The Wind Calms the Fire - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 8
The strong wind had magnified the wildfire and worsened the crisis, yet paradoxically, that was what had saved them.
Had there been no breeze at all, her abilities would have been severely constrained.
A mere human wielding the vast forces of nature had only so much reach.
The stronger the wind, the more her Spirit Power amplified—but fine control grew more elusive.
Spirit Power was like a temperamental child.
It had to be coaxed and guided gently, never commanded or forced.
‘Not that way. Shift a little more.’
Rhea altered the wind’s path around the smaller flames spreading at the edges of the massive inferno.
She meant to create a backfire—set the flames against each other, devouring themselves.
She gripped the watchtower railing hard, pouring all her concentration into it.
The wildfire rushing toward the garrison faltered as the wind was stolen from beneath it.
The flames that had lashed and writhed like a demon’s tongue suddenly shot straight skyward.
As the fierce blaze slowed, the smaller fires around it consumed the forest first.
Winds funneling from all directions drew the spreading flames inward, slowly encircling the colossal fire.
‘It’s done.’
She felt the wind fully under her control now and let the tension drain from her shoulders.
A wind touched by Spirit Power would not shift direction again—not without some extraordinary change.
As she caught her breath, she noticed a small flame still moving in a patch of forest some distance from where the backfire had succeeded.
‘I told you not that way. Go the other direction.’
Rhea furrowed her brow, refocusing intently.
No matter how many times she tried, the wind would not reach it.
The wind bounced away, unable to approach that particular flame.
‘This has never…’
A thought flashed across her mind.
‘Could it be?’
Rhea leaped down from the watchtower and ran straight past the official residence.
She merely waved to her companions gathered in front of the residence and kept running.
“Where are you going!”
“Wait there!”
She acknowledged Penny’s cry and grabbed at anyone in her path, demanding answers.
“Where is His Highness? Where is the prince?”
When those she questioned failed to give clear answers, she pressed on until she spotted Sedrick directing soldiers.
“Lord Sedrick! Where is His Highness?”
“It’s dangerous. You must retreat to safety!”
“Just tell me where he is. Did he go into the forest?”
At Sedrick’s expression—which was answer enough—Rhea spun around and ran.
Sedrick could not catch her before she vanished into the throng of soldiers.
He pressed his lips together, then turned back to the troops and resumed his commands.
For now, the mission took priority over the princess’s whereabouts.
As Rhea ran, she encountered soldiers moving horses from the stable.
She selected one, and with nimble grace, vaulted onto its back.
“Hyah!”
“Who goes there! Thief!”
“After her, quickly!”
The soldiers shouted, pointing in the direction she’d disappeared.
Yet they could not pursue immediately, standing helpless.
They had been in the midst of moving resting horses without saddles or bridles; readying a mount would take time.
“She rides well, that one! Let’s go that way!”
Rhea gripped the horse’s mane and rode it skillfully bareback.
Anyone raised in the Zephyros Kingdom learned to ride without bridle or saddle as a child.
Moreover, since awakening her Spirit Power, she had found it easy to forge a deep bond with animals.
‘Show me the way.’
She recalled the spot she had seen from the watchtower.
Following the direction the wind revealed to her, Rhea urged the horse forward.
* * *
Carrion raced into the Forest Village with ten members of the Elite Guard.
As they neared the village, the forest grew denser and paths vanished; they could no longer ride.
“One of you stays behind and tends the horses.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Carrion and the remaining soldiers pressed deeper into the forest.
Though it was late night and visibility was nearly nonexistent, they navigated without hesitation.
Carrion led the way at the front.
His talent for finding paths was so remarkable that even professional guides would have marveled at it.
Any place he had visited once, he could locate with perfect accuracy—even through a moonless forest in the dead of night.
He considered this ability of his to be inexplicable.
It was as though an invisible guide dwelled within his mind, steering him forward.
He would likely never lose his way in his life, yet ironically, he wandered lost through the path of his own existence.
