Just like that, Daphne suddenly understood why Luis suddenly showed her so much more care than when they were in front of the others.
"I am not like you, Luis," Daphne said somberly. "As a mber of the royal family, you should be looking out for your people, not just try to save your own skin."
Luis tried to rebut but Daphne wasn’t finished. She didn’t want to hear from a brother who was too cowardly to stand up for her even though he always knew what their other siblings did to her was wrong.
"I’ll be there at the gathering point when I’ve ensured everyone’s safety." Without allowing Luis another chance to speak, Daphne broke the connection between their sodalite crystals for now, cutting him off. She stuffed the stone back into the tiny satchel she carried, securing the flap.
When the ground trembled and a loud boom resounded across town, Daphne caught a hint of a scream muffled by the sound of destruction. Her eyes scanned through the imdiate area before her, swatting away fireballs and raining embers as she did so.
She was out in the open and there weren’t any buildings nearby― or at least, none that still had their roofs on to hide the occupants out of plain sight. When she looked up to the skies again, it was just in ti to see a few trees thrown like a javelin right into the dragon, leaving a red cut down the side of its neck.
It roared furiously in pain. Following the direction the trees had been thrown, Daphne’s line of sight t with Atticus’s. Even from a distance, Daphne could see the look of surprise on his face. His lips seed to be moving but with how they were apart, Daphne could barely hear a thing.
Atticus’s attention was ripped away from her when the dragon unleashed a torrent of scorching flas, forcing him to sharply steer in the opposite direction so that its fire wouldn’t head in Daphne’s direction.
The earthquake caused by its heavy paws had also caused the yelps of fright to grow, allowing Daphne to finally pinpoint its source.
A mother had been hiding under a few slabs of fallen debris; it had ford a perfect shelter to shield her and the infant in her arms from imdiate danger. However, now that the dragon had been led to the area, it was no longer safe.
Chunks of rubble crashed against the ground, shattering on the pavent and causing shards to fly in all directions.
"No!" Daphne cried out.
Her hands shot out before she could think, blasting the falling wreckage out of the way and effectively preventing it from hitting the mother and child.
"Get out of there!" she scread, having to raise her voice just so that she could be heard through the cacophony.
The baby’s wails echoed, joining in with the discordant symphony. Daphne shoved a piece of clear quartz into the mother’s hands and pointed her in the direction of the nearest tunnel, the sa she had just sent the children through.
When the mother looked up, her face turning into one of horror, Daphne did the sa. Without thinking, she reached out and pushed the mother away. She wasn’t sure what happened entirely but she felt her fingers freeze up instead of the usual warmth of her fire, and the mother was sent flying out of harm’s way, her child wrapped in her arms.
That left Daphne, unfortunately, still in harm’s way, with no ti to react.
Ti seed to slow down and Daphne’s limbs felt heavy and weak without strength. She was unable to lift her hands to shatter the falling building in ti. Her heart felt like it was clogged in her throat and she wondered if this was the end.
Then, a pair of warm arms crushed her into their embrace, tugging her down and shielding her completely before they were encased in the rubble.
Her ears throbbed with an intense, sharp ringing that seemingly could not cease. It was as if a thousand tiny bells were chiming all at once, their high-pitched tones cutting through the disorienting haze that enveloped her senses.
She didn’t dare to breathe, nor did she dare to move. Her knees were on the ground and she felt too weak to move. Not only that, Daphne’s entire body felt as though it had been chained to the ground, rendering her motionless.
"I got you," an unfamiliar voice said, his tone raspy. "You’re safe. I got you."
It was only then did Daphne rember that she was wrapped up in soone’s embrace. She could rember half of a building’s side falling entirely on her, and yet, she had been perfectly protected, not a single pebble had touched her.
In the darkness, she was unable to see who it was that had saved her. Yet, that was a mystery quickly solved.
Light instantly stread into her view as her savior stood up. He knocked the debris off his body, bringing them back up to the surface. A cloud of smoke and dust engulfed Daphne’s face, and she swatted away in front of her to get rid of it in between coughs.
With the sun directly behind the man’s head, she couldn’t see his face clearly. Daphne had to blink and squint against the light before she eventually got used to the glare, slowly making sense of her savior’s features.
"Are you alright?" he asked. His hands were on her upper arms, twisting her back and forth to check for injuries. "I wasn’t too late, was I?"
"What...?" Daphne coughed, clearing her throat as she struggled to catch her breath. "I... I’m fine. Thank you for saving ."
"Oh, good. So I wasn’t too late..." the man muttered under his breath. "Good."
Daphne narrowed her eyes; she had run the man’s face through the archives of her mory and she could not find a na to match. Fiery orange hair that ended with red tips and golden-yellow eyes that reminded Daphne of birds of prey― if Daphne had ever t this man before, she was sure she would’ve never forgotten him due to his unique appearance.
So why was he behaving so familiarly with her?
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