Playing With Fire

by Jordan Mendez

  “I’m fine,” I managed to say while wiping away my tears. “I just had a nightmare.”

  “Oh,” Alastair said uneasily. Retreating away from me, he hopped over back to the door and pushed in a small cart with a silver dish on top. It squeaked as he rolled it over the carpet. The smell of freshly cooked food made its way to my nostrils and my stomach growled in response. Alastair laughed. It was a surprising sound to hear from him, and his laughter sounded sweet like a mockingbird’s song.

  “Is that a stomach or a rabid dog underneath your dress?” Alastair joked as he brought the food to me. Alastair removed the lid to reveal food that looked so delicious I almost jumped on top of it. In the center was a small amount of golden tinged pork, accompanied by a loaf of bread so fresh steam was still coming off of it. To the side was a warm bowl of broth that looked as if it were manna from heaven.

  “I didn’t know what your stomach could handle right now, so I made you some soup on the side if the main course is too much,” Alastair said while discarding the lid.

  “It all looks so good,” I almost wept with joy. Alastair beamed with pride.

  “As it rightfully should,” he said with a hint of cockiness. “I made it myself, all from kitchen scraps. Tell me what you think.” He edged the cart closer to me and handed me a fork. I took it eagerly, as my mouth watered. I stabbed a piece of the pork and brought it to my lips. The smell was intoxicating, but I stopped before I took a bite. My stomach growled in protest, as if my action was mocking it. Half of my mind agreed with my stomach, but the cautious part of my mind refused to give in.

  “How do I know it’s not poisoned?” I questioned. Alastair smirked at me.

  “Trust me, if I wanted you dead I could have done it while you were sleeping,” he said. “You can trust me.” Still seeing doubt in my eyes, Alastair took my fork from me and ate the piece of pork I had chosen.

  “Still don’t believe me?” he asked while chewing. I snatched the fork back while never taking my eyes off him. Hesitantly, I took a bite of the pork. Taken completely by surprise, I let out a little moan. The pork practically melted in my mouth as the flavor took over my senses. Alastair laughed. He waited patiently as I wolfed down the rest of the meal. It was the most delicious meal I had ever had in my entire life. Finishing of the very last crumb I rested my eyes and sighed.

  “I’m guessing you liked it?” Alastair joked. I nodded, keeping my eyes closed. Alastair chuckled.

  “Well don’t get used to it,” he said. “I didn’t get this treatment when I first came here and I am not going to give it to you from now on. This was just a welcome gift that Velkire requested I serve you. You’re going to have to learn how to get your own food from now on, and whatever you do, do not accept food that you have not prepared yourself. Trust me, you’ll regret it.”

  I honestly only half heard what he had said, but I nodded anyway. I didn’t really care. I savored my full stomach, and told myself if it was my last, I’d be satisfied. I didn’t realize how much I would disagree with myself later.

  Chapter Fourteen

  They left in the dead of night without telling a soul. No one noticed as the six left the camp and that was the way they wanted it. If anyone asked where they all went, the king knew he had to lie to them. No one was happy with Scarlet at the time, and if they found out the prince and Kyra had gone to save her with four able bodied volunteers, they’d think he’d gone soft. Of course, the camp would be glad the Blood Wolf girl had decided to go with the original five because she made everyone uneasy, but to lose their beloved prince once again would break their hearts. The only ones who’d be heartbroken over the boy Al going were his three older brothers. However, the king had to admit it would be a shame to lose such a noble boy. There weren’t enough boys like him, and the king thought Al had a heart of gold that could match an angel’s. He knew he’d never forgive himself for what he had done.

  Al himself was unsure of his choice. It wasn’t that he was afraid he might die or fail. Al was afraid he’d be a burden to the rest. Everyone on the mission had strengths—even the newest member Yuki, who could become a deadly Blood Wolf, wouldn’t be a burden. But all Al could do was cast spells from a little worn out book his master had given him. They weren’t even legitimate spells. According to Gidian, he was using his Guardian’s power and channeling it through his body. Knowing this, Al wished with all his heart he had the gift of the Sight. He wished he could know his Guardian like Scarlet knew hers. It pained him to take so much from his Guardian and not even know his or her name. He thought more and more about what he would say if he ever had the chance to meet his Guardian while hugging the wall of the cart in attempts to survive Kyra’s driving.

