Playing With Fire (19 page)

Yuki
and I stared wide-eyed at the little woman, but Siren didn’t move a muscle. Madam
Gale let out a relieved sigh and turned towards us with an unfocused gaze and a
small smile. For a second I really believed that it could have been that easy. I
really should stop believing silly things like that.

An
outstretched arm shot out of the veil of black fire and grabbed hold of Madam
Gale’s ankle, dragging her to the ground so suddenly, no one could react.

“Save
them!” Madam gale shrieked as she was sucked into the portal, and Siren responded
immediately. Grabbing hold of Yuki and me, Siren charged out of the small
house. Despite the extra weight of us staggering behind her, she moved like the
wind, trying to get away from the hut as fast as possible. I looked back at the
small hut, which was now flickering out of sight. Then, right before my eyes,
it was devoured by ravenous black flames.

“Move!”
Siren barked at me, snapping me out of my trance. I was running as fast as I
could, but I still struggled to keep up with Siren. Out of the corners of my
eyes, I could see the black fire begin to consume the forest around us, setting
anything that couldn’t move fast enough ablaze. Whatever it touched burst into
hungry reddish orange flames that ate up everything around it, but never into
other black flames. My eyes darted back at the black fire, giving in to the
temptation of curiosity. It growled at me like a starving lion, and I was its
next meal. I was already thinking I made the wrong move when I saw it, but my
stupidity was proven when I stumbled. An exposed tree root caught my foot, and
I fell to the ground with the black fire racing towards me. Instinctively, I
threw my hands up over me, sending my own blistering fire up like a shield. The
black fire rammed into my shield of flame like an angry bull, shoving my shield
back a bit. Being driven on pure adrenaline and fear, I forced my shield back
at the opposing force.

For
the first time in my life, I had to use physical strength to keep my fire from
being over whelmed. Struggling to fight back, I got up to my knees, slowing
making my way back to my feet. The harder back I pushed, the stronger the black
flames seemed to get. My arms were screaming in pain as I dug my heels into the
ground. An ear-piercing cry of victory rang through the air as the black fire rammed
more intensely, making me skid backwards. I gritted my teeth, trying to force
it back. The chains that laced my body began to burn as I pushed myself harder.

“Scarlet,
get out of there now!” Siren screamed from behind. I ignored her. With one
desperate last attempt, I used the last of my strength. I thrust my shield of
fire, and it exploded into brilliant white hot flames, devouring the black
flames. Not even trying to see if it succeeded, I fell to my knees exhausted
while red hot flames began to grow around me. A flaming tree branch fell next
to me, but I didn’t care. Normal fire like this couldn’t kill me. Embers
littered the air and smoke began burning my eyes and lungs. Strong fuzzy jaws
grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me up into the air. A small and
delicate arm grabbed me around the waist and placed me on the back of a furry
beast. I laced my arms around Yuki’s massive wolf neck buried my face in her
dark warm fur.

With
incredible precision and grace, Yuki raced through the burning forest, dodging
flaming trees and falling branches alike. Cutting through a thick sheet of
smoke, Yuki burst through the flaming forest and into the fresh open air of the
camp. Panicked children scurried around while their parents and other members
of the camp tried to get them away from the burning forest. No one made an
effort to quench the flames, even when the nearest tents began to catch fire.
They could all see that it was a losing fight.

People
frantically took their few possessions from their tents and helped others with
children, elders and saving the armory. Frightened horses whined and reeled as
their masters tried to keep them calm and steer them away from the fire. No one
even noticed the giant wolf carrying me and a small psycho path girl out of the
flames.

“Scarlet!”
I lifted my eyes up to see Jake running towards us through the confusion. My
consciousness fading, I shifted my eyes toward the blue sky. Like night
descends on the day, the sun began to fade behind the thick smoke drifting from
the forest fire. Strong arms took ahold of me as I watched the sky being devoured.
The shouts and screams began to sound farther and farther away from me as the
corners of my vision began to blacken.

“What
happened to you?” Jake’s voice sounded like it was at the far side of a tunnel.
“How did this happen to her!”

My
head was forced to look upon my brother’s burn slashed face. His lips moved
frantically, but no sound came from them. Jake cradled me in his arms, holding
me as if he were protecting me from a pack of wild dogs. A faint ringing began
to buzz in my ears until it was all I could hear.

