Fire on Fire: A Koralie Story

Chapter Five: Oralie

A/N: 2502 words. Sorry this took so long-I went on vacation and I didn't bring my laptop. So yeah, you may hate me but you can't tell me this wasn't expected hehe. Enjoy! Pls vote and comment :)

Oralie

Oralie should've been thinking about the hostage. She should've been thinking about the tall, twisting stone tower the Neverseen occupied, and the fight going on in front of her, flashes of silver weapons and shouts, and the fact there were far too many wounded. The scent of blood was so thick, even the soft breeze tickling her ringlets couldn't brush it away.

Instead, she was thinking about Him.

It was an inconvenience, at times, when her thoughts lingered on him during the Council meetings, or when she was trying to make a dent in the files piling up on her desks. It was dangerous, other times, in instances like this. When there was too much going on and too many things to worry about.

But when a Neverseen member held out their hand, a ball of fire writhing above his palm, her thoughts froze. She froze.

And it was all she could think about. Flames licking at the ceiling, encasing the glittering room. Hands cupping her jaw, soft and warm, his voice whispering in her head, and she clung to it like it was all she had of him.

You were always my reason.

Some days, she wanted to go back in time to say it back. To tell him she loved him. To tell him that he was everything to her. That he was the world to her.

Other days, she wanted to go back in time just to grab him and shake him and demand just what, exactly, he meant.

But death only left behind cruel laughter in her ears and fading memories in her heart. Death did not value closure.

So she was left with a stuffed pink mastodon that smelled like him and nightmares that were the only time she could see him.

"Councillor? Oralie," Elwin said, squeezing her hand, and Oralie startled. Concern flickered across his features. This was not the first time he'd called her name. "Are you okay?"

No. No, there was fire in the water and grief in the air and the world was in ashes. Her world was in ashes.

But she nodded, tracing the circlet on her head with a careful touch.

"Come on," he said softly, steering her towards the battle. She caught sight of Emery and a few others, who were arguing with Mr. Forkle and Granite. Bronte, who saw her first, shot her a glare so sharp, she could've felt it from miles away. Where were you? But a glimmer of relief flickered in his gaze, and she smiled sheepishly. It probably looked like a grimace.

Elwin let go of her hand, shooting her a You're sure you're okay? look before hurrying away to tend to the wounded.

She watched him go, feeling the ground waver like oil beneath her feet. Or the slick, molten crystal of a fallen Eternalia, evidence and vile promise that Kenric was not coming back.

One step in front of the other. She held her head high so her circlet would not fall.

"I heard something about a hostage," she murmured to Bronte, watching the heated argument between Emery and Granite. The former had a familiar look on his face, too stubborn to listen to reason at this point.

"The Neverseen wants time to clear out their hideout. They claim to have an innocent person in their dungeons."

"We choose the hostage, obviously," Oralie said, knowing full well that the other Councillors would call her soft the way they always did. It used to hurt that her own colleagues thought she was not enough. But she'd been called soft too many times for it to matter.