Al-Aqar was blown to the side by the impact of the meteor. He could see it—it wasn't large by any means; in fact, it was only as big as a human hand. But a bullet, which travels at a "mere" speed of one thousand miles per hour, is more than enough to blow someone's head off. His shield was the only thing that stopped him and, hopefully, the girl from being blown to pieces. He grabbed the grass and tried to pull himself up.
Crap.
The meteor was the least of his problems, it seemed.
A dark fog shrouded Starshka Hill like a blanket. A Rift had opened.
And it had to be just now? Al-Aqar desperately thought as he lifted himself off the ground. He could see monsters stepping out of the Rift, their limbs heavy, bodies dark and ashy, illuminated only by their heads that burned with a purple flame. The girl… he had to protect the girl!
He closed his eyes and focused.
All charkezi carried their fragments with them. Al-Aqar wore his on his belt. The little piece of meteor started shining—first light purple, then deeper. As it flickered, his mind scouted the area, looking for the girl. It wasn't a complex spell by any means; in fact, an Astryx student would learn it in their first year.
So why was everything shrouded in darkness?
"Xenia! Xenia, can you hear me?!" He'd have to get to her the old-fashioned way. "Answer me!"
There was no answer.
What Xenia saw was light. Then darkness. What she felt was fear. Then pain.
She was knocked back by the meteor's impact and fell on her back. To prevent herself from rolling down the hill, she grabbed a patch of grass and managed to hold herself up… though the moment she realized what was happening, she regretted not letting go. Her eyes widened in fear.
A battalion of monsters marched out of the Rift — the tear in space and time. Xenia's breath got stuck in her throat. No matter how bratty she was, no matter how rude, she was still just… a teenager.
A scared and lonely teenager.
"Sveti in the heavens…" she whispered. Monsters of various kinds exited, the Rift spreading. Then she heard the charkezi's voice calling her.
"I'm here!" Xenia screamed. "I'm here, I'm fine!" She scrambled to her feet. Her head was pounding, threatening to split—though, she knew, it could also literally be split, considering some of the monsters wielded axes.
A wolf-like monster noticed her… and lunged right at her. She didn't even get to scream. The monster's claws were made of obsidian; she could see the sharp crystal glistening under the red light of the Blood Moon…
She closed her eyes and braced herself for the moment of her death. All she could think about in that moment was: tesha was right. I should've never gone to watch the meteor shower. I should've listened.
The meteor on the ground started lifting up, levitating slightly, as if looking for something—or someone.
Is this really how I'm going to die? Xenia thought. It was odd how long this moment lasted. The wolf was aiming at her, yet she could hold a whole conversation in her head. I don't want to die. No matter what I've said, I don't want to die.
Xenia opened her eyes. In that moment, the meteor seemed to notice her. It flew toward her with blinding speed and nested itself into her hand—finding the home it had sought for so long. Xenia's pupils contracted as the power of the meteor started coursing through her body, filling her with power, warming up her blood.
"I won't die!" she screamed as she squeezed the meteor tighter.
After that, everything was a blur.
Al-Aqar was fighting off monsters left and right, as much as he could manage. He was far from a prodigy when it came to combat—he couldn't compete, for example, with his Pyrrhos colleague who taught combat at Astranea. He was, after all, a scholar. His sword was the feather.
He only had one thought in mind: he had to get through to the other side to save the girl. His book of incantations fit comfortably in his hand as he flicked his wrist, shouting commands and secret words.
But then… something happened. Al-Aqar stopped. The dark fog cleared as suddenly as it had appeared, and he could see a figure rapidly rise into the sky, wings sprouting from its back. One black, one white.
Xenia, he realized in horror and awe.
He had no idea if the girl was conscious of what she was doing. If he had to take a guess—no, not really. It didn't matter, though, as she moved her hands…
The dark fog rose, swirling up and twisting, forming thousands of spears. Al-Aqar was a smart man, and in this moment he knew there was only one thing to do: to cast another shield over himself.
"Astryx Vechno, branis-te vorota…" he whispered and moved to the side. The girl in the sky looked down upon the horde of monsters, her eyes a pale gray color… before she flicked her wrist. And a rain of spears poured down.
The monsters roared in pain as the spears hit them, before the girl raised her hand. This time, from the ground streamed another pair of spears—spears made of pure light, white and bright as the midday Sun. Whoever survived the rain was now skewered on a stick, and Al-Aqar managed to escape it just by chance. He, quite smartly, threw himself down the hill and rolled a good way down, before grabbing onto an exposed root of a bush to stop himself from reaching the base of the hill.
Monsters screeched as they started dematerializing one by one. Not even bones were left behind them as their bodies vanished into the air, turning into a sickening vapor. Al-Aqar pulled himself off the ground and sprinted toward the top of the hill once again.
He could see the girl lose stability in the air. He could see her eyes close.
He had to catch her before she hit the ground.
Xenia didn't know what was happening. She just knew she didn't want to die. After that, everything was a blur—a worse blur than when she went out that one time with her friends and they stole two bottles of vodka from Anya's mother. She had sworn to never drink again after that, and her tesha had given her a good whooping.
This was worse, so much worse—to the point that she actually blacked out. She had no idea what happened; simply that she was floating, and then her body wasn't hers anymore—it was taken over by someone—no, something else.
Then, she started falling.
It happened in a moment. Her whole body relaxed from exhaustion as gravity took over, pulling her down like a shark would a seal, gnawing at her leg and whispering: that's it, Xenia. You're dead now.
Everything went black… she heard a voice yelling something in a language she didn't recognize.
She landed with a soft thump. When she opened her eyes, the strange charkezi man was holding her, his face pale with concern.
"You're fine now…" he whispered, "you're fine."
Xenia closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to take over.
With a simple incantation, Al-Aqar managed to catch the girl's powerless body. She looked at him, and then he could see the moment when she closed her eyes, too exhausted to say a word.
In that moment, however, while her black eyes—now back to normal—looked at him, he could see fear and terror, a horror so deep she didn't know how to deal with it.
"It's okay…" he whispered, "it's okay." She couldn't hear him, but he still whispered it over and over.
The meteorite clung to her body—a sign of a blessing she'd received. Or a curse, he thought. For this was a meteor of Eclipsion.
"Al-Aqar?" a cold voice interrupted him. When he turned around, he saw three figures standing, their chins held high and proud. He knew them well, but especially the woman who had called out to him.
"Odette," he mumbled.
"I think you," Odette said in a haughty tone, before taking a look at the girl in his arms, "and that girl need to come with us."
Al-Aqar nervously looked at her and pulled Xenia closer.
"Don't make me repeat myself, Al-Aqar… the Council won't wait forever."
With that, Odette snapped her fingers. A portal opened and she glared at Al-Aqar, who stood up, resigned, the girl's body tight in his arms. He didn't want to give her up.
"Let Price and Marno take the girl," Odette commanded.
"No. I will carry her."
"You have no power here, Al-Aqar."
"Neither do you. You are but a messenger, a pigeon thinking she's a hawk," Al-Aqar spat. "The girl stays with me. I won't have her imprisoned to be gawked at like a beast in a laboratory."
Odette shot him a glare and he could practically read her thoughts: she never liked him, after all, not even when they studied together.
"I said—"
"Let him carry the girl," Marno grunted. The man was broad-shouldered and tall, a pure brick of a man. "What will he do, run away with her? Let's not keep Kaliopi waiting."
Odette whipped Marno with a look, but Al-Ahar simply passed her and stepped into the portal.
After all, Marno was right. They shouldn't let Kaliopi wait.