The Mind of Fire
1275 Words
The very next day.
The sky was unnaturally quiet.
Ariella stood at the edge of the clearing, eyes closed.
Sarah, Mary, Tedros, Seraphine, Mr and Mrs Richardson, Elowen, Instructor Kai, Seylah and Valerina stood behind her.
They had tracked the energy signature.
Alexa was here.
Somewhere.
They stepped deeper into the abandoned valley — broken stone pillars rising from the earth like forgotten ruins.
Then—
Ariella stopped.
Everyone halted immediately.
“What is it?” Mary whispered.
Sarah stepped closer. “Ariella?”
Ariella’s eyes slowly opened.
Her voice dropped.
“I can feel something…”
Silence fell over the valley.
The wind stopped.
Even the birds went quiet.
Then Ariella turned sharply.
“She’s here.”
BOOOOOOM!
An ITE solar power surge ripped through the air like a falling sun.
Ariella reacted instantly — frost bursting from her hands, forming a thick ice barrier.
The solar blast collided with it—
CRACK!
The ice shattered under the pressure.
The force sent all of them flying backward, slamming hard against the stone ground.
Dust filled the air.
Slow footsteps echoed.
Alexa stepped forward from the orange smoke.
Eyes glowing.
Hair slightly lifted by heat waves.
“Well,” she said calmly, tilting her head, “Ariella… you really do share the same bond.”
Tedros immediately got into position.
Sarah helped Mary up.
Ariella stood slowly, wiping blood from her lip.
“Where’s Kira?” she demanded.
Alexa smirked.
“Ah. It’s not for you to ask.”
Ariella cut her off, shouting—
“We played your stupid game and we won! So give us Kira!”
Alexa’s smile widened.
“I won’t.”
She paced slowly.
“We lie sometimes… it’s in the blood.”
She lifted her hands playfully.
“And Kira? She’s way up her nightmare.”
Ariella’s fists trembled.
“What did you do to her, you—”
“Ooooh,” Alexa interrupted mockingly, “I figured out she doesn’t like high places… so I took her to a mountain peak where she could see down from up.”
She shrugged.
“And left her there. Ups. My bad.”
Another solar strike launched.
Ariella rolled to dodge—
But the shockwave alone knocked her violently to the ground.
Alexa appeared in front of her instantly.
Kneeling.
“I think,” she whispered darkly, “I need to erase you from Alexa’s memory… forever.”
Ariella slowly looked up at her.
“Do you know why Alexa and I are extraordinary twins?”
Alexa blinked.
“Why?”
Ariella pushed herself up.
“Because we are linked to each other’s memory…”
Her dragon mark began glowing red.
“…and we have the Dragon Mark.”
Instantly—
Alexa’s dragon mark glowed too.
The connection snapped into place like lightning between them.
“You can take my sister’s body…” Ariella said fiercely.
Ice formed in her palm—
She slapped Alexa hard across the face with frozen force.
Alexa crashed to the ground.
“But not forever.”
As Alexa tried to rise, Ariella grabbed one of her hands.
“Need a hand?”
She grabbed the other.
BOOM.
Both of them froze in place.
Eyes glowing.
Locked.
Inside Alexa’s mind—
Orange smoke everywhere.
Thick.
Burning.
Ariella stepped forward cautiously.
“Alexa?”
A glowing orange forcefield pulsed in the distance.
Inside it—
Alexa.
The real Alexa.
Her eyes widened.
“Ariella? Wait— are you in my head?”
Ariella smiled softly.
“Yes.”
Alexa rushed to the barrier.
“The ITE is destroying my memories… every time he destroys one, the shield gets stronger!”
Orange flashes flickered around them — memories breaking apart.
Ariella stepped closer.
“I’m going to free you.”
She began speaking quickly.
“Do you remember the day we first met? You tripped over Mary’s bag and blamed Tedros—”
Alexa laughed weakly.
“And Mary said I looked like I swallowed sunlight!”
As Ariella kept reminding her—
Cracks formed in the orange shield.
“It’s working!” Alexa cried.
—
In the real world—
Alexa’s eye lens flared bright orange.
Elowen stepped back. “The ITE is resisting.”
Sarah whispered, “This is bad. This is really bad.”
Orange monster creatures began forming from smoke around them.
“Defensive positions!” Kai shouted.
They fought as Seraphine and Mr Richardson placed the crystal in the center, holding it steady.
—
Inside the mind—
The last crack shattered.
The ITE formed.
It took Alexa’s shape.
But twisted.
Orange dancing spikes across her face.
Eyes burning bright.
Ariella stepped forward.
“Nice to see you separated from the real evil.”
The ITE smirked.
“I own this body.”
Ariella turned to real Alexa.
“There’s a crystal outside. When you destroy it here, it will be pulled out there.”
The ITE screamed and blasted both of them back.
“You cannot remove me!”
Ariella grabbed Alexa’s hand.
“If we’re doing this… it’s you.”
Alexa nodded.
Ariella smiled softly.
“I’ll be waiting for you in the real world.”
She vanished.
—
Back outside—
The orange creatures were defeated.
Ariella gasped back into consciousness.
Mrs Richardson rushed to her.
“What happened?”
Ariella stood.
“Prepare. The battle has begun.”
—
Inside the mind—
The ITE circled Alexa.
“Don’t you want to be strong? Not weak?”
Alexa trembled.
Then remembered Ariella’s words.
“This is not your body.”
Her eyes flared red.
“You are not the owner.”
The orange smoke began turning red.
“I am.”
—
Outside—
Alexa’s eyes snapped open.
Now glowing red.
Her hair lifted, glowing crimson.
“She’s doing it,” Ariella whispered.
“Everyone get ready!” Seraphine commanded.
Mrs Richardson pulled Ariella behind her.
“If it escapes, it’ll go for you next.”
—
Inside—
Alexa unleashed fire.
Pure.
Dragon fire.
The ITE shrieked as its form disfigured.
Outside—
Alexa lifted into the sky, suspended in energy.
Solar flare-like power burst out of her body—
Rushing into the crystal.
The crystal shook violently.
Cracks forming.
Instructor Kai stared in shock. “What in the world—”
Valerina whispered to Sarah, “No wonder she couldn’t resist… that power in one person…”
Inside—
Alexa struck one final blast.
The ITE shattered.
Outside—
The final surge slammed into the crystal.
BOOM.
Then silence.
Alexa dropped from the air.
Mrs Richardson caught her.
Seraphine quickly sealed the crystal inside a forcefield containment box.
They rushed to Alexa’s side.
Mary held her hand tightly.
“Alexa… please…”
Slowly—
Alexa’s eyes opened.
“Mom… Dad…”
Tears filled the Richardsons’ eyes.
They embraced her.
Valerina suddenly looked around.
“What about Kira?”
A shimmer appeared.
Kira materialized in the clearing.
Confused.
Alive.
Alexa sat up weakly.
“I reset what the ITE did to her… and brought her back.”
Kira rushed forward.
“I’m so sorry… I didn’t know—”
Alexa smiled gently.
“It’s okay.”
They hugged.
Seraphine turned to Elowen, looking at the crystal glowing faintly inside its prison.
“What do we do with it?”
Elowen’s expression was firm.
“We lock it in Banishment.”
Kai nodded.
“And pray it never finds a host again.”
Ariella looked at Alexa.
Their dragon marks glowed softly.
Still linked.
Still sisters.
And this time—
Whole.
But far away…
Deep within the sealed crystal—
A faint pulse flickered once.
Then disappeared.
For now.
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