of Sword and Flame

Chapter 13: Masquerades and Magic II

Eryssa slowly turned to face Kyra, her eyes peeled open like ripe flower buds.

    "What— what did you say?" she stuttered out.

    Ren nervously glanced between them. What was so horrid about the chemical that just the mention would cause a reaction like that?

    But before they could continue the conversation, the leader rudely interrupted them by raising more vines, wrapping them around the trio's feet. Eryssa froze the vines and snapped them off, Kyra worked to burn them away, and Ren was slicing them off as quickly as they came.

    The leader lifted a fist and pointed it in their direction, causing the five others to move about the room to surround the three. The trio each turned to keep an eye on the soldiers, nervously backing up until all three were pressed back-to-back.

    "So, do you guys normally have a plan for fighting gifted people?" Ren asked, something hopeful in his voice.

    "Are you kidding? I didn't even know there were more of us!" Eryssa shot back.

    Magic and weapons were everywhere, swinging and exploding and dashing around in absolute disarray. The rest of the guards also seemed to have their own powers, albeit not as strong as their leader. Kyra was doing her best to preserve her energy, but it was difficult not to rely on her gift in the heat of battle, especially one as magical and chaotic as this.

    A throwing knife nearly hit her in the arm, and she shouted at Ren to be careful.

    "I'm trying!" he shot back, slicing a vine at his feet.

    Kyra felt her back hit someone else's, and she frantically looked to see who it was, feeling a mixture of anger and relief that it was Eryssa. Eryssa shared the expression as well. Kyra watched with horror as a vine shot out toward Eryssa, but Eryssa was too focused on another guard.

    The vine began to wrap around Eryssa's arm, restricting her from using magic, and Eryssa shouted. Kyra leaned in and grabbed the vines on her arm, and in the next second, the vines glowed a fiery orange, writhing in what appeared to be pain. They retracted and shriveled up on the ground, and the vine-wielding leader was visibly distraught by this, hunching in agony for a moment before rising again.

    "Thank you," Eryssa said, and Kyra turned back only to realize how close they'd gotten. Those sea-green eyes stared back at her, and she realized with a sharp pang how much she missed seeing that softness in them. She could smell the sea breeze that always followed Eryssa wherever she went.

    "Always." The word was out before Kyra could take it back, and she could've sworn she saw a slight smile tug at Eryssa's lips.

    Always. What Eryssa had said to her three years ago in training. That had been a lifetime ago. And yet, it was like yesterday when they were two kids laughing and dancing and telling each other what they would've wanted to grow up to do.

    "A dancer," Eryssa had said then. "I'd want to perform for money. I'd get fancy outfits with pretty blues and gemstones. I'd travel worldwide; everyone would know my name!"

    "I'd hate that," Kyra responded. "I don't want people always watching me."

    She shifted on the bench in the garden, smiling at the way Eryssa was whirling between rose bushes.

    "Then you don't have to," Eryssa replied. "You can be my bodyguard, always there to protect me, just like you already are."

    Eryssa turned to look back at Kyra, and at that moment, the sun touched the horizon, and the whole sky turned a soft, creamy pink, but right where Eryssa's curly, wild hair was, the sun stitched the edges with gold. Kyra watched her carefully at that moment, memorizing the way Eryssa looked.