Does this world have firefighters? They have to, right? Like… water mages? Air or wind mages? But no matter how I think of it, they're not going to be able to get here in time to deal with this…
Shaula also smells something distinct in the air. There are several distinguishable scents mixed into the smoke that is slowly filling this hallway. One of them smells sweet, while being just a bit sickening. Shaula walks around while smelling the air, with Ajax's head cradled in her right arm.
She starts to get worried about the floor's residents.
What are these walls made of? That sweet smell has gotta be poisonous, right? Or is that just the scent of carbon monoxide?
Humans can't normally smell carbon monoxide in the air which is why it is such a danger as a toxic gas. However, Shaula's olfactory sense has heightened to a great degree while in this world, allowing her to identify the scents of things that she could never smell before back on Earth.
Though she hasn't specifically tested it on smelling the various notes in puffs of smoke. Regardless of whether the sweet scent is a special, lung-melting poison or just good old fashioned monoxide, she still needs to warn everyone.
Shaula takes a deep breath. She tightens her diaphragm and abdominal muscles in order to force the air out of her lungs as hard as she possibly can. Then, she shouts.
"Everyone! There is a fire in this hallway. Do not panic! Please, get closer to your apartment unit windows so you don't inhale the smoke, I think it might be really poisonous! Please be careful! I repeat, there is a fire in the hallway. Please, make your way towards your windows so you don't breathe in any of the possibly poisonous smoke!"
She shouts this warning five more times so that she can get the attention of everyone on this floor. By her third repetition, she directs excess internal energy into her diaphragm and abdominal muscles, shouting loud enough to inform everyone in this building about the flames. She also includes the floor number as well, telling people on the other floors to use the stairs to evacuate if they can, as the fire is not small by any means.
Furthermore, if she's lucky, maybe this building has some water or air mages who can handle the roaring flames better than she can; it would be best if they could come to the correct floor without wasting any time.
Hopefully, the residents on this floor who can move to their windows to get away from the smoke can do so quickly. However, there might be some elderly or disabled men and women who cannot move their bodies fast enough. This world is likely much more backwards in terms of accessibility for those who are movement impaired.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Shaula grits her teeth. She considers the worst case scenario. Assuming that fire services are going to be too slow, she needs to find some way to extinguish these flames before anyone here is seriously harmed.
She considers what she can do in order to extinguish the flames on this floor. Assuming that there are no fire extinguishers or magical equivalents lying around, she doesn't know what her fastest options are.
I could try to smother the flames by using the hallway carpet. No, the carpet would just burn up, it’s already on fire as it is. Too flammable for this kind of thing… Could I blow the flames out like I’m that wolf in that story with the three little pigs? No, no, no, I just don’t have that much internal energy to move into my lungs to try that, not enough lung capacity, not enough… Oh! What about fanning the flames, like trying to blow out a candle? Enough wind and I could… No, no, that’s even stupider, it might just spread the flames around and make the situation a hundred times worse.
Hm… What about… I could use my blood to smother the flames, right? It doesn't evaporate in the heat so it could easily cut off the burning walls, carpet and floor from the air and oxygen, and the… No, that's stupid, way too painful, and I'll be leaving way too much fucking evidence. Shit, there's already plenty of Ajax's blood left around here too. Why didn’t I notice it’s not burning away…
Ajax's blood is left all over the hallway and there is no way for her to clean it all up. It isn't drying up like blood normally would either, remaining in a liquid state while the flames avoid it. Wherever the blood is, it prevents the flames from spreading past which makes her wonder if using her blood might not be a completely ridiculous idea. She can heal it easily enough after all.
No, the real issue for her is that the city guards would come by eventually because of the bodies of the terrorists left behind. They'll definitely collect the blood and study it. Even if it doesn’t evaporate like blood, it still smells like it.
The fact that Ajax and Shaula’s blood have such distinct properties will eventually mean that the guards will try searching for the two of them just through blood samples. They could set up checkpoints along city streets and conduct simple blood tests. If the blood burns and evaporates, it’s normal, simple as that.
Their sole chance to avoid this is that the guards might not even consider their blood to be literal blood. They might consider it to be some kind of alchemical product used during combat mixed with blood… or something.
Who the fuck am I trying to fool? They’ll run tests on it and figure out that it’s blood. Maybe they’ll think that it’s from some sort of magical creature or a shapeshifter or something, I don’t fucking know. Then, they’ll start running the blood tests… Getting caught by the city guards just isn't an option anymore, especially if they can prove it was me who killed their Captain. Whatever, I'd still just kill them all rather than let Ajax or I give them anything they want.