Playing With Fire

by Jordan Mendez

  Finally, it seemed my body couldn’t take it anymore. My knees failed beneath me, and I fell grasping my sides. Laying there on the ground, I wept. Even in the end, life had succeeded in destroying my world. My brother was dead. Nothing else mattered. My one reason for pursuing this quest was to keep my brothers safe, and I had let one die. My whole world was falling apart within me, and as if reacting to my heart the earth began to shake.

  Chapter Twenty One

  The ground shook furiously beneath me, causing me to flail even though I was already crumpled in a ball. A deafening rumble shot my ears, the sound being caught between a roar of a large animal and the high tide of a raging ocean. The chandelier above shook madly, swaying to and fro as its crystals clanked together like hail against a steel roof. The light from the candles had gone out, and other the blue glow of the sphere cages the room was dark.

  For one who had never experienced or had even heard of an earthquake, the ground suddenly becoming unstable below your feet can be quite terrifying, even horrific. Until that point in time, I had experienced nothing like it, and it horrified.

  I tried desperately to get to my feet, to rid myself of that feeling of helplessness, but every time I managed to I only fell back down. In addition, every time I tried, the shaking only got worse, until finally it seemed that some part of the castle just couldn’t take it anymore. The curtains covering the windows fell, and a loud crash finally caught my attention, long enough to witness just about every article of glass in the room to break. The four blue spheres at the corners of the rooms shattered, sending out a spray of beautiful glowing blue sparks. It would have been an amazing sight to gaze at, if only I were not in the range of the large glass windows behind the throne.

  The three over hanging windows exploded in perfect unison, and in a world that was shaking and crumbling, the falling shards had a definite direction: me. That would be twice that day shattering glass had been given the decision to grant me life or death. Struggling to stand as the ground yearned for me to fall, I could only imagine that the first time the glass had meant to kill me, and this time its whim was to fulfill its first desire. My feet moved to run, but the ground demolished my chances of escape by hurtling me to my knees, making absolutely sure I could not get away. Was this really how the world worked? Did my killing Velkire mean that I would have to die as well? I could only ponder these things while looking up at the glass that was cascading down towards me like a deadly waterfall.

  “Scarlet!” I heard it only a second before I felt it. Pain flooded into my back as I was tackled from behind, causing me to fly forward with my perpetrator to the foot of the throne. Warm arms held me tightly and large shadows enveloped our bodies into a shaky darkness. I struggled to wriggle my body around against the thrashing ground and the body pressing me to the floor, until finally I could see the icy blue eyes of the boy who had saved my life by risking his own yet again.

  “Just hold on tight to me alright?” Vaze managed to say as his teeth clenched together. I could hear the glass bouncing off of his wings, but could tell that some larger pieces managed to stick themselves in. I just stared at him, unable to wrap my mind around everything. Al was dead. That was all that my conscious mind could comprehend, other than the fact that it was my fault.

  “Vaze…” The restless ground grew even more violent, and in fear I held onto Vaze with all the might my trembling body could muster. Vaze held onto me tightly with one arm, and the other he struggled to keep our bodies flat on the ground. I couldn’t help myself from begging the earth to have mercy and I felt all too much like a small helpless child in the hands of an unforgiving God. It only lasted about fifteen seconds, but that next instant in my life was one I’d never forget.

  The entire time, the moon’s light had illuminated the throne room, and its light was shaky and wavering, but it was enough to see by. However, in the blink of an eye, all went black. I couldn’t tell the difference between when my eyes were closed and when they were open other than the stinging need to blink. My curiosity overwhelming my fear, I strained my neck to look towards the broken windows.

  “No Scarlet!” Vaze grabbed my head and shoved it back to his body, making it impossible for me to see. “There’s no telling what could happen if you look! Just keep your eyes shut!” Heading Vaze’s warning, I buried my face in his shoulder, eyes closed tight. I didn’t know why I cared. It seemed as if my emotions had shut off and my body was controlling itself.

