Okay, hello my dearest readers, I have returned! My laptop has arrived, and despite not yet having reinstalled my MS, I have been able to find my old files on a USB and continued to write this story in an email... I checked it three times to make sure there are no spelling mistakes in here. As always, please notify me if you see grammar mistakes (or spelling if I missed any) and I hope you enjoy this chapter. The title for this chapter can be found literally (and slightly figuratively) in the story.
I hope you enjoy it~ and I really pologize for making you wait so long.
Chapter 6: Ablaze
Glen had brought Isobel to Natasha, one of the healers, and asked her to take a look at the cut. It was nothing serious, even he knew that, but he still wanted her to heal it just in case. When the cut was healed, they talked for a while, but eventually, everyone went to bed. But the blonde wyvernlord couldn't seem to fall asleep. He had always had trouble falling asleep, but it was much worse now. His thoughts kept going back to earlier that day. With a sigh, Glen put his arms behind his head. What a bother. There were other things, better things, that he could think about. Yet, none of those things came to mind. All he thought about was Isobel.
He had never seen her sad before today. The way her expression had changed when she spoke of her father and the hurt he had seen in her eyes had left a deep impression on him. He could still hear her words: "He tried to kill me…" He had seen the sadness; "He hated me…" He could see the hurt in her eyes. "I just don't understand." Like she had been stabbed in the back; as if the only thing that had mattered was now gone and her dreams and hopes had been crushed. "W-Why did he hate me?" And then there were tears. The moment she had started crying something inside him had snapped. Glen had always been a compassionate person, but he had never before had the urge to just hold someone and take away their pain or hurt. But as soon as Glen saw Isobel's tears, a part of him wanted to reach out and just shield her away from any pain or sadness.
He hadn't said a word to her then; He had simply let her cry.
Then after a while, she had stopped crying. There were some tears stuck on her face, but she had been calm, and smiled again. Glen had wiped away the remaining tears with his thumb, but for some reason he had been staring at her lips the entire time, and without him realizing it, his thumb was moving across them. There had been no thoughts about kissing her, but as soon as he realized what he was doing, Glen's mind focused on something else; the cut on her cheek.
And now Glen was lying in bed, sighing deeply. He turned around, trying to focus on something else.
What was going on? Why couldn't he just get over it? It wasn't like anything crazy had happened. And yet, he couldn't get it out of his head. What bothered him the most of all was that he had no idea why he hadn't noticed his own actions until the last second. But, despite the ghosts in his mind, Glen decided that since he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for how his thumb had moved over her lips, he'd just have to ignore it. Which he managed to do after a long time of tossing and turning, and finally Glen managed to fall asleep.
A few days had passed and they had arrived at Mt. Nerelas, in the heart of Darkling Woods. The scorching heat caused hurt when breathing, and the sulphur smell that rendered the area made some people feel unwell. It was obvious this place was not meant for human habitation.
"Are those... eggs?" Eirika, the princess of Renais asked in confusion. This raised the attention of all the people travelling with her. There were dozens of eggs spread across the valley.
"Gorgon eggs..." A young girl named Myrrh spoke. "There are so many..." As she said that, some of the eggs began to break. Small cracks in the eggs alarmed Eirika.
"Brother! The eggs! They've started to hatch!" She yelled. Ephraim, Eirika's brother, then gave the orders and split Eirika's army up in three groups: The first group would head north-west and kill all the monsters there. A second group would defeat the monsters and destroy the eggs in the south-east. The third group would head East and then North, and kill the remaining monsters there. All groups were to destroy the eggs before they hatched and caused trouble.
The groups went into their directions and killed off gorgons and other monsters along their way, and destroyed all the eggs they could find. Glen, Duessel and Isobel had been assigned to go with the first group to the north-west of the valley. The fights were hard as the Gorgons fought from up in the sky, but the troops managed well. The heat, however, was taking a toll on some of the soldiers. It was difficult to fight in the intense heat, and this gave the Gorgons a great advantage over Eirika's troops. Nevertheless the princess' soldiers fought on bravely, and many Gorgons and their eggs got killed.
Something the soldier hadn't anticipated was that the hot ground they were walking on wasn't as safe as they thought. Every once in a while the lava underneath the ground would crack open the tiles they were walking on, and damage the soldiers. It would burn their feet or their horse's feet, or set part of their clothing in flames. This made it harder for the group to continue, but it gave them all the more reason to end this battle quickly and get out of the valley as soon as possible.
Isobel and Amelia, a young recruit from Grado, were two of the few foot soldiers that went north. As they followed their comrades they stepped on many hot, red stones. Some of these stones were cracked. The cracked stones were hotter underneath their feet than the other stones, and sometimes they could feel the heat burn through their shoes. Amelia, walking around in armor, seemed to become a little light-headed from the heat. The heavy armor was taking a toll on her. Being a healer, Isobel noticed this. "Amelia," Isobel called the girl's name, causing the blonde girl to turn around. Her face was sweaty and a little pale. "Are you feeling all right?" She asked, despite knowing the girl wasn't well at all. "You look pale, and I have a feeling you're about to faint."
