Chapter 21: Breathe

Chapter 21: Breathe

Why didn’t I think about that spell earlier? Lilith told me to use it in emergency situations when I feel helpless. I blame my overconfidence after realizing we were under attack to not use it immediately.

Without knowing that it would actually do, I poured some of the mana I had left into that piece of paper she gave me some days before our mission started.

I knew that it was written in the other world's language and that it was forbidden to use this kind of spell, but everything was better than dying.

The paper started burning in rainbow colors. It took me a second to realize it wasn’t real fire. It was mana, probably Lilith’s.

Miko once told me, soon after we met, that Lilith’s magic was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. I definitely liked this little foretaste.

While the paper slowly disappeared in my hands, nobody moved. That demon just stood there looking in my direction. Alex was still kneeling on the floor after she threw herself into the horned woman.

I didn't feel any change in me after the spell ended. But the atmosphere changed, or rather, it shifted. For some reason, I lost all fear. I felt like we had won this battle.

"You did good; now go to sleep."

I heard a familiar voice speaking as if it were right inside my head, and before I could see anyone, my vision went dark.

NADA

I hated it. I hated that I was not helping them at all. It seemed like an eternity until I managed to get up and finally take a look outside. Of course, I was afraid to see the dead bodies of my friends and those monsters who would come for me next.

But what my eyes beheld was frightening in another way. Alex was sitting on the floor next to Kayla. And a woman with purple skin and two horns stood just a few feet away from them, staring into nothing. The atmosphere felt threatening. Again, my fear prevented me from leaving the tent, so I had no choice but to watch.

KAJSA

I knew this battle was over the moment I saw the mana radiating from that piece of paper. But I must admit that I was looking forward to meeting the person who could use such beautiful magic.

“Stop right there. Do not move. You haven't done anything you need to regret yet. I wish it would stay that way.”

I heard that voice speaking in my head. As if it were my own thoughts, only louder. A frightening experience. I wasn’t sure how to answer, so I focused on listening.

But before I could say another word, I noticed the green-haired girl fainting right next to the other one. Both my enemies were unconscious. The gate was about a hundred meters behind me. It would take me a second or two to reach it. Still, my muscles signaled that my body would not move even if I wanted to.

Wait, was the spell just to speak straight into my mind? Nothing else happened, and the mana was gone. The piece of paper disappeared, too. Maybe the voice was bluffing, trying to stall me so they could send reinforcements.

“You are almost right, but it’s not just for speaking to you, but also reading or rather listening.”

A shiver ran down my spine. Mind-reading spells are hard to learn, and even when you're standing in front of your subject, it takes a while to get into someone's mind. But this witch was casting a spell like that from a distance.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I am right here.”

My ears revealed the origin of the voice. It was coming from behind me. I wanted to turn around, but I couldn’t.

A moment later, I felt a hand on my back, stroking it gently.

“Relax, I won’t kill you.”

She slowly kept walking and finally stood right in front of me.

This long white hair reminded me of my people; all of us demons were gifted with the color of purity.

I guess my maid is dead, too. She wanted to join me after she killed the humans inside the dungeon. I was sure she would fulfill her mission because although she was not the smartest one, her fighting power was much more significant than mine.

“I’m glad that you are cooperating. I wasn’t keen on fighting.”

Right now, this woman wasn’t radiating a single ounce of mana. But she stood before me with a sense of obviousness as if it was the most normal thing in the world to talk to a demon.

“I will take out some sort of shackles right now. Please let me put these on you.”

"Just get on with it." I finally managed to get a few words out. It was embarrassing to just stand there and let her do whatever she wanted to me.

Her cold attitude, coupled with the gentle smile on her face, was frightening. Her aura was much more fearsome than my father's, a demon lord who ruled over a land full of monsters.

The moment the handcuffs enclosed my wrists, my whole strength left my body. My mana circulation was cut off, and I felt dizzy close to passing out. My legs gave up, and I could not keep standing any longer, but instead of letting me fall to the ground, this woman held me. Assisting me into going to my knees.

“This is just a safety measure, don’t worry.”

I was unsure if she was playing with me or telling the truth. I had no choice but to believe her. I should feel pathetic, but if you want to live a long life, you have to know when to give up and accept your fate.

