When we were out of the water, Jaxton and I flopped onto the shore like a pair of dead fish. Both too exhausted to speak. All I could hear was our loud, laboured breathing.

I turned my head, eyeing Jaxton warily, making sure he was okay. He had his eyes closed, his face was stark white, his chest was heaving up and down quickly. He raised an arm, covering his eyes.

Soon, he turned his head, his emerald eyes peeking through the gaps of his fingers. Our chests began to shake from laughter.

"What is up with you..." he gasped, trying to catch his breath, but he couldn't resist his chuckle, "you and overly... overly dangerous adventures?"

I laughed, sitting up, but my laugh soon turned into shivers that rattled my body, and my gasps turned into sobs.

I humiliating decided to cry. At that moment. I wasn't even sure why I was crying.

I wanted to cover my sobs but Jaxton had already sat up and was next to me, stopping my moving hand. "It's bleeding."

I looked down, the cut on my palm began to bleed again, the healed parts vulnerable to rips and tears. I began to cry harder. "S-Sorry... I think I might be... exhausted... I don't know w-why I'm crying."

I inhaled in small gasps, willing myself to calm down. I went to wipe my eyes but Jaxton stopped me with a look. "The other hand."

"Oh, I forgot." Again.

I wiped my tears and stared at my bleeding palm, then at Jaxton, suddenly feeling blank and unsure what to do.

"What was I doing?"

"Cass," Jaxton, after seeing my expression, was trying to resist his laugh but a weary smile still managed to surface. He carefully unsheathed my sword. "Heal yourself."

"Oh, right!" I sniffed, grabbing the hilt of my sword with my unbloodied hand and paused... hesitated... thought...

Wait. Please, not now.

Jaxton's eyes widened with each ticking second. "Don't tell me... you forgot the chant."

"I..." My brain was literally scrambled eggs. "What was the chant again? Do you remember?"

Jaxton couldn't help his laughter, holding his chest as his chuckles ended with chest-rattling coughs. "I was too busy dying back then, so I don't remember."

"Um..." I thought for a short moment. "Oh! Reflecta, lend me your elements..." Then my mind short-circuited.

Jaxton let out another inward chuckle, hugging his body from the cold.

"Shush! Be serious here!"

"Trying... but you're too funny to watch."

I bit my lower lip, thinking hard.

"Lend me your elements... lend me your elements..." I muttered, willing my breathing to slow down. My cheeks felt dry, my skin was icy cold, sniffling was becoming my new habit. I didn't want to stay out here any longer. I closed my eyes, tightened my grip on the sword. "Reflecta, lend me your elements. Close the wound. Heal the hurt."

Jaxton's expression changed. I knew it had worked. He watched with curious eyes as the blade illuminated in a white glow, seeking the wounds I had. I grit my teeth, held my groan in my throat, tensing my shoulders and bending my back as the pain grew and then slowly subsided.

I let out a breath. "Finally..." I looked up. "Why are you here? You don't have camp."

A cold wind howled around us, stirring our hair in the air. Jaxton hugged himself tighter as his body gave a shiver. "Cass, can we do this... another time? I-I'm... freezing."

"Sorry..."

I grabbed Reflecta again, "Reflecta, flame the blade."

The blade glowed in a nice red hue and the heat began to radiate in a consistent rhythm, it had enough power to warm the area in close proximity. Jaxton huddled close, releasing a shaky breath I didn't see him holding.

He sighed, "That feels good."

"Yeah..." I said, feeling the temperature return to my limbs. We stayed like this for a while. I was reluctant to move. My arms and legs were sore and I felt drained of energy. I was content to stay where I was... just a little bit longer.

But Jaxton shifted, letting the feeling return to his legs and stumbled to a stand. "Alright, Cass, time to move."

My logic told me he was right. It was time to move. The more we stay here the more risk we put ourselves in. The natural elements in the wild were not exactly comforting or safe. I stood with some effort but I didn't utter a single complaint.

Jaxton was patting down his pockets. Checking the items he had. I began to do the same.

"Phone. Dead as hell." I did a swinging motion as if the water would miraculously come out and bring my phone back to life. "Reflecta. In tact. And-" My breath hitched in my throat.

"What?"

I let out a sigh of relief. "Nothing! I thought I broke the vial!" I showed him what I was talking about.

"Is that what I think it is?" Jaxton's eyes rounded adorably, shimmering with a child's curiosity. "Can I take a look?"

I gave the vial to him. "Marty gave it to me."

He made no comment. Simply turned the healing potion around in his hands, watching the liquid tumble from side to side in the glass vial. "This is rare stuff. He seems to really know what you need."

I raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"You and your overly dangerous adventures," Jaxton grinned, gave the vial back to me. A hand on his blade handle, he gestured into the woods. "We gotta head in there and get back before dark. We have no food. No phone. And I don't exactly fancy the idea of camping out in the woods in the dark with no sleeping bag or tent."

"You're right," I winced my eyes at the sunlight. Through the commotion, I didn't realise it was early morning already. The sun set the sky in beautiful shades of orange and blue. "We have plenty of daylight."

"Yeah, but how long are we gonna last without water or food?" Jaxton shot the question back, urging me on with a tilt of his head. "Come on."

I could feel the dampness in my stomach already and my mouth didn't have enough moisture to make my tongue turn properly. I noticed Jaxton slowing when he realised I didn't follow him, so I jogged and picked up my pace.

We trudged through the woods. The undergrowth wasn't too bad but, given our exhaustion, it won't take long before we felt even more drained than before.

"Do you know where we're going?"

"I need to get my bearing first," Jaxton said, his eyes focused on where he was stepping. "We travelled downstream so..."

"We have to go up?" I looked toward the sky. To the trees that towered over us.

"Exactly," he scanned from side to side, alert of the noises in the woods. I could hear life. The forest almost felt like it was breathing, an almost inaudible hush of a breath. There were birds. Shuffles of animals that were hidden and unseen by the human vision. "We could go down as well, it might lead us to the main road or even the town if we were lucky."

We got to a flat spot and Jaxton was observing again.

"We could go into town and call someone," I leaned close to him. "The question is... do you know if there's a town there?"

"Nope."

"Ha! Up it is, then!"

"Back where we came from is our best bet."

So that was our plan. We trudged uphill for a while. Jaxton and I both almost slipping a few times. If it weren't for the trees we would have plunged back down to the same spot.

I had taken another uncareful step, slipping with a shriek of panic. With flailing arms, I grabbed onto Jaxton's arm and Jaxton also let out a cry of shock.

"Cass! Heavens!" He shot out one arm, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt and his other grabbing some growing roots nearby.

I let out an irritated groan. "This is taking longer than we expected."

"I know but almost there."

I shut my mouth after that. We both moved on, back to silence, except our panting and shuffling sounds while navigating through the trees and bushes.

We were met with flat-ground again. I found myself stepping on soggy leaves, the ones waiting to turn back into dust and soil. I suddenly stopped, turning my head to stare into the deeper part of the woods. It was much brighter now, though the trees still managed to create some shade, but something wasn't right.

"Jaxton."

He turned to face me, stopping. "What is it?"

"It's too quiet."

He held his breath and listened. The atmosphere became eerie and ominous, especially now that I couldn't even hear Jaxton's movements. I watched Jaxton's intricate expression change. A subtle change, a tiny furrow of the brows and his lips showing a slight frown. The concerned look. He shifted his stance, looking to the side, his emerald eyes scanning.

"You're right," he said, though quietly now, "it's too quiet."

One thing you should know when you're in the woods or forest is that... they're never quiet. If it's quiet, then it means something was scaring living beings away from the area.

"Let's move quickly," Jaxton said, unable to make a conclusion on what was creating the sudden silence.

"Right."

We began to pick up our pace, all the while ignoring the headache that was creeping to my temples. The hunger. The dehydration. The lack of warmth. We did need to move quickly.

My legs moved in a weary, almost robotic rhythm. I chanted silently to myself, ordering and coaching myself to keep moving one step after another despite my muscles begging me to stop.

Left, right, left, right... keep up, keep up, almost-

I felt an unpleasant jerk in my stomach and my limbs stiffened, froze. I was unable to move.

"Jaxton..." I uttered. My voice felt oddly constricted. Jaxton spun, already sensing the off-ness in my voice.

"Cass-" Then, he froze too. His hand halfway to unsheath his blade. He tried to move his head to get a better look at what was behind me, but he found that he could only move his eyes.

"Lambert, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Oh, shoot.

The voice sounded familiar, the person speaking to Lambert. I later knew that it was Randall. The same guy I had punched him into the lake with Vel before.

I thought Lambert could only control one person at a time?

"He's a..." I let out a strained cough, my voice was painful to use, "blood..." I left my sentence at that. Jaxton's face revealed nothing but there was a glint of panic in his eyes. He understood what I said... and he was nervous about it. I was nervous too. I had no control of my body anymore, nor did he.

"Of course it is. That wretch made me get expelled from the Academy and now I'm disinherited," he spat into a nearby bush but I knew it wasn't his habit. It was just something he did to intimidate me. To reveal some sort of roughness in him. Though, that wasn't what intimidated me.