  My thoughts weren’t on track, but my hearing was. At that moment, I wished I was deaf. Out of the darkness came noises one could scarcely imagine, even in the most vivid of nightmares. Cries of horror, agony and death threatened to drive me insane. It was hard to tell if the cries were human or not, but I could easily recognize the cries for help were from struggling living beings, begging for a savior. Screeching came from all around, as if Vaze and I were surrounded by an army of shadows, only mixed with unknown creatures that were much worse. Against my skin I felt a burning sensation, and immediately a scorching thirst slashed my throat as if it were made of sandpaper as I took desperate breaths. Then, in the blinding darkness behind my eyelids, the world burst into light with flame. My eyes were still shut tight, but in the depths of my mind I felt an intruder. My suspicions confirmed themselves when a dark shadowy figure arose from the flames.

  “Child, you who rival me with the power of the blessed flames, why do you travel so close to my dominion?” The voice was like that of a throaty beast, and as the figure talked Hell’s Fire spewed from its mouth. I did not answer. “You attempted to kill my child, but you have failed. Just as I am not trapped in the depths of Hell, neither is his soul. He shall return, hungry for revenge as a starving jackal hungers for flesh. Beware child, for even your God cannot save you from my son’s wrath accompanied by my own. Leave this place, or I shall kill you before you can see the light of morning.” Finally my eyes could no longer take keeping shut any longer. My eyes flew open and stared unwaveringly ahead. Glaring back at me were two dark, bloodshot eyes quickly retreating into the darkness. As I stared, the strength in my body dissipated. Those eyes hid more than they would let on at first glance. Inside those eyes, I could clearly see generation after generation of trapped souls burning alive in agony. I could see Hell itself.

  As if blinking, the world went dark once again, but I was absolutely positive I had kept my eyes wide open. The ground beneath me ceased its violent outburst and returned to its normal dormant state, but my body shook like a leaf in a tornado. I couldn’t process what I had just seen. Only one real string of events went through my mind: Velkire was not dead, I had failed, and my brother had lost his life because of me. The darkness faded, and the black walls of the castle turned grey as the sun rose outside the broken windows. The sound of chirping birds wafted into the throne room faintly, and the ocean noises from before was long gone. Wherever we had been before, we weren’t there anymore. It was as if the entire castle had transported somewhere new.

  Vaze’s wings disappeared in a faint golden light, and the shards of glass that had stuck into his wings dropped to the ground, still bearing Vaze’s blood. I glanced at them. They could have easily killed me. Vaze sat up, and held me by my arms so that his blue eyes looked straight into my own. I stared at him blankly.

  His lips moved to form my name, and his face was full of worry, but I could not hear him. My vision blurred with tears, and was fuzzy as I became lightheaded. My chest was heavy, and my consciousness was fading rapidly. With a pained breath I choked out the name of the one person I needed to see, “Al…”

  Everything faded into black, my body lost its weight as I passed out.

  ~

  One month was how long it took. One month was how long it took for the rebels to reach us, with Moraj teleported back to its original land before it underwent the Convergence. It was one month before I had found the words to speak again, and one month for everything to process in my mind.

  Vaze had told me what had happened
since I had been taken away by Velkire, and he told me how the demon Raven, Enzio, and Alastair had fled the kingdom, and evidently with no one to keep Moraj held in place at Death’s Kingdom, it had undergone a sort of ‘reverse’ Convergence. He had told me all this as I was recovering, in which I was silent to everything, hardly even acknowledging that I had been listening.

  In the month I was recovering, I had made a huge leap in my reading and my writing. I clung to the book Alastair had read to me as if it were a part of my body, and with it I had built off of the reading lessons Alastair gave me and began to read it myself. Gidian, Yuki, and Siren had tried times to get me to talk while I was reading, but only Kyra had the idea to get me to write on strips of paper as responses. At first it was ugly and crooked letters with many misspelled words, but eventually I was able to write clearly, mostly by practicing writing down ‘leave me alone’ on the piece of paper often. Seth had been the most shocked at my reading and writing when we were reunited again, but not even he had much to say due to the first message I wrote to them, which had only three letters: Al is dead.