"Nada! Will you please come out!" the woman called out. We waited, and a minute later, a young human girl with trembling legs approached us. Her eyes were red from crying. She hugged her shaky self while trying not to look at me. I never enjoyed being feared. I just did what I had to do... and I felt kind of bad seeing this child traumatized by my actions.

"You did well, Nada. Please insert some mana into this paper. The others will be here soon, I'm sure. Everything will be fine."

The human named Nada did as she was told, and again, that beautiful mana was emitted when the paper came into contact with the mana of the young girl.

A portal opened in front of us. The white-haired woman helped me stand up, and we disappeared through it together.

MIKO

The split second it takes to go from one world to the other seemed like an eternity this time. I wasn't sure I was ready for the sight that awaited me on the other side. I didn't want to imagine that any of the others were hurt or even worse.

My eyes darted around, searching for the others. First, I detected all the dead goblins and orcs until that pinkish hair stood out further away. I ran to her, not caring for anything else anymore. I passed Nada, who was also lying on the ground and ignored Alex, who was unconscious too. I put my head on Kayla's chest, trying to feel her breathing, to hear her heart beating.

I never expected to hear a heartbeat so beautiful. Tears of joy welled up in my eyes.

She was alive.

I just stayed with her and listened to the beating of her heart.

Some minutes later, Wace, Krystoff, and Luna also left the dungeon.

Wace was carrying Luna, who seemed to be asleep. Krys started to run as soon as he noticed all of us on the ground. Wace, on the other hand, seemed relatively relaxed.

“Four passed-out girls and two guys, that looks and sounds terribly wrong.” He laughed and turned around. "I'm taking Luna to her bed."

"I'll carry the others," Krystoff said hastily.

"Please don't." spoke a faint voice next to my ear. "You don't know if they have any injuries, just put them in recovery position until I get up."

Kayla was awake and, as always, thinking about the others first. I took my head off her chest and looked at her without saying a word.

"What a day." She said and started to giggle before she contorted her face in pain. "Shit hurts, but at least breathing is okay to some extent."

I just realized that I had leaned some of my weight on her body without thinking about her injuries, and apologized in my mind as I couldn't get a single word out.

“I’m glad that you are alright,” Kayla said with a big smile and sat up to kneel on the ground. My lips were trembling. I felt like crying.

"It's fine."

She took me in her arms with these words and gently embraced me. I could no longer hold back my tears; I was so relieved to see her alive and well.

“I will never leave your side again,” I sniffled.

“Is that a confession?”

“Shut up.”

“Alright.”

KAYLA

These self-healing capabilities of my body were no joke. I was sure my ribs were broken, but after being unconscious for some time, they were only bruised; still very painful, of course, but not comparable to moments after the impact.

I was startled when I saw Nada lying a few meters away. But Miko immediately reassured me that she was just sleeping. Wace joined us shortly afterward to carry her to her bed as well. But Alex needed some of my attention, so I healed her.

After I had finished with her, I followed Miko to Luna's tent. While I healed her burns, I got an overview of what had happened in the dungeon.

"Wow, that sounds scary. But could you please repeat the part about your wrists?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're busted." As she finished her sentence, she raised her hands and held them out to me a little.

The sight made me gag immediately. Don't ask me why I didn't have a problem with orc brains scattered on the floor but with broken bones.

Even though my mana was pretty exhausted, I had to do something. So I closed my eyes and did what I was best at: healing.

“Kayla, wait, shouldn’t we move my hands into the right position before?”

A little bit late for your concern, Miko

As my magic entered her body, I opened my eyes, witnessing how her hands snapped back into position with a movement way too fast for someone injured.

Miko gulped loudly but did not scream.

“I’m sorry.” I genuinely felt sorry. I had never inflicted pain through healing before… I guess.

"Don't worry," she said, moving her hands to test the mobility of her wrists. "It just feels like a bruise now. The bones seem to be healed again. Thank you for the service."

Suddenly, Miko put her right hand on the back of my head, held it gently, gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, and immediately stood up to run away, leaving me baffled.

What just happened? She kissed me? As thanks... As payment? Whatever it was, I wasn't ready for it. I couldn't even say I was happy at the moment; shock was the more appropriate description of my emotional state.

A kiss on the forehead was something my mother used to do when I was a child. It was nothing new for Miko to show me some kind of affection. But this time, I no longer felt so much like her pet or her apprentice.

As I looked around to find out where Miko had disappeared to, my and Alex's eyes met. She had a huge blush on her face.

