COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)

Chapter 29: The White Flowers (Part 3/3)

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Hey guys, lost track of the days, thought it was saturday for some reason.

Anyways, here's your update~

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          Vera heard the chair beside her shift, Káel now held in his seat by the bulky man behind him. She felt a hand grip her arm, the ill manners of Earth pulling her final straw. The flimsy cuffs had finally broken, and this was the perfect time to catch them off guard. 

          She whipped the loose cuffs across the man's face, scowling as he didn't even flinch.

          Oh well. Something else would have to do.

          Feeling his grip still digging into her arm she twisted around, snatching a sheathed Cursimian off the table and clubbing the man in the side of the face. If the soft flesh over his temple wasn't there, she would have half expected a loud clang. 

          He was a rock.

          A golem? Vera's heart quickened, losing a tug of war with the blade that the man slammed back on the table after an audible zap. Earth didn't have Lumience or magic. Golems were impossible.

          She gritted her teeth, feeling her feet drag as the man tugged her towards the door. Lumience or not, anything was flammable with enough fire. "Cinder!" she felt the phoenix squirm in her jacket, a soft warmth tickling her neck as glowing red feathers swept by her corner vision to engulf the man dragging her in flames.

          She felt the hands slip, safely escaping the wall of flames without even a smoldering lock of hair. Earth's hijinks were no match for her guardian, no match for raw fire magic that could shame even the thirteen guards of Shamassara. 

          There was nothing-

          A white cloud consumed her back, biting with cold ice as the fog stabbed at her eyes and dried her nose. She turned to see the spell's source, squinting painfully at the blonde woman who was wielding a bright red capsule in both hands. It spat forth the white cloud with a loud hiss, drowning Cinder's flames in a matter of seconds to leave a choking smoke and foamy white floor.

          Vera's heart stopped when she saw a small mound on the ground, red feathers poking through without their fiery glow. "Cinder?" she knelt, scooping her guardian out of the choking ice to cradle her in her palms. Cold to the touch. She wasn't moving. "Cinder!"

          A click reached her ears, a shadow sweeping over her as she looked up at Káel's back. 

          "On your feet and hands up," the woman spoke, the red capsule was now on the table, and a new device in her hand. It was small and silver, not nearly as intimidating as the bright red weapon that breathed like an ice dragon.

          "And what's that going to do?" Vera seethed, pressing Cinder closer to her chest. 

          "Kill us," Káel whispered. His voice was shaking.

          Vera rose, the fear she should have felt flattened by disappointment. Frustration. If only she'd grabbed the branch quicker. If only she could do something for herself without having to be saved at the very last second.

          Every plan she had always burned to ash. Lighting the guard on fire hadn't helped their escape. She'd nearly gotten everyone killed with the Valerans, and blamed Káel for running away and dragging them with him, when she knew the only person to truly be blamed was Ray.