Chương 13: Chapter 12 - Fire and Water

The forest whipped past the five of them as they sprinted down the narrow path behind the church, occasional flashes of sunlight that pierced through the canopy hitting Ren's eyes. The world felt like it was collapsing inward, the sounds of the pursuing demons blurring into a single roaring pressure at his back. He tightened his grip on Elowen. She was barely holding herself upright now, weight sagging heavily into him with every step.

Her breath came in shallow, uneven gasps, and her fingers clutched weakly at his sleeve. The Sword of Aelcryth had long since dissolved into white motes.

"I'm… sorry," she muttered, her voice weak and strained.

"I should be able to—""There's no need to waste your breath," Ren said softly, "I've got you." She let out a shaky laugh that didn't sound humorous in the slightest.

"I'm useless like this… again..." He shoved aside Elowen's self-deprecating comment and forced his legs to keep moving. Branches tore at Ren's face as the group plunged down the unkept forest path, the sounds around them multiplied—snapping twigs and rushing footsteps, wet snarls echoing far too close for comfort.

"Faster!" Varrin barked from ahead.

"Unless you want to die!" The trees in front of them thinned abruptly and they burst into a small clearing with a short cliff overlooking a river below. The sunset's light reflected off the cold, rushing water. Lady Agatha came to a stop and scanned the cliffside frantically just as the forest they had just exited erupted with demons that spilled into the clearing in a wave of twisted bodies and burning eyes. Her lantern started to flare up.

"You guys escape," she said in a resolute voice.

"I will buy you sufficient time." Fire roared to life, and a towering wall of golden flame erupting between them and the advancing demons. Heat washed over Ren's face as the flames climbed higher, forming an impassable barrier. Agatha collapsed to her knees before it, the small lantern blazing so brightly it was almost painful to look at.

"Lady Agatha!" Lorelle screamed, breaking free from the others to run towards her. But Varrin caught her mid-step.

"Come on," he said harshly—and in one fluid motion, he slung Lorelle over his shoulder and sprinted toward the cliff.

"Wait—!" the Firekeeper apprentice cried but Varrin didn't slow and leapt full force off the cliff. Lorelle's scream was swallowed by the rush of air as they vanished over the edge. Ren didn't hesitate to follow as he dragged Elowen with him toward the cliff, boots skidding on loose dirt.

"Wait…" she whispered weakly, fingers tightening against his arm.

"Ren, wait—""Save it for after we make it out of here!" he yelled right before he jumped. Air whistled past his ears and he felt Elowen grip his arm tightly as they rapidly approached the river below. The sudden cold stole the air from Ren's lungs the instant he hit the water, shock tearing a strangled gasp from his throat as they plunged beneath the surface.

It was an effort to not accidentally let go of either his knife or Elowen as the current seized them immediately, violent and unforgiving, dragging them downstream. He fought to swim toward the surface, his vision blurring while Elowen thrashed beside him in pure panic. Her movements were uncoordinated and desperate, her hands clawing at him which dragged them both under.' Don't tell me...' She couldn't swim.

"Damn it," Ren choked, forcing his body to move as he wrapped his injured arm around her waist. [Accelerated Regeneration] was doing the best it could but with so many injuries, the Soul Attribute couldn't keep up. Pain flared white-hot as the freezing river twisted them, his wounds screaming in protest. He kicked hard, angling them diagonally with the current to get them to shore as soon as possible, every motion costing him vast amounts of his remaining breath and strength.

The current ripped satchel from his body as Elowen went limp against him, consciousness slipping away as he struggled to keep her face above water. Seconds stretched into agony but, at last, he reached solid ground. Ren slammed into the opposite bank, collapsing into wet pebbles and mud as the current finally released them. He lay there for a moment, his chest heaving violently as he greedily gobbled up air. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Beside him, Elowen didn't move.

"Just hold on a little longer Elowen," Ren muttered hoarsely, forcing himself to get up, "just a little longer and I'll get is to safety." Freezing, soaked, and bleeding, he hauled the regal elf onto his back, his muscles screaming as he staggered into the tree line beyond the shore. He looked around desperately for any sign of Varrin or Lorelle, but found nothing. Only trees and an increasing darkness.' Please let the river wash our scent away,' he prayed silently. He wasn't sure who, anyone would do.

Ren kept close enough to the river to avoid losing his way as he moved through the forest, pushing further until he found a suitable place to stop—a massive hollowed tree stump, its interior just large enough to shelter them.' We'll freeze like this,' he realised grimly, shivering in his soaked clothes' icy embrace now that the adrenaline had all but worn off. Ren glanced back at Elowen.

The faint sheen of the river's water still lingered on her skin as she slept peacefully, and damp strands of blue hair clinging to her pale face. Leaving her for even a moment felt wrong, but ultimately, necessity and his own desperate want for warmth won out. He slipped out from the stump and got to work quickly, gathering dry branches and strips of bark as the sun sank fully beyond the horizon. Darkness came swiftly after that, the forest folding into deep shadow until he could barely make out his own hands.