Lambert came close to me, though I could not meet his eyes. His breath violated my cheek as he spoke, "Hello there, sweetheart." I never thought Lambert as that guy, but, back then, he felt overpowered and confident. He had the boldness to trail his finger down my cheek and chin. It's his tactic. I told myself. Don't let him get to you. But I resented his every touch. It was revolting. I wanted him to stay away from me. My disgusted shudder escaped me and Lambert noticed and laughed.

I saw Jaxton's jaw tighten and his gaze grew intense.

"It's been a while," Lambert sneered. One hand raised as he moved around Jaxton and me, pausing every so often in his speech to make things dramatic. "I know you're the one with Iridescent. You little liar."

I didn't bother replying. My eyes were dancing around quickly, searching for a solution. Currently, I found none. My hands were too far away from Reflecta, my breathing was limited. Lambert had allowed me minimal space — enough bodily function to keep me alive.

Randall also had his hands raised, needing both to control one of us. Shoot. Two blood manipulators.

"Alright," Lambert said. "You're my best pal, Randall. Do your thing."

Randall's uncertain gaze grew less uncertain. He straightened himself, his dark blue eyes focused. He did a pressing gesture with his palm as if he was pressing the air.

An agonised look flashed by Jaxton's eyes. A small groan escaped him as his body was forced to bend. My heart gave a painful clench when he crashed to his knees.

"You're the man," Lambert clapped Randall on the back. It worked. Randall grew even more confident and his gaze had turned cold as his emotions slowly faded from his eyes.

"Now," Lambert swung up one arm. I tensed. I thought he was going to hit me, but instead, my palm wrapped itself around Reflecta's hilt and the blade was already sliding out of my sheath.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no! Please no!

Lambert's grin was devilish.

Reflecta, lend me your elements... there was something wrong. There was a lack of blood flow and space in my fingers. There was no tingle. There was no sensation at all. I had no idea where my power was travelling — if it was travelling at all.

Reflecta, please.

I couldn't even sense Reflecta there. I gritted my back teeth and began to force my powers, except my raised arm already started to move.

Jaxton's eyes widened. He was looking straight at me. He was scared. Scared of the sword, the pain...

I'm not going to hurt you.

I could sense Lambert's anger even without looking at him.

"Bloody impossible!" He cursed, spat again. He forced his powers down on me and it weighed heavily. I felt my back muscles tense as I resisted against it, but everything felt painful. A flash of white light blinded my vision but I didn't care. I stayed frozen. My arm still in the air, holding Reflecta, but my whole body was shaking from the pressure.

"Come on," Lambert said between his teeth.

My arm was pushed forward an inch but it didn't fall on Jaxton. I would never allow it. Not even when there was a sharp, piercing pain in my stomach, not even when I felt like all my arteries and veins were on fire, not even when there was a metallic taste in my mouth, not even when it turns out that the metallic taste was blood, and that blood was seeping from the corner of my lips.

"Cassandra, he's in pain. You're in pain. You're going to die from internal bleeding if you do that," Lambert said it as though he cared. I could hear it in his tone — he didn't give a damn what happened to me. He actually enjoyed it.

"Cass..." Jaxton's eyes turned from terror-stricken to pleading. Don't do this to yourself. Don't do this for me. He tried to give me a smile, to reassure me. "Cass... let go... you don't... have..." he let out a harsh breath "... good aim."

"I know... what you're... doing..."

I'm not going to hurt you, Jaxton. Not even a smidge.

If I stayed where I was, I would die. I was certain of it. Even if I had let go now, I might still die. There was another wave of blood coming up my pipe, I could sense it.

There was only one way. The last resort.

"What. A. Witch." I heard Lambert say. I wanted to let out a bitter laugh but it ended with a slanted smirk.

"Screw you... Lambert..." I forced my eyes to move and it landed on Reflecta. I made my decision.

And I did it.

I could hear Reflecta scream.

It was pitched. Like wind howling against the corners of the windows, clawing against the glass. I've never heard Reflecta's voice before. It was always a sensation, a feeling of comfort or urgency. This time... the pain was real. Reflecta was yelling in my mind, begging me to stop.

I forced my grip to tighten.

I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry...

Nana...

Assymetrical lines began appearing on Reflecta's blade. They grew bigger and began to slither. They twitched from side to side, covering corners, edges, until...

The sound was deafening. Even as I watched it happen, I still couldn't believe that I had did it. In fact, I felt a hint of regret... maybe, maybe there was another way around this. Maybe I didn't have to go to such extremes... but it was too late.

Reflecta's shatter created an air current. It went into the trees first before it blasted against our bodies.

And the rest of the story?

Well, for me, the rest was black.

***

A/N

[Reflecta exited the chat]

:(

L