Chapter 92

The Played

“There was only one land, then, large beyond imagination, impossible to cross. All manner of beasts and men mingled, and blood soaked the heaven-piercing grass.”

Origin Myths, Vol. I

Noah saw that they were talking, but he couldn't discern anything of what the figures in the sky were saying. As a matter of fact, he didn't even try to, pushing his focus entirely on cloaking the two and ensuring they weren't spotted. The conversation went on for good ten minutes before the winged woman suddenly stepped forward. She seemed to mutter something under her breath and extend her arm forward, pushing her index finger out and pointing it toward the Kindled giant.

A mere breath later, the finger blistered in a golden halo, one that suddenly duplicated, over and over again. From the smallest one that seemed like a ring around her finger, the halos pushed forward and extended in size, until there were twenty of them, the largest at the front spanning well over half a mile in diameter.

The air rippled out like a lake belted by a rock, bulging and contracting as a massive bulb of light appeared at the center of the concentric halos, growing into a beam that filled the space between them and boomed off toward the giant. It swallowed all the sounds and all the darkness, completely turning the night into a day for a moment, exploding into a mass of shockwaves that ripped through the entire world.

Noah cringed as the shockwaves reached him and broke apart their hiding spot, tossing them into the sky. He immediately realized they’d be discovered and threw Asandra to the side, directly through a hole in the wall of the fort, while he himself remained coated in the darkness. While the explosions surged, swallowing the opposite bank of the river, the winged woman turned and met his gaze. Despite the distance, he was able to discern that she bore amber eyes that seemed shocked and curious.

He was visible for less than a breath before coating himself in the Dark once again and dipping to the side, using a protection of the still-standing tower embedded in the fort's wall to hide from the following shockwaves. The wind blew and, in the process, extinguished all the fire that was raging within and without the fort. Noah's heart beat rapidly as, at the moment that he met her eyes, he felt an urge to rip her face apart almost overcome his conscious mind. He didn't know why, but the hatred he felt toward her was irrational – he had never even met her.

He knew, however, that that hatred had nothing to do with him and instead had everything to do with Dark inside of him, and Light inside of her. It was a completely different feeling he had from when he was facing Asandra and even the Kindled giant. Could it be that because they are opposites, it’s almost instinctive? He didn't have an answer and didn't want to form baseless conclusions. Waiting for a moment until the shockwaves settled, he scurried over to the opening he threw Asandra through and jumped in himself. He didn’t know whether the woman would start chasing after him, but, luckily, she didn’t see his face or Asandra, so even if she discovered the two, he can just pretend they passed out a long time ago.

The agonizing, stabbing pain of his wounds was all that kept him conscious. Noah’s head felt light, everything around him seemed to spin and a nauseating feeling crept up slowly. His entire body told him to stop what he was doing, stop, and find some relief from this fiery pain. Fighting through it was becoming increasingly difficult, but above all else, it became more annoying to have to deal with. He longed for a bed, a hot bath, or just a fluffy pillow to lie on, but right now that wasn't an option.

He quickly located Asandra who luckily landed on an untouched part of the grass, softening her fall, and settled next to her, breathing deeply with each breath. He feared closing his eyes yet tiredness pushed him further and further. It was more than just physical tiredness; after all, he hadn’t exerted himself too much physically. Most of it came directly from his mind and seemed intricately connected and linked with his usage of the Dark.

After all, he'd never once before summoned it in such large amounts or used it so overtly which led to the lack of experience. In retrospect, he realized that he'd wasted quite a lot of it, letting it seep away from his attacks as he was unable to condense it properly. Sighing, he looked up at the blinking, dark sky. It would soon be dawn, according to his calculations. The screaming and the cries have ceased long ago; he wasn't sure how many had died, but he saw a few still living roaming the streets of the fort, petrified.

Just then, a low groan escaped from his side, causing him to glance at Asandra; twitching, her eyes slowly began opening. Though her hair had regained its previous, brown color, there were reddish traces in the strands. Her eyes, however, deepened in their crimson hue, appearing like a pair of majestic, ruby gems.