  From the other side of the cart, Vaze stared at Al in disbelief.

  What Al had done was crazy, even to Vaze. And yet at the same time, he could relate. Losing someone you loved was unbearable, and if there was a chance to save them, who wouldn’t do anything? Vaze closed his eyes and thought about the two people he had lost while he was young. He never forgave himself for not trying to save them although he was probably too young do anything. When he opened his eyes again what he saw before him change. It didn’t surprise Vaze. When he was younger it scared him, but he had gotten used to seeing it over the years. Sitting next to Al in the cart was a tall blonde woman with a flowing white gown and a golden breastplate. Her face was covered by a mask that looked almost as if it were a part of her long flowing hair. Her fingers were wrapped around a large hilt of a long sword that Vaze could have guessed to be as long as he was tall. The beautiful woman shined like a fallen star and illuminated the night as she stroked a hand through Al’s hair. She must have considered Al to be her child, since she had taken care of him since he was born. And on top of that, he probably had no living mother of his own, making the Guardian’s bond with him so much stronger. Only Vaze could see her however, so the Guardian could not truly be a mother to Al.

  As he looked around, everyone except Siren and himself had a loving Guardian with them. Kyra’s resembled a man with a lion’s head and he beamed with pride every time he saw the ferocity and valor in her eyes. Yuki’s Guardian stood protectively around her, and took the form of a mighty, dazzling white wolf that matched the size of a Blood Wolf, but with the grace of a feline. It rested its head on Yuki’s shoulder in affection and closed its eyes, as if its favorite place in the world was where ever she was. Gidian’s Guardian latched its arms around Gidian’s neck and played with his hair. The little Guardian had the playfulness of a child, but the appearance of a small monkey. Seeing everyone else’s Guardian filled Vaze with longing. He looked all around, but there was no Guardian Vaze could call his own. He had had one, but that was a long time ago. He would never see the golden eyes he missed so much, nor would he ever hear his Guardian’s deep voice again. No, his Guardian left him that night. His Guardian left him the night Vaze ran away.

  Gidian could feel a very tense atmosphere about the group. And it wasn’t just because of Kyra’s driving either, though even he had to admit it was terrifying. Everyone there was brought together by a single bond to the girl. Even Gidian had a bond to her, though it was more attached to her parents than she herself. Al had been protected by her for almost his entire life, and the rest of his human companions had been saved by her at least once. Even the wolf girl Yuki thought that was enough to risk her life for an almost complete stranger. He could understand everyone was stressed at the moment, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel awkward with the uneasy silence. He wasn’t good with tense atmospheres. Or good ones either. As he thought about it, he realized he wasn’t good with people in general. None the less, he would try to break the silence.

  “So, you were from an entire tribe of Blood Wolves right?” Gidian asked the wolf girl since she was the closest one to him. She looked up at him through her big brown almond shaped eyes in acknowledgement and nodded. “What was it like?”

  “It was kind of like your camp in a way,�
� Yuki replied though the memories of her past home stung like a wasp sting. “We all stuck together and everyone tried to do their part. The only difference is we moved regularly like a wolf pack. It was nice while it lasted.” Gidian nodded in understanding and tried to think of something else to keep the conversation going. Luckily, Yuki did it for him.

  “So what are you anyway?” She asked while yawning. “Al told me you were at the conference when the idea of saving Scarlet was purposed. You must be pretty important to have a say in matters.”

  “I actually don’t get much say in matters nowadays,” Gidian sighed. “You see, I am just one of the three survivors of the battle at Moraj. Aru, Arthur and I had stayed behind to fight Enzio so that everyone could escape. That honestly was the hardest battle I had ever fought, and we nearly didn’t escape. If it wasn’t for Scarlet’s mother’s quick thinking, I wouldn’t be here today.”

  “She sounds like a real hero,” Yuki said and in her mind added, ‘Just like Scarlet’. Gidian smiled.

