Chapter 46: A Song of Ice and Fire

(Mira’s POV)

I watched, frozen both literally and in horror, as Soren plunged the ice lance into Scarlette’s back.

A sickening groan escaped from Scarlette’s lips, her body lurching forward under the blow. Blood splattered from the wound, staining the frost-covered ground beneath her. But Scarlette didn’t collapse. She kept fighting, faint traces of fire still emanating from her fingers.

“…stop…” I could only mouth in vain. My vision blurred with tears that crystallised almost instantly in the freezing air.

A guttural roar shifted my attention to Jonah as he thrust himself forward, shattering his ice prison, the shards scattering like broken glass. The colours around him warped and twisted. With his form distorted, Jonah lunged straight at Soren with reckless speed.

“I don’t have business with you.” Soren raised a hand in his direction, never taking his eyes off Scarlette. A faint, pale-blue glow flickered around his fingers. Jonah’s body seized mid-charge, his eyes rolling back as he faltered and collapsed into a limp heap on the ground.

“Are you gonna cause me trouble too?”

I turned my attention back to Soren, only to realise he was staring straight at me. I had never seen eyes so black—so devoid of life. My heart lodged itself in my throat. Please, I begged silently, don’t hurt me…

For a moment, Soren seemed frozen himself—locked in place, as if something had interrupted him. An explosion boomed from somewhere nearby, and a shadow streaked toward us like a missile. He was here. My tears of despair turned to shaky relief.

A dark blue dome spawned around Soren and in an instant, Cadel crashed into it. But as soon as he penetrated the barrier, his momentum vanished, and he tumbled awkwardly to the ground.

From the direction Cadel arrived from, bolts of plasma whizzed through the air—only to fizzle out before they could reach Soren. Was Soren neutralising them? Then it clicked—Cadel had absorbed the energy into himself, taking every last bit before Soren could get to it.

His body erupted in a bright purple glow as he lunged out of the sphere, moving before Soren’s Ability could affect him again. A massive ice wall shot up from the ground, towering between them… but it disintegrated instantly as Cadel leapt into the air, slamming his energy-infused fist into it.

“Look who’s here to save the day.” Soren lay his dark, lifeless gaze onto Cadel, undeterred by his sudden arrival.

Cadel landed softly, facing Soren directly. Without saying a word, the hundreds of ice shards from the shattered wall levitated in the air, and without warning, shot straight towards Soren.

But the second the crystals entered Soren’s dome, they fell harmlessly to the ground, frost creeping over them.

“Relax. I could kill you right now if I wanted to.” Soren said with an irritating calmness. “But I’m not here to fight you. I’m just here to… settle things with your friend.” He nodded in Scarlette’s direction. “Mission’s been accomplished, so if you don’t mind, I’ll be taking my leave now—"

“Kaede,” Cadel commanded. A thick beam of plasma shot out from somewhere in the trees nearby and collided with him, causing his aura to grow brighter. I silently thanked Kaede for consistently feeding him with energy.

“You know, your friend’s really anno—” Soren started, but before he could finish, his arm shot out, fingers forming a hook before plunging into his own throat.

Blood spurted out as Soren looked down in surprise. His icy composure fractured for the first time, revealing a flash of pure anger. He glared at Cadel, ice forming on his own neck to stop the bleeding. However, we all knew it would only serve as temporary relief.

However, almost immediately after Soren’s glare, Cadel staggered. Blood started leaking from his nose and mouth, but he remained standing.

In the few seconds that Cadel took to recover, the mist had grown incredibly thick, almost opaque. I struggled to stay conscious as Cadel summoned warmth, converting his stored energy into thermal energy to combat the biting cold. But as the fog began to dissipate, I realised that there was no sign of Soren.

Before I could process anything, Cadel rushed up to me. “Mira, you need to do everything you can to save Scarlette. It doesn’t look good.” He laid a hand on me, defrosting me in the process.

Nodding shakily, I sprinted to Scarlette, who lay unconscious in a pool of blood. Panic surged within me as I realised the gravity of the situation. This… this was beyond anything I had ever handled. Wasn’t I meant to only heal superficial wounds? I was a mere 2-Star, not equipped to pull someone back from the brink of death! Where were the damn professionals? Surely there had to be medics nearby! Chaos consumed my mind. I didn’t know what to do.

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As Cadel ran over to check on Jonah, Kaede appeared by my side.

“Oh my…” I noticed tears well up in her eyes as she gripped my arm and shook it. “Please, you have to do something,” she begged.

Then, something crackled into form beside me. “What in the…”

I glanced up at Ms Reina, my face a sobbing mess. “Please, get someone!”

For the first time, Ms Reina appeared shaken. But she quickly regained her composure and whipped out her walkie-talkie. “Send me two ambulances and a van now. This is a Grade A emergency, requesting to halt the activity at once. We need the forest cordoned off.” As she relayed the coordinates of our current position, I shut my eyes.

Mira. You joined this course precisely to prevent this from happening again. Your mother died simply because you were too weak. Are you going to let someone else die at your hands?

