Warning: Violence

Ember

I saw Rosaline drop abruptly, her wings stilling for a moment. What was wrong with her?

She started flapping her wings again, but it was labored. Shaking her head, she roared and turned her head from side to side.

Some instinct made me look toward the trees.

My eyes zeroed in on an archer, fumbling, trying to put an arrow on the string of a longbow.

Without thinking, I leapt down from the balcony and landed on the pavement below.

Barely registering the fact that I should have broken a bone, I ran towards the wall. The wind picked up around me, and I floated up and over the wall blocking me.

Landing on the other side, the earth roiled below me, moving me towards the archer quickly.

He drew back the string on the bow in preparation to fire.

Arriving at his spot, I gave an unearthly cry, and my arms lit on fire. I grabbed his longbow and ripped it from his grip. It burned as it fell, but I paid no attention to that. My other hand went around his throat.

His clothes caught fire, and then he was screaming. He writhed in my grasp, but I didn’t let go.

Who did he think he was to hurt her?

Then he was silent, and I realized he had burned to death in my hands.

Dropping him, I turned to search for Rosaline.

She was perched on top of the wall, barely. I could tell that she was swaying in her spot.

I ran to her, and this time there was no earth to help me, so it took me longer to get to her.

“Rosaline!” I called out, worry turning to fear as she fell backward off of the wall into the courtyard.

I hastily climbed the wall, cursing the crumbly mortar that kept making a hand or foot slip as I climbed.

On the other side, Rosaline was lying in her regular form, still breathing, thankfully. But her eyes were closed.

I scanned her body for the wound, but I didn’t see one. Maybe it isn’t visible because she’s wearing all black?

I discarded that thought as soon as I had it. Her clothes would be ripped. Wouldn’t they?

Doesn’t hurt to check.

I lightly ran my hands down her body, checking for any wet spots that could indicate blood. Nothing.

Where was she injured?

Then I noticed a purple webbing on her neck. Following it up, I saw a small scratch on her ear. But it was dripping with white pus and smelled sickly sweet.

Poison.

How could I help her now? I didn’t know poisons!

Heal her.

Without a conscious thought, I raised my hand and held it over her ear, and recited a spell I had never remembered learning.

“Cas ar ais am, leigheas na créachtaí. Dóigh an nimh, neartaigh an corp,” I murmured, and the purple web receded and disappeared. The pus and smell vanished, and the skin healed.

“Ember?” Rosaline asked. Her eyes were blinking open and her breathing grew stronger.

“Are you okay?” I asked, helping her sit up.

“Yeah, I think the arrow was poisoned. One grazed my ear,” she said, looking up at me.

“Uh, yeah, the archer was gonna shoot you again. I saw him,” I said, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and helping her to her feet.

“Was?” Rosaline asked, raising an eyebrow.

I smiled and chuckled. “Let’s get you inside.”

“Did you find him?” she asked, walking along with me.

“...yeah,” I replied.

“Thank you, you saved my life,” Rosaline said, turning to me and kissing my forehead.

My heart fluttered, and I had a really good, weird feeling in my stomach.

I helped her walk upstairs, taking her to the room she said was hers.

Pushing open the door, I walked her inside and set her down on the bed. Looking around, I saw all of the gorgeous paintings that adorned her walls. Sunsets, forests, the ocean, and a portrait of Rosaline and another woman.