"Ngh.."

  Ellissae groaned, her head splitting into half from the throbbing ache.

  "Shut up."

  She groaned once more, pulling the pillow over her head, trying to block out the noise.

  But then she heard it even closer.

  Students were screaming outside. There was hush and shush, lots of cries, and a huge busy commotion.

  But what had happened?

  Ellissae couldn't remember what had happened after she blacked out. She was already in the Institution though. They must have carried her back.

  And then it struck her.

  Arvi.

  The noise was coming from the direction where Arvi's room was.

  Sweat sprang across her damp skin instantly.

  She jumped down the bed, her eyes paining from the effort of being opened, and she ran outside.

  And froze. Her heart skipped many beats simultaneously.

  There was a huge fire. Humongous, rather.

  The fire had spread along the chain of rooms. But what Ellissae really cared for was that Arvi's room was there too, and that it was burning.

  Ellissae's eyes widened. The flames had engulfed more than half of the estate.

  "Do you like it?" Ellissae had asked Arvi back then when she was first allocated her own space within the Institution.

  "Yes. Thank you." Arvi had replied politely with a gentle smile - the same smile that had been etched across Ellissae's heart forever. She was so small when Master Thane brought her, thin and frail. But her eyes were innocent, her smile gentle, her heart filled with such a kind love that she wasn't tainted even when the world shattered her into the sea of eternal suffering.

  "Why doesn't it stop?" Villaira asked.

  "I have no idea. But I fear I've reached my limit." Suben beside her said.

  Both of them were exhausted.

  "Master Thane hasn't returned from the Glass Lake Forest yet. We need to hold till he returns." Villaira urged, but she knew she was at her limits too.

  Rylan, at a distance, was as pale as a bone. And Master Zachar was over-draining himself, his hands already burnt from the flames.

  "It must be the bitch's deed." One of the outer disciples whispered, but Ellissae heard it crystal clear.

  "Yeah. This must be her way to get back at us." Another chimed in.

  A few laughed, some hushed and shushed.

  "I heard she was struck by the lightning. Even the Heavens knows how evil that wretch was."

  Another one added.

  "But see, she won't let us be at peace even after being struck and burnt. That bitc-"

  An icy blade crossed through the dark space, pierced through the student's head and sent him flying backward, nailing him on the concrete wall behind.

  Silence.

  "Ella-" Villaira gasped, her eyes wide and alert.

  Few more blades formed beneath Ellissae's palm.

  "Ellissae, stop!" Master Zachar roared.

  Too late.

  The others were pierced and pinned on the wall too.

  "Ellissae!" Master Zachar shouted, his face twisted in anger and disgust. "How dare you?!"

  "Why?" Ellissae snapped, the dam of her restraint broken. "WHY?!" She shouted again, this time even louder.

  "You're crossing your limits, Ellissae." Master Zachar roared once more, his fists clenching hard.

  Ellissae looked up. Finally. And an audible gasp was followed by each human present there.

  The blues of her eyes had deepened, blue fumes rose from her body. Thin veins spread across her pale skin like strands of silver thunders. She began to walk towards the flame, and the ground crystallised beneath her feet.

  "Ellissae, what are you doing?" Villaira urged, but Ellissae's eyes were fixed on Master Zachar, who was staring back at her with pure disgust in his eyes.

  "Why, Master?" Ellissae spoke, her voice edging on mockery and rudeness, barely concealing her anger. "Wasn't she a part of your Institution? Wasn't she a part of 'us'? Then why demonize her? Then why degrade her? Why can't you save her some dignity even after death?"

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "Because she deserves none." Master Zachar clenched his fists tighter, the vein on his forehead swelling. "She killed her dignity when she summoned the demons and wrecked havoc across the Land. She killed her dignity when she slaughtered without discrimination. She killed her dignity when she slept with Thane and murdered my Earl. And you, taking her side, makes you just like her- corrupt and degraded."

  "Don't you have an iota of regret?" Ellissae snapped. There were so many questions in her mind, so many answers she needed to find. But how? Where? And the only one who could bring her peace was already gone.

  "She is dead, Master." Ellissae's voice trembled as she spoke, her vision blurring with tears. Thunders cracked and wind rose from the ground anew, the sky shivered and the ground split as blue ice spread across Ellissae's feet, freezing everything in its wake.

  And she continued.

  "Arvi is dead. But you can't spare her dignity? You forgot the honour she brought to your Institution. You forgot how she was the one at the frontline of our Battles. You forgot that Arvi is the one who risked her life to bring you back from the brink of death. You're slandering without evidence, colluding against her for your own selfishness. Dare you say that she was in the wrong? I saw her dead body. Wounded. Broken. Shattered. Dare I say that YOU killed her?"

  "Ellissae!" Villaira couldn't believe her ears. "Have you lost your mind? What are you saying?" And then she felt it.

  A chill so cold that made her bones freeze.

  And then she saw it.

  The entire Fiery Lotus Institution was frozen now. The fire stood up like a huge crown. And Ellissae was walking straight into it.

  Villaira froze. Everyone was frozen. The sky had begun to bleed snowflakes. A huge array was formed across the frozen ground and Ellissae was rising in the mid-air now.

  "Stop her." Villaira urged Master Zachar, but he was too stunned to speak, his eyes fixed on the rising ice that was now freezing into deep blue snow.

  "Impossible." He whispered, and looked up just in time to see Ellissae hovering against the huge crown of fire. Against the giant flames, Ellissae looked like a snow shard, that could have been engulfed and devoured by the fire any moment. But the power and prowess radiating off Ellissae's body was even more dangerous.

