Episode Five

My palm is cold against the floor. A hard sound echoing somewhere far away catches faintly at my ears, but my body is too heavy to move.

What was I doing just now? And where is this—

“Selene!!”

It came back to me. A sudden transfer spell had separated me from Selene, and I had apparently lost consciousness where I fell. She had been so tense on my behalf. I hated myself for letting my guard down.

I pressed a hand to the cold floor and pushed myself upright, reaching for my hip.

Gone.

The hand that reached for the dagger closed on nothing, and cold sweat prickled at my temple.

I raised my left hand with the ring gleaming dully and scanned the dark room around me.

The dusty desk was scattered with empty medicine bottles and crumpled papers. The light coming through the small window was too weak to properly illuminate the room, and seemed instead to make the unsettling atmosphere more pronounced.

A research room, or perhaps a laboratory. It didn’t look like an enjoyable place in any sense.

The transfer spell had been set by the mana-absorbing monster — I felt safe assuming that. The hard sound I’d heard in the distance, was it the monster’s? Or Selene’s?

I kept my blinking slow and let my breath stay shallow and even. Should I move from this room, or wait for Selene? I needed to decide, but my thoughts wouldn’t settle.

I was pressing my back teeth together and turning it over when the sound of footsteps reached me, moving steadily closer.

I held down the trembling in my arms and waited for whatever was making the sound to appear. My heartbeat was so loud I almost thought it could be heard outside the room.

The regular sound stopped in front of the door and the room filled with quiet. Just come in already. A few seconds felt like forever.

If what appeared beyond that door was not a familiar silver head, I would cast immediately.

That was what I had decided — but when the door eased slowly open, the shadow in the doorway made me look twice despite myself.

“Oh, it’s the Black Witch.”

Golden hair that caught the eye even in a dark room. Crimson eyes. The completely unexpected reunion made the strength drain out of my body.

“Kiaran. Wait — I genuinely wasn’t ready for that.”

The tightly wound thread of tension snapped, and I sank to the floor where I stood.

Why was she here? Why did she look so completely unbothered? Any number of questions rose in me, but first I needed to calm down.

Kiaran clasped her hands behind her back and stepped slowly into the room. I was deeply grateful that the door opening hadn’t unleashed some ferocious monster.

She gave a small laugh at the sight of me exhaling with relief, and settled herself on the edge of a nearby desk.

“You’re all shaky, witch. So cute. You’re sweating a lot too — are you all right?”

Entirely unmoved by the room’s unsettling atmosphere, she picked up one of the scattered papers and glanced at it. She clearly had no real interest in reading it. She tossed it aside and looked around the room with an air of mild boredom.

“It’s such a dirty room, honestly. The kind of place that gets all over a witch’s robes. Not ideal.”

She said it as she slid off the desk and brought herself level with me where I was still on the floor.

“Don’t you think so, witch?”

The faint smile at the corners of her eyes was not the one I knew. Kiaran’s smile was always bigger than this, more openly gleeful. This was something else.

My spine went rigid and my heart began clamouring like a warning bell.

“Kiaran. Why are you here?”

I kept my voice as level as I could, working not to let the trembling show.

She had come to the old Association for the same reason we had — to catch the mana-absorbing monster. Surely that was it. I knew her abilities well, and with her and Selene together we could face the creature with some confidence.

The three of us would work together, capture the monster, and bring it back to Verna. The research into my condition would move forward, and everything would be all right.

That was the future I had wanted to see.

I held her steady gaze and took a small step back. She was still smiling as she closed the distance, and I was looking between her and the doorway, working out how to move.

“Why do you think I’m here?”

I was edging slowly backward when my back met the wall and a small sound escaped me. Without noticing, I had been driven into the corner of the room.

“Witch. Say something.”

She murmured it softly and brought a hand to my cheek. My back against the wall seemed to lock in place, and my gaze couldn’t find anywhere to settle.

The hand touching my cheek moved to my temple, wiped at the sweat that had gathered there, then traced slowly down to my jaw. Her mouth was relaxed, but the depths of her eyes didn’t look like they were smiling.

“The, the mana-absorbing… monster.”

I didn’t want to say this. I didn’t want to believe it. But I had to face her.

“Kiaran is… the monster. Aren’t you.”

The words fell quietly from my lips and settled into the empty, expressionless room.