Aanha sat near the half-burned logs from their small fire, knees pulled up, watching Sai as he cleaned his blade by the water's edge. His movements were calm, practiced, almost detached. The faint reflection of the setting sun danced across his face, but his eyes stayed unreadable.
She'd been watching him for a while, chewing on the words she wanted to say.
Finally, she stood up.
Aanha (firmly): You said I wasn't ready. Then tell me—how do I get ready? By sitting here doing nothing?
Sai didn't look up immediately. He finished wiping the blade, set it aside, then rose slowly to face her.
Sai (quietly): You still don't understand what you're carrying.
Aanha: Then make me understand! [Her voice cracked, a mix of anger and fear.] You keep talking like you know everything, like I'm some… thing that needs protecting—but it's my power! My life!
The air between them thickened. The faint wind stirring the leaves seemed to pause, waiting.
Sai's gaze sharpened. For a moment, it almost looked like he wanted to snap back—but instead, he exhaled slowly.
Sai: You think I like this? Watching you stumble through something that could destroy you in a heartbeat?
Aanha (challenging): Then tell me the truth, Sai! Who were those people? And why do you keep saying they found me?
Silence. The kind that presses against your chest.
Finally, Sai's eyes softened, just a little.
Sai (quiet): Because I've seen what happens when they do.
That answer—too calm, too final—made something cold coil in her stomach.
Aanha (hesitant): You mean… you lost someone.
Sai didn't move. But his jaw tensed, and his eyes flickered with something that looked dangerously close to grief.
Before Aanha could ask more, the wind shifted—sudden and wrong. A faint hum trembled through the air, like a string being plucked.
Sai's head turned instantly toward the ridge above them. His entire posture changed—alert, defensive.
Sai (low): Get back.
Aanha (confused): What—?
Then she heard it. A faint chime. Metallic, rhythmic—the same sound she'd heard after the attack.
Sai's expression hardened. "They traced the energy you released earlier."
Aanha: What? But… how—
Sai: Your training. You left a mark. They can sense it.
Before she could reply, the ground trembled lightly—branches shaking, birds scattering from the treetops. Aanha's pulse spiked.
Sai drew a small charm from his pocket—etched with glowing blue lines—and crushed it in his hand. The air rippled, bending faintly around them.
Sai (commanding): Move. Now.
He grabbed her wrist, pulling her toward the path along the riverbank. The air shimmered as the barrier flickered to life behind them—a thin layer of water and wind that distorted the clearing like heat haze.
They ran. The sky had turned almost black now, the last threads of daylight vanishing behind the hill.
Aanha's heart pounded as they dashed through the trees, roots and rocks flying past in blurs. "Sai! Who's following us?"
Sai (grimly): Not who. What.
A deep, resonant growl rolled through the forest behind them—low and guttural, vibrating through the earth.
Sai [tightened his grip]: Don't stop. Whatever happens—don't use your power unless I say so.
Aanha (panting): Why?!
Sai: Because they're waiting for it.
The words barely left his mouth before the trees ahead split open in a rush of force—something huge, unseen, plowing through the dark.
Aanha stumbled back, eyes wide. A shape moved in the shadows, faint red symbols flickering across its body like molten veins.
Aanha (breathless): That's not human…
Sai (drawing his weapon): No. It's what they send to test if you're worth taking.
He glanced over his shoulder, the corner of his mouth lifting in a grim half-smirk.
Sai: So—show me if I was right to keep you alive.
The thing stepped fully into view at last. It was massive—half-shadow, half-solid, its body rippling like smoke caught in invisible flames. Glowing red veins pulsed beneath its skin, forming eerie, shifting patterns that almost resembled writing. Its eyes—if those burning slits could be called eyes—locked on Aanha.
The ground trembled with its first step.
Aanha (whispering): Sai… what is that?
Sai (grim): "A Wraith Hound." One of their trackers. They hunt energy signatures.
He drew a half-curved blade from his side, its edge flickering faintly with windlight.
Sai: And yours is singing like a beacon.
The beast roared—low and resonant—and the sound hit Aanha like a physical shockwave. She stumbled back, clutching her chest, the air rippling around her hand where faint golden light began to pulse again.
Sai turned sharply.
Sai (warning): Aanha—no fire! It'll lock onto your core!
Aanha (panicking): I can't just stand here!
The Wraith lunged. Sai moved first—so fast she barely saw him. The air around him split with a burst of wind, his blade slicing through the darkness as he met the attack head-on. Sparks of pressure and smoke erupted as his strike connected, carving through part of its body—but the creature simply reformed, the smoky essence knitting itself back together.
Sai (under his breath): Figures.
