Iriel dropped to one knee, her breath ragged, sweat streaking down her face. The flames' rhythm matched her heartbeat, growing wilder, sharper, faster, and more intense.
Iriel pressed her trembling hand to her abdomen side, and with a hiss of pain, she sealed the bleeding cut using fire. The wound cauterized in a flare of orange heat.
Slowly, Iriel rose. The flames bent with her, coiling like a serpent around her arms. With a flick of her hand, the fire stretched into a long, narrow-shaped lance. Then, she hurled them forward, each streak of flame cutting through smoke and dust with a blistering speed.
Across from her, Emerald's grimoire snapped. Pages began fluttering in madness, each being torn free one by one, spiralling upward. They began folding and layering and attaching themselves to Emerald's backbone.
Two pairs of paper wings unfurled from her back. With a single beat, she lifted herself, the feathers slicing through the haze as she twisted away from the incoming fire.
Iriel's eyes widened, shock freezing her in place as Emerald darted through the flames. Iriel faltered, then panic climbed through her body—she staggered backward, hurling more lances of flame in desperate bursts.
Each strike missed, as Emerald weaved effortlessly between them. Iriel's chest heaved, her pulse hammering against her ribs. Her eyes were burning with fury, fear, and pain. Smoke thickened around her, making her choke. She coughed, vision blurring, but forced her arms wide.
The flames around her reshaped into a bow. She drew back, arrows of fire sparking into existence, and loosed them one after another. But the flames warped around her, heat shimmering, and smoke sting her own eyes, making her shed a few tears.
Emerald's figure was fractured and disoriented due to the high flames and rising smoke.
After a few registered hits, Iriel lowered the bow to look for Emerald, then a rush of movement split the smoke from the left. Emerald burst into view and struck—her punch delivered.
Iriel rolled across the scorched ground, collapsing in a heap. A wet cough tore from her throat, and she spat out. Blood stained the dirt as she struggled to rise again. Too weak, she dragged herself backward, palms scraping and burning under the flames coming from the cracks. Her breath broke into ragged gasps.
Iriel yelled, and fire lashed out in frantic bursts. Emerald's wings unfurled wide, and a single, thunderous beat sent a burst of air tearing through the flames, pushing them aside. The fire around them dipped low, almost dying.
Emerald's feet barely made contact with the ground as she advanced with grace, almost levitating, her wings spread wider than ever.
Then from her belt, Emerald drew a slender dagger, the blade flashing with the flames' vivid orange, at the same time, her wings propelled her forward, closing the distance in a flash.
Iriel's eyes widened, terror blazing across her face.
The impact sends shockwaves across the forest—then a thud, followed by a raspy gasp. Emerald's arms wrapped around her back, pulling Iriel close for an embrace.
Iriel's body convulsed, blood spilling from her lips as she choked on the taste of iron.
Without a glance, Emerald twisted the blade, wrenching it deeper into her heart.
The battlefield fell silent at last.
The dying hiss of flames and Iriel's fading breath.
Her breath was shallow, each exhale weaker than the last one. Her eyes fluttered, half-open, half-closed, battling between life and death.
Iriel's fingers trembled as she reached for Emerald; her gaze darted.
"…E—Emerald…"
Her trembling fingers finally touched Emerald's face, gently caressing her.
Iriel choked on her blood. "Your wings…are truly beautiful—"
Emerald shoved her, and Iriel's body dropped. Panic surged through her as she tore the blade from Iriel's chest and raised it high, striking again and again, blood splattering with each blow.
Then, as Iriel's eyes finally drifted shut, a tear slipped from Emerald's cheek. It fell onto Iriel's face, tracing down her skin.
The surroundings shattered, and Emerald's composure broke; she screamed.
Her cries rose, raw and gut-wrenching. Her lips were trembling, her hands soaked in crimson red, and her voice ripped higher until her screams drowned her along with the last embers of the flames.
"Aaaghhh!"
[The light radiates white, the very pulse of life.]
Emerald wept louder with every breath. "Aaaaaghhh! Ghhhhahh…!"—
[ When I first met you beneath the willow tree, you were a small glowing white light. ]
Emerald buried her face on the ground. "Aaagh-ghh…!"
[I had heard from the Maidens and the older children that you didn't like loud noises, so Madam Mertha advised you to befriend me.]
[Although at first, we didn't talk, and I was too shy to ask you anything. It wasn't like the willow tree belonged to me—and no other child was allowed to come here after school.
So I remained silent. Days passed—months. It was you who broke the ice between us by asking me a silly question like, "How can a blind person read books?"
Still to this day I find it silly; it always makes me laugh when I think about it.
The children and almost everyone calls you 'Iriel.' It makes me a little sad to know no one actually knows your real name.
[Iridanelle.]
It is such a pretty name. I always wanted to call you by your full name, but I knew how weirded out you'd be—maybe even embarrassed. So I stuck with what you were comfortable with.
We spend most of our childhood together, under that willow tree. We even carved our names into it. That tree was practically the pillar of our friendship.
There was a long gap in our time together, and that was when my father came to take me back to Victoria. Madam Mertha had told me my father had gathered the top-rank healers.
From the first-rank healer to the fifth one. My father's desperation had made the Heavenly Institution worried. It was with the help of the institution that reunited the top healers, otherwise none of them would have shown up.
Nevertheless, their efforts meant nothing. It only resulted in my father losing hope that I would never gain vision.
After that, he sent me back to Mertha, and I never heard from him again. No letters, no calls, nothing.
I wasn't heartbroken—sure, it pained me to see my father struggle, and it damaged his pride and reputation at the institution. He, who was the representative of our kind, was burdened with a daughter whose eyes were cursed.
When I returned, I set my heart on the truth: I was never going to see the world as others did, and I would never be able to use our power. And I was fine with that.
I was fine with everything.
I was fine living like this, because I still had my one friend who never left my side.
Iridanelle never gave up on me. She waited for my return, and while I was away, she told me she was accepted into the
We were still young, yet she managed to become a student at
She described new animals to me, how they looked. She described her experience at the summer camp, the people she met, and the food she ate.
Afterwards, she gave me her collection book, and to my surprise, she had written the entire thing in Braille. I still have that book and, I still remember the words she told me.]
["This is for you."]
She grabbed my hands and handed me the collection book.
["You're…giving it to me?"]
["Mhm. I wrote it for you, so you can always read it, even if we are away."
["Now that I've been recruited at the
[ Except that day never came. ]
[Iridanelle never left the House, and I had almost forgotten she had ever made that record. I didn't need it, because she and I talked and played on that hill.]
[…Until we were no longer kids.]