✦
6 . ‘ i’m sorry ’ kiss .
with an impatient burst of raw magic, she forced her way through what had been a brick wall and out into the open ( or what was left of it ). a quick look to the skies showed her nothing but grey, cloud-drunk muddiness, and she cursed under her breath as she climbed out of the wreckage. the house, nay, the town was in shambles and there were little fire everywhere, but there was no one in sight. no airships, no alvarezian soldiers, no dead or injured civilians --- not solomon. he had been right next to her, less than a minute ago, and she was certain that the spell she had used to shove him out of the way had connected.
( much like the spell that had thrown her into a crumbling building. )
‘ ‘ sol? ’ ’ she called as she looked around, crafting pillars of ice to stabilise anything that was still standing as her stomach clenched painfully. she had known this city well --- it had been one of deliora’s first targets and she had been so happy to have seen it rebuilt when she had . . . come back. to see it in ruins again, to see the efforts of the stubborn inhabitants turned to dust was not easy for her. once this was over, properly over, she would come back to help them rebuild, she resolved as she created a halberd to help her clear her way and search for her missing partner. there would be many cities like this, but she knew the people of her chosen home --- they were hardy and stubborn enough to face any northern winter, they would come back from this as well.
‘ ‘ babe? can you hear me? ’ ’ she called as she carefully used the dull end to poke into a small mountain of rubble. ‘ ‘ are you in here, sol? ’ ’ she asked, waiting for a reply and receiving none. muttering curses beneath her breath, she continued her search. after she had found him and helped the people of amadis with the reconstruction of their home, she would devote some time into magic that would allow her to find living beings amidst ruins. it was not a new goal, she had wanted to do the same when deliora had brought death and destruction, but she had not been . . . in the right state of mind to learn new magic, then. now, this should be different.
on the left of what had been the plaza, maybe a couple steps away from where she had bought new boots two weeks ago, something moved and hope let her heart soar high as any bird. ‘ ur? that you? ’ solomon’s voice was hoarse and rough, but to her, no angelic choir could possibly have sounded sweeter. ‘ i’m over here. ’
letting go of the breath she had been holding, she dropped her halberd; never had she been happier to hear his voice, even if it sounded like dust and gravel was stuck between his vocal chords. she flew more that she dashed towards the area where the voice had come from. ‘ ‘ it is me, yes, ’ ’ she replied as she reached out to help him free himself, only to shield her face against flying pebbles a moment later when solomon was the one who let his aura break him out. ‘ ‘ next time, give me a warning, ’ ’ she scolded gently as she reached up to dust off his armour. ‘ ‘ you okay? ’ ’
coughing and reaching for his water bottle, he nodded slowly as he surveyed the damage around them. ‘ yeah, you cracked my rib when you sent me flying, ’ he added as an amused afterthought, ‘ but that blast would’ve done more damage. ’
‘ ‘ i didn’t mean to hurt you, ’ ’ she responded as she climbed onto another rubble pile and pulled him towards her to kiss him soundly as her hands busied themselves with cooling the growing bruises on his face. it would not avert the entire damage, but it should make what was to come a great deal more bearable. ‘ ‘ and i wish we had more time, but . . . we are pretty exposed here, and i worry that the airship could circle back. ’ ’
he hummed softly as he pressed his forehead against hers, nodding in agreement. ‘ let’s just extinguish these fires and get off his mountain before anyone comes to check up on us, ’ he said as his eyebrows knitted together. ‘ i don’t like any of this. ’