“I’m so sorry for watching.” She apologized as she interrupted something.

"Stop it, nothing happened!" I could feel the heat on my cheeks. I'm pretty sure I could keep up with the redness of Alex's face.

Then she stood up, walked over to me, and offered me her hand. Together, we checked on the others who were still unconscious. First, we checked on Luna. She looked exhausted even though I had healed her. Wace explained that she had used a very powerful spell to kill the demon they had been fighting, and her exhaustion was usual.

Demon? How could I have forgotten? What happened to the other one? I recall holding that paper in my hand and how I woke up after that.

"So there was another demon... I'll check outside the veil. I hope it hasn't escaped into the city." Wace strode out of the tent, leaving Alex and me behind.

Next stop was Nada. She was sleeping in her bed, moving around a lot, moaning a bit like she was having a bad dream, sadly nothing I could help with.

“Where is Wace?” Luna entered the tent, wearing a robe over her burned outfit.

"He's just left to look for the demon we fought," I explained briefly. I didn't like the fact that the atmosphere was tense again.

"I got a call from the Ministry. Don't ask me how they already knew, but they told me that they've already taken care of the demon and that we can relax for now. I'll get further instructions this afternoon on how to proceed with the mission."

This afternoon? Right, it was still quite early in the day. Barely an hour has passed between the meeting and this moment.

"Where's Kayla?" Miko grumbled outside the tent. Was she looking for me? I was kind enough to go outside and end her search for me.

“I’m here.”

When I saw her, I had to take a deep breath to prevent myself from tearing up. She had a first aid kit in her hand. She noticed the wound on my right arm and immediately got me help after I had healed her. I'm sure the others would have done the same, but it meant a lot to me that she was the one.

"Let's go to your place, you need a bandage." She nodded in the direction of my tent and I followed her in silence. I hoped she had paid close attention to one of the first aid courses she had to take every year. Of course, I could treat myself, but I couldn't take that away from her now.

“Take your clothes off.” She said without showing any expression.

When I took off my poncho, I felt the sleeve sticking to my skin because of the dried blood. Taking it off stung a little, but it was bearable.

I looked at Miko, Miko looked at me. What was she waiting for? I held my arm out in her direction as I sat down on my field bed.

She hadn't really expected me to continue undressing, had she? I furrowed my brows and looked at her in disbelief.

"I'm ready, by the way." The nervous giggle at the end wasn't voluntary. It just escaped my mouth.

She sighed and took out everything she needed. I was surprised at how carefully and thoroughly she treated my wound. She regularly looked at my face after coming into contact with the wound to observe my reaction. I felt completely at ease in her hands.

NADA

I woke up in my bed with the worst headache I've ever had. I was usually pretty lucky and rarely had to deal with pain like this.

"You're awake," Wace said. I knew it was him without opening my eyes. We'd talked so much in the last ten days that I recognized his voice immediately.

"I wish I wasn't. My head hurts like hell."

"Do you want me to get Kayla?"

"Later, tell me what happened first."

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. Both Alex and Kayla can't remember some of the details of your battle that day."

"That day?"

"You were asleep for two days."

"That would explain my dry mouth."

"I'll get you something to drink and pick up Kayla. We can talk when you're feeling better."

Wace was lovely, although I was lucky that everyone looked after me. Because of my age, most of my friends were very considerate and friendly to me.

I kept my eyes closed and started massaging my temples. Ahh, I wanted to cry, but I knew that would only make the pain worse, so I tried to be a big girl.

"Nada!" Kayla rushed into the tent, wearing a bandage on her right arm, and I don't even know why. But otherwise, she looked as healthy as ever.

"Can I touch your head?" she asked with a worried expression.

“Sure.” I tried to smile faintly.

Her hands were cold, but that was definitely a plus at that moment. And a second later, I saw her sparkling green mana flowing around my head and disappearing into it.

The pain disappeared as if it had never been there. I loved Kayla for her ability not to badmouth Hannah, but her healing was not comparable to Kayla's.

Wace handed me a bottle of water after Kayla stepped back, and after I drank it in one go, I only had one wish left. To eat something.

My stomach growled loudly, and both Wace and Kayla stared at me with big grins on their faces.

"You know, we talked about going to a waffle place yesterday," Wace said as his grin grew even wider.

"I just love you guys," I said, jumping out of bed.