My focus is almost entirely on the path in front of me, and I only bother sparing one or two glances at the people behind me just to make sure they are keeping up. The path ahead of us is getting smaller and I have a growing hunch that before we reach the entrance our path would be blocked by fire once more. Regardless, I have made up my mind. Should it come to it, I’ll get rid of the fire. Undoubtedly the people behind me would sense that something’s wrong, but as long as they can’t say exactly what I’ll be fine; plus, their memories can always be wiped, just like mine once was.

A loud creaking sound coming from above my head pulls me out of my thoughts. I look up; my vision narrows, and time slows down as I see a large red-hot beam of metal begin to fall toward me. For some time it feels like I am standing still, watching as the beam comes closer and closer to me. Then some hidden part of me takes over. My Uua rouses then burst out of my feet; pushing me forward and out of the range of the beam. Then I remember the people right behind me.

Without thinking, I point my hand toward them and unleash a wave of telekinesis, pushing them backward and away from the beam. A second later the beam hits the ground, producing a sound louder than the roaring of the flames as they suddenly burn brighter. Then just like that, it is all over.

I take in a deep breath, pushing my near death to the back of my mind, then a second later I begin to cough violently. Shit, I can’t help but think. In my haste, I had lost control of the bubble of air around us. Now, we had nothing to breathe. I don’t know how long we have until the smoke finally kills us but I doubt we have long. Hurrying, I look around us and recognize where we are, not too far from the entrance. I then turn to look behind me. A large beam of metal currently separates me from the rest of the people I rescued but it should be possible to jump over it.

“Hey,” I shout at them, “jump over the beam quickly. We’re almost at the entrance.”

Thankfully, they react quickly and do as I say. We begin moving once more, this time with more urgency. I cover the group once again with a telekinetic bubble; we may not have oxygen anymore, but I sure as hell am not letting any more smoke get to us, besides, I also need to make sure we don’t get cooked before we get out. The path I had originally created has almost been overtaken by flames, without the bubble, oxygen will be the least of our problems.

We run and not too long after we begin to hear the sounds. Not of flames, but of people, machinery, and other things. The fire here also seems to have reduced to a manageable level. I disperse the bubble as the people behind me begin to shout. A few seconds later I see some firemen come to us. They quickly hurry us outside, before taking the young boy and Cassandra away from me.

I am about to start following the one carrying Cassandra when another suddenly takes hold of my hand and drags me away. He stops when there is a bit of distance between us and everyone else and then faces me. He stares at me for some time, his expression unreadable. Then he lets out a small sigh.

“Running into a burning building. Do you have any idea how dumb that is boy? You could have gotten yourself killed. God!” He speaks softly, but firmly, his voice oozing frustration. “You wanted to save the girl right? Because we said we couldn’t help?”

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“Yes,” I answer a few seconds later, after realizing that he was waiting for an answer.

He lets out a slow breath. “Please, never do that again. I almost had a heart attack when I saw you run in there. Well, at least you saved her. Still, I hope you understand by now how lucky you are that you’re still alive.”

Remembering the beam that almost fell on me, I nod. If it weren’t for my training session with Drew, I doubt I could have reacted fast enough to save myself and those people with me. He sighs and tells me to get myself checked up, then he is gone.

I stand still after he leaves, my mind strangely blank and my eyes unfocused; thinking about nothing in particular as a cool wind gently washes over me. Then I shake my head, breaking myself out of the strange state I was in, and finally taking a good look at all that is going on around me.

It is chaos. Controlled chaos, but chaos nonetheless. People running here and there, lots of shouting and flashing lights, and a strange mix of anger, fear, and grief sort of overlaid over everything. I turn to look at where the paramedics are gathered, doing their best to take care of the people that managed to make it out, and think: Fasuru’s would love to be in a place like this. Lots of negative emotions to go around.

Then something clicks in my head. I hurriedly turn on second sight and am greeted with a chilling sight. Countless Fasurus surround the arena on all sides, their hungry eyes trained on the people within the circle they have us trapped in. They circle the place slowly, looking as though they could rush in and start to devour us at any moment, but for some reason, they don’t dare to come closer.

I understand the reason why a second later when I detect movement above my head. Looking up, I spot dozens of figures in red robes floating over my head. One of them notices my gaze, and after a quick glance at my forehead, gives me a small nod. They are Laen. At that point, I remember Drew’s reply on why the Fasuru doesn’t wantonly cause pain: ‘Because we Laen are not stupid enough to stand aside stupidly while they get stronger off human misery.’

A Wranth moves, catching by the head a Fasuru that had attempted to come closer and throwing it back. But he doesn’t stop there. He moves after it, a bunch of noers coming out of him and landing around the Fasuru he had stopped. Immediately, all the Fasurus close to the noers panic and try to run away; but it is too late. A second later, the noers and the space around them collapse, leaving a dark space in their wake. The space pulls on the surrounding Fasuru and begins absorbing them. The Abyss, its name comes unbidden to my mind.

Then, from deep within the abyss, I feel a gaze land on me. It looks through and sees everything about me. I can’t help but shiver. A second later the dark space closes up and I am cut off from the gaze.

“Ian,” I hear a shout. It is Diane. “Thank God you’re safe,” she says, coming to a stop in front of me.

I nod. “Have you seen Cassandra?”

She nods. “The nurse said it looks like she was hit in the head. Hard. That’s why she’s still unconscious. She would have died if it weren’t for you. Thanks. But that said, are you mad? Why on earth did you do that, you could have died! I get that you have a crush on her and all, but please, you shouldn’t do shit like that.”

I open my mouth to reply. Then I close it. What would I have said? That I have magic and things weren’t as dangerous for me as they seemed? It’s better just to keep quiet.

Finally, she calms down. “Still, thanks.”

“You’re giving me mixed signals here,” I joke, “you tell me not to do something like that and yet you’re thanking me for it. So did I do right or not?”

She pauses, considering the question, then she lets out a small laugh. “To be honest, I don’t know. Right now, I’m just happy that we aren’t going to have to attend a funeral soon.”

After taking one last look at the Wranths above us, I follow Diane as she leads me back to where Brian and the rest are. With Cassandra found and alive, none of us wants to stay near the arena anymore. Personally, I just want to go back home. The events of today have drained me, somehow even more than when I had trained with Drew. I understand that most of my fatigue is probably mental, but at the moment I just want to go home and sleep.

Brian’s friend's actions also tire me more. I understand he’s happy I helped him get out, but he doesn’t need to thank me so many times. Still, I get home safe and sound.

At home, I ignore Emily who is trying to find out the details of what happened and go to sleep. I deserved it.