Then,
all at once, my ears exploded with the sound of the chaos and confusion all
around. Terrified screams and people frantically barking orders drowned out the
sound of Jake’s pounding heart as he raced me through the crowd. I felt like I
was rudely woken up from a dream that felt all too real, and for a second I
didn’t know where I was at all.

“Jake,”
I said in a groggy voice. Jake immediately stopped and looked at me in relief.

“I’m
here, Scarlet,” he cooed with a big smile and slight tears. “Are you okay?”

“I’m
fine,” I said with a weak grin. It was typical Jake. The world was on fire
around him and his number one concern was his baby sister. “You can put me down
now.” I stumbled on my first step, but I ignored Jake’s fearful guiding arms.
For a second I thought I would be fine, but sadly, life just hates me.

One
sound stuck out from all the rest in that mass chaos Jake and I were caught in
the middle of, and it was one I wish I hadn’t heard. A dark, satisfied
chuckling reached my ears from behind, and my heart almost stopped. As I
turned, time seemed to slow down. There, leaning against a tent pole very
casually with murderous grey eyes was Velkire. He smiled at me mockingly, and
he had a look that said he was ten steps ahead of me.

“I’m
coming for you,” his singsong words sounded like silver bells. He said them it
if he were playing hide and seek with a child, but they cut like a knife. My
breath caught in my throat, and all I could do was stare at him in complete
horror. “Until then.”

A
child ran past him, and he was gone. My knees buckled, and before I even hit
the ground, I was out.

When
you wake up with people standing over you with looks of disappointment, you
know you screwed up big time—especially when one of those people is a scary
looking king. I cringed and shut my eyes again, pretending I never opened them
in the first place. It didn’t work.

“Get
up Scarlet, we’re leaving,” the king’s scruffy voice was so deep that it scared
me.

“Yes,
sir,” I squeaked and got to me feet, but embarrassingly did not open my eyes. I
cracked them open to see Kyra looking at me with sadly. Confused, I searched
around myself to find a barren, fire bitten waste land. Blackened stumps of
dead trees littered the landscape, accompanied by a thin layer of smoke still
rising up from the embers. A long line of wagons were already moving along a
dust bitten road that was now lined with poorly made graves. As I looked around
I saw only heartbroken people trying not to look at the graves.

“There
were no human casualties,” the king said. “But every creature in the camp that
depended on that forest died with it.”

Reality
was staring me dead in the face, but I couldn’t comprehend it. As I looked
around, there were no creatures that defied rationality. No green-skinned women
scurried around tending to the weeping children. I realized who the graves were
for. Every nymph that had taken in the rebel camp was now dead. And it was all
because of me. No one would look at me directly, but I could feel their icy
auras piercing me like daggers. These once very warm and caring people who had
taken me in now despised me. I not only destroyed their home, I also took the
lives of their innocent allies. Horrible truth pierced my mind and I fell to my
knees with tears welling up in my eyes.

The
king left me without saying another word. I desired for the tears to fall down
my face, so I could at least feel something, but they never spilled over. I
felt completely empty all except for one emotion: hatred. I hated myself. I
hated what I had done. I hated my very existence. And above all, I hated my
gift. I despised my so called mother Aru for giving me the gift. It was not a
blessing, it was a curse. It does not help, it hurts. First I had hurt Jake as
an infant, then I put my family in danger, and finally I killed innocent
creatures.

“Come
on, Scarlet,” Kyra croaked with a broken voice. “It’s not safe here anymore.”

‘Safe?’
I thought to myself.
‘Anywhere I am isn’t safe…’

~

The
next three days were a blur. I was treated as an outcast by almost everyone.
Only Yuki and Siren stayed by my side, but none of us exchanged any words.
During the night I slept on the cold ground while others slept in the wagons. I
would catch sight of Vaze occasionally in one of the wagons, but I never
acknowledged him. Other than Yuki, Siren, Kyra and my brothers, Vaze was the
only one who didn’t give of a cold icy vibe towards me. Whenever I did catch
sight of him he was always looking at me with compassion and regret. I didn’t
care.

On
the third night, I sat a farther distance away from the rest of the rebels than
usual. We had stopped in a quaint wood for the night. People were already
getting into bed. Dying flames casted long shadows across the trees, and they
danced together in the moon light. Yuki, in the form of a wolf, was already
fast asleep curled up by a tree. Siren used her as a pillow. Tough tree bark
scratched my back as I tried to shift my position on the tree, but I ignored
it. The silver glow of a crescent moon lit up the night sky with the help of a
million dazzling little stars. It was beautiful, but I couldn’t help but see it
as a mocking smile.