  “Yes,” he said. “She truly was a hero.” After that, the conversation faded into silence yet again. Gidian sighed in defeat. He was never much of a talker in the first. The only person who could ever get him out of his shell was his best friend Arthur, Scarlet’s father. The loud, rambunctious, and happy-go-lucky mood Arthur used to create was the only cure to Gidian’s anti-social disease. It also got them into loads of trouble when they were only boys hardly older than Al, but Arthur always managed to get them out of even the nastiest situations. Gidian missed Arthur’s warm brown eyes with a mischievous look to them and his cheery smile. Scarlet inherited both qualities from him, although almost all of her features mirrored her mother—especially her eyes. He missed them both dearly.

  All was quiet as they pulled into a small sleepy town. The sky was pitch-black at the time, and no stars could be seen. The edges were already beginning to turn a little bit lighter as it readied itself for the day. Kyra slowed the two exhausted horses to a crawl as they looked for somewhere to stay, or somewhere to find answers. All passengers in the cart were relieved to finally stretch their legs, and to finally feel a little bit safer knowing that they were not being driven by Kyra.

  Siren and Gidian went in search of an Inn while Kyra waltzed into a bar intent on answers, leaving Al, Vaze and Yuki to watch the cart. The horse shied nervously as Yuki neared it, probably sensing the scent of wolf on her. Yuki held out her hand and cooed softly to the creature, trying to calm it, but it shuffled away from her in fear. Vaze chuckled and stroked the horse’s snout, soothing the beast with his touch. Yuki’s cheeks flared as she glared at the miserable creature.

  “What’s so bad about me, you dumb horse?” she scowled. “You scared I’m going to eat you? Big deal if I do, you’re just a dumb animal!” Yuki kicked at the ground in frustration. Al could see why the horse was afraid of her—the wolf girl had a rather short temper. Honestly, Al wanted to hide from her too, but he was afraid that would make her even angrier. At the moment, Vaze seemed the only one brave enough to play with a wolf. To Al, it looked like he was asking for a death wish.

  “Don’t worry my friend,” he cooed to the horse, loudly enough so that they could all hear it. “That bad old wolf is all bark and no bite. She’s just rotten mad because her fleas stopped talking to her.”

  “Watch what you say, lover boy!” Yuki growled. “You might find I have a little bit more bite than you can handle. And never joke about the fleas! They are murderous!”

  “Well I’m sorry to hear that,” Vaze said with an amused half smile slipping across his face. “They seem to be the only company that can stand your repulsive personality, and I honestly do pity them. They even have to put up with the smell of wet dog.”

  “Are you looking for a fight?” Yuki snarled as her eyes flashed from brown to golden and her ears turned more angled and wolf like. Vaze’s smile disappeared.

  “It depends,” Vaze said while striding closer to her, looking her dead in the eye. His blue eyes flared. “How long do you think you can last in a fight with me?”

  Al watched in horror at them as they commenced in a stare down that might result in a fight. He was scared of being hit by either of them, but he knew he had to do something.

  “Come on guys,” Al said while trying to get between them. “Let’s go see if Gidian or Siren found some place for us to sleep.”

  “Bug out of this!” Yuki snarled while pushing him. Vaze put a firm hand on her shoulder, in a way that was anything but friendly.

  “Don’t pick on him for having some sense,” Vaze hissed while tightening his grip.

  “Vaze, don’t,” Al began but was cut off.

  “Stay out of this Al,” Vaze said to him sternly. ‘This is bad,’ Al thought to himself hurriedly. ‘We’re wasting time fighting here amongst ourselves.’

  Out of the corner of his eye, Vaze could see Yuki’s Guardian growling at him with its teeth bared. Its ears were practically plastered to its skull and the fur on its back stood up like spikes. If Vaze had been thinking straight, he would have known it wasn’t right to fight with a comrade, especially one of Blood Wolf descent. In fact, if Yuki were thinking straight as well, they wouldn’t be on the verge of a fight. But sadly, the only one whose mind had not been tampered with was Al’s—no matter how much the witch on the sidelines was trying to take control of him. She was surprised he was strong enough to withstand her curse placed on them without notice and at the same time be dumb enough not to notice her.