He kept his senses sharp the whole while, straining for any hint of a monster lurking between the trees, but all he could hear was the distant rush of the river and the occasional winter breeze rustling the branches above him. When he returned, still shaking with cold, he set to work with grim determination. He had no matches, nor any flint and steel now that his satchel was gone, so it took far too long using nothing but his own two hands and sheer stubbornness.

But eventually, sparks caught, and a thin curl of smoke rose, birthing a small, fragile fire that flickered to life in the dark. Relief washed over him and Ren nearly jumped in celebration, his fatigue stopping him from doing so. He wanted to sleep, but the job wasn't finished yet. As soon as the fire was in a sustainable state, Ren immediately began sharpening a couple long sticks he'd selected while gathering wood, and shoved them into the dirt once they were finished.

He then hastily stripped out of his wet clothes and hung them near the fire, using said sticks to hold them in place. His teeth chattered as warmth slowly began to return. Ren turned to look at Elowen.

"… Sorry," he muttered, cheeks burning as he carefully removed her outer clothes, hands clumsy and painfully aware of every line of her delicate, unmoving body. He left her in her undergarments, refusing to look longer than necessary as he hung her clothes beside his own. Ren's face felt like it was on fire as he turned away sharply and sat to face the outside, staring into the encroaching darkness as the fire crackled softly behind him.'

Yumè would never let me hear the end of this,' he thought weakly, staring at the bracelet on his wrist as the night dragged onwards. Time passed in uneven stretches, marked only by the soft crackle of the fire and the rush of the river. Ren sat with his back to the hollowed stump, knees drawn up close to his chest. His clothes had long since dried enough to put back on, and he'd done so quickly and gratefully. Anything to stop shivering and to give his hands something to do.

His torso still hurt a lot from where the bull-like demon had punched him, and the puncture wounds on his arm throbbed painfully, but Lorelle's healing combined with [Accelerated Regeneration] had done well to stop the bleeding and ease the worst of the agony. Ren watched the darkness beyond the firelight, straining his eyes and ears for any sort of movement or noise that sounded out of place, though nothing stood out. Eventually he heard Elowen stir and take a sharp intake of breath.

Ren stiffened and shifted uncomfortably on the dirt, but didn't dare turn around.

"You're awake," he said, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

"Your clothes should be dry by now." There was no immediate response and the silence stretched just long enough to make him well aware of his burning cheeks and tense shoulders.

"…Ren?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"…Did you undress me?" He winced and buried his face in his palms to try and escape the embarrassment.

"Yes," he said honestly, quickly continuing on before she could say anything else.

"You were soaked and unconscious. You definitely would've frozen if I hadn't. I didn't—I mean, I did what I had to, but—" He sighed tiredly.

"I'm sorry. I'll understand if you're mad." Another uncomfortable silence stretched out in the hollowed out stump.

"My Bloodline gave me a Soul Attribute that grants me resistance to the cold, so I would have been fine." she said, before adding softly, "Do not turn around for a bit."

"Wasn't planning on it," Ren muttered, keeping his face buried.' Stupid, of course she has an Attribute like that...' He heard the faint rustle of fabric behind him, the sound of cloth being pulled on, adjusted and smoothed down. Each sound made his ears burn hotter. He pressed his forehead further against his knee and groaned under his breath.

"Why couldn't my Soul Power be immunity to this?" he whispered, barely audibly.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" the regal elf asked, somehow still picking up on his murmur.

"Nothing! I said nothing..." Ren said, seriously considering running into the darkness for a little bit.

"…Alright," Elowen said after a moment.

"You can turn around if you want." Ren did so carefully. The regal elf sat closer to the fire now, wrapped in her clothes once more. Pale blue hair hung loose and damp over her shoulders as she ran her fingers through it, trying to dry it with the warmth. She looked exhausted, her icy blue eyes dulled and her posture slumped.

"What happened… after we jumped?" she asked, her gaze fixed on the flames.

"Not a lot," he replied after clearing his throat.

"We landed in the river and I swam for the both of us until we made it to the opposite shore. You were out cold for most of it." He shrugged lightly.

"After that, I carried you until I found this place, gathered sticks then lit the fire, and that's about it." Elowen nodded slowly, fingers twisting in her hair.

"…What about Varrin and Lorelle?" she asked.

"Are they here as well?"

"I haven't seen them since they jumped into the river before us," Ren answered with a shake of his head. The fire crackled between them as a log collapsed, sending a gust of embers into the air.

"You should sleep," Elowen said softly at last. Ren shook his head in disagreement.

"I'm already awake, I can still keep watch." She frowned at him, her eyes sharpening just a little.

"You've already been watching. For hours," the regal elf said sternly, gesturing towards the darkness beyond the stump.

"It's only fair." He opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. Elowen was right, and he did feel exhausted now that he'd had a moment to relax.

"…Fine," Ren conceded with a sigh.

"But wake me if anything so much as breathes wrong."

"I will," she promised. He moved away from the stump's entrance and shifted closer to the wall, resting his back against the rough wood. The warmth lingering in the hollow and the sheer weight of fatigue dragged him down faster than he expected. The world slipped away quickly and quietly.