The Princess and The Bandit

FORTY FIVE

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She finally opens a large gap in between that archway. It had been a struggle because of all the noise and ruckus behind her, plus the harsh blue light coming out of that gap, it was all making it hard to do what she was trying to do.

But after a while, she makes a big enough space for her to squeeze in. And as soon as she enters to the other side, all the other noises cease.

There was now only the deafening silence. And the blinding blue light that was attacking her sense of sight this time around.

"Beat the fire, be the fire,"

She hears her great grandmother say. Lauren couldn't see her anywhere because all she can find are endless bright cobalt blue. Even the ground she's stepping on wasn't a dark dampened soil anymore but a solid, sparkling sapphire crystal.

Just how exactly is anyone supposed to fight all this freakin blue shit anyway?

"That's the only way you'll be able to receive the blessing of our ancestor. That's the only way of becoming the faithful ruler of this empire . . . No other magic or ritual can seal your fate as the true master of the power of the blue fire,"

Lauren understands that. But she needs to know something first. She needs to know for sure if she is in fact in love with her second cousin.

Not that it matters to her, but if so, Camila will need to know. She has every right to if indeed she is part of her family. That will change a lot of things.

"I need to know if Xavier had a son, grandmother. Please tell me,"

"Beat the fire, my child. That is what you're here for,"

"I need to—"

A blast of harsh force knocks Lauren down, several feet from where she stood. She doesn't see who or what attacked her, she just felt it. She tries to take a hold of her dagger but it's been thrown off her grasp.

And it seems the book under her armor has become one weighty object. The armor itself has its own weight but it doesn't hinder her skills or fighting abilities. The sudden weight of the book does. The sudden heaviness in it made it difficult for her to rise and reach for her blade a few feet away.

So she pulls it out and it singes her hand immediately as it turned into a fiery blaze.

"No!"

The book becomes a raging flame of bright blue. It was a little difficult to discern its form as the color matched with the endless blue. It hurt to touch it, it also hurt to look at it. As it seems, Lauren has been incapacitated by this fairly unseen foe. But the power to outdo this madness is already running in her veins, she just had to channel it out of her so she can beat whatever it is that stands between her and the tree.

Which she hasn't been able to find just yet.

Lauren scrambles off and onto her feet, grabbing the altair short blade on her way up. She staggers for a little bit as she adjusts her sense of sight. Gradually, she can fairly see but not much is changed from that. All she can discern are sapphire crystals shining from the ground up and on all sides, reflecting the blazing irregular form of what used to be the book of life.

Other than the sweltering heat, she can also feel something else. But she couldn't see it. A force so strong, somewhat ominous and daunting. She takes a brief moment to study the flames floating about, angrily flickering and lashing out. It moves away from Lauren, goes around, spinning in a circle around her.