Mystic High ✓

MH │49

In the previous chapter: Oriane tried out the conveyance ring. Uilliam revealed his guess of the cultist's intentions and asked Oriane not to interfere with the blood moon ritual.

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CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Unlike the last time when she similarly released a bout of white flames, this time she experienced a raging pain all throughout her body. It felt like she was being burned from the inside out. Nails scratched down from her fingertips, down her chest, to her feet. The fire inside and out only burned more fiercely from there.

Crying out loud in pain, Oriane dropped the conveyance ring, effectively terminating the transmission before Uilliam could comment on what he might or might not have seen. The white flames that burned his collar that one time before had made him panic for some reason.

She grit her teeth, whimpering. The scorching sensation simmered, waiting for another chance to explode. All around her, the flames ate up the floorboards, drawing deliberate arcane patterns just like last time in Marian's and Charlotte's dormitory. This time, however, rather than a calm placid flame lighting up the circle, the white fire was in full blaze. It burned her from inside but, upon forcing her eyes open to check out the damage, it looked like her skin hadn't broken despite the fiery pain. It just felt like it was scorched. 

Gingerly, fearing movement would only increase the pain, she touched down the side of one arm. The skin tingled as it normally would yet the burning sensation hadn't changed. In fact, the pain continued to dull until the fiery burning passed from her completely. Still, it left her weak and trembling. Oriane had no clue how she was still standing after that ordeal. 

Still bent over, clutching her shaking knees, she forced herself upright. 

The arcane patterns that appeared this time were slightly different. Rather than a cross of runes inside a circle of more runes, this time there weren't any crosses. Three layers of arcane characters circled her. The flames that continued ablaze were not hovering. Fueled on by mysterious magicks, they stayed burning the arcane runes. The shapes created by the flames obscured most of the arcane characters, as they moved in a confusing multitude of ways.

It wasn't hot, far from it. Now that the initial scorching pain had gone along with her weakness, she curiously reached out towards the white flames. Fingers skimmed the tops of flickering sparks, finding them quite cool and oddly comforting. As soon as she had, however, the flames began to recede. They dimmed until only the remnant arcane patterns remained on the floorboards, black marks marring the pricey wood.

She stepped back. The black charred marks frankly sent shivers up her spine as she surveyed the damage on her floor. Each run burned a hole in the wood. Beyond it, she could see pinpricks of light peering from the room downstairs. Only the magicks that existed in the dorms protected the floor from collapsing altogether as it supported her weight. 

Oriane shuffled back slowly. At a safe distance, she dashed blindly into her room for a spare rug or towel. Anything goes at this point, she thought as she flung a floor towel onto the ground to cover the marks. 

Her heart thundered as she considered what to do next. A chill came upon her and she wrapped her arms around herself. This was becoming uncontrollable. What if the next time this happened it was in front of a crowd? She knew she needed to talk to someone about this and at the moment, Charlotte was the only one who knew this was happening and she was decidedly more comfortable about talking her problems to a friend than any other.

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Something was wrong, Uilliam thought when the transmission from the conveyance ring abruptly faded away.  Not only had he not yet finished what he wanted to say to her, but a flash of pain had graced Oriane's features before the image blurred and dispersed.