Playing With Fire

by Jordan Mendez

  The other creature caught on faster, because it turned from its prey and dashed to the aid of its partner. It would have made it and probably killed me if it had been a second quicker. But I guess I’m just lucky that way.

  In the blink of an eye a small inferno engulfed me and the two creatures, illuminating the night, making my own personal daytime. The funny part is I felt completely fine. Not even my clothes were being singed. Five short seconds later I released my tiny sun and the burnt body of my attacker fell to the ground while another lay in front of me. Regaining my breath, I released the smoking dagger and let it fall to the ground as I surveyed my handy work. And then, as if waiting to piss me off, my shoulder flared in pain again.

  I clutched it tightly to try and slow the bleeding and fell to one knee. I lifted my blood soaked hand to see the damage. My coat and white button up shirt were stained crimson. The rusty smell of blood made me slightly dizzy. Through the teeth marks in my jacket I could see a bit of the damage that was done. It was only a flesh wound, but it would slow me down if I didn’t do something. I really hate having to treat my wounds myself, partly because it’s painful and partly because I do it completely wrong. I can get burned if I want to, but using it to treat wounds is extremely stupid and dangerous. Carefully easing my jacket off my shoulder I hesitantly shifted part of my shirt to be able to see the full wound. A bloody mess of gnarled flesh traced teeth marks, but it wasn’t too deep. Flames traced my hand as I pressed it to my shoulder again, and I sucked in a pained breath as my wound burned shut. The cold night air stung my skin almost as bad as the flames did, so I hurriedly put my long jacket back on.

  I got back up to my feet and brushed the ashes off my clothes. I only remembered the boy who’d got me into this when I had the feeling I was being watched. I shot my gaze up to find the boy staring at me wide eyed with his mouth gaping.

  “What?” I asked slow wittedly. He just stared at me more and I started to get annoyed. “What are you, a pervert? It’s rude to gawk at ladies you know!”

  “How did you do that?” he asked unaware that I had just insulted him. I rolled my eyes.

  “Why do people always ask that? Does no one say thank you anymore?” I replied sarcastically.

  “I’m sorry, thank you,” he replied back and then added quickly, “My name is Vaze. It’s nice to meet you.” This guy did not get sarcasm at all. I scoffed at his stupidity.

  “You’re pretty thick aren’t you? Whatever, my name is Scarlet,” I returned in an ‘I really couldn’t care less’ tone. “So what were those things anyway?”

  “They’re called Shadows,” Vaze said with his tone suddenly getting dark. Vaze opened his mouth to say more but was disrupted by an unexpected guest.

  “You aren’t really the smartest kid around, are you Vaze?” a deep raspy voice sounded from behind us that scared me more than the creatures had. Vaze and I whipped around simultaneously to find a man around the age of twenty-five leaning against a tree. He had long black hair that went past his shoulders, and his face was covered with tattered red scarves that only revealed blood red eyes. His clothes were as black as Vaze’s but were lined blood red with a torn cape hanging off his shoulders to match his ripped clothes. The only thing that was in perfect condition was his coal black gloves.

  “You should have killed this girl and continued running; you’re much too soft to be a prince,” his voice sent chills down my spine, every part of me was screaming to run and never stop, but fear was holding me in place. He stood up straight and started walking towards us. Vaze reacted first, which unfortunately freaked me out.

  Out of nowhere Vaze grabbed me around my waist and enormous, black, bat like wings burst from his back ripping off his cape and a good amount of his shirt. The first thing that came into my mind was how did I miss that? But that was all I got to think before we were airborne. We almost made it too.

  I looked back down for the man but he wasn’t there. “Where’d he go?” I asked, hoping the fear stayed out of my voice. Vaze was about to answer when my question answered itself. Vaze let out a pained cry as a knife made of black metal stabbed through one of his wings, sending us hurtling to the ground and giving me a look at our attacker. He was free falling straight towards us with his demonic red eyes blazing and black daggers in both hands.