  "Master, what's wrong?" Suben asked.

  Master Zachar shook his head in disbelief. "There are four Elementals, Suben. Air, Fire, Water and Soil. For a Water Cultivator, it takes decades of practice and dedication to freeze his Water Elemental into Ice. But Ellissae is an exception. She was born with the Ice Elemental. But now, she had risen to the Level of Snow from Ice. This deep blue snow," Master Zachar looked around himself and then at Ellissae, his heart almost at near-collapse from the freezing chill seeping into his bones from the deepening snow. "This deep blue snow only exists in Textbooks. Besides two Entities, no one has ever been able to get at this Level."

  Suben: "Who are these two Entities?"

  Master Zachar: "First, the Origin of the Four Elements, the Mother of all life forms, Goddess Narvina. The second was Goddess Narvina's companion, the Water God."

  Suben: "Master, you mean, Ellissae -"

  Master Zachar: "I do not know."

  _________________________________

  Ellissae extended her hand into the flame. It immediately lapped around her skin, leaving a trail of burnt flesh. She still felt that dryness in her fingers- they were still eagerly waiting for one touch of Arvi.

  "Arvi. My...Arvi." Ellissae whispered, her heart wailing in silence. She remembered that fire- the fire that burnt Arvi. She was there, just one touch away from touching her. And then, she lost her forever.

  "Arvi..." Thousands of blue shimmering veins deepened across Ellissae's skin. They sang and vibrated, a shrill sound pierced through the night. The array on the ground had awakened and was now rising, a snow shield was descending down from the sky.

  "Arvi..let me be with you. You're not here. You're gone. So I must come to find you."

  Ellissae's dagger appeared, a vicious weapon with cuts and sharp edges, a frost flower at its hilt that had bloomed with a new layer of petals around it. The dagger had strengthened further, now it was even more firmer- Ellissae noticed. And smiled.

  "Now it can kill me."

  One movement, one flick of her wrist, and she dig the dagger right into her heart.

  Villaira shrieked, but Ellissae couldn't hear a thing. The veins across her body was now condensing in her eyes. All she could imagine in that fire was Arvi's frail body being burnt just before her eyes. Those wounds on Arvi's corpse, those cuts and shattered bones, those eye-less sockets filled with wriggling worms - they'll haunt Ellissae forever.

  Blood splattered out of her chest and she thrust the dagger deeper into her heart. And then it shattered. Millions of snow flakes rose from Ellissae's heart and scattered. Blood and snow mixed and all Ellissae could see was Arvi's face, smiling at her, calling her name.

  "Take me with yourself." Ellissae begged and closed her eyes, tears flowing down her pale cheeks. "Don't leave me behind. Please."

  The world heard the wail of something it could never forget. The sky shook and the Earth scattered. Rocks flew across the space and wind whipped across every being in its wake. The shadow from the fire had finally revealed itself, a beast, a nasty beast with demonic power. The array Ellissae summoned quadrupled, the snow shield descending from the sky collapsed right onto the creature. It screamed. But Ellissae couldn't bother. She couldn't save Arvi. So she could destroy everything now that threatened to destroy Arvi's existence. Moments after moments flashed before her oceanic eyes- every night she told stories to Arvi in her room, every time she clapped those little hands of hers. Everytime Arvi woke up in nightmares and everytime Ellissae stayed by her bed to check she slept well.

  After being doused in Ellissae's blood, it had absorbed her heart's agony and the ice dagger had transformed into a snow dagger. Ellissae materialised and sent it straight through the beast's phantom without batting an eyelash. The creature shattered into larger flames but Ellissae couldn't care less about it. It seemed like Ellissae had called an ocean of Snow that froze up the flames. This time, the crystal shards were singing louder. Screaming.

  "Ella, this is for you." Arvi had smiled and given her those tiny clay dolls she made herself. Ellissae had asked her then, "What would you do if I were gone?" A question she had asked without giving much thought- she was just playing around. But Arvi had answered. "I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."

  "And what if your power is not enough to keep me safe? What if I died?"

  "I'll bring you back from death."

  Ellissae then doubted if she should press further, but her curiosity knew how to get the better out of her.

  "What if you can't fight the death?"

  Arvi had paused then. A silent dedication had passed through her form. Ellissae had noticed it though- just a fleeting glance, and she was captivated for a lifetime.

  Arvi: "I will meet you in death."

  The snow engulfing the fire shattered. Ellissae smiled. And her eyes fell shut. The sky broke down into blizzard. The frozen ground beneath crystallised further.

  Ellissae fell.

  Everyone saw her fall. But none could do anything. Everyone was frozen in her snow. A mild satisfaction had appeared in her heart that she had devoured the fire that destroyed the last shreds of Arvi's memories. And guilt finally ripped through her bleeding heart. If only she had frozen that fire too in the Glass Lake Forest. She could have had Arvi's dead body. She could freeze it for a lifetime. She could sing her corpse lullaby, take her to travel every place she wanted to visit and know. Ellissae could tell her more stories, go on beast-hunting and bring back exotic flowers for Arvi's corpse.

  Ellissae fell down right on the frozen ground. The humongous crystallines pierced right through her bones and flesh.

  "Arvi..."

  Blood oozed out of her fallen body, pierced and punctured, wounded in several ways. But she was smiling.

  She finally found her peace.

  Ellissae: "I will meet you in death."