The beast lashed out with a claw of red light, grazing his arm. Sai staggered back slightly, then spun his blade in a wide arc.
Sai (calling out): Wind surge—Gale Bind!
A whirlwind erupted from his feet, snaring the creature in a spiral of compressed air. For a few seconds, the beast fought against it, roaring furiously as its smoky body struggled to hold shape.
Sai turned toward Aanha.
Sai (urgent): Now! Run!
But she hesitated. Her eyes were fixed on his bleeding arm—on the way his hand trembled slightly as he held the spell in place.
Aanha (shouting): Not without you!
The Wraith broke free with a shattering crack of energy. The gust collapsed. Sai barely had time to raise his blade before another blast sent him flying backward into a tree.
Aanha (crying out): Sai!
She ran toward him—but the creature was already turning her way again, its eyes burning brighter. Instinct screamed inside her head, that same pulse she'd felt before.
Her palms burned—literally. Flame flickered to life, circling her hands in an unsteady glow.
Aanha (to herself, terrified): No, no, I can't—he said not to—
But the beast lunged.
Something inside her snapped.
Aanha: "Pyro Bloom!"
The explosion of fire ripped through the clearing—wild, uncontrolled, beautiful. The flames expanded in a brilliant sphere, colliding with the Wraith and throwing it back into the shadows. The trees ignited where the wave passed, embers spiraling upward into the dark sky.
Sai shielded his eyes from the heat. When the flames cleared, Aanha was standing in the center—breathing hard, her eyes faintly glowing gold. The ground around her shimmered like molten glass.
Sai (hoarse, half-smiling): You're unbelievable…
But even as he said it, his gaze snapped toward the forest. The beast was regenerating again, slower this time but still moving.
Sai (low): We can't kill it here.
He moved toward her quickly, gripping her wrist. The moment their skin touched, the flame around her hand reacted—whirling once before dimming under his control.
Sai (commanding): Hold on tight.
Aanha: Wait—what are you—
The wind roared.
A massive gust burst beneath their feet, lifting them off the scorched ground. In an instant, the gorge blurred below them, the trees shrinking into shadows as Sai's wind magic surged. Aanha clung to him, her heart pounding.
Aanha (shouting over the wind): You said not to use my power!
Sai (grim smile): And you ignored me. So I had to improvise.
He twisted his hand, redirecting the air current. The two of them soared past the treetops, the night stretching endlessly ahead. Below, the Wraith's faint red glow flickered in the distance—still searching.
When they finally landed near an old stone archway half-covered in moss, Aanha collapsed to her knees, gasping.
Aanha: We… we escaped?
Sai: For now.
He knelt beside her, his voice quieter. "But it won't stop. Not until it finds what it was sent for."
Aanha looked up at him, her hair sticking to her face, eyes wide.Aanha (breathing hard): "Then what was it sent for?"
Sai looked out toward the dark forest, the last of the smoke rising in the distance.
Sai (softly): You.
The forest had gone silent again, save for the low hum of wind fading around them. The mossy archway loomed in the dark—half-swallowed by vines, its old carvings glinting faintly under the moonlight.
Aanha sat against one of the stones, catching her breath. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving her limbs trembling. Her palms still tingled, the faint golden traces of her flames pulsing dimly beneath her skin.
Sai crouched beside her, tearing a strip from his sleeve to wrap his arm. The gash from the Wraith's strike had stopped bleeding, but the blackish burn beneath it didn't look normal.
Aanha noticed immediately.
Aanha (worried): You're hurt… because of me.
Sai didn't look up.
Sai (flatly): You're not the one who swung at me.
Aanha: Still—if I hadn't—
He finally met her gaze, his expression unreadable.
Sai: If you hadn't, we'd both be dead. So stop apologizing.
That shut her up. She looked away, biting her lip. The faint wind stirred again, carrying the smell of smoke and damp earth.
Sai tried to tie the bandage tightly but couldn't and sat back with a quiet sigh.
Aanha: let me tie this.
Sai gave his arm to her. She tied it tight then__
Sai: sh... [hissed].
Aanha: Does it hurts too much?
Sai (low): Um.. no its ok... You burned through too much energy in that blast. You need to rest before your core destabilizes.
Aanha (confused): Core…?
He glanced at her, then gestured toward her chest.
Sai: The center of your elemental flow. Every caster has one—it's where your power draws from. Yours is still unstable. That's why your fire reacts on instinct.
Aanha frowned, tracing her fingers over her sternum like she could feel it there.
Aanha: You talk like you've done this before.
Sai gave a short, humorless chuckle. "Once or twice."
Aanha: Then why are you helping me?