Lahnthean Aria

12

Noorh heard Kiran's gasp before he felt the movement from his right.

He quickly crouched, dodging the attack of the black serpent. He then leaped into the air to jump toward the next nest. As luck would have it, he found himself staring at a cluster of shattered eggshells and wriggling, newly hatched snakes greedily fighting each other for rotting carcass.

Noorh cursed under his breath as his foot slipped over one of the hatchlings' slippery back.

A round of angry hisses erupted around him as he landed on eggshells. He casted a spell under his feet. It pushed him high enough to reach a stone step above them, before the snake hatchlings could latch their gaping mouths at him.

He was about to land on the step when he felt a wave of energy drain away from his body. The poisonous miasma emanating from the decaying debris and the toxic wood that comprised the winged serpents' nests had taken its toll on him.

Noorh released his hold on Kiran's legs. He grasped the edge of the step above him, casting another spell that would secure his grip on it. His other arm quickly pressed Kiran close to his waist before she could fall.

"Kiran!" he called, noticing that her body had become dead weight.

She was slowly slipping from his grasp. The pair of glasses perched on her ears slipped down her nose and ultimately fell into the nest below them. The sight reminded him of what would happen if his grip on Kiran's waist loosened ever so slightly.

Noorh glanced at her bobbing head. She was extremely pale. That was the first time he realized what else had been off while he had been trying to escape the snake hatchlings.

Noorh couldn't feel a heartbeat from Kiran's chest.

Images person lying on a bed with their face covered in white cloth flashed in his mind. His heart ached as the words that came with the memory echoed in his ears.

"Everyone he touches dies."

***

It was dark.

That was what Kiran noticed when she opened her eyes. It was as if someone had turned off the lights and abandoned her in the arms of despair. She couldn't move. She didn't see if she was standing on anything.

How did she even end up in that place?

Kiran tried to remember what happened before she woke up. The more she mused about it, the more she came up empty-handed. What did her body even look like? Why was she afraid of the darkness? What was she feeling anxious for?

Nothing made sense and it didn't seem to matter. Nothing mattered.

The admission gave her a wave of calm, contentment and lethargy. She felt an urge to surrender into the darkness. She felt sleepy and closed her eyes.

A bright white light suddenly exploded in front of her. Kiran squinted and saw it morph into a flickering orb. It floated curiously toward her.

"What is your name?" A voice echoed in the darkness.

It sounded youthful and crisp. The calm tone of the voice resonated a feeling of comfort and safety that encouraged Kiran to speak.

"My name?" What was her name? Why couldn't she remember it? Did she even have one? Who was she anyway? And why was a ball of light talking to her?

"Stay with me," the voice said as the orb flickered. A wave of warmth reached out to Kiran. "Giving up now would be a waste. You've already come a long way."

"I…have?" Hazy images of stone steps protruding from a cliff surfaced in her thoughts. It looked eerily familiar. It also evoked feelings of fear and relief.

"That's it," the voice encouraged. "Just follow the trail…"

Trail? The images were a trail?

Sure enough, the images shifted into that of a cave, followed by a glowing pair of amber eyes. Kiran gasped in panic as the eyes morphed into the face of a giant snake.

A person's silhouette suddenly jumped in front of her, shielding her from the gaping mouth of the snake. The person had a dark mop of hair that seemed to dance in the breeze. Somehow, the sight of the silhouette made Kiran feel oddly worried and safe at the same time.

Blue…midnight blue…She saw midnight blue hair fluttering in the wind against a vibrant blue sky. With it came the sense of strong arms holding her close to a sturdy body of warmth.

"Noorh?" Kiran asked, the name surfacing in her mind.

"Noorh. Is that your name?"

"No! Kiran. It's Kiran Widella," she said, remembering how she anxiously said her name in front of an ominous stranger in the middle of a meadow that was littered with white flowers.

"Kiran." Kiran could somehow imagine the orb smirking. "That's a beautiful name. Are you in any pain?"

"No," Kiran answered, feeling slightly sluggish as if she had just woken up from sleep. "But I feel warm."

"Warm is good. Focus on that warmth, Kiran. Everything will be alright, I promise."

Kiran wasn't sure what the orb meant by "focus on the warmth" but she did feel warm. Heat began to trace the body that she thought she had lost in the dark.

"What's the last thing you remember, Kiran?" the voice asked, seemingly trying to maintain her attention.

"The last thing I remember..?"

The image of Noorh in her mind morphed into a bright blue sky. The feeling of leaping into the air left her breathless until a rancid stench of rotten flesh assaulted her senses. The image of the blue sky was replaced by giant bird nests made of massive pitch black twigs, piles of mangled carcass, and decaying human corpses.

She especially remembered a rotting corpse that made her gag. Its torso was torn open as if its insides had been brutally gouged out. A human-sized, black snake with blazing amber eyes burst through the torso and pounced at her.

It opened its mouth wide, baring its sharp fangs for a swift kill.

"NOORH!" Kiran exclaimed, recalling how the snake had aimed for Noorh's head.

She remembered how she gasped in panic, inadvertently welcoming the toxic fumes that drew flames down her air passage. The poison devoured her senses. The stench burned her insides. It triggered an intense migraine. It stung her eyes. It all happened at the same time.

Then everything went black.

Was that it then? Did she die after being devoured by the snake? Did Noorh die with her? Was he somewhere in the darkness with her? After all his efforts to save his people…after all that he did to save and help Kiran despite the trouble she caused…

"NO! Please! This can't be the end. We can't just die like this!"

She knew that things could end differently in the real world.

Unlike the heroes she read about in web novels and comics, she couldn't use magic. She didn't have any special skill. She wasn't overpowered. She was just an ordinary human being who got in the way of summoning the real hero of the isekai story.

Still, she wanted to live. She wanted Noorh to live. She wanted them to be able to fix things, probably even show Noorh that they could properly ask for Alessa's help instead of k********g her. She wanted to return home to her family.

She and Noorh had to live. They couldn't just die that way.

The orb exploded into a massive bright light that devoured the darkness.

"Kiran?" the voice asked. "Kiran, what happened? What do you see?"

"Everything is bright," Kiran answered, flinching against the blinding glow.

"Interesting."

"Interesting? What do you mean?"

"Walk toward the light. Let it guide you to where you need to be."

"Light? Isn't that what psychics tell ghosts to exorcise them? Are you telling me I'm dead?! Like really dead?! I can't go yet! I can't die now. I mean I can, but can't I stay longer? I have unfinished business! Mr. Orb!"

"You're really interesting. Just relax and let the light wrap around you. Oh and do me a favor. When you wake up, don't tell Noorh about me."

That stumped Kiran. Wake up? Was she just dreaming the entire time? Was she in a comatose state? And the orb mentioned Noorh! Did it know him personally? Was he a friend of his?

The orb of light disappeared with the darkness.

"Wait! What do you mean?! Mr. Orb! Come back! Tell me-!"

The voice chuckled as it faded away.