Quill of Thieves

Chapter 38

Getting through the flames had required little magical talent, which warned Astrid that perhaps battling the element of Fire wasn't the actual point of this task. She turned to look at the flames over her shoulder. The gap she had made when she had passed through it had closed back up again. Astrid shook out her arms and legs to make sure she'd properly extinguished the elements. Not that she would ever admit it, but she was surprised her little stunt hadn't so much as singed her eyebrows.

"Fire can't burn fire, prick." She smirked at the flames.

"You're on fire."

Astrid jumped at the unexpected voice and spun around. The earth itself titled underneath her feet. Matthias watched her through weary, brown eyes, his lips held into a tight line. What? Struck with confusion and the fear that maybe smoke inhalation was causing her to hallucinate, she stared at him in return and began to ramble as poorly as Sebastian.

"Correction: I was on fire." She wiggled her fleshy, unburnt fingers at him in proof. "On purpose, I might add."

"Of course."

His skepticism failed to register, her brain stuck on trying to catch up with this unexpected turn-of-events. About five awkwardly too-long seconds later, the shock of seeing Matthias bled into a slow worry that sent her heart into her throat.

"What in Hel's Abyss are you doing here?"

The sweltering heat pressed against Astrid's already raw nerves. Methodically, she scanned Matthias from head to toe, fists clenched at her sides, her mother's parting words throbbing against her skull.

Make sure to act wisely, daughter.

Her mother had chosen Matthias as an item for her to save from the flames.

An item, she had said. Not a person.

"Is Matthias dead?" she had asked Savon only hours earlier.

"Even murdered her own meuredre," she heard Serah say again.

Astrid swore.

Matthias sighed. "This is not the place for dramatic grumbles."

"I'm swearing, not grumbling—oh!"

A round of dizziness rocked her without warning. She shook her head, which only made it worse. Dammit. The elemental burnout came from nowhere, leeching her of all mental strength. It left her breathless, and though she knew it was all mental, it seeped into her muscles. She felt her ankles rock unsteadily. Astrid braced her hands on her knees, gulping down air that didn't seem to be there.

Too much, too fast. 

Well, that was her motto. At least she was consistent. 

Astrid coughed out a meager snort and scrambled back to her feet. Sweat dripped from her hair. "Woah." Steeling her physical strength, she turned back to Matthias. "Fat load of help you were just then. Why even be here if not to save your princess from certain death due to magical burnout?"

Matthias didn't even bother to roll his eyes, but he did flex his arms beneath the restraints. Wait...restraints? It was the wince in his expression that spurred Astrid into motion again. She lunged forward, fighting the dizzying swarm of stars around her head, and stood before Matthias in three, hurried strides. His body was held taut against one of the strong, bronze forearms of the now motionless dragon by a tightly-wound leather restraint that wrapped around his waist and up his torso. Her fingers tested the elasticity of the strap around his wrist; her fingernail could barely slide between it and his skin.