I took a deep breath and reached out, placing my index and middle finger on Scarlette’s neck. I exhaled in relief, feeling the steady pulse beneath my touch.

I then shifted over gently and extracted the ice lance, which was beginning to melt. Once freed, I quickly placed my hands right over the wound itself. The blood had dried up, and her back was cold to the touch.

Fortunately, almost miraculously, it looked like the lance hadn’t punctured any vital organs. What appeared to be the biggest threat was the blood loss. I couldn’t help but acknowledge the fact that Soren had avoided killing her on purpose. It seemed he really was giving Scarlette a taste of her own medicine.

However, it wasn’t like we were out of the woods yet. In fact, we were far from it. The soft tissue damage was extensive, the wound deep and angry with blood pooled around it. There was also a potential threat of haemorrhaging, which could lead to shock if not addressed immediately.

My hands glowed with green light. Once again, I closed my eyes, but this time, I poured everything I had into my healing, more than ever before. Warmth coursed through my fingertips and poured into Scarlette. I concentrated, imagining her wound closing, her body repairing itself. Despite the cold earlier, sweat beaded my forehead.

Still, the wound stubbornly refused to heal. I leaned closer, picturing my own life force draining into her. My face, mere inches above her, was damp with sweat and tears, causing my glasses to nearly slip off. But I remained hunched over, deep in concentration.

A few seconds later, I finally sensed a slight shift beneath my fingers. With cautious optimism, I opened my eyes to find that, along with the usual green glow, tiny golden sparks were dancing around my hands. Her skin was gradually knitting together. Progress!

However, just as the wound was about to fully close, an overwhelming wave of nausea struck me. I doubled over and vomited.

“Hey, are you okay?!” Kaede crouched down beside me, rubbing my back. She glanced back at Scarlette before continuing, “I think the worst of it is over, you’ve done enough!”

But there was still more in me. No, I wasn’t done yet. Coughing, I reached out a trembling hand in an attempt to continue the healing process, but this time, Ms Reina gently pressed her hand on top of mine.

“We can’t have you passing out on us as well. As Kaede said, you’ve done an excellent job as it is. Let’s leave it to the professionals, they’ll be here any moment.”

Cadel rested the still unconscious Jonah beside Scarlette—a sight that pained all of us. The anguish I felt surprised me, particularly for Scarlette. More than ever, I wanted to see her lively, voracious self again.

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed through the forest, amplified by some kind of public address system. “Students, due to unfortunate circumstances, this activity has been terminated. Please assemble at your respective campsites immediately. Teachers, conduct a headcount of your classes. I will be taking charge of Class 1-C.” Dr Connor’s voice was unmistakable. Our classmates were probably anxious over the sudden announcement, especially since our class was mentioned specifically.

I took a quick look at the giant scoreboard, still hovering in the night sky.

Role

Remaining

Students

123/198

Time

41:21

The scoreboard vanished a second later. After that, I must have zoned out, because Ms Reina squeezed my hand. “The medics will take your group to our school’s medical bay. I’ll accompany you as well.”

As if on cue, we heard the rumble of engines as a couple of vehicles rolled up in the vicinity. Paramedics quickly flooded the scene, laying Jonah and Scarlette on stretchers before loading them into separate ambulances. The rest of us piled into a van while a few security guards remained behind, their Esper Nullifiers glinting in the moonlight.

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As much as I had tried to stay awake, the strain from my earlier exertion had finally caught up to me. Whether I had fainted or merely dozed off, I couldn't tell.

When I finally regained consciousness, I found myself in what appeared to be the sick bay. My friends were all in separate beds around me with the exception of Kaede, who along with Ms Reina, was seated by Cadel’s. Cadel was awake, the three of them seemingly deep in conversation. I recalled the sight of blood trickling down Cadel’s face for a moment—he hadn’t emerged from the encounter unscathed either.

I tried to sit up, but a dull ache in my head reminded me of the toll the healing had taken on me. I must have made some noise, since the three of them turned to look at me.

Ms Reina and Kaede approached me. “How are you feeling?” our teacher asked.

“Um, alright I guess.” Honestly, I still felt pretty terrible, but I probably just needed rest. I didn’t want to cause them any more worry. “How’s everyone else?”

“Good news! The doctors said that they’ll be fine. They were amazed at how Scarlette’s wound had been patched up. They could tell the initial injury was horrible, but they complimented your healing abilities!” Kaede beamed at me, her eyes shining with pride.

“I, uh… it was all I could do…” I felt my cheeks heat up at the praise. This was a little embarrassing, but it felt amazing to be acknowledged for my efforts. “What happened to Jonah?”

“They said he passed out from sudden hypothermic shock. Something about a drastic drop in body temperature,” Ms Reine replied.

I shivered. It was fortunate that didn’t happen to me. Only because Jonah had put himself before us.

I still had so many questions. Where was Soren now? What was his true Ability? How much time had passed? What happened to the camp? Where was everyone now?

But before I could clarify my doubts, another wave of fatigue hit me and I passed out once again.