"No!" Amelia said, smiling to hide the truth. "I'm fine."
"Amelia, please, come here for a moment. I have an elixer here that might help you get through this battle." Isobel reached for her satchel as the young recruit walked up to her, when she noticed the cracked tiles that they were standing on were beginning to glow a brighter red. The ground underneath her became hotter than before and in a reflex Isobel pushed Amelia away. "Watch out!" She yelled, trying to run after Amelia when the cracked tiles burst open further. A large flame burst through the cracks in the tiles like a geyser, burning both of Isobel's legs and her robes up till her knees.
Crying out in pain, the female Bishop saw that part of her robes was still on fire. She quickly grabbed the elixer she had saved for Amelia and emptied the bottle on her dress to extinguish the flames and cool down her dress.
Amelia, who had finally gotten a grip on herself, stared wide-eyed at the burned robes of Isobel, that were still attached to her legs. She then ran further into the valley to find anyone to help the woman who had probably just saved her life. It didn't take long for her to spot general Glen, who was fighting off some Gorgons in the air. Amelia waved her arms into the air, hoping to get his attention, when she, too, got attacked by a Gorgon. She fought it off, ending the creature's life with her lance, and yelled loudly for Glen's attention. After the blonde man had succesfully killed all the Gorgons he had been fighting, he flew down to Amelia's assistence.
"What is it?" He asked with a serious expression on his face. The girl seemed a little intimidated by his expression, and the large wyvern he was riding on, but regained her composure and said:
"I need help! One of the healers... she- She got burned badly when fire erupted from underneath the ground. Please, she needs someone to heal her and I cannot carry her. She can't walk. Her legs..." Glen nodded, and flew over to where Amelia had pointed. As he got closer, he noticed a familiar black-haired woman on the ground, trying to back away from the cracked tiles.
"Isobel..." He flew down and jumped off his wyvern. As he got near her, he noticed that the lower part of her robes had been burned by the flames. "Don't move." He ordered when he saw she was trying to move her legs. He rushed back to his wyvern and took out some water he had been saving for after the battle. The water was now lukewarm, making it easier to poor on the fabric without damaging her body even more. "Be still." Glen said as he poured the water on the robes, and then carefully ripped the burned fabric off her legs. The water was to wetten the fabric of her clothing so it wouldn't stick to her skin - in other words, he was trying to make sure he wouldn't rip off part of her skin along with the fabric.
Whimpering in pain, Isobel stared at her burned and exposed legs. Her left eye twitched for a few seconds as she withheld herself from screaming in pain. She breathed in and exhaled deeply, hoping that she could focus on something other than the pain her burns were causing her. This was what she had been trying to save Amelia from; the pain, the burning feeling that wouldn't go away. Isobel's eyes were getting watery.
"A-Amelia... is she-"
"The girl is fine." Glen quickly replied. "But you're not. We need to get you to a healer. Hold on to me." He said and lifted her up from the ground as carefully as possible. Despite his effort to be careful, Isobel still let out a painful moan. "Sorry." Glen said. "I know it hurts but hang in there a little longer."
Glen's wyvern bent down as far as he could, making it easier for Glen to get up while holding Isobel. As soon as he sat down, the wyvern flew up. Glen guided the beast to the nearest healer, Moulder, a Frelian priest sent to heal the wounded. As they reached the priest, the wyvern lord noticed the man was already busy trying to heal four others. Apparently, the battle was almost over, and a lot of soldiers had come to find healers to take care of their wounds. "Priest." Glen spoke, loud enough for the older man to hear. Moulder turned around, looking up at the large wyvern and then at Glen. "Can you heal her?" Glen asked. Moulder looked at Isobel, who, judging by her expression, seemed to be in great pain. The man then noticed her burned legs.
"Oh, my." The man exclaimed. "Bring her here." Glen got his wyvern to bend low again so he could get off without causing the female bishop too much harm. "Before I heal her legs, I need you to pour some water on it."
"I already did that."
"I see. Still, it takes a lot of water to remove the stinging feeling. In fact, water often helps with healing. I will come back in a minute or so," Glen nodded and gently lay Isobel on the ground. Moulder handed him water. "...and when I'm back I will heal her." Doing as he was told, Glen poured more water on her legs. Soon after that, Moulder came back and kneeled down. He held his staff close to Isobel's burned legs. The orb on top of the staff began to glow a bright blue color. Isobel could feel her legs cool down. It was as if cold water had made its way through her skin and was now cooling the inside of her legs. The feeling started at her toes, and moved up to her knees. The pain Isobel felt in her legs and feet was fading and replaced by a pleasant, cold feeling. Her relief was noticable on her face, especially when all the pain was gone, and the burnmarks on her legs had completely disappeared. She felt tired; The pain had worn her out.
