33 Firestarter (1/2)

One of Aura's three spells, Efreet Summoning was her most powerful magic—and also the most dangerous to use because she barely had control of it.

Even after she'd destroyed the building they kept her in, she went Dark Phoenix on it and didn't stop burning the stone foundations until all that was left of her surroundings were ash.

It was only after this total destruction that I decided to cautiously approach her. Everyone else stayed back. Only Edo walked behind me.

I glanced back at him. ”Shouldn't you be in front of me, protecting your commander?”

He shook his head. ”You're replaceable... but I promise to mourn you if she kills you.”

”I appreciate the vote of confidence, Edo,” I said dryly.

The walk to Aura was like stepping into a sauna that kept getting hotter the closer you got to the source. Once I was near enough, I saw how Aura herself swayed like someone half-asleep. The Efreet beside her stood immobile yet its eyes glared in my direction.

On the rubble in front of her, I saw two charred humanoid forms, their skin so blackened that they were beyond recognition. I had no doubt that they were pixies though as I noticed that both had protrusions on their backs that were probably the stems for their burnt gossamer wings.

”Any advice?” I asked Edo who was further behind me than I thought.

”Don't anger her like you do most people you meet,” he answered back.

Back on Mudgard, the middle finger would have been an appropriate response to Edo, but as our cultures were slightly different, I showed him the back of my middle finger and my forefinger in a v-shape formation. Basically, I sent him the peace sign but in reverse. This had a similar meaning to its Mudgardian equivalent.

I made cautious steps to Aura until I was within touching distance while the heat blew on me like a hot furnace ready to melt my skin off.

The Efreet looked down at me, it's molten eyes, slit like a cat's, gazed at me with unmistakable anger. It did not like that I approached its summoner.

”Aura,” I said while glancing between her and the efreet, ”You've done enough. You can release your summon now... Aura...”

Sweat trickled down my face as I watched the efreet slowly raise a shadowy fist wrapped in flames.

”Aura... time to wake up now...” My voice turned urgent. ”Aura~a...”

She wasn't responding.

Aura's eyelids were half-closed. Her brows were furrowed. Her face had gone even whiter than her usual milky white complexion. She swayed like a leaf in the wind.

”Aura! Wake up already!” I hissed.

Still no response. And now the efreet's boulder-sized fist was as high as it could go. There was no doubt what it was about to do.

”Aura... if I die because of your stupid spell I swear I will haunt you for as long as elves lifespans last,” I said in one breath.

I placed my hands on her but she was too hot to touch. She was burning up form the inside.

”Dammit!” I cursed.

I felt it more than I saw as my eyes refused to look up. But the heat coming down on me left very little to my imagination.

It was no time to stand still. If there ever was a time for action, it was right now.

I jumped forward and tackled Aura to the ground despite my hands feeling like I was touching heated coals.

I screamed and then gritted my teeth before yelling in her ears, ”Aurana wake up! We're about to die!”

This wasn't an exaggeration. The efreet's fist certainly continued to fall down on me despite its summoner laying right beneath me. Whether that was a fluke or it just didn't care, I didn't know. One thing was certain. If Aura didn't wake up now, we were both toast.

Aura's eyes fluttered awake. Consciousness returned to her almost instantly, and seeing the fiery fist behind me, immediately shouted, ”Stop!”

It felt like there was a hot furnace just a few feet above me, but I was thankfully spared death by burning.

”Hi,” I said to Aura. ”Mind getting rid of it now?”

Aura raised a hand to the flames. ”Oh mighty servant of the pillar of flames, I release you from this fairy plane...”

And the fire winked out just like that and all was dark again. Yet even in darkness, I could see the fierce blush on Aura's cheeks. This made me think of our current position which in turn made my cheeks turn red.

I pulled away from her as quickly as I could and got up feeling way more embarrassed than I should have. It's not like I was trying to take advantage of her.

”Sorry,” I said as I helped her up to her feet.