It was cold. Freezing. Everything was white. As if I was in a blizzard. I can't move. I can't see. I ca-can't feel. Suddenly the white sky had parted, two large glowing eyes staring down at me, blue magic crackling around them as they bore into my very being- like a god looking at an ant.
Gasping I jolted up, two arms around me, falling to my lap at the sudden motion. Fisting my hair I gasped, my head pounding. "Lilith...?" A groggy voice called as my gaze snapped to Alex, who jolted up just as quickly.
"Wha- You're eyes are-" In seconds the throbbing was gone and Adrain was sitting up with us confused and tired. "I- gods," He shook his head, his face twisting in bewilderment and disbelief while I looked around, the white gone. Almost teasingly I saw a crackle of magic I had never seen before around what had been our fire.
"You're warm," Adrain mumbled, collapsing back into the dirt and curling around me. I was. I was warm. Staring at my hand I grabbed my shirt with my other, my mana core still covered in magic that had taken form. "What's wrong with your hair?" Adrain mumbled, playing with the side of my hair. Glancing at him I took the lock he held, a notable but small amount of white mixed into the red of my ringlets. Staring at it I felt sick.
That's not- that's not possible. I'm just a glass mage. That's all I am. Swallowing I couldn't help the words racing through my mind. Oh, and kid, I'd keep that heat running through you in, you don't want to see what happens to 'heroes'. I wasn't one of them. It wasn't possible.
"It's because my mana had been leaking," I lied, the gap one I hoped wasn't suspicious. That was a thing. One could have a notable difference in physical appearance if mana was over-exerted. It's not strange. "You should have seen what happened to my dad after he had his last burnout," I hummed, my mouth dry. "His hair went purple for almost a whole year," I smiled, my heart racing.
Adrain yawned as he sat up, "I guess it was good we caught it before you turned into a grandma then," He hummed, draping his arm over my shoulders, using me as a support.
"Right?" Alex tried, laughing gently, glancing at it but not bothering to look too long. Okay, yeah. It's just because I used too much mana. It's just because I cracked my core. Taking a deep breath I rubbed my temple, glancing at Adrian, my blood running cold as he was staring back, his face blank for all but a second. A second I almost missed. A tired smile there so quick I swallowed the lump in my throat with a smile just as pleasant.
"Sooo, should we start running or look for food?" He asked looking up at Alex, who had already got to his feet. Alex glanced at us, taking Adrain's lazily outstretched hands and pulling him up, before offering me a hand.
"We should probably find a better place to hide-" He made sure I was stable before turning to the sun and squinting at it, his hand shielding his eyes- "We slept a little too long, if we want to avoid the hunters then we should head out-"
"Cute idea, really~" Hummed a voice that had all of us stilling, a panting man walking into view, his clothes ruffled, ripped here and there, while he scanned around us cautiously, "As much fun as this has been, I was careful not to come alone this time, yes?" He snapped, suddenly, the bloodthirsty aura around us pounding on my senses as I grunted, holding my head, red seeping into my sight as I could practically see their outlines in the trees around us.
"Wh-what do we do?" Adrian asked scrambling to push me behind him, Alex equally realizing the fact we were surrounded. My breathing picked up as my eyes whipped around us.
"I don't have magic, I- I can't- I-"
"You're out? And here I had thought I needed help," He let out a relieved breath, his hand casually going to his chest. "Well, I guess there wasn't a point in fetching others then-" He grinned leaping forward, Alex's obsidian sword shattering but I couldn't fix it. How could I? I couldn't use my magic.
"A-Adrian!" I shrieked throwing the first potion I could get my hands on. One that had him paling. A thick wall of dirt shot up around us, the loud explosion earning a shout on the other side- the wall collapsing as we were sent flying.
"I'd give it to them,"
"Right? They sure are trying,"
"It's kinda cute,"
"Come on, be nice, Vince almost lost more than his head,"
The professors laughed among themselves as my ears rang, something warm running down my face. Sitting up I found the boys groaning but mostly okay, everything attached and what looked like only a few scratches.
"Oh shut up!" Glared the rogue pulling his long jacket off, glaring at his colleagues, one of which having protected him from the blast, "They've bested you all just as much as I! They've got a dragon and a different beast, gods, if she hadn't of been out of magic I can't imagine what would have happened," He sighed tossing one of his daggers as I scrambled to shake Adrian, Alex was great, super strong, but he hardly had mana. He was bad at using it in battle. Adrian was good at magic, Adrian had a good amount of mana.
"Get up, get up, get up, get up" I repeated violently shaking him, he grumbled about being up, just concussed. "Make a platform, make a platform right now," I demanded, grunting his hands touched the ground and we were rising in seconds. "You guys get shields and yet you're still like this?" I couldn't help but complain as they just scoffed at me.
"I can't exactly do anything! He uses mana on his daggers! Shields aren't exactly useful if he starts swinging at us!" Alex groaned sitting up with a glare, opening my mouth I closed it as his eyes widened. "You don't have a shield! Oh my stars- Lilith you're bleeding!" Slapping the hand away as Adrain sat up, laughing coming from the trees, I glared at Alex who thought it was the time for that.
"I'm fine, I just, I need to think," I grunted pulling at my hair, magic crackling around us. My head throbbing.
"Look, Lilith, we have to have the most points, it's okay to quit, we'll be okay," He tried to reason but my head just started to throb more. As if hooves were pounding against the inside of my skull I curled around my head, "Hey, I know you don't want to but it's for the best- Lilith?"
"Hey, Lil? You good?" Adrian looked away from the edge of the platform to look at me at the concern in Alex's voice.
"I can- there's one thing I can do," I gasped, my eyes snapping open, a magic circle glowing in my head as I scrambled around to look for my bag. "It's not here, it's not here- I need, I need something sharp, A-Adrian, I need something sharp,"
Looking at Alex he jumped when I slammed my hand into the dirt under us with a glare, not needing someone else's permission. A rock pushed its way to the surface next to me, taking it I dug into the ground while Alex glared at Adrian, who threw his hands up at the look. "He'll be here in ten seconds, on the left," I said, still scratching the dirt.
"How-"
"You... You little brats-" Gasped an exasperated man glaring over the corner, his dagger used to climb while Adrian and Alex looked at each other they slowly look back at him- who was struggling to climb the side of the tall platform his colleagues could have helped him up. I heard the curse before I looked over again, Adrian grinning as he stepped on the man's hand.
"What did you call us again? Cute? Well, aren't you just adorable, climbing up here like a little kitten?" The mocking tone found my ears before more curses. A lot of 'who do you think you are's equally heard. As well as howling laughter from below.
"I did it, I've done it," I panted looking at the circle my hands had drawn without much of my help. Suddenly, the freezing I hadn't had since waking up had slammed into me, with mana that was both hot and sharp, as if razor-sharp teeth were wrapping around me I paled, pain in my forearm.
"Li-Lilith?" Looking down, I found the rock in my hand and my forearm sliced. The vertical cut pale for all but a moment, suddenly blood rushing down my arm and onto the magic circle I didn't even know. "Why-?" Looking at the horrified three, the wind rustling past us as I let out a laugh. A shaky disbelieving laugh, warmth running down my freezing cheek, blood muddling my vision, the crackling of the air forcing them to look away from the bloody mess that was my arm.
"How dare y-" Suddenly, the world was black, leaving me without so much as the ability to curse the damned thing.