She coughed again.

I stared, the glass shard lying limp at the palm of my hand.

“You can’t be serious,” I said.

“Actually, I can – watch,” Ria pulled a face, one that made it look as if she was going through some serious chronic constipation. “See? Can you… please slit my throat now?”

I held onto my reserves. “You’ll come back?”

“‘Course I’ll come back. Phoenix, remember?” She nudged her head at me, her eyes unfocused. “Come on, hurry it up… I promise it won’t kill you.”

Didn’t even have the time to process what I actually was doing. No time for any moral dilemmas. No time for reluctance to brew over as I held the jagged edge over her throat.

Her eyes stared back at me and I felt the shard quiver slightly. I ironed my resolve, gripping it, till it broke skin.

“You ready?” I asked.

“No,” she uttered faintly. “Are you?”

I didn’t answer.

“No one’s ever ready…” she said.

Ria closed her eyes, her face tightening, bracing, her breath held back by sealed lips.

I hadn’t the faintest idea of how I was supposed to go about it. No clue how deep I was supposed to go, how fast I was supposed to be… whether I’d be able to finish it with one clean stroke, minimizing pain, or maybe I’d fumble – a clumsy cut and doubling her suffering.

It wasn’t every day you’re asked to kill a person. To me, before this, I thought killing a person would be the hardest thing you could ever do.

Afterward, I was frightened by just how easy it was. How the blade just glided effortlessly through her skin, how fast the blood was to spurt out and dribble down, staining her crimson dress with the darkest shade of red.

Didn’t hear her scream, didn’t even see her flail an inch. She went quietly. Her head slumping to the side, her expression is that of staring without seeing. The fire had gone from her hair, her eyes… no indication that she was in any pain at all whatsoever.

But I knew… from the tears that had formed, glistening in her vacant eyes, I just knew that it must have been unbearable, painful. She just didn’t show it.

My question was, why would she spare me the guilt?

I looked at my hand, coated deeply with the warmth of her blood, and wondered briefly just how many times already had she done this. Clearly, not enough to be used to it yet. I can share in that… because I don’t think I ever will either.

There was a thud. The unmistakable slam of feet against concrete, its echo reverberating throughout the room as if in warning to a presence other than our own.

A welcome presence then… an unwelcome presence now.

Never thought there will come a time where I’d learn to fear Ash’s presence. As it turns out though, regrettably, I was a fast learner.

The unfeeling gaze that met mine as I turned around had me paralyzed with fear. Her lengthy strides towards my crumpled state, time and time again, was one empty of hesitation.

Damn it, Ash.

Escape, once again, was an impossibility. Not with this damn leg that she left me with. Again, crawling can’t outpace walking.

I still had the shard in my hand, bloodied and sharp. Despite knowing the futility of it, I went ahead and raised it against her march. Silly as it was, I was hoping I could buy enough time for Ria to stir to life, as little as it may be.

But it seems I didn’t have to.

A discharge of blazing white shot out from Ria’s outstretched hand. A relentless volley of fire that consumed Ash in an explosion of gray smoke. I looked to the side and Ria was already scrambling to get up, the slit in her neck was gone, the large puncture wound in her chest replaced by an unblemished surface of smooth skin.

“See?” She said, the flames in her eyes glancing over at me, her voice full of vigor. “Didn’t even feel a thing.”

Liar.

The flames that expelled out of the palm of her hand magnified and Ash staggered back, her arms in a brace, shielding her face. Despite it, she powered through, one foot in front of the other, gradually creeping closer and closer.

“I hate how resilient Elves are,” muttered Ria, clicking her tongue in annoyance. “Always such a pain.”

Two hands outstretched now, doubling the intensity of the unending blaze, so much so that the wall behind Ash was scorched to a pure black, and then somewhere within the crackle and snapping sparks of fire, I heard Ash expel a strained grunt.

Something came over me, right then, as I turned to face Ria.

“What are you going to do to Ash?”

She acknowledged my question with a fleeting glance my way. “What you said. I’m going to turn her into ash.”

“Don’t,” I said at once, steadying myself upright while leaning on one side. “That’s an order.”

I saw her brow give a flicker.

“Your first official order and it’s one that’s going to get the both of us killed. Think through it.”

“She’s isn’t herself!”

“Obviously!” She snapped back. “Doesn’t change the fact that she can snap you like a toothpick. Elf-knight, I get it – whatever! Obviously, you have history. Look back at that history. Do you think she would rather kill you, or you kill her?”

Her argument was sound, her qualms to it rightfully justified. I’m sure if it was somebody else in my shoes, with everything that has already happened so far, they’d have reluctantly accepted the reality of it. Me, though… I was just too stubborn to see reason.

“I gave you an order,” I said.

The glare that shaped her eyes, that little begrudging sigh she gave, obviously she must think I was an idiot. To her credit, I was… but hearing Ash quietly whimper in pain was just too much for me.

“Whatever,” Ria said, her flames slowing in momentum. “Just don’t blame me if – ”

Her words were abruptly interrupted. The moment the flames waned in the slightest, Ash had charged forth to within inches of us in an instant, her fist raised to strike.

With barely enough time to react, Ria conjured a large flowing fan of flames that swerved Ash’s strike sideways, into a wall, shattering it to pieces. Without skipping a beat, Ria bound Ash’s arms to tendril-like flames that sprouted from the earth, restricting her movement in place.

“There!” gasped Ria, backing away and breathing hard with tension. “I only subdued her, happy?”

Ash tried to lunge forward but she simply could not. Limited to just basic writhing and twisting, her every attempt at prying herself free tightening the hot glowing coils around her wrists.

I tried getting closer.

Ash immediately darted forward and I stopped in my tracks. She would have gotten me if not for those binds.

Ria pulled me back.

“That won’t hold her for long,” she said, placing my arm around her shoulder once more. “We’re leaving.”

Knowing that there was nothing I could do to help Ash was a bitter pill to swallow. As I limped pathetically out of that godforsaken room and back into the endless stretches of the halls, I couldn’t help but express myself in the most honest way I could.

“I’m useless.”

Ria, right by side, couldn’t help but overhear my little plight.

“Wow, self-deprecation,” she said. “If you’re going to start moaning about how this is somehow all your fault, can you please only do it after we’re safe?”

“How do I get her out of it?” I turned to face her. “Get Ash out of that state, tell me how.”

“You really don’t give up, do you?” said Ria in disbelief. “What if I told you there was no way, what would you say?”

“Find me a way.”