“Scarlet,
you awake?” I turned my eyes to find Al walking towards me. When he saw that I
was he quickly came to my side with a bundle in his arms.

“May
I sit with you?” Al’s eyes were full of concern. I turned my head away from him
and rested it on my knees. Al sat down anyway.

“I
can see why you chose this spot,” Al said while admiring the sky. “It looks
just like how the sky looked when we would camp out on top of the Warehouse,
doesn’t it?” He looked to me with a smile on his face, expecting
acknowledgement. He didn’t get any. “Those were some good times we had, huh,
Scarlet? We were just kids then. We used to be so close. We haven’t spent any
time together since we left, have we?” I sighed in response. Al looked back up
at the sky.

“Yeah,
we had a lot of fun when we were little,” he said. “But it wasn’t just good
stuff, remember? I would get picked on by that group of boys because I tried to
stop them from beating up an old dog one time. They would always try to beat me
up, but you always stepped in with Darren or Seth and taught them a lesson. I
would cry because I was scared they were going to hurt me really badly, and you
would always nag me saying no one is going to hurt me while you were around.” I
chuckled at the thought. Al was lying. He did cry, but not because he was
scared he would get hurt. It was because he did get hurt. He had always returned
home beat up because he tried to stand up for himself and whenever I asked
about it he would lie and say nothing happened. But I caught him one day while
he was getting beat up. He took it without a sound until they left. That was
the only time I saw him cry over that.

I
lifted my head and looked at my brother. He wasn’t that little kid anymore. As
he gazed up at the stars I saw a completely different person. His hair had
grown considerably, and it now reached his shoulders. His babyish features were
gone. His jaw was set strongly, and his shoulders were broader. He wasn’t as
scrawny as I remembered either. I could distinctly see finely built muscle even
through his loose tunic. But the biggest change was his eyes. They were much
older. The childish laughter that used to dance inside them had subsided and
was replaced by a burden I couldn’t quite place. It scared me how much he
changed. There was no doubt in my mind. The boy who sat with me now and the boy
who left Laetus at the beginning of our journey were two completely different
people. Al looked at me with a half-smile on his face. 

 “I
guess things have changed quite a bit, huh?” he said. “You don’t have to
protect me anymore.” I smiled and hit his arm.

“Nah,
are you kidding me?” I joked. “If I don’t go around protecting you, what am I
supposed to do all day? You can’t expect me to set
everything
on fire
and be happy with it.” Al laughed.

“That’s
true I guess,” he said. “If I left you alone for more than a day there wouldn’t
be anything left to protect me from.”

I
shook my head and chuckled. It was typical Al. He always found a way to make me
laugh, even in my worst depressions. Al grabbed the bundle from the ground and
began to unravel it.

“Aren’t
you cold?” he asked, handing me a blanket from the bundle. “You’ve spent three
days sleeping in ripped clothes after all.” I shook my head but Al wrapped it
over my shoulders anyway. Sighing, Al looked over to Siren and Yuki.

“We
always seem to attract the strangest company, don’t we?” he said only half to
me. I looked at the small psycho child Siren and nodded. Compared to her, Yuki
was completely normal.

“Are
you going to go back to bed Al?” I asked. He shook his head.

“You
seem lonely out here by yourself,” he replied. “I’m not going to let my only
sister’s company be a half Blood Wolf and a Guardian.”

I
shook my head grinning and punched his arm jokingly. I hadn’t realized it until
then, but I missed spending time with my brother. Yawning, I curled up next to
him. The rest of the time we were awake we spent staring at the stars. We
pointed out the constellations we knew and made up names for the ones we
didn’t. For the first time since we left Laetus, I was happy. Spending time
with my closest brother helped me out of depression, at least for a little
while. For a second I thought I could deal with the icy emotions the rebel camp
sent towards me, and maybe even deal with my own hate filled emotions towards
myself. Those were reassuring thoughts, and for the first time in a while sleep
opened its loving arms to me with gentle kindness.

I
should have known that perfect little oasis would crash down on me.

~

“Scarlet,”
a soft voice whispered into my ear. I drowsily opened my eyes a crack, but
seeing nothing, I dismissed it as my imagination and closed them again.

“Scarlet,”
the voice whispered again. This time a delicate hand brushed past my cheek. I
opened my eyes again, but once again let them close.