Moulder helped Isobel stand, and after helping her do a few steps, she was able to walk on her own again.
"Thank you, father Moulder." She said with a smile. Moulder told her to rest, as she looked tired and the sickening heat in the valley wasn't going to make that any better. The heat in the valley was indeed making her more tired, but for now Isobel had decided to help heal the others before she'd do anything else. "Thank you, but I'd much rather help you heal the wounded before I do that. I have a role in this army like anyone else."
Moulder had agreed to let her help healing the remaining wounded soldiers, while Glen helped finishing off the final few Gorgons that were still in the valley. After the battle was over and everyone had been healed, Amelia came rushing over to Glen.
"General! General!" Worry was plastered all over her face again. Glen got off his wyvern and looked at her questioningly. "Is she okay? Did someone heal her?!" The girl seemed like she was about to cry. She probably felt guilty about the whole situation, even though it hadn't been her fault.
"Ah, yes. She is doing good. The Frelian priest healed her, she is fine now." He pointed into Isobel's direction, who was using her staff to heal some red-haired sword-user. Amelia sighed in relief and then ran towards Isobel to talk to her. Glen petted his wyvern, thanking his friend for the great battle. He then went to the camp that was being set up by the soldiers. After his tent was set up as well, the blonde wyvern lord looked around to find his younger brother, Cormag, and General Duessel. He was in for some nice company and a good conversation. It didn't take long before he had found them and joined them for a late lunch.
"Ah, Glen. Good to see you still in one piece." Duessel commented with a smile.
"You expected otherwise?" Glen replied as he sat down next to his brother.
"Ha ha ha! You youngsters will surpass old men like me one day, but today is not that day." The older General said with a smirk, before taking a sip of the drink he had. "Say, Glen." The man continued, suddenly. "That little lass, Amelia, told me something had happened to Isobel while we were fighting the Gorgons. I was hoping you could tell me if she is all right."
Glen grabbed a piece of bread and nodded. "She is fine." He said. "She wanted to help Amelia with something, but realized the floor was unstable and pushed Amelia away right in time, but was too late to escape the flames herself. The flames came out like a geiser, apparently. Her clothes and legs were burned up to her knees."
"That must've hurt a great deal." Cormag said and Duessel nodded at his words.
"That poor lass. What happened after that?"
"Amelia ran around to find someone to help her, but everyone was too busy. At some point, she found me and asked for my help. She probably knew Isobel and I are friends." Glen stuffed some bread in his mouth. After he finished eating that piece of bread, he continued: "I ended up ripping off the burned part of her robes so they couldn't burn her even more or get stuck to her skin. I then got that Frelian priest to heal her." Glen stuffed some more bread in his mouth after explaining what had happened.
Cormag grinned. "So, what you're really saying is, you ripped off her clothes." Duessel began to laugh hysterically. Glen, on the other hand, nearly choked on his food, which caused the older General, Duessel, to laugh even harder.
"Not like that." Glen managed to say in between coughs. "Urgh, Cormag, you..."
"Ha ha ha!" Duessel's laughter earned some looks from the other soldiers. "Glen, my friend, you cannot deny that your story sounds a little shady."
"Shady?" The blonde had finally stopped coughing and looked up.
"It's not like you, brother, to go after a lady like that." Cormag continued with the grin still plasted on his face. Glen sighed and shook his head. This was absolutely ridiculous. Sure, he knew they were teasing him, but it still bugged him they would say these things.
Duessel took another sip from his drink and then put the cup on the ground. "I do understand it, Glen." He said, and by the tone he was speaking with, Glen knew Duessel was extremely amused by whatever he was going to say next. "You're not getting any younger." Glen sighed and shook his head. And there they'd go again. "And the lass is quite similar to you." He continued. "...Mature, compassionate, and kind, but strong at heart. Oh, and I almost forgot; she's a beauty too." The older general added with a grin. The blonde simply rolled his eyes.
Then cormag suddenly said: "But, Duessel, what if my brother is looking for someone who's a little different." This gained a laugh from Duessel.
"Oh? Such as...?" Cormag thought for a second.
"Princess Eirika, perhaps?" Both Cormag's brother and the General looked at him when he suggested the princess of Renais.
"Are you serious?" Glen asked with a groan. He was not pleased with this converstation at all.
"Well, despite how the princess acts in front of most people, she strikes me as a little childish. Maybe he's into that."
