Author's note: I'm sorry for taking so long to write this, but I hope you forgive me since it's a quite long chapter. (Actually with 3254 words, the longest chapter I have posted so far.) Enjoy!
Chapter 9
“New ability: Deep Freeze.” The automated voice commented evenly from above, “Level: 95.”
Slow clapping rang across the empty square, echoing hollowly. Light turned her head to see where it came from and grimaced. Image was standing at one of the corners of the gathering place, grinning.
“I’m impressed!” he shouted. Only then did Light notice the rest of the group members behind him, in utter shock.
Light felt particularly guilty so seeing all of the shocked faces, and really did not need Image to praise her folly. She turned around, blushing furiously, and stormed off – and slipped on the sheet of ice.
Image burst out into laughter. Light ruffed herself up and scowled at him. Idiot!, she thought, What the heck is he even doing out of the hospital? He should still be in there! He should just stay there forever! She stayed where she was, arms crossed, afraid that if she tried to move she would slip again and make a fool out of herself.
She watched grudgingly as he made his way towards her, melting the ice before his feet. Soon the demon, in all his glory, was before her, and a small path trailed behind him in the ice. Then without warning the ice beneath her vanished and she stumbled forward, face smashing against the trickster’s unpleasantly hard stomach. He doubled over and they both fell to the ground in a knot of flailing limbs and an abundance of swearing.
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When Light woke up she found herself still lying on the ground with an immense headache, dried blood crusting her lips and a dull hurt on the left side of her ribcage.
“She’s coming to!” a voice called out above her. First all she could see was bright yellow, but slowly purple tones took over, outlining figures, and then the picture faded into natural hues.
“You okay?” a flustered Fire asked her from above. He put a hand under her head and scooped her up into a sitting position with a fluid motion.
Light licked her lips, the salty taste of iron coating her tongue.
“Pocket – Potion.” She managed to croak.
Fire quickly complied and put the potion to her lips. She drank slowly, cursing at how bad the stuff tasted. From her position on the ground she could see that Image was still unconscious and that Venus and Relic were caring for him.
Venus put a wet cloth on Image’s forehead and both she and Relic reached for the potion on Image’s belt, brushing fingers. Light watched as they averted their eyes from each other, blushing, and she smiled to herself. She couldn’t exactly see how the soft-spoken Relic and the usually very sociable Venus would fit together as a couple, but Light had no doubt that it would work out eventually.
“Can you help me up?” she asked Fire quietly. He obliged and pulled her to her feet. She still felt pretty weak and was grateful when Fire slung an arm around her waist to stop her from falling. In quiet voices, not to disturb the obvious chemistry between the two lovebirds, they talked about what had happened to them so far today and what their plans were for the rest of it. Fire informed Light that the troop had snuck Image out of the hospital and were on their way to pick her up to go hunting black foxes in Mystic. And Light told him about the mud-lady and the rude confrontation in the very square they stood in.
“Mud-lady?” Fire asked suspicious. “Do you mean a Mudsiren?”
Light thought about it for a moment. “Probably.” She sighed. “Whatever it was, it definitely wore me out.”
YOU ARE READING
Game of Light
Science FictionThe game Other was nothing but a hobby for Light. But when she knocks a beloved player off of an elite List, that all changes: Abandoning her hermit life style, Light joins a sadistic mage and his group, only to realize that the fighting in the game...