The Fireborn Chronicles: The Lost Maiden

Chapter 25: A Journey that Never Was

Kaika thought she knew fear and had experienced it, living with it for so long that it wouldn't affect her anymore. Yet, the emanating cold from Mary made her body tense and her senses tingling.

She was shivering, not only physically, but mentally as well from Mary's appearance. How could this innocent and sweet girl change to this...monster? Kaika was just as scared as she was when she was a child, and it didn't make her feel any braver.

Mary executed the first strike, using a form of ice magic to attack Kaika. However, Mary wasn't saying any chants or spells to perform the magic, only applying her mana to the fullest extent. Mary launched her fist at Kaika, and Kaika dodged quickly to avoid the blow. Mary kept attacking Kaika straight on, and Kaika could not believe it since she thought Mary had no fighting experience at all.

How is she so fast? Kaika thought. Is this some untapped power of hers that awakens whenever she feels bloodlust? I don't know how to stop it!

Kaika tried blocking her attacks with her pikoi, but it was to no avail. She was experienced and fast, but this form Mary was using seemed way beyond human. It was like Mary was the predator, and Kaika was the prey. Before long, Mary had broken through Kaika's stance and slammed her into the sand with a blow to the chest.

Clutching her chest in pain, Kaika noticed that Mary's white hair was randomly flying around like the wind was picking up. She noticed that the air had gotten colder, and the wind also felt violent. Then, Kaika felt that same wind surrounding her entire body.

Kaika tried to escape. However, the wind pulled her up, causing her to lose balance and float in the air. Mary appeared in front of her, and she was smiling as she gripped Kaika by the throat. Escaping was useless now, as with every passing second it was harder for Kaika to breathe.

"Now, how should I finish you off?" Mary asked with a sneer. "Should I choke you to death? Or should I start freezing your body so that you'll feel the cold inching closer to your heart?"

"Or..." Mary continued as her eyes widened, and her grin was even more menacing than before. "I could use you as my nighttime snack. I'm very hungry right now."

Nighttime...snack? Kaika said again, the fear coming even closer than it did before. What the hell...is she? Why am I so...afraid?

Then Kaika remembered something, something that she didn't think would pop up in her head ever again. She remembered one day the chief priest had told her a story of the Tiki. It was a story to frighten the children to go to bed before they would get eaten by a monster.

The story began with a little boy of the Tiki. The boy ran away from his family's hut because he could not sleep, and he wanted to play around in the forest beyond the village borders. Late at night, the boy found a giant resting next to a little lake, and this giant was about the size of a tree. The boy wanted to sleep by the giant because of how much shade he would get if he slept below it. 

And that was what he did, leaning next to the giant's stomach and closing his eyes. While he dreamt, the boy started to softly sing a song that most Tiki knew by heart. Before he knew it, the boy had awoken the giant, and he was startled once the giant stood up.

The giant said that he liked the song the boy sang, and he picked the boy up and held him in his palm. The boy asked how the giant was so big, and the giant answered, saying that he was hungry and ate a lot of things. So, the boy asked if the giant was hungry and the giant said that he was.

Before the boy realized it, the giant had plopped him into his mouth. The giant walked away from the lake, as he was still hungry and the boy did not suffice for a meal. The giant then followed the boy's tracks that would lead him to the village, which was where he could fill his empty stomach. He began to sing the song the boy sang, one that the Tiki knew by heart.