I was determined to fight against that urge as we rushed into fire.

“It must have knocked over a fireplace while destroying the buildings.” Lady Azalea posited.

Before I could respond, a shrieking sound akin to the crackle of a radio entered my thoughts, and I winced, followed by Lilia’s now familiar melodic voice.

“You’re both here? Are you sure you’re up for this Iris?” Her thoughts were tinged with a hint of worry that washed over me like a wave.

“I don’t know, but I’d like to help anyway.”

An exasperated sigh resounded in my mind, and I could tell she was frustrated by the situation. “All right fine, just be careful. Azalea will light a signal for the townsfolk to follow, I’d like you to make use of your Hoarfrost magic to put out the fires.” Azalea nodded her head, and rushed off towards the eastern edge of the town, towards the train station.

Before she’d even left, my mind had already come up with a potential spell that could put out the fires. Surprise washed over me as Lilia was caught off guard. “That could work, though it would require using your prior method of spell casting, and not wild magic.”

“Just as well. While powerful, it is still difficult for me to control it, and I don’t want to risk making the situation worse.”

“All right, just be careful.” The connection between us faded, and as her warmth left, my heart ached ever so slightly at the separation. A bemused giggle echoed across the link before it severed completely.

Now with a firm plan of action, I rushed to the nearest home which was burning.

“Help! We need help!” My eyes widened as I realized there was someone trapped inside, it sounded like a woman. Not that it mattered, I’d need to act fast to save her. Roiling anxiety welled up inside me and my ears stood fully at attention, but I took a deep breath and focused my attention on the construction of my theoretical spell.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Attempting to find mana that had cooled would be futile, so instead I focused on converting the existing residual mana into cold. I allowed some of the mana from the flames to conjoin with my cold as I constructed my spell. Next my hand traced an invisible sigil that I poured my mana into, as it became a semi-tangible ice blue glyph, which bound my raw mana and gave it shape. Finally, I spoke the command phrase.

“Pruina Al Laita!”

The glyph before my hands dissipated as a larger one opened up above the house, the cold and fire combining to form large droplets of water that began to fall, sputtering out the flames as they made contact. Quite the ingenious spell, really.

The woman rushed out from the now quenched house, her dress was soaking wet, and her blonde hair was hanging down in a wet clump, but she was safe. “Thank you… thank you so much sweetie!”

Up close I could see that she had spotted freckles and cute green eyes. The lines on her face suggested she was an older woman, but it didn’t take away from her attractiveness at all. My cheeks flushed as I turned away from her, and smiled nervously. “N-No problem, Miss. Just happy to help!”

The connection with Lilia reappeared just long enough for me to hear her bemused chuckles once more, and I curled my lips into a pout, while my ears drooped ever so slightly.

“Did I say somethin’ to upset you, hon?” She tilted her head, and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“N-No, you’re fine. Listen, head towards that beacon. Lady Azalea is gathering everyone at the train station.”

She nodded her head,  and dashed off in the direction of the station, holding up her skirts as she went.

I knew I had no time to rest on my laurels, and quickly made my way to each successive house, repeating my spell and watching as the fires were doused beneath a torrent of magical rain. Most of the homes were thankfully unoccupied, and I grimly pondered if they were accustomed to these attacks. Each casting drained a little more out of me, but I pressed on, determined to save as many as I could.

“Gods Dammit all!” A scream snapped me out of my focused concentration, as I witnessed a man dashing out from one of the buildings, and trying to rip off his burning clothes. With a more concentrated spell, I released a torrent of water in his direction that dissipated the fires in an instant.

“Are you all right?” I asked while dashing to his side.

The man nodded, and I recognized him as the innkeeper who had previously directed me towards the manor. I think his name was Elijah?

He nodded, and smiled while clapping me on the back.

“I am, thanks to you Lassie.” My cheeks warmed with embarrassment and I turned my head to the side, which got a full belly laugh out of him. “We’ll have time to catch up later, but for now, keep it up!”

Wait, did he recognize me? I didn’t have time to ask as he dashed off towards a bright pink light in the sky. Azalea was rushing over to me, her brow drenched in sweat, and her beautiful red dress singed ever so slightly.