  My remaining three brothers had had the grace not to cry in front of me when we saw each other again, but I knew they had because of the red puffiness of their eyes when they attended the funeral the next day. It was there I had said the first words I had since Al’s death.

  At the funeral, every rebel was in attendance. No one cried, but instead all shared the same look of stone hard remorse. There was only one gravestone, set up in the courtyard (which was now bearing flower buds among the dead plants) before the dry cracked fountain. It was made from pure white stone, signifying the highest respect for the one it had been meant to bear. It was not his short name that he had went by his entire life, but the full name of his that I had learned while fighting Velkire: Alphonse Lucelles. Below his name was written a tribute to him in small elegant letters:

  Al, the boy with the heart of gold, may he forever be treasured by the Healer.

  I stared at the grave in utter disdain. My eyes were dry, and my heart was filled with disgust. The grave was empty. My brother was not in it. His body was where ever Alastair and Enzio were. I had no idea why, but it was. I would never be content with just this. I had to see him to be satisfied. I dropped a scarlet red rose on his grave when it came my turn and I made a promise to myself, swearing it on Al’s grave when it actually held his body.

  “I’m not going to abandon you Al,” I hissed quietly, so that no one could hear. “I will find your body, and I’ll slaughter the one who did this to you.”

  Before the red flower dropped onto the ground before Al’s grave, I was storming off back towards the castle walls. The clouds over head were heavy with rain, and it was expected to fall before noon. The valley Moraj resided in was possibly a day or two’s trip back to the port town, and that was only if one went nonstop. There was no way I could sneak back there all by myself, not with the mountains in my way. No, I would need a pair of wings to get there in the time I needed. But Vaze was out of the question. He’d be too quick to catch on. I needed someone a little bit slower.

  The funeral lasted about a half hour more, but I didn’t stick around for it. I was already back at my room, packing a sack with everything I’d need, or couldn’t bear to part with. My mother’s bracelet clinked lightly as it hit my sword (the same one from my fight with Velkire) as it retreated into the sheath I found for it. I had yet to successfully remove the wretched silver trinket, but I had decided that cutting off my wrist would be too over the top. With a slight twinge, I stuffed the book of horror stories Alastair had read to me into my sack. With it was two daggers, a loaf of bread, a light blanket, and a water pouch. I figured I didn’t need too much food, since I could hunt for myself and in more desperate (or lazy) situations I could just steal food. I had found clothing that would suit my needs: a tunic, a jacket, trousers, and a pair of boots. It was a nice change from dresses, and I would not regret dressing as a male.

  I jumped as a faint knock rapped against my door, but I calmed down, realizing I had nothing to fear. I had already asked my brother’s master to meet me at my room. He was not a very regal man, like I had previously thought, and instead was rather spacy. He seemed to be about five or six years older than Kyra, which puzzled me, since he was also the same person who was supposedly my father’s best friend. He had had to have been at least four years younger than I was then when he helped my father and mother fight Enzio when Moraj was attacked, which only added to the respect of his power I had. And yet, I knew I could manipulate this man to suit my purposes. I knew I would feel guilty about it later, but I decided it was for a just cause.

  “You needed me, Scarlet?” Gidian said as he poked his head through the door. I slung the sack over my shoulder and faced him, trying to put on my best distressed face. It wasn’t completely made up, but honestly I was more ready to skewer someone than cry. Gidian’s face filled with sympathy none the less.

  “I want to go see my brother’s parents,” I replied, straining my voice to match my face. “They were in the port town that you and the rest were at before you all stormed into Moraj. They’re dead now, but I want to put a rose at their graves, like I did with Al’s.”

  Gidian looked at me with a guilty face, and looked behind his shoulder. “I don’t think I should take you there. Maybe Vaze or one of your brothers would be willing.”

  “No!” I slipped with my voice rising, but I quickly regained my act. “I mean, I don’t want them to see me cry anymore. Please don’t tell them I am going. You can get us there and back in under a day right?”

