The Courage of Stars

season 1 | chapter 16

"FIRST MISSION AND I'm useless."

Agitation had Lyla rolling from one side of her bed to the other the previous night, doing everything possible to block her sleep. Mild dread replaced the flutter of anticipation when she closed her eyes and woke up the next day.

All of the inner enthusiasm about testing her powers on a different field was drained, leaving her numb. The punch of disappointment was so strong and for once, Lyla couldn't think.

As much as she wished she had the will to shove aside any thoughts about returning home, she couldn't prevent the internal, childish screams of going back to safe waters. Lyla didn't care if her pleas would never be heard, frankly because she was aware of their futility from the start.

She sighed heavily. She couldn't keep drowning in the sea of the unpleasant revelation forever.

With that thought in mind, she braced her soul for the mission, wrapping her heart in steel after making one last wish.

I wish I could be anywhere but here.

Kai had been watching the shifts in her expression, from the vibrant glint in her eyes laced with an eagerness to find out the truth about their destination, to the confusion in the form of her eyebrows knitting together only for her features to morph into silent melancholy.

He couldn't bring himself to be heartless and demand from her to stop sulking because he understood. He understood the emotional conflict Lyla was facing. He had been there far too many times himself. He was the last person on this earth to instruct her to fake excitement and hide her worry.

Kai stayed silent, unsure if she would appreciate any kind of consolation. When he first saw her confidence which boarded on arrogance in the Main Dome, during her fight against Rita Sage, he had entertained the idea of her being a person who wouldn't need impressive efforts to be figured out on the basic parts of magic. Powerful female wizards had the tendency to overestimate themselves. Sometimes, their cases were worse than those of men.

It was the second time he had miscalculated, but Kai didn't mind it. The girl had potential. Her punches and attacks on him on Monday night, when she stayed for another round of practice didn't go to waste. They happened to prove to him why her perseverance and untamable spirit made the students crown her with the title of the Dragon Empress.  

Lyla's physical and mental power wasn't upholding the title for nothing. She was far from perfection, but if she was willing to cooperate with him and listen to his advice, especially when he pointed out something that would make her smile to fade, she could polish plenty of holes in her techniques in no time.

Kai averted his head from the front to the window. His arm was propped on the low windowsill, the cars across him speeding past the bus lightning fast. The cream-white clouds were etched on the baby blue of the sky, the few signs of the sunrise long gone. Another busy day had started as the sun rays broke through the clouds to bathe the city in gold.

Kai supported his chin on his palm, listening to the final directions and important notices Indra made. She clarified that if a team reached a certain point where they could see the place where the Four Seas met one another, they had to stay away from it at all costs. The excuse was the high risk. No one could declare with surety where the tornado that lied there led.

The rumors weren't new to Lyla. The adventurous part of her would definitely suggest the team to take a closer look, but the circumstances weren't favorable. The mystery behind the tornado at the greeting point of the Four Seas wasn't their mission.

Indra wished them good luck. Claps ensued and Lyla eased back into her seat. They died down shortly, leaving her at the company of her thoughts.

She would finally enjoy the change of scenery.

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A / N

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this short chapter.

As always, a vote and a comment are always appreciated!

Now, on even more important things. We have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there won't be an update next Friday. University courses and university life, in general, have been getting in the middle of writing, and I need to write more chapters before I polish and publish the ones I already have in my drafts. That way, I make sure to never run out of them.

The good news is that PARALLEL STARS, the five chapter prequel to Kai and Lyla's story is out!

I've published the first chapter yesterday and in order to have a taste of what it looks like, I'll leave this snippet here:

We used to lay on my bed, his warm fingers enclosing mine with a tenderness my writing nature has lost the words to describe. We would be counting them again and again, despite that both of us knew the number by heart. They were ten in total, but my feelings for him were one thousand and ten.

I hope you have a lovely day/night!

Pavlina.