Emhyr Var Emreis x Reader

Thirty-Nine

Overwhelmed by the heat that suddenly struck him, Vernon Roche stumbled back. His arms thrown into the air, he tried to fight back the flames that were born from your unsettled state of mind.

Fabric started to turn black.

It smelled of ashes and burned meat.

The magic of yours threatened to burn the man to the ground. Like a greedy animal it bit into his limbs and made him breath hastily in fear.

But instead of falling into panic, he grabbed his robe by the collar and threw it to the ground.

A hissing sound tore the battle noise apart.

As soon as the burning fire came in contact with the wet ground, another cloud of steam covered your vision.

Once again you lost all sense of penetration.

The feeling of warm blood ran down your cheek.

It smelled of iron and raw meat.

As you pulled a face, you needed to flinch. The cut was deep enough to cause pain whenever you moved your face.

Cursing softly, you took a step back and tried to find orientation by pressing a hand to the moist wall.

Quickly, you pulled your head in and tried to get away from the noise of the battle.

Thin rays of light fell through the white cloud of steam.

A breeze from outside crawled into the cave and made you shiver.

You could already taste the clean air on the tip of your tongue as another small sound made your ears twitch.

Steps chased after you.

In a swift movement you turned on your heel and wanted to call back the magic in your blood.

But you hesitated.

It was more than obvious that you had little control over the fire in that moment.

One wrong move and the entire cave could burn down, with everyone inside, the rebels and Nilfgaard's soldiers included.

You couldn't risk to put everyone in danger just because you didn't know how to control yourself while being in distress.

A blade chased at you.

Torn from your thoughts, you jumped aside to dodge the attack that would have pierced your chest.

The sword hit your shoulder instead.

A devilish pain made you yelp. Overcome by a wave of weakness you fell to the ground.

Tears started to burn in the corners of your eyes, yet you refused to cry out and distract the other from battle.

For a moment everything drowned in a veil of water and pain.

Your own breathing echoed inside your ears.

You could feel how the magic raged through your body. It longed to run free. It wanted to burn down this very cave until nothing was left but the ashes.

You couldn't risk that. Besides, the emperor probably wanted Vernon Roche alive.

You wanted him alive. He was a golden ticket. You needed him to safe yourself.

As if born from thin air, his face appeared before your eyes.

Anger raged in his eyes while he raised his sword to strike you down.

You barely managed to get back to your feet before the blade struck with such power that a deep mark was left in the ground.

Blood crawled down your arm as you jumped to the side and headed towards the light that fell through another exit.

To silence the bleeding you pressed a hand to the wound and made the fire burn for a brief moment.

It was like hell as the heat struck and made flesh hiss and blood boil. Immediately it smelled of burned flesh and ashes.

The pain was almost so unbearable, you lost footing and threatened to fall to the ground.

But you managed to catch yourself and ran on.

You needed to get him away from the fight. Only that way would you have a chance to capture him.

"Who are you?!", Vernon asked as he followed you through a tunnel, sword in hand. "You're not one of the blacks!"

A chuckle escaped your lips. Not a moment later you had to cough.

Thin strands of saliva dripped from the corner of your mouth.

"I was born behind the borders of the empire.", you called over your shoulder as you managed to step through a smaller exit into the sunlight. "But I wouldn't say I'm as much of a Nilfgaardian as the ones in armour."

With bared teeth, he climbed after you.

As he did so, you noticed a deep rooted hate shimmering in those eyes of his.

You knew the way he looked. Not many months ago you had made this very same expression when someone had asked you about the emperor.

Now it just seemed foolish to you to even think about it.

Sure, there was war, but it was fought for a greater cause.

The empire was the most developed nation on all of the continent. It brought order and a stable economy.

Why would he hate to live a better life so much?

All he had to do was to be a normal citizen who did not raise a sword against rules and soldiers.

It struck you like lightning to see just how similar his attitude was to yours.

The emperor offered you a better life, a deal that was so good, most nobles would have killed for it.

So why did you despise it so much to think about serving him a little longer?

What was the price of obedience against a life of luxury and wealth?

Again, the blade of Vernon Roche aimed for your head.

You jumped back, almost getting your nose cut by the tip of the sword, and raised both hands to call raging red flames to life.

Determination made your head feel dizzy while the power of magic made your blood tingle.

"Your magic won't make me shy away!", Vernon Roche hissed as he stepped aside to cut a flame in two. "I fight for Temeria!"

"Temeria fell as Voltest was beheaded!", you screamed back and set the damp grass around you on fire so that he wouldn't be able to approach.

"He was assassinated!", he replied and tried to get a hold of you by simply reaching through the walls of flames.

Thick air and smoke mixed in your lungs.

Coughing, you squeezed your eyes shut and grabbed him by the collar.

"I do not fear your anger.", you breathed into his ear while an image of another man lit up before your inner eye. "And no matter what it takes, I'll pay the price to get to where I want to be."

A smile lit up on the emperor's face.