades, it doesn’t seem like that witch over there has realised the full extent of what she can do yet. We have judged it is time to take action, before you have the capability to do anything about it.”

“You were watching us? Who are you, exactly?”

“I will choose to leave that to your imagination.

She shot another bolt of lightning at us. Not one for words, was she? I conjured up a flaming shield that blocked the brunt of the attack, enough that we could stay on our feet.

Could have, if I hadn’t lost my balance right after and ended up back on my knees. I tried to get up again but couldn’t.

My magic was taking too much of a toll on me.

Not that I didn’t already know that. My vision was getting kind of blurry…

Focus. I tried to keep my gaze focused on the woman. I probably wouldn’t be able to block another blow. Wasn’t sure I’d even be able to try.

Alena stretched out her hand towards me.

I tried to do something without her help. Just anything would be good enough. I didn’t want to risk causing any permanent damage. I couldn’t put the princess in any more danger.

A few small flames appeared above my hand. They died out the moment I tried to do something with them.

I barely even knew if I was trying to attack or defend. What was I even trying to do?

I was… I was… I was? Was I…

My mind was feeling fuzzier and fuzzier. I barely even knew what was happening anymore. I had been confused the whole time since I came to this world, but this was different. Worse. I couldn’t think. Who was the girl beside me? Who was this woman trying to attack me? Who was… I?

A hand reached out for mine.

I instinctively grabbed it. Fire leaped from my hand to the inside of the hand that grabbed it.

Right, Alena. The princess.

I needed… Needed a different way to get power. A different way to get fuel for my magic. I couldn’t keep relying on her. She’d be burned out way before I could get us to safety.

And I didn’t want to hurt her. I was hurting her. But I didn’t want to. I needed to hurt her. But I couldn’t. Couldn’t not hurt her.

I didn’t want to cause her pain. I did want to hurt her. I didn’t want to hurt her too much. I could hurt her a little bit. I could maybe do it? We wouldn’t have a chance if I didn’t…

No. I couldn’t… I wouldn’t… I didn’t want to… I...

I…

What did I want?

Did it matter?

If I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do, all that mattered was what I needed. What I had to do.

Right.

All I needed to do was… To protect the princess. And to do that I needed to win the fight.

To fight, I needed to hurt the princess.

I needed to hurt the princess.

That was the answer. If I just increased the strength of these flames, let them burn as bright as I could, grow into a proper fire —

A thin bolt of lightning slammed into both me and Alena, leaping between us. I hit the wall of a nearby building, hard. It looked like she suffered a similar fate.

Even as my head was swimming from the shock, I was able to think more clearly than a moment ago.

Nothing about my reasoning from a moment earlier made any sense. What had I been thinking? By causing her more pain, I was somehow helping her? That made no sense.

I’d need to think things over properly later.

But this wasn’t the time for that. I needed a different way to fight. Something that wouldn’t need me to hurt the princess.

And I needed it now.

The woman was saying something. I couldn’t make out what. My brain wasn’t able to process it.

Electricity was flowing out from beneath her. It was coming towards us. But what could I do?

This body had belonged to someone so powerful, yet I was this weak...

If I only had been as strong as its prior inhabitant…

That thought was what made me realise.

The witch had been known for what, exactly? Killing? Theft? For petty, inconsequential crimes that didn’t affect more than a couple of people at a time?

Or for burning down whole cities without hesitation?

And what was already behind me?

Alena was wrong. I didn’t actually need to hurt anyone.

She was right about one thing. My magic did need some sort of fuel to function.

But that “fuel” didn’t need to be people.

I had something much better in mind.