She's dead, isn't she? There's no way any human on earth could survive that. What am I going to tell Alwyn? Aliza? I—it's my fault… I shouldn't have pursued this in the first place…! Damn it!
I realized right then I was being what they call, a "pussy."
Meanwhile, the namesake, my dutiful cat, was valiantly fighting the good fight, hissing and scratching at the wizard.
"Get off me you dirty stray," he hissed back, kicking her across the room.
I dropped down from the ceiling onto his head, slamming him into the floor.
"Bastard! Die!" I screamed.
I ran over to Liora. The ice had melted instantly, leaving her in a puddle of her own... yellow? I kneeled over her. I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing.
Is Siaryn blood yellow? I've never heard of this before...
"Liora?" I poked her. "You're not really dead, are you?"
She was dead.
I looked down and saw an icicle poking through my chest. The color was most certainly red.
Oh man... that can't be good...
I looked back at the wizard. He was aiming at me, and a swarm of butterflies was flying at me.
"So you finally made it, little apprentice!"
There's no point in dragging this out. Everything's already all messed up.
There's only one way I could ever hope to beat him, anyway.
"Tân y diwedd, gwaedd y sêr—"
The butterflies exploded, and hundreds of small icicles shot into me. Nonetheless, a large magic circle filled the room. I felt my heart racing, and a nervous smile stretched across my face. The mana in the air was so thick that even I could feel it.
"Really!? Even after being stabbed, you don't lose concentration? Well, if you don't care about pain, I'll just have to kill you then!"
Thousands of small insects made of drops of water flew at me. They exploded on impact, tearing away at my skin.
"Ffrwydrad o'r gwagle, boed i bopeth—" I coughed.
"What are you doing!? You'll kill everyone in the entire manor you idiot! Including yourself!"
The wizard, now frantic, started to create a shield of ice that surrounded him. But it wouldn't be enough. I'm sure he knew that.
"Losgi!"
A roaring filled my ears. I couldn't see anything, it was too bright. I thought back to the dream I'd had, of that wizard. Certainly, this spell was of the long-range variety, and I used it right on top of me.
Am I going to die?
I opened my eyes. My ears were ringing, and I was surrounded by almost nothing.
Where am I? How did I get here?
Oh... this was the manor, wasn't it?
There was nothing left. Only splintered wood and rocks remained from what was once the large estate.
I've really messed up now, haven't I?
I examined my body. I wasn't in very good shape, though my actual robes didn't seem too damaged. The magic cloth would sew itself back together. Eventually.
"You... geuh... brat!"
You're kidding me...!
From beneath the rubble, the wizard climbed out. He was extremely bloodied, but he was definitely alive.
"There's no way you have any mana left after that, boy! You're more daring than I expected, but it's over now!"
"Tân y—"
"You're bluffing..."
"Diwedd, gwaedd y sêr—"
The wizard sighed. He waved his hand aside and my mouth froze shut. I slapped my hands to my face and clawed at the ice.
"That's enough now."
A massive ice spear materialized in the air and the wizard grabbed ahold of it. He pulled his arm back and prepared to launch it at me. To his surprise though, two hands grabbed ahold of his neck from behind.
"Who—!?"
Liora...!?
She was fully healed, though the magical Siaryn healing didn't seem to clean her as well. She sunk her teeth into the wizard's neck, but instead of calmly drinking the blood like she'd done with me, she tore into the flesh, ripping it apart and swallowing it.
"Uhhkk—AAGHHHHHhhkk—hhkkk—!!!" the wizard choked and screamed.
He fell to the ground and the spear evaporated into the air.
My heart started to race, and chills went down my spine. Though she was my savior, the girl sprinting towards me felt more like a vicious monster. I felt guilty, feeling that way, but with my remaining strength, I slapped my hand over my neck.
The girl tackled me, and I prepared to die.
"Linnie! I thought you were dead!"
"Haaah..." I sighed. "You're alive?"
"Of course I'm alive? Did you think something like that would kill me? I told you I would be fine!" she grinned.
"But how?"
"I'm a bloodsucker, duh. I'm already dead!"
I felt tears well in my eyes. I let my head fall back onto the ground.
"This is all messed up, isn't it?"
"Are you seriously crying?" she laughed.
"No."
"Calm down. It's all fine, I swear."
"Look around us. Everyone in the entire estate. They're all dead."
"...Oh. You feel guilty, do you?"
Guilty?
"Well... no, that's not it I don't think. It's just, I've gone too far."
"Pffft, you're worried about something like that? Well, lucky us then, right? There are no witnesses, after all!"
I looked at her in the eyes.
"And you? You don't feel guilty?"
"Me? Of course not! I'm your accomplice, aren't I?"
"Nya!"
"Wow! Lady, where were you hiding this whole time!?"
"Hiiissssss!"
"Can you stop playing with the cat and give me a health potion?"
"Health potion? No need! Don't you know? Siaryn blood is second only to a phoenix's tears in terms of healing properties!"
"...I'm not drinking your blood."
"What? Why not? I drink yours."
"I'm not—"
She bit her own finger and shoved it into my mouth. I felt violated. The golden blood filled my mouth. It wasn't the familiar taste of iron, but instead a sickeningly sweet syrup.
I swallowed it, and a deep burning sensation filled my body. My broken bones rearranged and my wounds closed up. It was even faster than Aliza's most powerful health potions.
"Paah!" I gasped.
"So? How do you feel? I've never actually tried this before."
"Actually, I feel pretty good! Can you get off of me now?"
"...Yeah!"
The three of us—Liora, Lady, and I, Linnie—quickly ran away from the scene. We climbed the hill we came from and sprinted into the nearest busy street.
"I'm hungry. You?" I asked.
"I'm starving."
We turned into the same tavern that Marielle had taken us to and I told Liora to get a table.
"Hey, Orrin, was it?" I asked the man at the counter.
"Close enough. It's Orrick, boy. Good to see you again. You want some food I bet?"
"That's right. But, two nights ago, there was a woman here. You know who I'm talking about?"
"Ah! The tall one with the black hair? Yeah I remember. You know her, right? She your sister or something?"
"Uh, something like that. Do you maybe know if she got home safely? She looked pretty drunk, I was worried."
"Well I don't know about that, but she wasn't all too drunk by my memory. Sober enough to swindle me, that's for sure!"
"Swindle you? How?"
"She said her bag was 'stolen' and that she couldn't pay. When I told her she had to wash the dishes as payment, she ran off out the back!"
"What? There's no way. She's loaded! Her bag must've actually gotten stolen."
"Whatever it was, she isn't allowed back in this tavern as long as I'm alive."
That doesn't sound good. I hope she didn't get into trouble.
I sat back at the table with Liora and Lady.
"What was that all about?"
"Nothing... did you order already?"
"Yup!"
We ate. It was a good meal, and there was no fighting like last time. I almost forgot I'd blown an entire estate into ash less than an hour before.