  I did just about the only thing I could do. Besides scream that is. A giant veil made of fire erupted midair between us and him, and apparently he hadn’t seen how the Shadows had died because he looked pretty surprised. It lasted about as long as the fall did, five seconds. Vaze had lost his grip on me, but not far enough from the ground so that I could save us both. I had enough time and momentum to flip myself over and land on a tree branch, but Vaze had less luck.

  With a loud thud, he crashed into a stubby bush and laid motionless all except for painful gasps of air that was accompanied by attempts to move a shredded wing. An earth shattering crash blasted my eardrums from behind.

  Fear screamed at me to run, but stupidity told me to turn around and look. If something like that ever happens to you, listen to fear. I jerked my head around sharply, only to find our attacker. He stood up slowly and brushed ashes and wisps of smoke off of his clothes. His deathly gaze fixed itself on Vaze, who was still trying desperately to find means of escape.

  I was in the center of both of them. I could see our attacker but it was impossible for him to see me because of where I was hiding. It was one of those situations where you know you have two choices but only smart people chose the right choice of saving their own lives. Unfortunately for me, I’m not one of those people.

  I jumped from my last chance to get away to the cold hard ground to face what was most likely the last time I would fight. I was terrified beyond belief, and would have run if my feet would have let me. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins, giving me that extra strength I needed to meet the man’s blood red eyes.

  “You’re brave for someone so young, but incredibly dim witted as well.” Just the sound of his voice seemed to kill all life around us. “I would have let you escape if only you had run when you had the chance. I need to kill the prince, not a petty illusionist.” Confusion replaced fear in a matter of seconds, leaving me with my comforting stupidity.

  “Illusionist?” I repeated with a dumb look on my face. I should have been terrified, but the fact someone called my fire an illusion puzzled me, half because no one have ever called it that and half because I didn’t know what an illusionist was.

  “Don’t play games with me pipsqueak, I’ve killed many illusionist who’ve used the same trick and posing as Aru’s Legacy has become cliché.” His voice would have put me over the edge of fear if he hadn’t said the taboo word in my family. All fear that had been left in me dissipated and anger ignited my eyes. The last person who called me pipsqueak lost any chances of having a family. One dumb idea leads to another, and in my case dumb ideas are deadly. But then again, NO ONE calls me pipsqueak and gets away with it.

  In the blink of an eye a tiny spark on my arm exploded into flames, giving me a weapon better than any blade that I have used.

  “Say that again and I guarantee you’re not going to walk away alive,” I knew deep down I could never pull that off, but the fierce tone in my voice fooled me into thinking I could.

  The man laughed and his red eyes seemed to glow. “Fine then, if you wish to die I shall be happy to grant your wish.” Black daggers shot from his wrists and before I could wonder where they came from he was gone.

  “You have no idea how easy you’re making this,” the man’s voice chimed from behind me, but before I could react, pain shot through my arm past my flames. I let out a howl and snatched my injury, and in the process let my flames rage even brighter and deadlier than before. Hot blood seeped through my fingers acquainted by the touch of ice cold metal.

  At almost the same time, another cry of pain rang through the night. I jerked my head over my shoulder and found my attacker clutching a charred hand.


  “It’s not possible! I hunted down that servant and killed that cursed infant ages ago!”

  It was sickening just looking at the damage my fire had done to his hand. The glove that had been there was gone without a trace, and revealed a sooty black-blistered mess that was now his hand. “You’re going to pay for this you little brat!” The man’s eyes flared with intense anger and hatred as he shot towards me with a dagger in his good hand.

  Time slowed down as I stared with wide eyes at what I was picturing as death. Vaze’s far off voice was screaming run once again, but it couldn’t process into my mind. I was utterly paralyzed. The pain in my shoulder disappeared, along with all other senses. I’ve never been a smart person, but man was I lucky!

  “Your times up, Enzio,” a man’s voice hummed through the air like silver bells, alleviating fear from my mind. The man stopped dead in his tracks and horrified terror flooded his eyes.

