I was reincarnated as a Magic Academy!

Side Story: An embrace unlike any other

[Shanteya's point of view]

A pack of monsters of Master rank and a knight escort reduced our numbers from 40 to 25. I suffered the most injuries out of all of them, but I could still run, I could still fight, I could still kill if ordered to.

After we entered the Academy's grounds, it was hard for me to keep up. I was among the last, so when we came under attack, I was also the last to take cover. Unlike the others, who hid behind trees, I took cover behind a big boulder. I heard their screams echoing through the forest and then our leader's order to stay put. The strategy was simple: hide in the darkness, wait until the enemy showed himself and then attack, but we didn't get the chance to do so, the last attack struck us with its full might.

Following a bright light and a powerful explosion, I closed my eyes and covered my ears, but then a painful heat licked over my back, and I could feel the scent of burning flesh. It was something I knew all too well, but I didn't realize that I was the one to blame for it. Pushing myself up, I tried to stand and get away from there, but if I did, I would disobey the orders...

He told me to stay put, but how could I do so? It was hot, painful, and frightening.

I have to get away... I have to... I told myself as I got up and stepped forward.

Like a fierce lightning striking down a tree, pain surged through my body from head to toes. My muscles tensed, and I stood there with opened eyes and mouth, but I had no voice, only air came out.

It hurts... It hurts... I cried inside.

It was the Curse of Obedience. My will to flee, my actions themselves activated it, but I didn't care. With just one more step, if I could run away and save my life, then I could return to the master of the guild and beg him to stop the countdown before it killed me.

I have to get away... I thought, but the lack of air was getting to me, the terrible heat was boiling me alive, and the pain of my broken bones was terrible.

Was there any chance for me to get away? Could I, the Broken Doll of the Phantom's Rage guild, be saved? But by whom?

I-I can't... I thought one last time before I felt my strength slipping away and fell on my knees.

My sight was blurred, pain crippled my senses, and there, in the middle of that fiery inferno, I fainted...

I know not how much time passed as I laid there crippled, burned, hurting, and suffering from more things than I could count, but such was my life. I was the Broken Doll. Strangely though, the heat slowly faded and my lungs didn't hurt anymore. Then came a chill, and I was forced to wake up by a stranger's voice.

Surprised, my body tensed, and I jumped back from the stranger's voice, but I was too weakened. Falling back, I moved my hand to stop my fall, but I touched the boulder behind me, it was burning hot. It hurt, and I opened my mouth to scream, but it was nothing but a poor reflex left there ever since I lost my voice.

I stepped away from the boulder and looked around surprised.

I definitely heard a voice just now. An enemy? I asked myself as I reached for my dagger.

Looking around, I focused my senses, but I couldn't feel any sign of someone else alive in that burning hell. An el'doraw's ears were capable of picking up all sorts of high and low sounds. We could hear much better than a regular human, allowing us to be the best hunters in a forest, yet within the fiery inferno, I could only hear the gentle tune of the embers as they set loose a dance of flames. There wasn't even a single heartbeat. There was no scent that my nose could pick up or shadow my eyes could catch. I was alone there.