Barbara's Book of Fire

Chapter 29

Between the ambiguity of the breathing darkness and light, only the faint silhouette that ceased to blend among the dull-moving world somehow felt true to me. A bead of sweat trickled down on my neck as if to tell me the answer I already knew. 'This guy is bad news, Fil.'

There were three of us there—including Rebecca—and I knew we would lose should the fight break out for real. All I could think about was how we could escape safely from there. Hidden beneath the blankets of the unfolding shadow, the person spent their time in a comforting solace, much different than what we were feeling afoot.

'Should we go inside?...No, it will be over for us if he goes inside too. Then what, call for help? How? Come on, come on. Think, Barbara!' The tension had clutched me bare at that point.

"Barbara," Rebecca whispered slowly. "I will stall them for some time; you will go and find the other three inside, you got it?"

'By yourself? No, it will be too dangerous. How about Fil? No! Filtiarn can't speak, idiot! Think, Barbara, Think...But will they even let me...?' The world spun in place as I drowned myself further in a never-ending cycle of thoughts.

"Barbara! Pull yourself together." When Rebecca shook my shoulder, I finally snapped out of a daze.

'...This is pathetic. You trained exactly for things like these, Barbara. Pull yourselves together, damn it!' I punched my staggering legs that started quivering from the terror that crawled ever so closer.

'Let's do it like Rebecca says, Fil.' I sent Filtiarn to stand by Rebecca and protect her while formulating the route within my mind.

"May I ask to whom do we owe this honor?" Rebecca tried fishing the other party, but there was not much of an answer other than the suffocating silence. "...We want no qualms, nor will we pry about your business here. Just let us take our friends inside there, and we'll be gone quietly without raising a fuss...Barbara—"

The second my legs twitched tense and prepared to move, a sphere of wind was born out of thin air and blew us apart. It ravenously spun around and then landed in front of the door before disappearing swiftly without a trail into the voiceless space.

"Not you and your bond, little sun." A deep tone finally greeted us from the opposite side, and it felt strangely familiar. "You can fetch your friends and leave, Skywing. It will be in everyone's best interest if any of us won't try to do something unsightly...I don't have the patience nor time to tolerate such behaviors."

'Not the best, but at least Becca and the others can leave.' I could feel that the man was dangerous the moment FIltiarn told me so, but when I felt the influx of Revma when he used magic, I knew then why he was someone we could not hope to contend with.

"Barbara..." We were a dozen feet away from each other. Still, I could tell the raw concern portrayed in Rebecca's eyes as she displayed her reluctance to leave us there all alone with the mysterious man.

"It's okay. I'll be fine—Filtiarn is here with me." Fearing that she would see through my façade, I put on the bravest smile I could hope to put and reassured her.

I knew it didn't manage to do the trick because of how Rebecca's face had turned uglier in reply—But truth be told, there was so little of what we could do at the time. Me with the shallow smile that would crumble at any given second, and Rebecca, who could just obediently walk towards the door without any choice left. 

Even when she disappeared behind the glimmering door of lights, I could feel the extent of her fear and anger enveloping the place.

When he saw Rebecca had vanished to the other side of the door, the man stepped forward, shedding away the persistent darkness that clung beneath his feet. While the wisp of radiant hue had come in touch with the tips of his robe, a familiar face appeared and caught Filtiarn and me off guard.