The Elemented

A Little Magic

P.O.V: Ajax

When I wrote those words, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But I had to tell her not to fall for me. I needed her to tell me she wouldn't, even if it felt like an empty promise to me. Those thoughts aside, I open her cell door and notice she was just waking up. I saw her tense up, but then wince in pain.

"Relax." I say, and reluctantly, she does as I said.

I walk over to her and immediately notice the blood running down both sides of her legs. Luckily, I had brought just enough gauze to clean up the mess. I look up at her and see that her right eye is now blackened. Iris doesn't look too good, but she smile at me anyway. Once again I find myself wondering where she got her strength from. As I change her bandages, I think about what she has gone through. She was ripped from her home, watched her parents vaporize in front of her, and she couldn't do anything about it. Then she was thrown into a cell. She has been tortured for weeks, but this was the worst test they had put her through, even though she scared a Death Hound and killed three of them. Iris somehow has the courage to keep fighting and enough resistance to keep going. She still has hope and it seems contagious. After I finished her legs and arms, I remove the bandage on her left shoulder and my eyes widen.

"What?" She asks. She looks down at her shoulder and her eyes grow big in shock.

"It looks like you can not only heal others, but you heal quickly too." I tell her.

"I hope my legs heal soon or else I might consider cutting them off." She jokes.

I smile and move on to take care of her side. This would was almost fully healed, unlike her shoulder that was fully healed.

"The only major concern is your legs. They are at risk of being infected. And I also have this." I hand her a pain reliever capsule. "You don't need water to swallow the capsule."
Iris takes it without any hesitation and swallows it. I see her body relax a little more and knew the capsule had already helped ease her pain. I watch as she sit up in her bed, careful not to move her legs. Her dark brown hair is messy and a strand covers her right eye. I fought the urge to tuck it behind her ear. I look at her cheek that was scratched up yesterday, but all that's there is a few scars where the scratches once were. At least she's healing, I think. She tucks the strand behind her ear and I look more closely as I sat down next to her. Her eye wasn't as bad as I had previously thought. Anger flared through me for just a moment. I couldn't help it. I felt protective of her. Those guards are really in for it when she escapes. Iris sensed something as I looked at her.

"Something bothering you, Ajax?" She asks.

"It's just that those guards should've never hit you." I say truthfully.

"Don't worry. When I break out of here, they're barbecue." Iris says and I crack a smile.

" I was hoping you would say that." I say, making her laugh. A sudden thought makes me look down.

"What?" Iris never misses a thing.

"When you escape, I will most likely have to track you down. But if your fast enough, then you will be long gone and hopefully you will find the Tyrants."

She gives me a sideways look before a smile forms over her lips. "I'll be fine, okay? But I might end up burning this place down."

"I'm completely okay with that. I'll make a mental note of that. Or I could put out the fires myself, but I'll wait and watch the guards run around the place frantically."

We both laugh at the thought of hundreds of overweight guards frantically trying to put out fires all over the place.

"So, you're going to free the other children." I say as a matter of factually.

Iris's brown eyes grow big with realization. "How long have you been reading my thoughts?" She asks, but there is no accusation in her voice.

I pretend to think and by the look on her face, she already knows the answer. "Since I brought you here and begun visiting you." I say honestly.

Iris punches my arm lightly, but she only did it to hide her cheeks. I tease her back by running a hand against her neck, making goosebumps breakout across her bare skin. She just glares at me. I hold out my hand and a small sphere of water appears. "Why don't you try it." I encourage her.

With her cheeks still pink, she holds out her small hand and concentrates.

"Relax and imagine a small ball of fire in your hand." I advise her.

Iris takes my advice and a small ball of fire appears, illuminating her face with its orange glow. She looks up at me with a smile of victory.

"Now try to make it form into something." I concentrate a little and make the water ball change into the shape of a lilac flower.

"That's my favorite flower."Iris tells me.

"My mother had a whole garden of lilacs because she loved them." I say, smiling at her.

She managed to turn her ball of fire into a dagger.

"Why a dagger?" I ask curiously.

She just shrugs and says, "In my spare time, when I got bored, I practiced knife throwing. I have a dagger my dad gave me and I wrapped black rubber tape around the hilt so I wouldn't lose my grip. I also have a lot of experience in archery."

I look at her in surprise. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Iris laughs. " I wouldn't actually throw one at you unless it was a life or death situation. And I doubt it will come to that." She says confidently.

I just shake my head at her and smile. Iris could have taken me out several times. She takes out the dagger that was concealed underneath her uncomfortable mattress.

"How did you manage to sneak that in here?" I ask her, amazed that she had it with her.

"Hid it in my sock." She answers, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

She is flipping the blade into the air and catching the handle every time. She must have done that for a while before she could actually catch the handle. Iris puts her hair into a messy ponytail. The black hair tie seemed to have appeared out of thin air. With her hair away from her face, Iris's eyes seem bigger than they were. Also, her hair has a few shades of brown, not just the dark brown I had thought previously. The glint in her eye seems brighter. After being here for almost a month, Iris seemed to be getting stronger. This place has hardened her in the best way possible, which is the exact opposite of what this building wanted to do.

"They'll start testing you more after you fully heal and each test will be harder than the last until you can't take it anymore." I warn her.

"They think they had made this place spell-proof, but they're wrong. Although I can't fully flame out, I can at least summon this." She raises her hand and a fire ball appears easily.

It's amazing how quickly she has adapted and learned. I wonder what other Elements she has besides super healing and her element, fire.