Between Ash and Ice

A Blade in The Dark

Pain lanced through my shoulder, sharp and unrelenting. My breath hitched as I forced my eyes open, the world tilting before settling into dim clarity. My fingers curled weakly against the cold stone beneath me, damp with something warm—**my blood.**

The armored man loomed over me, his blade slick with red. His head tilted slightly, as if fascinated. **Not by me. By what I had done.**

By the fact that I was still breathing.

“She’s still alive,” his voice was smooth, almost amused, but there was something else beneath it—curiosity. “Impressive.”

A shadow moved at the corner of my vision. **The girl.**

She was on her feet again, panting, blade raised despite the tremor in her grip. Her eyes darted to me, widening slightly when she saw the wound, but she didn’t waver.

“Step away from her,” she ground out.

The man barely glanced at her. “Or what?”

She lunged.

Steel met steel, the clash ringing through the ruins. I forced myself upright, biting back a groan as agony shot through my shoulder. My vision wavered, but I could see them moving—**fast, brutal.**

The girl was skilled, but the man was something else entirely. **Effortless. Precise. A predator toying with his prey.**

A surge of frustration swelled inside me. **I wouldn’t just sit here and watch.**

I clenched my uninjured hand, summoning the fire within me. It flared weakly, sputtering—**too much pain, too much loss of blood.**

No. **Not now.**

The girl let out a strangled gasp as the man’s blade caught the edge of her defenses, sending her skidding back. She barely kept her footing. The man smiled.

“Enough.”

He moved faster than I could track, reappearing behind her, his blade flashing toward her exposed side.

I didn’t think.

**I reacted.**

Flames roared from my palm, wild and untamed. The fire struck the ground between them, forcing the man to leap back. He landed smoothly, unaffected—but his gaze snapped to me, intrigued.

The girl stumbled toward me, gripping my arm to steady herself. “Can you stand?”

I nodded, barely. My head swam, but I planted my feet. “I’m not dying here.”

Her grip tightened. “Good.”

The man exhaled, watching us like a wolf considering a second round with its wounded prey. Then, after a long moment, he stepped back into the shadows.

“This isn’t over,” he said softly. “Not for either of you.”

And then—

He vanished.

A long silence followed, the weight of what had just happened settling over us.

Finally, the girl turned to me. “You’re either the bravest fool I’ve ever met, or the stupidest.”

I huffed a weak laugh. “Probably both.”

She shook her head, but there was something in her expression that hadn’t been there before—**respect.**

I swallowed against the pain and forced a smirk. “So… do I finally get to know your name?”

She hesitated, then exhaled, rolling her shoulders. **“Ravena.”**

I nodded, the name settling into my mind. “Vaelora.”

She smirked slightly. “Well, Vaelora. You just made an enemy of someone you shouldn’t have.”

I exhaled. “Not my first.”

And it wouldn’t be my last.