Page 141 of Cerulean Truth
I swiftly moved to position myself between Emma and the approaching threat, my senses on high alert.
"What the hell do you want?" I demanded, my voice cutting through the night while the spokesman's expression remained unreadable.
Emma clutched my jacket, her eyes wide with fear. I could feel the weight of responsibility settling on my shoulders. It wasn't about getting her home anymore—it was about getting her homeunharmed.
Their spokesman continued as if I hadn't spoken, his tone dripping with arrogance, "This doesn't concern you. We only want the girl. Leave us be, and we'll part amicably."
Amicably? He had just threatened Emma, and now he wanted to be friends? I would've laughed if my fury hadn't overridden all sense of amusement.
They took a step forward, clearly closing in on us.
I did a quick headcount—it was seven to one. I couldn't rely on Emma translating, and although she could put up a fight, I had no idea how the X would affect her reflexes.
"If you want her, you'll have to go through me," I declared in a low, threatening tone.
I sized up the situation real quick, mapping out how to take down all seven of those bastards before they could come within two feet from Emma. Somehow, the thought of defeating these seven to keep them away from Emma felt far more daunting than fighting off fifty of them without her.
Out of nowhere, two assholes at the front made their move, lunging at me in unison. I barely had time to react when a primal roar erupted from behind me. I whipped around and shouted, "No, Emma, don’t!" But it was already too late.
Her dark red haze, the one up until then solely witnessed by Stephen, erupted from her like fire from a dragon. No magi could doubt the raw and incredible power that fueled a haze of that color. If I wasn’t so terrified, I would’ve been amazed.
She was doing it. She was translating. I should’ve been relieved, it was all I had asked for these past few weeks, but fear gripped me in a way I never thought possible. She had no control whatsoever and could easily kill herself. And there was nothing I could do about it.
Emma's body lifted from the ground, and I observed the fear in the eyes of the seven hostiles before us, giving me a strange sense of satisfaction.
Realizing they needed to escape, they attempted to run, but before they could take a single step, Emma unleashed her power with the intensity of a very old and formidable maga.
Instinctively, I ducked down, bracing for the impact, but her energy whooshed right over my head, only reaching the seven Radicals before us.
When I looked back up, the scene before me mirrored the bathroom incident, multiplied by seven. The sheer force of Emma's unleashed translation painted an awe-inspiring yet terrifying scenery, and I couldn't help but marvel at the untamed force she wielded.
It was over in a matter of seconds. What I had warned her about for months, had happened: one second we were in danger, the next, there were seven bodies on the floor, all bleeding out.
When I turned to face her again, my heart clenched when I saw the damage her unleashed power had done to herself, the brutal toll it had taken on her body; her hair was all messed up,her hands were shaking too hard and blood streamed from her nose and ears. As she stumbled forward, I moved at lightning speed, catching her right before she crumbled.
"Don’t be scared, your translation was too much for your body. You’re going to be okay, but I'm not a Healer," I said softly, forcing calm into my voice as I fought to push down the overwhelming worry. Supporting her as best I could, I added, "I can't fix you. We have to get back immediately, and I'll nex Justine to help us. She won't like it, but she won't talk either."
Emma looked up at me, her lip quivering. "I thought they were going to attack you," she confessed in a small voice. The anger, fueling my actions before melted slowly away, making room for a deep sense of gratitude and a joyous understanding of the lengths she would go to ensure my safety.
I felt like cheering. I had finally witnessed her translation, and it was nothing short of magnificent. She was magnificent. And she had done it to protect me, to save me...
Reaching out, I gently wiped away the blood on her face, and whispered, "You saved us, Emma. You're incredible." The words carried the weight of genuine appreciation, a recognition of the strength which resided within her. As she looked at me with a mixture of exhaustion and relief, I couldn’t help but feel pride and even joy.
With my arm wedged under her shoulder, I guided her to the nearest rock and carefully helped her sit.
I let her go for no more than a minute to check up on the Radicals. Kneeling down beside the seven barely conscious bodies, I felt their pulses, relieved to find them all alive, albeit barely.
Quickly, I created a green portal, dispatching them to the Maumars with a note to rush the Radicals to the Healers, then on to the Cave beneath the Bastille. Emma's untraceabletranslation would make sure no one could connect her to the incident.
I would claim self-defense, recounting how I had received information about nearby Radicals, decided to track them for recon, and, inevitably, been discovered (that part would be a little hard to sell but I was highly motivated).
There was a (small) moral issue I was ignoring, as Emma had now again hurt people quite severely, but I had a hard time giving a shit about it. Who was I to judge anyway?
I quickly portaled Emma and myself back to my dorm, frantically reaching out to Justine for help. To her credit, she arrived in under a minute. The moment she saw Emma, nearly drenched in blood, Justine didn't waste time with questions. She swiftly laid Emma on my bed and ordered me to wait outside.
As the door closed behind me, I paced the hallway, my mind consumed with worry for Emma, pushing aside the ethical dilemma, looming in the background. The lines between right and wrong got all blurred tonight, but I couldn’t find it within myself to really care. All that mattered was Emma.
"She'll be fine," I mumbled, my words an attempt to reassure myself.
