BEYOND THE BLAZE

Suddenly, Elina coughed, her eyes closed. In an instant, she snapped them open when she heard Akirion screaming her name.

She realized that her pain was already gone, since Akirion saved her from the pain, but she didn't know that. She then glared at the top of the roof and witnessed Akirion charging towards the Drai.

Akirion's eyes were full of anger; he rushed towards the Drai with a slower speed, but before he reached it, suddenly, he changed his speed. He was like a bullet, and before a second, the left arm of the Drai's thudded on the ground, and the blood sprayed around.

Kai stopped after it and looked back at the Drai. The Drai got angry for losing its arm again; it started using vacuum blades at Akirion. Boringly, Akirion ran towards the Drai, dodging the blades, and suddenly, he took a deep breath while his teeth gritted.

Instantly, Akirion disappeared as he increased his speed to maximum. The sound of a sword slicing on top of something was heard. Akirion was standing behind the Drai, cleaning the sword by getting rid of blood while he was on top of the roof. The dry slowly breathed as it crackled.

Suddenly, it broke into multiple pieces that were boxed.

"Goodbye; that is for hurting Elina," Akirion said, with a scary, growling voice.

The Drai started to perish into dust that was disappearing in the air.

Elina heard Akirion saying what he said. She was touched by those words, and she was super happy. Her eyes started tearing up. She then closed her eyes, allowing tears to flow down her face.

Elina stood up since she felt no pain. She glared at the top and saw no movements; she got a bit worried. That's when she ran towards the wall to find a way to go to the top. Suddenly, Akirion appeared on the roof and looked for Elina. He found an empty space with Elina missing. His heart thudded a bit; then he jumped to go and search for her.

He landed on the ground with his two feet, being supported by his left hand that wasn't carrying a sword.

Suddenly Elina came to Akirion's side while her eyes searched for a way to climb. Akirion stood up with his eyes closed. He took one step, and suddenly, Elina bumped into Akirion, who was carrying a sword.

His sword instantly left his hand, and he held Elina from falling back while he was falling down on his back.

Then, both of them fell down, Akirion down, Elina on top.

"Ouch, ouch, man," Akirion growled as he felt pain in his back.

Suddenly Elina cried on top of Akirion.

"*Sniff sniff, cough cough*, haaaaaa, thank God you are okay, Akie; you got me scared, haaaaaa," Elina cried like a baby.

His eyes started to tear up too; his mouth reshaped as he started crying.

Suddenly the two were helping each other to cry. Akirion held Elina tight in a hug since she was right on top of him.

"Thank God you are alright, Elina." Akirion said, tears and runny nose helping each other to irritate him.

They both cried; suddenly, someone came up and cleared his throat in front of them. They suddenly stood up fast. Elina was on top; she was the one who had space to stand up first. Akirion also wanted to follow, since they were embarrassed a bit.

When Elina was on her knees, about to stand up, Akirion quickly woke up to sit up straight, but suddenly, his face was on her chest.

Akirion's face got red; also, her face changed too.

The guy who destroyed Akirion and Elina's moment said, "Stupid boy!" as he turned around.

Suddenly, Elina's whole face got red with rage; she hit Akirion with a hard punch on his chest and knocked him down while she shouted, "PERVERT!!!!"

She stood up, leaving Akirion down, his face up, seeing the stars in his mind. Elina turned and saw a lot of people looking on the other side. Astonishment filled her head.

"Why are they looking over there?!" she asked, her eyes narrowed, trying to see whether they were watching something else.

Suddenly, they turned their heads slowly and looked at Elina out of the corner of their eyes.

'Huh? What are they up to?' Elina thought, while she held her chin, her left hand folded.

They turned around and looked at Elina, who was on her feet, glaring at them in confusion.

The old man who was carrying a stick said, "Hey there, miss, I loved your reaction. That truly showed that you cared a lot about your body and self-respect. But the way you punched that young man, don't you think he will pass out?"

A low, slow, dragging voice echoed behind Elina, "Don't worry, I'm, I'm alright!" Akirion said, his voice sounding tired.

"Mhhh, he's alright, that's good!" the old man said.

"Wait, Akie, are you alright?" Elina asked as she rushed back to him, her eyes hinting at her care.

"No way, I'm not. My chest feels like…klshh, I don't know!" Akirion replied, holding his painful chest.

"Ohh, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Akie. I was a little...! Wait, it was all your fault!"

"Mine?" Akirion asked as he slowly woke up and balanced on his elbow.

"Yes, why did you put your stupid face in my chest?" Elina asked, her face a bit red, a bit blushy, and a bit angry.

"Awwww!" Akirion laid back down.

The old man interrupted and said, "By the way, I guess we should leave you guys a bit…"

"No worries!" Akirion raised his hand and pointed up with his index finger as he interrupted the old man with his low voice.

Elina nodded, agreeing with his idea.

She looked at Akirion and helped him up. With a lot of struggle, two girls went and helped Elina. They got Akirion on his feet, and the two girls went back to their group.

The old man continued, "We are here to thank you, really; the way you fought, it showed that you really loved your land. You even risked your life for people you don't know!"

"Wait, no, it's just that it was, maybe after me, that's all!" Akirion said, his eyes filled with disappointment as he looked down.

"What?" the old man asked, astonishment filling him.

"Yes!"

"Stop lying, Akie!" Elina interrupted.

"You won't understand even if I tell you, though."