  “Vaze, what is wrong with you?” Al pleaded, trying to get his friend to listen to him. “If we fight amongst ourselves we won’t be able to find Scarlet. We are wasting time by fighting right now!” A ways off in the shadows the young witch’s delicate rosy red lips curled into a smile, revealing sparkling white teeth. Even though she could not influence all with her spell her plan seemed to be working out just the same.

  “Scarlet can take care of herself for a little while,” Vaze replied to Al’s horror. “Right now I need to teach this dog some manners.” Yuki growled again, this time her teeth were beginning to be more canine-like that human.

  “So you’re just going to let Velkire have her?” This made Vaze stop, but he didn’t respond. “You’re just going to let Velkire have the girl that saved my life, your life and Yuki’s life? You’re just going to let Velkire take the girl you love away from you?” Vaze let go of Yuki and turned to Al. Al tried his best not to shrink away from him and stare him dead in the eye, but it was hard to look intimidating to another boy when you have to arch your head up a tad to look him in the eye. To his surprise, Vaze had a smirk on his face.

  “You’re right, Al,” Vaze said apologetically. “That son of the devil is the one I want to fight, and being rude to my only help to beat him isn’t the best idea.” Vaze turned back to Yuki with a serious look on his face.

  “I’m sorry,” Vaze said while offering her a hand to shake. “Those things were out of line and I shouldn’t have said them. Will you accept my apology Yuki?”

  Yuki looked at his outstretched hand and sighed. “Sure, I guess I was a little short tempered,” she said while shaking his hand. “I forgive you if you forgive me.”

  Vaze laughed, which made Al sigh in relief.

  “It’s a deal.”

  While Al was rejoicing, the witch watched from inside a house nearby. She scowled as she bit her lip. If she were to defeat them she knew she was going to have to try a different approach. Forcing them to pick each other off was out. A smile flashed across her face. She loved to have fun, and this was the perfect opportunity for it. The child stirred next to her in their bed. She stared at the small boy as began to awaken. The child groaned groggily as he sat up rubbing his eyes. The witch smiled at him as he saw her. Instead of screaming, he gasped.

  To him, it was not a witch in his room.

  To him, she was a beautiful woman he might, since being at that age, mistake for an angel or faerie. Her skin was completely white like the moon on a b
eautiful night and her eyes were like two star-filled pieces of the glassy sky hidden behind long black lashes. Her lips were as red as roses and looked as soft as clouds. Her wavy hair was pure white and had a ghostly glow to it in the moonlight that flooded the room. A strange red and black lace hat rested on her beautiful head. Her clothes made her look like she should have been in the circus even though the only colors in it were red and black. The collar was a black lace choker and was connected to her dress by the black sleeves, which had red designs tracing all the way down to the laced ends that changed into gloves. The chest opened up low on the torso of the shirt, and it was divided into on portion of black while the other was red. The skirt of the dress was short, and seemed to be made of all red and black lace frills. The outfit ended in thigh high black boots.

  She smiled at him, and he smiled back. The witch walked over to the naïve little boy and put a hand on his head. The boy didn’t think of screaming until it was too late. Only a small squeak managed to hiss out of his throat as the witch’s finger nails jutted into his brain, now as long, pole like claws. Within seconds the boy was dead.

  The witch smiled smugly as she withdrew her blood tipped nails from him and let the child fall back into his bed. His parents surely would be surprised to find their son dead in his bed when they came to wake him up that morning, but she would be nowhere to be found by then. The witch leaned the dead child back onto his pillow, which stained almost instantly as the corpse’s skull touched it, and the witch tucked the dead child into bed. In mock affection, the beautiful killer kissed the child’s forehead as she closed his eyelids.

  Retreating into the darkness to make her escape, the witch giggled sadistically. She found it funny how easily humans could be deceived by such a thing as beauty. They mistook what was pleasant to the eye as something pure and innocent, even when it might be a cobra in disguise. They let it extremely close to them, thinking it could do no harm. Utterly it is every human’s undoing. As the witch melded away into the shadows, she stared at the dead child. She could not feel the pang of regret, or feel the sting of sorrow when staring at the loss of life before her. She felt nothing at all.