25. The Call #3
Her frustration boiled beneath the surface, her skin beginning to crack like fractured stone.
With each pulse, fire singed up her arms, revealing more and more of an ornate, bronzed armor as the pieces fell away.
Beyond the sharply tapered bracers, ash trickled from her fingertips.
The more she looked like a weapon, the more eager she was to be one.
She flashed her fingers and grinned as hard, gilded claws overtook her nails.
Finally, she was more than just a girl.
Flora bowed mockingly, her torn and stained dress brushing the muddy forest floor.
“Why don’t we test out what exactly I can do with you?
” she taunted, her voice tinged with manic glee.
“Or are you still so worried you won’t ever see me in a dress again?
” Flora grinned lightly and tapped her arm in thought, adding, “Even if I fail to kill you, you’d have to shred me to pieces just to survive. ”
She tasted the fear as Noec’s heart raced, his composed demeanor cracking just slightly as he watched her partial shift. Her erratically fluctuating pupils locked upon his, but he didn’t look away.
Flora rolled her eyes and sighed. The armor cracked and crumbled, dissolving into ashes. The claws disappeared, leaving her hands bare and trembling. She stared at them, relaxing her breathing.
“My bad,” she whispered, brushing her hair from her face.
“I’ll never hold a thing against you,” Noec said gently. “That’ll happen sometimes. You’ll transform in and out, and you won’t be yourself when you do. I haven't seen anyone shift in fragments like how you just did, but eventually, you will have control.”
His bladed talons stepped closer, and Flora stepped back.
“It’ll be okay,” he said, low and steady.
He continued on, despite how her hands trembled with rage, until his snout was only a few inches from her face.
Cautiously, she rested her head on his, her hand steadying as she touched the side of his face.
Noec had made this fearsome lion seem as soft and docile as a housecat.
“What do I have to do to convince you to stop following me?” she begged. “I’m running out of ideas. The longer I fight this, the harder it gets. And I won’t be able to get through a whole day if all I can do is worry about hurting you.”
The massive scythe before her dissolved, leaving behind nothing more than a man in its place, his head still pressed against hers.
“I’ll worry about you,” he said as his finger traced her chin, though in his voice there was a reluctant understanding.
While he was there, at least, the roaring sounds of the forest didn’t seem to bother her, and the distant, melodic hum seemed clear. She could still hear his heart beating, but for right now, that was okay.
“Noec, what’s that noise?” she asked. He looked to the side, then back to her.
“What noise?”
“You... don’t hear it?”
“I hear the noises of a forest. I know it may all seem like a lot right now.”
“No, there’s something else. Humming, I think.”
“Your mind will play tricks on you in here,” he said gently. He sighed, cautiously brushing his hand across her cheek. “Do you really think it’s for the best if I stay away?”
Flora nodded, the boiling beginning again beneath her skin.
“Don’t worry too much,” she said. With one last aching glance, Noec stepped away and transformed back into his bestial form. “And no more stalking me, either!” Flora called out as he took off into the foggy trees.
Even with the cacophony of noises flooding through her ears, the forest felt empty without him. The blackness seemed to grow darker as the sound of his wings flapping faded, a comfort only substituted by the harmonious hum in the distance.
Finally, though, she no longer fought the urge to rip him into pieces.
The warm blanket of madness wrapped around her mind as claws erupted from her fingertips in a storm of ash.
She felt comfortable, safe in the dull green light as unrelenting laughter surged from her lips.
Out here, she didn’t have to worry about anything. She was free to give in.
Impulse and the thirst to follow it consumed her. She sprinted across the forest floor, leaving trails of flame as dark metal armor wove around her skin, intricately molded to fit her form with an asymmetrical, yet natural elegance. She was looking for something to kill, and no one else would do.
It had to be him.
Flora thought of those yellow fucking eyes, and her rage surged.
She could face him now. She was strong enough now.
The shadows of the trees and the glow of flowers blurred by as she inhaled the heavy, moist air through gritted teeth.
She could rip out his throat with her teeth.
She could pluck out his eyes with her nails.
She could kill the Shadowkeeper.
“Shh! Do you hear that?” Aonia’s younger voice echoed vividly in her head, the memory striking with almost as much force as it had back then.
Wings suddenly erupted from Flora’s back, their sharp, metallic blades clanging low as they flared wide, catching the air hard as she slid to a grinding stop.
Flora’s wide eyes darted to the side, and she blinked as the strange déjà vu left her stumbling.