"It can only be you! You are the legendary Flame Hunter!"
I grimaced.
In the next moment, Jarek lunged forward. My flames had already died out.
With the last of my strength, I raised my sword to block the deadly strike.
As our blades crossed and his nearly black eyes locked onto mine, he said,
"Whatever you came here for, you will not bring more ruin!"
His words struck me harder than I cared to admit, and I felt the muscles in my face tense involuntarily.
I channeled my flame magic directly into the blade. A small whirl of fire surrounded it completely, forcing my opponent to step back. Still, I could not see a hint of fear in his eyes. In his place, I would not have faced fire with such composure.
I used the brief pause to keep the other knight in sight from the corner of my eye.
The young knight's gaze darted nervously from me to his commander and back again. He repeated this several times. I would not waste that opportunity. I raised my palm toward Jarek before me. He retreated as best he could, but his movements were slow.
Too slow.
I pushed the paralyzing exhaustion aside and focused my energy into my palm. It grew warmer and then hot. A fireball the size of a cauldron appeared. I hurled it toward my opponent.
I aimed so that it would hit the ground in front of him, hoping it would at least knock him off balance. Jarek stood his ground and looked at me fearlessly, as if he knew no harm would come to him.
The young knight, whether out of foolishness or some other reason, suddenly let go of the stranger, drew his sword, and stepped in front of me.
"No, don't!" shouted Jarek.
Now!
I ran toward the young woman and grabbed her wrist.
"Run!" I shouted over my shoulder to her, turning my gaze forward again.
As we sprinted away, I made the fireball dissipate at the last moment. Hopefully just in time. But there was nothing more I could do.
Then, with a wave of my hand, I ignited fire along the street and kept it spreading until the entire path behind us was ablaze. Fortunately, fire I created could burn on any surface.
From that moment on, I could not allow my concentration to falter for even a second. Every flame, every tiny ember had to remain in its place. Otherwise, it could all end in disaster. Setting the city on fire was the last thing I wanted.
With this method, we managed to get quite far before my vision began to blur again. The strength in my legs gave out. I came to an unsteady stop, braced myself on my knees, and gasped for breath. The exhaustion had grown so overwhelming that I could no longer suppress it.
"Are you all right?" the stranger asked, slightly out of breath herself. The fear with which she had looked at me moments ago seemed to have vanished and was replaced by concern. I was not entirely sure why that was.
"Yes," I answered between deep breaths. Everything was spinning. At least my physical weakness drowned out the panic that had held me captive all this time.
"Can you keep running?" the stranger asked. I felt a hand on my back. It trembled slightly.
I could not answer her. No sound would leave my lips. Yet I wished I could have told her that I was fine. That I had only overexerted myself a little.I heard the stranger cry out in a high voice,
"Watch out!"
Then I collapsed forward. Instead of hitting the ground as expected, someone caught me gently. A pleasant scent reached my nose. Like clear, cold air with an earthy note. Then everything went black around me, and unconsciousness pulled me away.
Panicked, I opened my eyes. It was dark, and my eyes needed a moment to adjust. Beneath my fingers I felt coldness and the rough surface of cobblestones. Next to me I recognized the outline of an object. I ran my fingertip across it. The coarse surface reminded me of wood. Judging by its shape, it could be a barrel. Then my hand brushed against something hard. I picked the object up. It was long and light in weight, most likely my sword. I exhaled in relief.
A shadow moved in front of me. Instinctively, I backed away. My pulse shot up instantly. My back hit something solid.
"Ah, you are awake," I heard a woman's voice say. There was relief in her tone.
The voice sounded familiar. Without a doubt, it belonged to the stranger from earlier. But how had I even gotten here? Hadn't I just been somewhere completely different?
From the window above us, a faint light suddenly fell onto the street. I must have been sitting right beside a wall. We immediately ducked, but no one opened the window. We had not been noticed.
The stranger was crouched across from me on the ground. I exhaled and leaned back. Even that small movement cost me a great deal of strength, as my body still felt unbearably heavy.
From the walls in front of and behind me, I could tell that we were probably in a side street or an alleyway.