  Gidian looked so torn. I almost slipped and felt bad for deceiving him. But no, I had made it this far, I wasn’t ready to go back. Finally, Gidian bit his lip and looked over his shoulder again.

  “Alright fine, I’ll take you at noon, when the rain starts.” Gidian looked behind his shoulder again. “Meet me at the main gate, and I can teleport us there. But make sure you’re armed, because I can only teleport twice, so I can’t use any magic to fight if the need arises.” Thankfulness welled up inside me, and I made sure to show it.

  “Thank you, Gidian!” Fake tears formed in my eyes.

  Gidian looked away quickly and said, “Just don’t tell anyone I’m doing this for you.”

  “I won’t! I promise.” Gidian left and I looked down at the ground with guilt. “I’m sorry that you have to be the fool in this…”

  Alone in my room, I walked over to the window, looking through the clear glass out to the other towers of Moraj. There had to be at least twenty in all, and it still didn’t rival the mass of the entire kingdom. Through the window I spied one of the open aired hallways connecting two towers a little ways away from the one my room was in. It was far away, but I could faintly make out Vaze striding across it slowly, his steps filled with regret. When I thought about leaving Jake, Seth, and Darren, my heart filled with pain. Embarrassingly, I felt the same when I thought about leaving Vaze. It was no use hiding it at that point. I had feelings for him. I didn’t want to admit it, but it was true. And I would never tell him. If I admitted it out loud, I feared I wouldn’t be able to go. I also wouldn’t be able to fulfill what I was setting out to do. My new mission was to kill Alastair, Raven, and Enzio. I wouldn’t let my brother’s death go. I was intent on revenge, and I would not be denied. It was a goal that I did not expect to survive, but would pursue regardless.

  It was hard to let go of Vaze and my brothers, but it was harder to let Al go. It was a fate I was not going to run from.

  ~

  At noon, just as expected, a heavy rain plagued Moraj, drowning out the sun with black clouds and rain so thick you felt like you would almost have to swim. I slipped out of the castle with no one noticing for everyone had the notion that I was tucked away in my room mourning over the loss of my brother. My cloak weighed my body down slightly, but I trudged ahead towards the large gates without breaking my composure. Two roses were tucked under my cloak along with my sack, stayi
ng nice and dry next to my sword. Gidian stood at the foot of the gates, looking around constantly for people. A weak yellowish flame burned on a torch under the overhang enough to cut through the thick rain. The gate was enormous, reaching to the sky with large iron bars and gears that were meant to open easily when needed and hold as strong as a mountain under an attack. A repeating square pattern laced up and down the strong iron doors, but I had no interest in them. Gidian caught sight of me and waved me over.

  “Are you prepared?” he called over the deafening rain. I simply nodded, and Gidian checked around again like a guilty child hiding from his parents. “Grab my hand, and hold on tight.” I did as told. Gidian’s skin was as cold as stone, but felt warm against my icy skin. He jumped a little, and looked at me in surprise, as though I had the temperature of a dead person.

  “Don’t worry,” he said loudly with his long golden hair plastered to his face from the rain. “I heard that it’s sunny by the sea right now, so you’ll warm up rather quickly.” I simply nodded, trying to mask my face with sadness, when in reality my blood was boiling at the thought of avenging my brother.

  Teleporting is a rather interesting way of transportation. I in no way recommend it, because it gives those with stomachs not suited for lightning fast transportation terrible aches. My body was enveloped in light, and in the blink of an eye, we disappeared from the castle grounds, shooting up into the sky with our bodies twisting to the wind. My stomach contorted and squeezed at horrible angles, and I was glad I decided not to eat anything before. I caught sight of Gidian’s gaze during the flight, and my blood froze. There was suspicion in his eyes. He wasn’t as spacey as I thought. He could sense something was wrong. I prayed for a quick method of escape to be revealed to me when my plan went under way. Just when I thought my empty stomach couldn’t take it anymore, we landed, dropping on the ground harshly, causing my knees to throb in pain.