“Scarlet!”
a new voice hissed it in my ear as if it were poison on the bearer’s tongue. A
strong hand clasped around my mouth and immediately I jolted awake. I tried to
scream, but all that came out was a desperate squeak. The touch of ice cold
metal lightly pierced my neck, causing me to shrink away. Wide eyed and scared
to death, I looked the only way I could, which was in front of me. The second
my vision focused I wished I was still asleep—or better yet, dead.

Standing
there in front of me with his usual ‘I-have-fun-watching-you-writhe-in-pain’
smile was Velkire. My heart froze in my chest. For a second, I forgot how to
breathe.

“Hello
again,” Velkire said with his beautiful, yet mocking voice. “Did you miss me?”
I couldn’t speak, partly because there was a hand over my mouth and partly
because I was scared out of my mind.

“Master,
it would be so much easier to just kill her now,” a deep raspy voice that I
knew all too well hissed next to my ear. Enzio pressed the flat of his dagger
harder on my neck with a bloodlust that shaped him entirely.

“Come
now, Enzio,” Velkire said jokingly. “You know the easy way bores me. Scarlet
has been so entertaining, it would be a shame if she died now.” Childish
laughter danced in his murderous grey eyes as he smiled at me.

“Mmphm
fmm!” I swore at Velkire through Enzio’s hand. In response, Velkire laughed.

“You’re
so funny when you’re frightened!” Velkire exclaimed with glee. “I can already
tell it’s going to be fun having you around. Let her speak Enzio.”  Enzio took
his hand away from my mouth but he held tight onto me.

“I’ll
give you three seconds to get the hell out of here before I burn you to a
crisp!” I hissed at them. Velkire’s eyes danced as his face lit up. Enzio
chuckled darkly in my ear.

“Oh
don’t worry, we are leaving soon. But we won’t be leaving alone,” Velkire
chuckled.

“What
are you talking about?” I growled. I really hoped I looked as menacing as I was
scared.

“I
mean, you’re coming with us,” Velkire said smiling.

“Yeah
sure, when I’m dead maybe,” I scoffed at him. Enzio laughed in his deep, raspy
voice again.

“That
can be arranged,” he purred. Despite the rags wrapped around his head, I could
tell he was smiling behind me. Chills went down my spine.

“Now,
now Enzio,” Velkire said. “That would be such a waste if we killed her. She’s
been doing so well! She even overpowered the Hell’s Flames.” Velkire placed his
attention back on to me. “Scarlet, I want you to come join me.”

“You
know, there’s a little thing about life, you don’t always get what you want,” I
replied. “You’ve been trying to kill me since I was a baby. And you’ve tried to
kill my brothers too. What makes you think I’ll come with you on my own free
will?” Velkire shook his head.

“I
would
never
kill you,” Velkire said. I could tell he was lying through
his teeth, but he was a good actor. “I was testing you, and you’ve passed every
one of them! I’m giving you the option to end all this. What do you say?” I
paused for a moment and acted like I was deep in thought. With a fake sigh, I
looked back up at Velkire.

“I
say, you can take your offer, and go shove it back up your butt with all the
other crap you pull!” Enzio growled and pressed the dagger harder on my neck,
drawing a small driblet of ruby red blood. Velkire only laughed.

“I
thought you might say something like that, and that’s fine,” Velkire chimed.
“You can choose to stay here.” That left me dumbstruck.

“Really?”
I said after a short pause.

“Why
yes, of course!” Velkire said with a slight twinge of sick humor. “However,
every choice in this world has a consequence. Enzio let her go.”

Enzio
did as he was told and I immediately scrambled away from them, a wall of fire
separating us. Velkire laughed again. I was really starting to hate when he
laughed.

“Before
you make your decision, you should at least know that it won’t be a free one,”
Velkire said. “I have a set price already in mind.”

“What
is it?” I asked, lowering my wall of flames enough to see his face. Velkire
smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“Just
watch,” he replied deviously. Then something I didn’t expect happened. Velkire
remained the same, all except for his eyes. His glowing grey eyes began to turn
red, and his shadow began to expand behind him. He smiled at me and revealed
sharp white teeth that were identical to the demon girl’s. Mesmerized, I lost
concentration on my fire, and it dissipated.

“Oh,
don’t give up on me now,” Velkire said in a new demonic voice. “You haven’t
even seen the best part yet.”