While swimming between the layers of my murky subconscious, an assortment of voices entered my ears. Their strange language feeling familiar enough to cause some recognition within me yet sufficiently alien to my ears that I couldn’t comprehend what they were discussing.
Time passed, the world around me but a dreamy wisp, a leaf in the air being carried around. The only thoughts focused on how comfortable the bed beneath me felt and the absence of a dark presence I couldn't recall.
The cozy air and calmness of the room was akin to the first night I found the blankets in the iron ring. “No this is even better than that time.” The fleeting thought forming just as it was about to sink me deeper into my subconscious, but like always peace rarely stayed with me for long.
A fierce wave of mana washed over me materializing ripples throughout the calm pond that had once been my mind, yet now transformed into a roiling storm with wild and seething waves as high as mountains.
Breaking free from storm my I regained consciousness, shoving myself up from my resting position and coming face to face with the eyes of someone new.
Time slowed to a crawl while my wits were captured by her exquisite beauty. A young lady with hair like reddening autumn leaves, appearing no older than 17 yet emitting an aura of maturity returned my own stupefied gaze with her own equally dazed expression. Narrow eyebrows stretching upwards brought into my focus emerald gems speckled in gold that I could only deduce to be her eyes. Yet she gave even more for me to gawk at as my stare found an even more absurdity with her appearance. Sepia horns thick as my wrist created a marvel of nature as they extended out, performing an entire curved loop a few centimeters above her head before ending as dangerous tips that could probably gore me without difficulty. Now here stood a very pretty lady, with very scary horns.
The speed at which my mind was processing all this information was alarming, and I’d yet to encounter a situation that would cause this reaction from my body. However like thunder striking down twice another ripple struck my sanity as I realized my little Ember was nowhere to be seen.
Focus changing instantly, my previously weak and frail body was set ablaze as the mana within me became a vitality that filled every muscle fiber, ligament, and tendon with the untamed fury of a savage beast.
The world became crisper as a singular thought erased all unneeded distractions from my conscious mind. “FIND EMBER.” A purpose, a desire, an objective. There was no time to think about the situation, only finding Ember mattered.
Balmy fists clenching tightly around the blanket that I had just recently been snuggling, I met the tepid air with vigor and tossed fabric over my horned watcher who continued to remain dazed and unresponsive.
Body low to the ground, the bare soles of my feet and toes find their grip to be weak on the smooth polished wooden floor but they hold on nonetheless. With my brain working overtime my perception of time moved at a snail's pace as the blanket fell towards the horned lady. Every footstep pushing my boundaries as my feeble body screamed in protest at the strain it was being put under.
The door was hard to miss as it happened to be three meters right behind the horned lady, my resolves harden as I approach from the side hoping that I was quick enough to avoid her.
With the blistering speed, my mind was processing the information I doubted more than three seconds had passed since I made my move. However it looked like my capturer was finally on the response as the blanket was swept aside with adept hands, and the emerald eyes of before were afire with intense scrutiny with its sole focus being my little self.
If the adrenaline and thoughts of danger that might occur Ember had not sharpened my mind to a singular focus I probably would have frozen like prey beneath a predatory gaze.
What happened next was beyond what I could have expected as just as I passed her side she moved with such speed I all I ended up seeing was the cast of a shadow fall over me. A powerful prickling on the back of my neck was all the warning I needed as I pour even more mana into my forward extending foot and released all the potential energy in one step sending me forward at three times my previous pace and avoiding the attempt that had been made to grab on to me.
With my adrenaline numbing the pain of my broken toes I flew towards the door, hand ready to shut it behind so I could buy myself some much needed time.
Then the prickling returned but even more powerful than before as I managed to catch a blur speed by my side and then appear in front of me, sharpening into focus as the lady. For the first time since gaining this supernatural focus anxiety started to gnaw on the surface of my heart, then my little Ember who I promised to protect the moment she entered this world appeared in my mind. The memory of seeing her first as her nestling form, and then in her child state, made me realize I couldn't accomplish anything without first hardening my heart.
“Sorry lady, I’m hoping this is all just some misunderstanding but I can't take the risk right now and find out. I must find my little Ember.” A frown slowly painted my face as I made my decision.
At the speed I was going I could make it to the door without a single additional footstep, but the horned lady was in my way, so the only way around was to take her down. Unfortunately for me, the only method I had was to try and knock out an adult who was few times my height and weight. Additionally that didnt even take into consideration how much faster she was than me. She was definitely as my book had mentioned, a cultivator so sending her into sleepy time would require multiple times more force than my body could probably handle. Concentration reaching a new extremity I fully pieced together my plan from loose bits of information floating around my chaotic mind.
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“Pretty horned lady, most likely a cultivator, fast, around 175cm, 3 times my height, highest point I could hit would be the upper left side of her chest. If I'm lucky this should hurt enough to leave her breathless!”
If I found the singular focus I had before to frightening it was nothing compared to what happen began next. The colors of the world drained away leaving only a blank canvas as only the horned lady and I remained.
