Chapter 99: Falling Fireballs

Evelyn Ford was envious of his self-healing ability, but no one knew what kind of side effects such an ability might bring.

Evelyn Ford didn’t dare risk her own body. While she wasn’t some all-powerful warrior, she could at least protect herself.

"Mind if I ask? What city are you from?"

Ronan Kendrick’s hand paused for a moment, but he answered without hiding anything. "Marris."

Evelyn Ford was a little surprised. "I’m from Corinth. What happened to Marris?"

"After the earthquake, it was reduced to ruins."

’Evelyn Ford had learned something important. He was still in Marris during the earthquake, which means he walked all the way here. But why did he come into the mountains?’

"Why did you come into the mountains?"

He looked at Evelyn Ford and countered, "What about you?"

"It looked like it was going to snow after the earthquake, so I came into the mountains to take shelter."

"I smelled prey. I had just entered the mountains when I passed out from hunger."

By tacit agreement, neither of them brought up what happened next, wanting to avoid another fight.

In the days that followed, the temperature plummeted again, dropping straight to negative thirty-three degrees.

Evelyn Ford felt like something bad was about to happen. Her premonitions were always accurate.

Ronan Kendrick rarely went out anymore either. He said the animals in the mountains were starting to migrate in massive herds toward the Northwest. Animals were far better at sensing danger than humans.

「February 1st.」

The sky, for once, shed its gloom, revealing a rare brightness. Evelyn Ford held out her hand. It might have been her imagination, but she felt a faint warmth as the sliver of light touched her.

But the light lasted only about ten minutes before the sky reverted to its oppressive darkness.

"It’s not another earthquake, is it?" Evelyn Ford glanced outside, then suddenly threw on her overcoat and pushed open the cabin door.

"You think it’s an earthquake?"

"I have a bad feeling. I need to bring the things outside in." Evelyn Ford started taking down the fence gate.

Just then, the world plunged into darkness. Evelyn Ford held out her hands but couldn’t see them at all. For a split second, she wondered if something was wrong with her eyes.

"Evelyn Ford."

Ronan Kendrick ran toward her, roughly hoisting her up and charging straight into the cabin. He slammed the door shut. After a sharp, stinging pain, Evelyn Ford’s vision cleared from a blur, the process taking nearly ten seconds.

Evelyn Ford looked at the familiar things inside the cabin: the fireplace, the low table, Mina, and Lola.

Outside the window, it was still pitch-black—a darkness more terrifying than nighttime. There was no light in the sky whatsoever. It was as if the sun had vanished.

Evelyn Ford wiped away the tears that the stinging pain had brought and looked at Ronan Kendrick in silence.

"The sun is gone."

Ronan Kendrick walked to the window, gazing silently outside.

He didn’t know why the sky had suddenly gone black either. Three minutes had passed, and it still hadn’t returned to normal. He looked at Evelyn Ford, his expression grave.

"Get ready to leave."

Evelyn Ford’s hands were trembling, but upon hearing his words, she hurried back to the bedroom. The cabin could be taken with them, as its foundation and structure were a single unit.

Evelyn Ford took out two sets of the largest size thermal wear and hiking boots and gave them to Ronan Kendrick. ’Even though I’ve wanted to ditch him this whole time, now that we’re in a crisis, we need to fight side-by-side.’

Evelyn Ford changed into her own gear, choosing the lightest yet warmest clothes she could. Just as she finished, Ronan Kendrick suddenly threw the door open and rushed in.

"Let’s go."

As he dragged her out of the cabin, Evelyn Ford saw a fireball streak across the pitch-black sky. A deafening BOOM followed, and a flash of fire erupted from the distance.

Evelyn Ford put Mina and Lola into a cloth bag and retracted the cabin as fast as she could. There was no time to pack the smaller items. A second, then a third fireball came crashing down.

"Where are we going?"

"The cave."

Ronan Kendrick took the cloth bag with Mina and Lola inside and slung it over his shoulder. They had just run fifty meters from the yard when a fireball slammed into the spot where the cabin had been. BANG! Flames shot out in all directions.

Evelyn Ford guessed Ronan Kendrick had night vision, so she hadn’t given him her night-vision goggles. But the glare from the explosions was too intense, and a sharp, stinging pain shot through her eyes again.

Tears streamed down her face, but Evelyn Ford made no sound, struggling to keep up as she fled behind Ronan Kendrick.

But a fireball suddenly crashed down in front of them, blocking their path. An ember landed on Evelyn Ford’s clothes, instantly burning a hole through the fabric.

Ronan Kendrick had been running slowly for her sake, but when she stumbled and fell, he hauled her up, threw her onto his back, and sprinted toward the cave at full speed.

Fireballs continued to rain down, the sound of BANG! BANG! BANG! echoing endlessly in her ears.

Evelyn Ford’s eyes wouldn’t stop watering, so she had no choice but to pull out a black cloth and blindfold herself. Then, she clung tightly to Ronan Kendrick’s neck.

Mina and Lola were crying out in terror, but neither Evelyn Ford nor Ronan Kendrick had time to soothe them.

A fireball grazed past them, instantly blasting a crater where they had just been. The nearby fir trees were caught in the blast and immediately burst into flames.

Ronan Kendrick covered the forty-minute trek in just ten minutes. He had just charged into the cave with Evelyn Ford on his back when another fireball crashed down behind them. By now, all of Broken Cloud Mountain was ablaze.

Ronan Kendrick set Evelyn Ford down and saw that her eyes were covered by a black cloth, which was already soaked through with tears.

"Are you okay?"

Evelyn Ford nodded. "I’m fine. What’s the situation now?"

"The fireballs haven’t stopped. We’ll probably have to hide in the cave for a while."

Evelyn Ford started to remove the blindfold, but Ronan Kendrick stopped her. "Don’t. It’s a sea of fire out there. If your eyes are exposed to that glare again, you’ll go blind."

Evelyn Ford clenched her fists. ’No, I can’t go blind.’ She felt for the stone wall, then slowly squatted down and huddled in the corner.

Evelyn Ford pulled a trekking pole from her dimensional space and clutched it tightly. The only sounds that reached her ears were the THUMP-THUMP of the fireballs landing and the roar of the forest fire.

Her eyes still ached, and the tears wouldn’t stop, feeling as if she’d been sprayed with ghost pepper extract. Evelyn Ford bit her lip, forcing herself to endure the pain.

"We should probably head deeper inside."

Ronan Kendrick walked over, lifted Evelyn Ford, and swung her onto his back again. She didn’t say a word, just held on to him tightly. ’I’m a burden right now,’ she thought. ’I can’t slow him down.’

He leaped down a ledge. ’How is he going to cross the stream?’ Evelyn wondered. ’No matter how high he can jump or how fast he can run, he doesn’t have wings. He can’t just fly over the water.’ Afraid he was about to swim for it, she quickly stopped him.

"I have a kayak."

After she deployed the kayak, Ronan Kendrick tossed her into it first. Evelyn Ford didn’t waste time being delicate; she quickly righted herself and sat up straight. A moment later, the cloth bag was tossed into her lap. Curled up inside, Mina and Lola recognized her scent and began to mewl softly.

"Shh, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid."

Evelyn Ford stroked their heads. She did her best to calm herself before using the gentlest voice she could muster to soothe the two little creatures.

Ronan Kendrick sat in the front. He picked up the two paddles, told Evelyn Ford to hold on tight, and the kayak pushed off.

The kayak had only traveled a short distance when a tremendous crash echoed from the cave entrance, and a jet of fire shot in after them.