"Ah," Duessel nodded and crossed his arms. "I see what you mean. But the princess is young and a little naïve. Maybe a little too young. And as we all know, Glen is... not that young anymore." The general laughed loudly before taking a bite of a pear. Suddenly, Duessel looked into a different direction and smiled. "Speaking of pretty ladies, there's our favorite lass." He said, making the two blonde brothers look up into the direction the General was speaking. They saw Isobel walking toward them. "It seems you had some trouble back in the valley." The man continued, referring to her still-ripped robes.
"Oh, yes... I'm all right now, though, I'm having trouble finding new clothes to wear." She smiled sheepishly. "I suppose I will just have to buy new robes in Rausten." Quickly, Isobel sat herself down next to Duessel and across from the two brothers.
"So, we're headed for Rausten now, huh..." Cormag, the younger brother, sighed. "I hope that things take a turn for the better." It would take them a few days to travel to Rausten, and once they were there, they might be able to get the final of the Sacred Stones. With that stone, they would have the power to seal the evil they were facing; The Demon King.
Not long after the lunch, everyone went about to do their own thing. Isobel went to check on some people to see if everyone was properly healed and thought about taking a nap after that, as she was still tired from the fight earlier that day. Glen and Cormag ended up sparring together, while Duessel went to spar with Ephraim, the prince of Renais.
As the evening progressed, and the brothers had finished sparring, Glen, the oldest of the two, decided to take a stroll through the camp before heading to his tent. On his walk, he passed the healer's tent. Neimi, a pink-haired archer and Colm, a thief of some sort, came out of the tent right as Glen passed by. Colm was scolding the girl for getting hurt again in the battle field, and told her to be more careful. His words had upset Neimi, who then started crying. In all his time in the army, Glen realized, he hadn't once seen the girl without tears.
"Oh, Glen, good evening." He heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Isobel." The blonde smiled politely. "How fare you this evening?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
"How about your legs? No more pain, I hope."
"No, they no longer hurt. Father Moulder did a great job healing me. Oh! I never actually thanked you for taking me to him." Glen held up his hand as to tell her it was okay.
"It's quite all right. I'm glad you're fine now." He chuckled. "But it seems you are getting yourself into quite some trouble lately."
"So it seems." Isobel laughed a little. "How long do you think it will take us to get to Rausten Court?" She suddenly asked. Glen thought for a while and then shrugged.
"About three days, I think. Why do you ask?"
"If it takes us that long I think I should ask the other female soldiers if they have any spare clothes..."
"Oh, yes. I apologize for that." Glen immediately said.
"No, no. You don't have to apologize. You actually did the right thing, so don't worry."
"I see..." Glen smiled. "Well, if you say so. I will be heading to my tent now. You should rest too." Isobel nodded. She had completely forgotten to take a nap, like she had planned earlier. She had been too busy healing the last few soldiers.
"Yes. Please, sleep well."
A few days after battling the Gorgons and destroying their eggs in the valley of Mt. Neleras, Eirika's troops finally arrived in Rausten, the country home to princess L'Arachel, whom seemed overjoyed to be back in her castle. Everyone was tired from travelling for so long. In the past few days they hadn't had a proper night of sleep, and mostly spent their time marching to reach the castle in time. Everyone was desperate for a good night of sleep, or at least some proper rest; no fighting and no travelling.
So, L'Arachel and her uncle, Mansel, had assigned everyone a room in the castle and given them the time to rest. During the time they had been given to rest, Isobel had gone into town to buy herself some new robes, similar to the robes she had worn before and even the same color: Red. But as it became darker outside, and people were getting ready to go to bed, a soldier reported an attack. And so the whole group was called to fight again. Despite the fact that Eirika's troops were still tired, they knew they could win this if they played it well.
Author's comment:
In order to thank you for the long wait I tried to make this chapter a bit longer than usual. AND, just for fun, I sprited Isobel (for those who are interested) so I changed the story cover. I would like to explain some things in this quick 'Author's Comment' or note or whatever. The thing about the burned legs and clothes for example. I was taught that you can never remove clothes when they're burning or when something really hot is poured over it because the clothes might sort of 'melt' and attach themselves to your skin. If you rip off something attached to your skin, there is a chance you will rip off your skin along with it. Which is why you should always take a lukewarm shower first. That way the water will cool you down and eventually you will be able to seperate the fabric from your skin.
Another thing is the lukewarm water. Many people use cold water when trying to cool down the burned skin. DON'T DO THAT. The difference in temperature between the burn and the cold water is too much and then your skin will 'close' all openings (pores etc) so there is no way for the heat to get out. This means you will be - sort of - burned from the inside out. That is super dangerous. Always use lukewarm water because it cools down, but won't shut down your pores and other openings in the skin so that you can heal. (This might be a bit strange to read and I have NO way to explain this in English other than how I did, so I apologize if the words are wrong (but the effect really isn't).)