  “No! I’m so close master! Just a little longer, please!” my attacker pleaded to the invisible guest.

  “No exceptions my friend, we had a deal, and it came with penalties.”

  The man with the chard hand fell to his knees and let out a cry of agony as he clawed at his face. “No! More time please give me more time!”

  Black flames suddenly engulfed him and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. All I could do was stare blankly at where my attacker used to be, only a few feet away. A sharp pain in my shoulder brought me back to reality and I winced. I turned my head to observe the damage that was done to my shoulder. A small jet black dagger was sticking out of the wound, and seemed to radiate pure evil. I quickly removed it along with my coat, which I ripped to cover my wound. There was no way I was going to fix my own wounds the same way twice in one night.

  Sharp, pained gasps from behind reminded me why I did something so stupid. I turned my gaze to find Vaze struggling to get to his feet while clutching his rib cage and harboring one broken wing sagging along close to the ground.

  “You have some serious explaining to do you jerk!” I screamed at him. He lifted his eyes to mine and I got an expression that I hadn’t expected: regret and pleading apology. He tried to speak, but pain in his ribs caused him to clutch them tightly. My anger melted away and was replaced with a sudden worry, though I couldn’t place why I cared.

  I grabbed his arm and slung it over my shoulder to give him extra support. “Come on, I’m going to get you help.” I searched around frantically for a sign of Al. I didn’t need much help to get Vaze home, but it would have calmed down my nerves to have a familiar face.

  “Al!” I called out hoping it wasn’t in vain. “You win this time, so come out!” I waited with only the sound of Vaze’s pained breaths and my rapidly beating heart. As I was about to give up hope, a faraway voice echoed through the lonely forest. “You swear?”

  A relieved smile snuck its way onto my lips as I let out a sigh of relief. Though it hadn’t crossed my mind until the end of my fight it had never occurred to me that the Shadows might have found Al before me and Vaze.

  “Yes Al, you win this time now come out,” I said in a much calmer tone. Faster than I expected, my brother came trotting out of the thick trees and into the mini clearing with a grin painted across his face, which disappeared the second he saw Vaze and me. Al blinked in disbelief and rubbed his eyes frantically. When his eyes met mine again his face went clammy and pale like it always does when he’s worried and frightened at the same time.

  “What happened?” Al managed to ask as his voice cracked, which it does at the worst times, sadly when I can’t laugh about it.

  “It’s a long story, but first we need Seth,” I said seriously. Al nodded, understanding that Vaze and I were in bad condition, and most likely couldn’t go on too long without first aid.

  “He’s at the old Bookworm’s shop as always,” he replied. I let out a groan of aggravation. The old Bookworm and I didn’t get along exactly. Or rather, I didn’t try to get along with him under any circumstances. Al and Seth are the only ones in my family who can go about the streets of Laetus without drawing attention or causing trouble. Darren has trouble with guards, and I usually always have unfinished business with punks who cross me. Jake’s only problem is his scar and wearing a dingy cloak during the day doesn’t exactly scream invisible man.

  I looked up to the sky. Dark clouds were gathering fast, and I knew we wouldn’t stay dry the whole way to the Bookworm’s shop in Laetus. The only good thing would be that hardly any one besides drunks were up at this time, so at the very least there would be silence unless broken by a drunk man’s off-key singing.

  Chapter Two

  Rain drops rapped on the hard rock shingles of the houses and buildings we passed, and gathered in giant puddles on the stone roads. The warm glows of fireplaces and happy families whizzed by us as we raced across the streets, slower than I would have liked because both Al and I had to support Vaze. My brown hair turned black and damp while it stuck to my wet face and there was literally no part of me that was dry.

  Vaze’s breathing was shallow and forced though slowly getting better, but his injured wing was about to be dragged along the cold hard ground. I hadn’t gotten a good look at his wings before, but now that I had, I wished that I hadn’t. At first his wings were like the wings of a bat, but closer up they resembled wings of black dragons did in illustrated books. They were like black leather stretched over flesh and bone, much like demon’s wings.