Massive migraine forming, I forced my left leg downward, turning my waist and upper body towards to the right transforming all my momentum into rotational energy. Giving it my all to stay balanced I felt the bones in my ankle strain under the pressure but hold just long enough all me to whip my right leg with enough force to break bones.
As the power of my kick connected to her ribcage, I felt something go incredible wrong as my leg rebounded off the soft flesh, fracturing and then snapping in multiple spots.
My eyesight went molten white as the pain robbed me of my mental facilities, and a powerful scream backed by my mana infused longs shattered my own eardrums leaving me to fall to the floor frothing at the mouth.
Guess I’d failed my little Ember, the one thought in the all the pain that I managed to form before the tears fell and I wailed because of the pain, and more importantly because of Ember.
5 Seconds earlier Melanie's perspective
Violet eerie eye’s unlike anything Melanie had ever witnessed in her life gazed into her own, containing unknown depths of sadness and melancholy within them. The pain and anguished emotions that were sent over were so powerful and debilitating that if her mental strength hadn't been high enough she just might have been rendered a wailing mess.
As the blanket eventually fell over Melanie face she finally snapped out of her daze, the break in sight had stopped the strange hypnosis the eyes had put her under. Though deep in her soul she could tell those emotions the child had transmitted were truthful, and it hurt her to know someone so young could be carrying such trauma she knew she would have to detain the child until they could have Gorn put a suppression bracelet on her. Only Fen had high enough mental strength to resist such an ability completely, but he was currently stabilizing his Dantian leaving him clueless to the events of his immediate surroundings.
Swiftly, swiping away the blanket she caught sight of the child from the corner of her vision but making sure to avoid eye contact. Thin, and frail she was yet what little muscle existed on her bones could be seen bulging outwards, the effort evident even without Melanie's entire focus on her. This child was fast, maybe even slightly faster than Melanie herself had been at that age, and thats saying something since she was considered a genius for her mana control when she first started cultivating as a child.
All it took was three seconds for the girl to traverse close to four meters from a resting position, and Melanie was kinda impressed but it was but a kitten before her mother in Melanie's eyes as she made a soft swipe for the child's chest, planning to catch them and calm them down in her embrace.
Melanie suspected the child was probably reacting to the disappearance of the other girl, who was likely her younger sister, but Fenton had promised that the girls would remain asleep for at least another 1 hour before their bodies filtered the sleeping powder. So either this girl had a strong resistance to drugs or Fenton's emotional burst had woken her up when the mana flowed over her body. Both conclusions being extraordinary if either turns out to be true.
Watching her arm close in on the child Melanie was once again stunned as the child suddenly exploded with speed, leaving blood stain footprint on the polished floors.
“What!! Did she just destroy her toes for additional speed!” Stunned Melanie’s eye’s followed the child who shot forward like an arrow from a bow straight and true towards the door. This child was now moving much faster than a kid their age was capable of, and the stain on the floor told Melanie the child's own body agreed with this.
“This girl's crazy! She's going to cripple herself like this!” Melanie realized that this girl was even more mysterious than before, such resolve at her age was unbelievable. Melanie became even more worried now as she realized this ghost-eyed child wouldn’t give up until she was completely suppressed. The girl was completely fine with breaking their bones if it meant accomplishing their goal, a conviction was rare even in adults with ages in the triple digits.
There was no more holding back Melanie discerned, she was going to incapacitate the child so she could calm her, and finally get some answers to their questions.
With but the lightest steps Melanie's figure moved, instantaneously appearing in front of the child's arms ready to drag them into a tight embrace to settle down them dow. It would be as easy as picking a daisy from the ground, or at least it should have been if not for what transpired next.
To her further disbelief the child reacted even faster than Melanie as she brought down her foot and performed a beautiful full circle roundhouse kick leaving Mel unable to react properly beside subconsciously enhancing her side with mana.
With horrified eye’s she watched the young child’s leg connect with her side, rebound and then shatter in several places sending bone fragments flying throughout the room. Stomach dropping she watched as the pain registered in the young girls face, followed by an inhumanly loud scream that almost shattered Mel's eardrums.
Watching the child fall to the floor and begin frothing at the mouth with splintered bones clawing their way out of her flesh, Mel could only fall right next to the child and grasp them tightly using what little experience she had with healing magic to try and numb the pain.
“IM SORRY! IM SORRY! IM SORRY!” Mel had only brought more pain into the child's life. She thought she was taking the child serious when she made the attempt to grab them, but if that had been the case this never would have happened.
Cradling the wailing child Mel was quickly surrounded by the rest of the crew as the scream brought them all down to the medical bay as fast as they could. When they saw the bleeding and wailing child, their gazes shifted to focus on Mel.
Child in hand Anita came crouch next to Mel giving the girl a quick glance, then began to softly stroke Mels hair.
“Shush Mel its ok, relax, let's get the girl to the bed and see if we can wake Fenton up.” Mel remained unresponsive as she held the girl gently, the guilt strangling her as she found it hard to breathe.
It was at that moment though that the wailing girl stopped suddenly, and their hand reached out for the other girl in Anita’s arms.
“Ember..” the Archaic word escaped the pain clenched lips before the child visible relaxed and finally passed out, as the worry within her face washed away.