“Good job getting that fire under control Iris, let’s go meet up with the others.”

“Head towards the inn, and then turn left. You should hurry, Alder can’t hold it off for much longer.”

We rushed in the direction of the now burning inn, its welcoming sign toppling off as we passed. For a mercy, the buildings had been spaced in a safe way that would limit the spread of fires.

As my thoughts were increasingly laden with fear and worry for Matthew and Alder, I began to think of how I might reach them more quickly. Then an idea struck upon me.

“Lady Azalea, I’m going to try something. I’ll go ahead!”

Her head snapped over to me, worry plain on her face. “Wait, Iris what are-”

I gathered the mana needed for my spell, altered the output to release a steady stream and loosed the resulting icy cold onto the pavement below. While I did not have ice skates, I’d practiced enough on our local lake, and during Academy duels that I could do without.

Up ahead, I saw a brown haired man, dressed smartly in a suit, unleashing an uncontrollable torrent of fire towards the flickering outline of a great Beast.

“Iris! You need to help Matthew, he’s lost control of his mana!”

Wait, Mana? Since when could Matthew-

I shook my head and cleared the thought away. It didn’t matter, what mattered was that he needed help.

If he’s releasing all that fire, then perhaps I could…

Once again, I gathered my mana for the spell, and lifted my hand upwards, forming an icy wall in the path of his spell. While his magic was still raw and powerful, I made use of my knowledge to better dampen the fire’s ability to spread.

Thankfully, it worked and his spell waned until there were not even embers in his hands-

Wait, I’m Very close to him now-

He turned around to face me, and I saw the face of my oldest friend, smiling at me-

It turned out that while my new spell was good at fast traversal, it was less good at Deceleration.

My shortened frame collided with his chest, and the pair of us tumbled past the icy wall, and rolled over the pavement. His arms tightened around me, preventing me from tumbling away.

We came to a stop, with him fully leaning over my smaller body, and his hands pinned down around my head. Matthew gave me an intense, scrutinous stare as he soaked in my new appearance. Between our position and the intensity of his gaze, I felt my body turn flush and my ears stand perfectly at attention.

“U-Uhm… Matthew?”

He blinked in confusion, then realized our somewhat intimate position, and quickly clambered off me.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

I continued to lay down on the pavement for a moment, my body still flushed at just how close we’d been to-

I shook my head once more, and slapped my cheeks a couple of times to clear the thoughts out of my head. Azalea and I had shared time together barely an hour ago, and now I was thinking about it once again.

Thoughts of his hand trailing up my skirt, feeling what lied beneath and gently-

“Are you all right?”

He got closer to me, his face hovering dangerously close to my own. The rush of hormones were putting all kinds of precarious thoughts in my head, and I felt my head begin to lean in closer to his.
A familiar giggle resounded in my head, and I snapped back to reality as I remembered just what kind of situation we were in.

“Just reunited and already getting along this well? They’re both quite adorable, aren’t they Azalea?”

“Yes they are, you’re making me just a little bit jealous Iris~”

My Lady arrived on the scene, a wide smirk spread across her face as she witnessed us. I felt my ears deflate as my hands folded between my legs.

Matthew, ever polite and professional in his bearing, welcomed my Lady with a respectful bow of his head. “Lady Azalea, it is an honor to finally meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Azalea paused at that, and raised a hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle of her own. “Be welcome to our town, such as it is, Sir Matthew. Your mannerisms do you a great deal of credit.”

I saw his cheeks turn a bit pink at the praise, but he quickly regained his composure and returned the smile. “Not at all, for it is merely the expectation of my station.”

A sigh echoed through our thoughts, and we all turned up to face Lilia, arms crossed and tapping her foot against a non-existent surface.

“Much as I love pleasantries, we do still have a job to do.”

I mentally groaned at that. Right now all I wanted was to sit down and catch up with Matthew, but this blasted monster was getting in our way.

Rising back to my feet, I dusted off my skirts, and turned towards Alder. The old Butler had recovered and was once more engaged in battle with the invisible creature.

“Well then, let’s finish this up and be home in time for tea.”