When they reached the village’s edge, it lay shrouded in quiet darkness.
The commotion from the garrison would not have reached this far, and it seemed everyone slept in blissful ignorance.
By the time they noticed the wildfire’s scent, it would be too late—panic would seize them, and the entire village would be lost.
“Everyone, wake up!”
“Wildfire! Wake up, everyone!”
The soldiers shouted as they rushed through the village.
Soon, startled figures tumbled from scattered hovels in disarray.
“Everyone must evacuate. The wildfire will reach here! Take nothing! Hurry!”
The village held some fifty inhabitants, half of them children.
“The forest path is treacherous in the dark. Stay close enough to see the person in front of you—don’t fall behind!”
Carrion led the villagers, finding the way at the front of their group.
With so many children, their pace was slow, but they reached the place where the horses were tethered without incident.
The Village Elder, taking a head count, cried out.
“What? Lala’s missing?”
“Elder, I can’t find my sister. Lala! Lala!”
Children wept and the crowd grew restless.
“Lala!”
“Lala! Where are you? Answer me!”
People called out repeatedly, but no answer came.
Carrion asked the Village Elder about the situation.
“She’s an eight-year-old girl. We counted everyone before we departed,” a soldier said.

“I was at the rear of our group, so she couldn’t have separated along the way. It seems she didn’t join us just before we left.”
Carrion gazed into the dark depths of the forest for a moment, then spoke.
“The rest of you take the villagers to the garrison. I’ll return from the village.”
“Sir, it’s too dangerous. Allow me to go instead.”
“Can you find your way better than I can? I’ll be faster. Take everyone to the garrison.”
The soldiers could not hold back Carrion as he vanished into the forest’s darkness in an instant.
They exchanged glances and nodded at one another.
They trusted that their commander’s abilities would be more than sufficient to retrieve one small child and return quickly.
As Carrion made his way back toward the village, he caught the acrid scent of smoke.
‘The fire has already spread nearby!’
He quickened his pace.
By the time he nearly reached the village, thick smoke filled the air around him.
“Lala!”
Carrion called the child’s name as he searched through every corner of the village.
Yet he found no sign of her, no trace of presence.
Thinking the frightened child might be hiding, he entered each visible house and checked them one by one.
As he emerged from the last house, a burning ember flew onto the roof.
The roof, covered with dry branches and leaves, burst into flames in an instant.
The moment Carrion saw the crimson flames blazing before his eyes, he heard a pounding that shook his entire body.
“Ugh……”
He clutched his chest and dropped to one knee.
‘Of all times.’
His cursed affliction had awakened.
In moments, his breath came short, and a searing pain like a massive inferno devouring his abdomen swept over him.
And today’s attack was far more vicious than usual.
His vision blurred, and a strangled sound tore from his throat involuntarily.
He wanted nothing more than to collapse and cry out in agony.
“Huh—”
Carrion gritted his teeth and forced his wavering body to remain upright.
He knew that if he stayed here, death would claim him—yet his body refused to obey.
He crawled rather than walked from the burning house to a tree some distance away, collapsing against it with the last of his strength.
“Your Highness!”
The voice was clear and crystalline, desperate with urgency.
He thought, breathing hard, that he must be hallucinating now.
“Your Highness! Come to your senses. Your Highness! Carrion!”
His brow twitched as his eyes began to close.
Carrion.
When was the last time someone had called him by his name? Had it been his mother?
He couldn’t remember when that was.
Something touched his face gently.
Not a touch, exactly.
Formless, like wind itself.
‘Wind?’
Then someone’s hand pressed against his face.
“Ah…….”
Carrion felt the suffocation that had been crushing his chest suddenly break open.
“Are you all right?”
The flames that had been consuming his body died in an instant, and a cool, refreshing energy coiled around him entirely.
It must be what a miracle touch feels like—the hand that saves one cast into fire, burning to ash.
Save me.
He thrust both arms forward desperately.
He pulled his savior into his embrace without thinking.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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