An Order of Death | ONC 2024

Chapter Ten

"I reckon that's her, don't you, Vansa?" asked the soldier with the sword. He swung it through the air as he spoke, as if picturing cutting me down.

"I know that's her, Phyno," the other confirmed. "Do you mind if I take this kill?" He waved his fingers and the flames perched there grew taller, the tips of it turning a scorching white to match the surroundings of the Ivory Forest.

They were the same Vahan soldiers we had encountered the other day, the ones that were meant to be tied up in Oryal's vines and suffocated as soon as we were far enough away. The soldiers I had feared escaping to find us, ambushing us to stop me making a poisoned cake for their king.

This couldn't be happening.

I was stuck in a dark forest with no way to defend myself, my only weapon as lost in the trees as I was.

"Of course," Phyno answered. "But only if I can toy with her first." He tilted his head, watching and waiting for me to move so he could pounce.

"Go right ahead." Vansa extended his hand toward the other soldier and snapped his fingers together. A flame licked up the side of his sword, stretching up the blade before it reached the cuff of his uniform sleeve — something that shouldn't have been possible as there wasn't any fuel for the fire to consume. The dancing inferno faded to a deep red, a shade which matched my hair.

"How do you want this to go?" Phyno questioned, taking a step toward me. His gaze raked me up and down, adjusting his movements so I wouldn't flee. "Either, you can fetch your friend so we can deal with the nuisance before finishing with you. Or, you can surrender now and we can hunt that fucker later."

"I recommend choosing the first option," the other soldier chimed. "I really want to kill that man for those vines he trapped us in. They took away my power as soon as they touched me and I want to know how. A small interrogation before death doesn't sound like the worst way to go."

I swallowed my fear, secretly securing the straps of my bag to prepare to make an escape. "Neither. The next time you see that man will be on your death beds." Picking the direction that appeared the easiest to traverse, I sprinted as fast as my legs would carry me.

What was I going to do? I didn't know how to fight, especially against flames and a sword-wielder. I had nothing but enchanted jars and half-eaten tins of Sicrecan pasta.

A torrent of blistering fire streamed past me, missing me by a mere hair's breadth. The embers spat at me, aiming to do what its creator could not, but it only urged me to run faster. Around me, the flames caught on trees and branches, greedily devouring everything in its path. It made logs and branches crash to the ground behind me, blocking the path of the Vahan soldiers.

I had to lose them somehow and find my way back to Oryal. That was the only way I was going to survive. I could have attempted to keep running in one direction with the hope of making it out of the forest, but death waited for me on the other end too. Only, this time it would be to the hands of a royal guard expecting his baked request.

I kept racing through the Ivory Forest, trying to put as much distance between us as I could, almost falling over when I leapt over bushes and fallen trees. Never in my life had I run so fast. I wasn't a good runner and I never had the need to be, but I was surprised at the pace I was keeping. When my life was on the line, I had to be as quick as I could handle.

As I passed through a thicker section of foliage, struggling to climb over brambles in my path that an axe would have been perfect to clear, a faint pink glow appeared in the corner of my eye. I almost cried out in relief, assuming it was the butterflies that the bounty hunter reluctantly summoned. When I turned around to search for him, I only found a pink flower growing atop a tree trunk.