Then I asked her, while everything around me spun,
"What happened?"
I could only vaguely remember an exhausting fight with a knight named Jarek. And of course that I had gotten myself involved in someone else's business. A bad habit of mine.
"You collapsed earlier. Before that, you helped me. Do you remember?" the stranger answered.
I frowned and nodded, trying hard to grasp the memory. But all I remembered was that I had fainted. And there had been fire. Wait, fire?
"The fire?!" I cried out in panic.
"Shh," the stranger hissed fearfully across from me. "Not so loud!"
"I put it out before it became dangerous to the surroundings," said a voice unfamiliar to me. It sounded deep but calm. It had to belong to a man. Despite my racing heart, I slowly began to calm down. His voice carried a calmness that somehow spread to me. I could not explain why.
The stranger pointed toward the corner of the house to my right. I leaned forward with a disbelieving look to see past the barrel. Someone tall was standing there, but from this distance, he was nothing more than a shadow to me.
What did he mean that he had put out the fire? A single person could not possibly have poured enough water over such a large fire in so little time.
Still, a great weight lifted from my heart.
The young woman explained to me in a hushed voice,
"That over there is Kiyan. Do not worry. You can trust him."
I did not quite understand why she mentioned that.
The shadow stepped closer. Now that he stood directly before us, I could see him more clearly in the candlelight. His long, pointed ears caught my eye immediately. I put one and one together. An Elementaris. A people who could influence the elements and who were supposed to be extinct. That was why he had said he put out the fire. And because this world was not exactly friendly toward other species, the stranger had mentioned that I could trust him. But apparently Elementaris were not quite as extinct as people said. Still, what was someone like him doing in a country like this? His existence seemed impossible and yet he stood right in front of me.
"We must move on," he said, addressing the stranger in front of me.
"Are you all right now? Can you come with us?" the young woman asked me.
I nodded and replied,
"Yes, I am slowly getting better."
And that was not a lie. Then we heard someone on the street in the distance shout, "They cannot be far! Search for them!"
My pulse, which had only just calmed, spiked again. The stranger across from me grew visibly anxious as well.
Kiyan positioned himself again at the corner of the building so he could better survey the street. He murmured,
"Damn. There are more of them."
My hand began to tremble. I quickly covered it with my other hand.
"What now?" the woman asked, careful not to speak too loudly. Her breathing was uneven.
Kiyan returned to us quietly, his gaze lowered in thought. Loose strands of his dark hair that the short ponytail could not contain partly hid his narrow, serious face.
Then he said,
"If we go out together now, we will not get far. There are too many. They are at every corner. I cannot protect you and fight at the same time."
His eyes turned to the stranger.
"I will distract them. In the meantime you leave the city," he instructed her.
She inhaled sharply and her whole posture tightened.
"What are you talking about? That is far too dangerous. Even for you," she feared.
Kiyan folded his arms across his chest and gave her a reproachful look. That did not faze the stranger.
Resolute, she replied in little more than a whisper,
"I will not leave you behind again."
"Marcy!" Kiyan hissed softly, his expression hardening.
The woman Kiyan had called Marcy crossed her arms as well. She tried to put on a serious face but came off more defiant. Voices of people searching for us sounded again in the distance. Every time we heard them, we paused and listened intently. This time no one approached us either.
I felt really sick, but I forced myself to stay calm.
"You can be as angry as you like. We are coming with you!" she insisted.
Let me get out of here, I thought.
They stared angrily at each other for several breaths as if airing their quarrel in silence. The tone in which they spoke, the looks they exchanged, even the way they treated one another. A familiarity that reminded me of Val and Lucian.
Marcy turned her head away. Somehow this woman had something childlike about her. At first I had assumed she was older than me. Now I judged her to be younger.
He sighed in annoyance and scolded her,
"Do not act so childish all the time. Especially not in a situation like this."
Then he turned to me.
"You there."
Until now he had ignored me. I flinched under his words. The candlelight from the house made his eyes flash for a moment. What unusual eyes. One shone a warm gold while the other held a cool blue.
