𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 ✯ 𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑥 ℎ𝑜𝑔𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 ✓

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

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𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐄'𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄'𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐒 sounded hollow as the lone noise bounced off against the empty walls. Night still covered the Telmarine castle and its hallways with dark shadows, but beyond the windows at the horizon, a faint light lit up a small stroke of the sky as the sun slowly began to rise.

Elodie carried a bowl of soup in her hands, a look of concentration on her face as she tried not to spill any over the edge while she ascended the stone stairs. Noelle on the other hand, gracefully walked next to her and she almost seemed to float over the steps. In a comfortable silence, they set course to the improvised infirmary; Elodie mainly to bring the soup to Mina, and partly like Noelle to check upon Darkan as well.

Both of the girls weren't much of a talker as their tiredness resonated in their minds, and Elodie hated her own squeaky voice when she spoke up to indicate the right door. She cleared her throat.

'That one,' she tried again, nodding at the door at their left at the end of the hallway.

Noelle nodded as well, but before she could speed up her pace to open the door, some muffled sounds from the other side reached their ears. It sounded as if something had fallen over.

Noelle looked back over her shoulder at Elodie, raising a confused eyebrow, but she shrugged in confusion as well.

Suddenly, the door swung open inwards and Darkan stood in the door opening. All three of them froze halfway in their movements.

The Archenlander's skin was a pale blue, almost translucent, and white frost in swirling shapes shot over his bare upper body like some strange sort of flowers. He had thrown an unconscious Mina over his shoulder and when his unnatural bright blue eyes dashed between Noelle and Elodie, both girls understood this was no longer the Darkan they had known.

They had a very bad feeling about this, and Elodie suppressed the cold shiver running down her spine when his eyes like blue lights seemed to pierce right through her own. He cocked his head a bit to the side as if he decided on something and focussed his gaze on Noelle after that.

Elodie jumped forward, pushing her fear to the back of her mind, and she threw the bowl of soup towards his head.

'Let Mina go,' she demanded, but Darkan dodged the aim for his head by spinning out of the way in an eerily smooth movement. The wooden bowl clattered on the marble floor behind him, the soup splattering all over the ground, and the sound snapped Noelle out of her perplexed state.

She ran towards Darkan, her red hair flowing like fire behind her, and she grabbed Mina's waist in an attempt to get her loose from Darkan's grip.

A sound like shifting ice filled the air and Elodie stared in horror at Darkan's free hand. His translucent blue fingers grew longer and sharper, merging together in a deadly icicle.