Chapter 3 – Checkered
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"Az." Keir stood up from squatting.
The portal zipped as soon as he stepped out from it and back to the gatehouse area of the castle.
His cloak appeared slightly stuffier than earlier. Hiding something?
"Az."
"Yes, yes, I know. You have questions." Keir nodded, lips pressed together. "Before any of that, let's proceed outside the castle."
Metals clang, and chains screeched, allowing anyone to go in and out of the royal castle.
"Why are they calling you Aziz?"
"..It's a nickname."
"Why did you ask me to call you Az instead of Aziz, then?"
"I'm.. not very fond of the latter." Is that so? "So, I'd prefer you not to call me like that."
"Okay."
The sky remained a faint blue outside, the dark blues hovering over only at the center of the palace.
Later, obscure smoke of white loomed over from both corners of Keir's vision, from the front, and everywhere else she turned. What's going on?
She stopped walking. Bright mist covered her figure, her arms barely visible when she stretched them forward. Keir quickly took them back, palms almost touching her face just to make sense of a strange feeling.
Her breath against her palms caused freezing liquid to trail down her arms. Her hands were stiff and numb, yet wet and aching. A burning sensation spread all over her exposed skin—even her feet won't move anymore.
A substance kept piercing her from everywhere as if a million needles, leaving her skin numb and wet yet inflamed. Face swollen but damp and prickly.
Is she going to freeze to death?
Sparks.
A short circuit went off somewhere. There's a muted streak of light from a distance, but it's now closing in.
Instantly, an ear-piercing thunder of lightning echoed around. An electric stimulation got to Keir, but what to make sense of it when her eyelids were moist and petrified?
Something flew past her head, but it came from ahead—something crimson with a pattern.
Some sort of fabric stayed behind her head after that, but its ends were somewhere else.
It happened so suddenly.
A strong force pulled the fabric caught up with her head, and she landed on a rigid surface. Her fingers moved again. The ice-cold substance that left her numb dissipated, and the inflammation inside due to it slowly calmed down.
Keir blinked—she's okay now?
"Why didn't you say anything?" A familiar voice quivered as if she'd made a grave mistake, yet the voice was directly on top of her head.
Keir pushed her hands forward. There's a soft fabric, but her palms stopped on something quite hard—scratch that.
Her fingers slid to a brown vest topping a cream white long sleeve tunic, soft material pressed on someone's body.
It's cozy against the person's chest, but Keir pulled her head out and looked up, only to meet the furrowed eyebrows accompanying a pair of tricolored irises.
Transmitting lightning kept appearing around him as if a shield protecting him from the frigid mist surrounding them.
Keir's gaze dropped, her fingers roamed the fabric around her neck on impulse—a red, checkered scarf.
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The Warlock's Azalea (EDITING) ✔
FantasyCURRENTLY EDITING/REWRITING OFFLINE - The Warlock's Azalea: The Secret of the Enchanting Stone - Leaves and petals of different hues were falling around, and to her, in the middle of it all, was the soft gaze and gentle smile Aziel had for that one...