She blinked a few times, appearing hazed for a moment before groaning once more, using her arms to lift herself up and sit. It was only then that she looked at her surroundings, confused, before meeting Noah’s gaze.

“… where the fuck are we?” she asked.

“The fort,” Noah replied. “How do you feel?”

“… like someone choked the life out of me?” she glared at him hatefully, seemingly remembering how her current state came about. Noah smiled bitterly, not knowing how to reply. He was fairly certain that she wouldn’t have remembered anything as her state back then appeared too berserk-like, yet, against all logic, it sounded like she was well in control of what she was doing.

“We had to run.”

“We could have taken them on.”

“Like hell we could…”

“Pussy.” Asandra snorted, looking away and examining the ruins of the fort. Her eyes flickered in a gleam of pain and shame as she sighed.

“… what happened to you?” Noah asked the burning question at last. Asandra looked up toward the sky, her red eyes shining for a moment, her expression one of lament.

“… I… I’m not quite sure myself,” she sighed. “When I found a spot to hide Olivia and Lo’kret, I went back to check on you… and then, when I saw you were about to be roasted like a chicken, something inside of me… snapped. Broke. Almost like some abstract gates were flung open.”

“…” Noah listened carefully, trying to link her experiences to his.

“Something inside of me surged and, before I knew it, my body moved on its own,” she continued, glancing down at her outstretched hand. “By the time I reached you, I felt like my whole body was on fire, as though I would explode from inside out. And then…”

“… you did.”

“I did,” she nodded. “Overwhelming strength bore out from within my soul, and without even thinking about it, I realized I could command the flames. I don’t understand it myself… it was like I could always use them… I just forgot how.”

“…” Noah realized that her experiences were quite different from his, though he could not understand why. “Did you meet anyone? Or did anyone speak to you?”

“… no,” she shook her head. “But it did feel like there were two of me fighting inside. That was why I found it so difficult to stop fighting; one part of me felt like it could burn the whole world, and another like it wasn’t the right time for it.”

“… it doesn’t matter now,” Noah said, sighing. “Just make sure nobody else finds out. Can you control the fire now?”

“I feel like I could.” She nodded, glancing at him. “What about you? There was hardly much wit at work when you joined me.”

“…” Noah smiled wryly, unsure as to how to explain it to her.

“Whatever,” she shrugged, seemingly disinterested, causing him to heave a sigh of relief. Past that brutish exterior, there was much more to her than what meets the eye. “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to. I just need to know one thing – when I felt them approaching… I was overwhelmed by a sensation of disgust. Were you?”

“… yes.” Noah nodded.

“Though you do disgust me,” she glanced at him with a smirk. “It’s not as bad as them, so I guess I’ll be sticking by your side even still.”

“Ah, and how honored I am…”

“Save your quips,” she said, stretching as the first rays of the morning sun began burning on the horizon, spilling over the tarnished walls of the fort. “Do you have any plans now?”

“… plenty,” Noah said, his eyes suddenly shimmering in a cold gleam. “There will be some interest to pick up once we come back. They’ve royally pissed me off.”

“Royally… pfft…”

“Oh shut it. Haven’t you said your dream is to clean up the city?” Noah asked. “Well, you better be prepared.”

“I never went as far as saying the city, though…”

“… this whole thing is a prelude, Asandra,” Noah said, sighing and closing his eyes. “Though I cast a wide web, I am still in the dark. In many ways, I was too confident and naïve, thinking myself cleverer than the rest.”

“… oh? Is this some introspection that I am witnessing?” Asandra said with a chuckle.

“I was used,” Noah said. “To the point that even now I’m not quite sure how or by whom. I’ll pay the dues eventually, but I suppose this was a good wake-up call.”

“… we should probably go and fetch the Princess,” Asandra said, patting his shoulder gently and also using it as a spring to jump up. “Though I hid them well, you never know.”

“… aye, we should.” Noah nodded, sighing, his mind spinning rapidly, concocting the future from the shattered fragments.