"Now!" Syl shouted hoarsely.

Akane didn't hesitate.

By the time that Syl had shouted, Akane already had her hand on the monster's head.

It screamed, and the fire roared, far greater than before. Focused only on letting out the fire now and not controlling or directing it, the quantity of flames tripled, consuming the monster's entire upper body. Flames engulfed the crystal shards, splintering them until they cracked and burst. The Golem shrieked, its voice warping into an inhuman wail before collapsing into a purplish sludge beneath her touch.

The clearing went still.

Only the crackling of burning branches remained.

Akane staggered back, breathing hard, her legs trembling. Her flames slowly dimmed, shrinking down until only faint embers flickered along her arms. She stared at the monster's remains, chest heaving, disbelief plain on her face.

Syl dropped onto the ground with a sharp wince, clutching her bleeding back.

For a long moment, neither spoke. The silence was filled only by their ragged breathing.

Finally, Akane turned, eyes wide, and whispered, "Why… Why didn't you wake me up?"

Syl's head snapped toward her, expression incredulous. "Wake you up?!" Her voice rose, echoing through the clearing. "I tried! I shook you, I kicked you, I shouted till my throat hurt, and you slept like a boulder! Like the whole damned forest could fall on your head and you'd still be snoring!"

Akane flinched at the outburst. Her tail bristled. "You don't have to be so mean about it."

Syl jabbed her bound wrists toward her. "Fucking hell! I've never seen anyone sleep so hard in my life!"

"You don't have to swear." Akane blinked, pressing her lips tight."Went all right, didn't it?" She whispered and looked away, cheeks pink with embarrassment.

Syl let out a long, ragged sigh, her body trembling with exhaustion. "Yeah, for you maybe." She lowered her gaze to the blood-stained dirt. "Damn it…"

Akane's eyes momentarily softened.

"You…" Her voice cracked. "You really did protect me."

"And I got punished for it." Syl smiled, showing her back. "So don't get used to it."

"God, even when you've done something nice, you just can't help yourself."

"Help myself? How about you help yourself?" Syl sighed, and let her butt fall to the ground. "This sucks."

Akane scratched her cheek, unsure what to do. She suddenly yawned and,

"Yeah, sure." Syl nodded. "Just go back to sleep."

"What? Are you blaming me for sleeping? You told us you were fine standing watch."

"That's not the point! You said you were standing watch as well! Little do I know, you're deep in your sleep dreaming of meat and Amon."

"Huh?" Akane's eyebrow twitched with confusion. "What the… What do you mean? Was I talking in my sleep or something?"

"Yeah, you were." Syl lied. "And I'm not telling you what you talked about."

Akane's face immediately turned bright red.

Syl hadn't heard Akane talk in her sleep. She had no idea what Akane had dreamt of or what she hadn't dreamt of. Still, it felt like a good opportunity to gain some bargaining chips.

Suddenly, Akane let out a faint laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Syl asked, visibly annoyed.

"Blackmailing with what I said in my sleep? Hahahaha!" Akane's laughter grew louder and louder. "What are we, twelve years old?"

Syl's eyes narrowed, and she looked away. "Hmph."

"Hahaha…" Akane laughed, wiping her eyes as if tears were running down her face. "Haa… Want me to cauterize the wound?"

"Do as you like." Syl sighed, but did ever so slightly move her back towards Akane.

The Fox slowly walked to stand behind the seated Hobgoblin.

"Alright," Akane rubbed her hands. "Here goes nothing."

"Wait, what the fuck do you mean?"

"What?"

"You know what you're doing, right?"

Akane gulped, thinking about what had happened just a moment earlier.

I can't use Fire Magic.

Akane thought for a moment, brought a hand to her mouth, coughed, then nodded.

"Sure."

"Sure? What do you mean 'sure'? Do you know what you're doing or not?"

Akane coughed again. "You can trust me." She nodded.

'I'm so going to regret this.' Syl thought to herself.

"Stay still," Akane said suddenly.

Syl raised a brow. "Ordering me now?"

"Your back is bleeding."

Syl exhaled and, with a dry chuckle, did as told. Akane stepped closer, biting her lip at the sight. Four ragged slashes crossing Syl's shoulders and upper back, edges already swelling. Akane lifted her hands, hesitated, then let a tiny flame dance at her fingertip.

"This will sting."

"It does already so…."

Akane drew the fire to a hair-thin thread and skimmed it over the wounds, cauterizing just the torn skin's surface. The smell of seared flesh bit the air; Syl's hands curled into fists behind her back, but she didn't make a sound.

"Does it hurt?" Akane asked as she carefully cauterized the wounds.

"No."

"Really? I bet it does…"

"I'm telling you that it doesn't."

"Okay, tough girl." Akane said mockingly.

Syl grumbled something.

"I saw you cry, by the way." The Fox girl said gleefully. "Didn't want to talk about it but…"

"I'm sure you saw wrong." Syl tried to sound as calm as possible. She had been convinced that neither had noticed her tears, but it turned out not to be the case.

"Why were you crying?"

Syl didn't want to answer, and changed the subject.

"I apologized to you earlier, gave you an explanation as well."

"Really?" Akane tilted her head. "I don't remember that at all."

"Yeah. When I was done explaining, I turned towards you, and you had already fallen asleep."

"I see…" Akane pursed her lips. "Well, I'm sure it must have taken a lot from you to apologize and explain yourself." She was done cauterizing the wounds, so she stepped back. "Sorry, I wasn't awake to hear it."

Syl moved her shoulders a bit. "You're good at this, for a first-timer."

"I'm used to dealing with wounds. I was like a big sister to many in the village, so… It is my first time using magic to do it though."

"I see." Syl nodded.

"So…" Akane tapped her fingers together while pursing her lips. "Are you going to repeat the explanation and apologize again or…?"

Syl's eyebrow twitched.

"..."

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