Next Mage
58.Darkness-1

~Emma's POV (a few days earlier)

My hands shook as I gripped Marilla's pencil, my fingernails digging into my palms.

What should I say? I thought anxiously, gnawing my knuckles nervously. Geez, you only have a few minutes, Emma, stop THINKING! Write! Marilla isn't going to be in the toilet for an hour! Unless she does a number two, of course, but OH MY GOSH CONCENTRATE, EMMA!

Putting the pencil down onto the paper with force, I took a deep breath and began to write, the lead scratching against the paper quietly.

Dear Marilla, I wa

Heyo!

Ok so you nee

"Ughhhh," I groaned, scribbling out the words I had written and leaning my head in my hands. "Why is it so hard to write a letter to my best friend?" Frowning and gritting my teeth, I tried again: BESTIEEEEEE

No no no NO, I thought, drawing a line through the word. I sound like I'm a six-year-old.

Crushing up the paper in my frustration, I raised my arm to throw it in the bin--

I looked at the scrunched up ball of paper and grinned, a strange yet familiar sensation shooting through my veins like fire.

Except it is fire, I thought as small flamed appeared, their blazing tendrils wrapping around the delicate paper and burning it to a crisp, eating up the material in seconds. The ashes appeared, looking like grey, flaky scales on my palm as thin curl of smoke rose into the air.

I followed the smoke with my gaze, feeling relieved that Marilla didn't have a smoke alarm in her room.

"Actually, they should really get one," I muttered, tapping the pencil against my teeth. Opening Marilla's drawer for a fresh piece of paper, I inhaled, then exhaled.

No need to rush. I frowned. Actually, you do need to rush, but just--don't. Oh, stop talking to yourself, Emma. Just write the letter already.

"Okay," I breathed..

To my dearest BFF:

I took the pencil off the paper, and, for a moment, I stared at the sentence. Then, satisfied, I continued the letter:

Hey Rilla!

I have something VERY IMPORTANT to tell you...

dashy line thingo (now at the present time when we left off last chapter)

Searing heat built up inside of me like fire inside a furnace.

People fled at my warning, left and right, but there were two people running towards me:

It was Marilla, and following closely behind her, Oliver.

Panic shot through my chest. Marilla shouldn't be here, I thought, my eyes darting back and forth from her to the Ragnarok.

The horrendous beast seemed to in a strange sort of trance, expression stunned, as if it thought I couldn't possibly have been powerful enough to wield and Ultimate.

Well, you're wrong, you foul creature. I turned back to Marilla, whose expression was panicked and worried, yet excited all at the same time.

"No!" I screamed, wishing that she would just run away to the forest like the others. "Get away! GET AWAY! PLEASE!"

Marilla seemed quite taken aback.

Oliver looked like he was second-guessing things, reaching out for Marilla's arm, about to pull her back.

But my shout had seemingly snapped the Ragnarok back into reality, the beast waking up from it's stupor, and it began to snarl.

Anytime now... I thought, heat and light exploding from my body; the Ragnarok, Marilla and Oliver all shielded their eyes in awe. Please hurry...

Gesturing towards Oliver to pull Marilla away, I watched as Marilla struggled against Oliver's arms, the light in her expression flickering out as her face fell.

Tears began to form in my eyes, falling towards the ground in fiery orange droplets before sizzling on the black sand, the color fading from the droplets as they sank into the ground. The power was too much.

It felt like my body was being torn apart.

Maybe I really wasn't meant to hold this much power, I thought.

What if I don't make it back alive? I fretted. Then what will happen to all my friends and family? What will happen to Marilla? I won't get to be there at her and Oliver's wedding...okay--that's a bit far--I won't get to be there when that amazingly

good looking boy asks my best friend out and then they go on their first date and I will never get to tease Marilla about it and then I will never get a boyfriend of my own and I will never get married and--

Out of the corner of my eye, through my tear-stained vision, I noticed the Ragnarok crouched down, it's one eye gleaming with a strange, evil light and it's giant mouth curled into a smug smirk.

I bristled.

Shaking the dark thoughts out of my head, I tried to reassure myself:

You're not going to die, Emma. You will get to see Marilla get married (even if it isn't to Oliver, but I'm sure it will be, they're the best OTP ever), and you will get a boyfriend. One day. Hopefully.

I grinned, all of my worries suddenly flying out the window, and the Ragnarok flinched.

I squeezed my eyes shut as power sizzled in my chest, flowed through my veins, spread throughout my body, tingled at my fingertips, ready to burst out of my body--

My eyes opened and tears filled my eyes once again, trickling down my face as I watched Oliver drag Marilla into the trees, her cheeks damp as sweat mixed with the silent tears that were dripping from her huge hazel eyes.

The others were waiting anxiously in the shadows for them, and I noticed Oliver's mother pull both Oliver and Marilla into a hug.

I smiled.

Good, I thought. They're safe.

Bony claws thudded against the ground as the Ragnarok pushed itself off the ground in a giant leap, soaring towards me. It's expression was wild and full of fury as it opened it's jaws wide enough to swallow me whole, slobber spattering onto the pebbly beach, claws out and teeth ready to devour me as soon as it touched my flesh--

Looking the Ragnarok directly in the eye, I watched as it's expression turned smug as it realized that I had met it's gaze.

She'll be running around in mad terror in no time, it seemed to be thinking.