  Despite the fact I was terrified by his demonic wings, I also found them strangely mystifying, like a beautiful nightmare, if such a thing is possible. And even though they could have been demon wings, I sensed no evil from them, or him. In fact, if I dare say it, I found his presence calming and reassuring now that he didn’t have a knife to my throat.

  It didn’t take long before we were in front of a dingy old book store in dire need of a new ‘closed’ sign. I peered through the yellowish glazed window and saw towering book cases filled to the brim. They weren’t what I was looking for. The bright warm glow of a fire-place towards the back of the shop was what I was really interested in. Without bothering to knock I yanked the door open and strode in, while my brother supporting Vaze followed me as silently as if he were my shadow.

  Book-cases loomed over us as I navigated my way through the maze-like walkways. It was like the old bookworm actually liked giving his customers and visitors a hard time finding their way to the door or right shelf. But unlike a customer, I was familiar with the store from coming so many times with Seth when I was younger and it was his turn to watch me. I hadn’t come in years, but I knew my way around as if it were yesterday.

  Within minutes I stood before a roaring fireplace with two comfy chairs perched in front of it. A boy around the age of sixteen sat in one of the chairs. He had intelligent and curious fig green eyes when he glanced up at me, only to bore immediately back into his book again with one olive skinned had gripping his chin. In the light his eyes had turned purple almost, but this color trick was not new to me. Random strands of ashy blackish brown hair fell in front of his face, but he ignored them like nothing was real in the world except for the book he held.

  I didn’t really like disturbing Seth when he was reading, but this was one of those emergency times where I couldn’t do anything about it. I strode over and yanked the book from his hands, which was just about the only way to get his attention when he was reading. His green eyes grew wide as if his brain had just turned off, which it probably had. Seth was the type of person where when he reads he actually puts himself in the book and forgets there was ever another world except for the one he chose to put himself in.

  After his book shock was gone he looked up at me with a stern look. It melted away when his eyes found my blood stained shoulder which I assumed had covered about half of my favorite (and only) white shirt by that time.

  “What happened?” He asked calmly though I knew he was freaking out on the inside.

  I rolled my eyes and put my hands on m
y hips, as if it was nothing. I’d come home with broken bones, small wounds, and the occasional fist full of my enemies’ hair, but nothing compared to this.

  “Does it really matter?” I replied cheerfully. “Besides, the real problem is him.” I pointed my good arm at Al and Vaze. Seth peered over the chair and his eyes widened. Whether it was because Vaze looked worse than I did or because of Vaze’s wings I didn’t know, but whatever it was caused Seth to take command of the situation.

  Seth burst up from his seat and started barking commands.

  “Scarlet, get the guy into a chair and do your best to spread out that wing.” Seth searched by a nearby register counter frantically. “Al, go get Mr. Hale and Jake. They’re both upstairs with Darren.”

  Al nodded and trotted up the stairs to the far corner of the room by a boarded up back door. Seth left but I could hear him shuffling through the contents of the counter on the other side of the room as I helped Vaze over to a chair. Vaze struggled as I lowered him into the seat and let out a pained breath.

  “You could have ran,” he managed to croak. “Why didn’t you?” His question made me stop and think. I wasn’t the type of person to just do nice things for people I didn’t even know. I decided to answer with a question of my own.

  “Why didn’t you?” I replied.

  Vaze let out a chuckle, and immediately grasped his torso and clenched his teeth.

  “I’ll tell you some other time if we get the chance,” he said and before I could reply, Seth came back with gauze, a needle and quite a bit of very fine thread. Remembering my earlier commands I yanked Vaze’s damaged wing so that it was spread out, which wasn’t the best idea, because he screamed in pain and his face went pale. Seth grabbed my arms before I could do more damage and made me sit down on the other chair.