Marcy drew breath to protest, but Kiyan was faster.
"I do not know you and I do not know why you saved her," he began, then paused for a moment. His gaze dropped away from mine.
He added almost shyly,
"At any rate, thank you. I owe you a life."
His words of thanks surprised me. Marcy ground her teeth but let him finish.
Kiyan sat down in front of the barrel, pulled up a leg, and rested his arm on it. Without looking at me he said,
"I hate to say this, but…"
He sighed quietly.
"This time I need your help," he asked, looking at me, then immediately looking away.
"My help? With what?" I asked, bewildered. I was at the end of my strength. Staying awake alone cost me great effort. What could I possibly do?
He replied,
"Would you please get her out of the city while I make sure no one interferes with you as much as possible?"
Kiyan indicated Marcy as he spoke. Instead of answering, I frowned and remained silent.
"I would send her away on her own, but you know how the last time turned out," he added.
I could only guess what he meant. He was probably referring to the situation Marcy had been in when I found her.
"Kiyan," Marcy hissed angrily, making a visible effort to stay quiet.
Kiyan ignored her and tried to persuade me, "I know you have no reason to help us and I cannot offer you anything in return. But I beg you. Take her out of the city for me."
I raised an eyebrow. My breath caught for a moment.
"No!" Marcy protested immediately.
He paid no heed to her objection and looked at me expectantly.
I folded my arms in thought. It was not as if I had no plan. Years ago my father had prepared something in case I was exposed when he was not present. Besides, Marcy and I had the same short-term goal: we needed to get out of the city. Immediately. What was the harm in taking her with me? I had already risked a lot for her. I might as well finish what I started.
The decision was made. I agreed, "Fine by me. I will take her."
Kiyan removed his cloak and handed it to Marcy. I now recognized that his clothing suspiciously resembled a uniform.
"I will leave you my cloak, Marcy. Wear it please. It will protect you to a certain degree from harm."
I blinked in surprise. Could that be a magical cloak? In a country like this?
Marcy bit her lip, looked at him in a mixture of anger and fear, then reluctantly accepted the cloak.
She answered defiantly,
"Fine! If that makes you happy!"
She wrapped it around herself. In that moment I could not help but wonder about the two of them and why Marcy had come to be in mortal danger. But now was not the time for such questions. I pushed them aside.
Kiyan rose and announced,
"I will go then."
He turned toward the street that crossed the alley. Just before leaving, he looked back over his shoulder with a reassuring smile and said,
"You know where to meet me."
We stood up as well. Marcy much more easily than I did. Still, I felt a bit stronger than before. Fortunately, the aftereffects remained bearable this time.
Marcy swallowed hard. As Kiyan stepped onto the street, she moved forward and croaked,
"Wait…!"
I grabbed her by the hood of her cloak. She gasped as the fabric tightened around her neck. If I had learned one thing, it was not to waste someone else's sacrifice. After all, he was putting himself in danger for her. If she tried to follow him, she would ruin everything and only put herself in greater danger.
"Stay here," I hissed quietly at her.
Kiyan, who had been standing in the open street just a second ago, vanished in the blink of an eye. I blinked in surprise. That was definitely not human speed. But Marcy seemed unfazed. Instead, she looked worried.
We waited. The light in the window had gone out some time ago, leaving us crouched in darkness. Apart from our own breathing, not a single sound could be heard. I looked up at the sky. The moon hung low. The horizon was already beginning to brighten. I turned to Marcy.
"Let's go."
Fortunately, I happened to know the perfect way out of the city. One that would allow us to leave without being seen.
Thanks to Kiyan's distraction, we managed to reach Val's inn unnoticed, even though it took us longer than I had hoped because of me. No lights were burning inside.
"What are we doing here?" Marcy asked, looking at me with her light blue eyes that reminded me of clear water.
"This is our secret way out," I replied and stepped toward the massive wooden door with its iron fittings and simple carvings.
I pulled the key from my pocket and unlocked the door. Marcy waited behind me. Quietly, I opened the door, which let out a faint creak.
Just as I was about to motion for her to come inside, I noticed a shadow in the darkness.