They are bright orange. Just like the color of the flames spreading behind me.
But no one else seems to notice. I guess they can't see a person casting magic.
Even I, myself haven't seen a person cast magic unconsciously before. My little toy is full of surprises.
Guess her emotions aren't stable after she almost suffocated in that room. I cast a worrying glance at the building before walking to where Erna is.
"Can we bring her to the hospital now?" I ask the nearest paramedic and he stutters before nodding vigorously. He pushes Erna into the back of the ambulance and I follow after him.
Hoping that taking her away from here will stop her from unconsciously spreading the fire.
My guess is that the document she burned was burned by a fire spell instead of a lighter.
As long as a spell is in process, the caster's magic stays linked to it. The more power they inject, the stronger the spell becomes. And the fact that Erna is currently injecting enough magic in her spell to burn a forty story building gives me an idea of how strong she is.
I never thought her parents even taught her magic. I had believed that they would want her to live a normal life. But her control on magic says otherwise. It is precise and balanced.
Dare I say even better than me.
I never had the time to learn it properly or rather no one to teach me. With mother weakened and father gone all the time. There was no one in my life to take care of me as a child. Grandmother didn't like me very much because I was not pureblood.
But how is that my fault? If its anyone's fault, its Erna's.
I am so immersed in the thoughts of my past that I don't even notice when we pull up to the hospital until the medic nudges my shoulder and asks me to get a move on.
I shake my head, getting myself out of my stopr but its no use, memories of childhood are filled in my head.
When they take Erna to the ICU, I follow quietly behind, playing the part of a responsible bystander. Once I have filled out the paperwork that the nurse brought to me, I take a seat in Erna's room at the corner, in the shadows. Since Erna's injuries weren't critical, she was allowed visitors, but there would be no one visiting her. Her parents will just think of it as her disappearing again. And now I can move my plan forward.
I have waited so long that my nerves are thrumming with anticipation.
I take out my phone from my breast-pocket and dial Alro's number.
"Yes boss." he answers on the first ring, that makes me quirk my lip.
"What is the condition of the building?"
"Not good."
"Elaborate."
"Only the bottom 7 floors are safe for now, and it doesn't look like they are safe for long."
That's worse than I expected because in no capacity did I imagine my trap resulting in so much damage. I had only instructed them to vacate the 31st floor, which means other floors were all full and losses would be real time bad.
I cast a fleeting glance at Erna who is now hooked on the IVs. The range of her magic is beyond my reach and the fact that she doesn't even know what she is doing and what she is capable of, amazes me.
Just how strong is she?
"Boss." Alro's voice interrupts me from the other side of the phone and I realize I had been in my head for too long."Yes."
"We need your help."
"Weren't your powers enough?"
"I am sorry to say that I am not capable enough to counter the magic of this level."
I expected as much. How could he counter the power of the Sun heiress?
Guess, I will have to make an appearance.
_________________________
Erna
My head is throbbing.
My nostrils feel smoky.
My throat is scratchy.
My heart is beating rapidly.
My stomach feels like it has whirlpools rotating inside it.
And my legs? I can't feel them.
I try to open my eyes but the blinding light above my head stops me from opening any further.
I try to open my mouth and call out for someone but I can't bring myself to do it.
What happened?
Where am I?
Right, the flames.
The fire.
The spell.
The documents.
The mission.
The trap.
Its all coming back. In flashes.
Slowly.
The shadow.
Did it save me?
Am I alive?
"Are you awake?" I flinch
"Sorry I didn't mean to, it was just instinct." There's a nurse at my side, who I didn't even hear coming in.
"It's okay. It's normal for that to happen after a few days of unconsciousness."
"Few days?" I ask as I push myself to sit up.
"Yes, you have been unconscious for 4 days." She places a hand at my back in support. I nod a thanks and she smiles.
"That's a lot."
"Yes it is, we ourselves were shocked since you had only inhaled a bit of smoke and at most you should have suffered a concussion."
"Oh." Then why?
"There was a sweet gentleman, who took care of you for all these days." That takes me by surprise. Is it Kal?
"Where is he?"
"He is outside. I will send in your friend." Friend?
She leaves before I can ask anything.
I look down at my fingers intertwined in my lap. My right hand is injected with an IV needle and the surrounding flesh is swollen. I graze a gentle finger over it and it twitches. I smile to myself because I have never been hospitalised and its all new to me. I always thought, I couldn't get sick but I have been proven wrong after this incident.
A few minutes later I spy a pair of shoes from the corner of my eye as they clack against the marble floor, an unknown man dressed in a gray turtleneck and black slacks, enters the room.
His raspy voice reaches me before I see his face.
"Hello, Erna."