Flame (Fireborn) (45 page)

He looks unhappy.

I can see him thinking
in his head. I almost wish he would say "no", and think of
something brilliant. His eyes are darting around, searching for an
escape route. When his eyes go back to Damien's sprinting form, I see
his lips tighten in resolution. Every ounce of hope disintegrates,
and I try to stand taller, even though I feel small inside.

Kaiden pushes me behind
him. "Do exactly as I say. I might not have a power the way that
you do, but I know a lot about magic."

Damien is plowing
through, destroying everything in his path.

Fear overwhelms me.

"From what I know
about Saguinox warriors, they all have a killing power. If Chloris is
right, he will need to get into our minds and take our fears out. We
need to keep moving so he doesn't get a chance to do that."
Kaiden is talking fast, trying to explain everything as rapidly as he
can. "He will probably try to take me down first, and take the
crystal from you last. I'll distract him, and you use your powers to
kill him."

Kill.
An
apprehensive shiver goes down my spine. "Yes," I agree, but
I'm trembling so hard Kaiden looks back at me, worried.

His face softens. "Hey,
you're the only one in this universe with a crystal. Your magic knows
no bounds. You can and you
will
defeat him." I really
don't understand what he's saying, yet, something in his eyes
captivates me. Kaiden looks at me like he believes every word. His
confidence gives me a desperate surge of strength, but it also makes
me want to puke.

"All right, here
he comes, Kenna," Kaiden warns, completely hiding me with his
body. For a split second I'm safe, and then everything around me
erupts.

I scream as the ground
starts to rumble.

"Shit!"
Kaiden curses.

Damien runs toward us,
and Kaiden braces himself before jumping up, meeting him halfway.
They both fall to the ground with a
thud
. Limping to the side,
I try to follow them. Kaiden doesn't have a power, but he's strong.
He takes every punch Damien delves him, and reciprocates it back just
as violently. The wind and rain play together in a fierce dance,
urging their aggression on. Curling my fists, I close my eyes
imagining a dozen perfect arrows, filled with venomous fire. Swiftly
raising my hands, I aim. The arrows appear from thin air, gathering
in front of me. With a grunt, I push them forward. They fly, some
hitting the ground and others hitting both Damien and Kaiden.

The fire hits Kaiden
first and I hear him shout. He's violently flipped to his back. I
scream when his head hits the ground. A loose arrow plunges Damien
from behind and he screeches, arching his head toward the sky. It's a
death cry, and desperation fills me as I plunge ahead. Damien pulls
the arrow from his back. For a moment his palms glow, and he breaks
it in half. Instantly, the broken arrow disappears.

Mid- stride, I recoil
back in shock, uncertain of what to do next. My palms are aching, but
I lift them anyway, discharging as much fire as I can, aiming for
Damien. Seeing Damien's exposed neck, Kaiden takes his chance,
seizing him by the throat. Damien is too fast though, and in less
than a second they both are suffocating each other. Damien is trying
to stare into Kaiden's eyes, attempting to bring his greatest fear to
life.

"No!" I move
as fast as I can, shooting fire. The pain is so intense my arm might
fall off at any second. With his other hand Damien stops me in
mid-stride, his invisible grip holding me in place. My fire stops,
frozen.

Abruptly, Kaiden stops
struggling, gazing at Damien, transfixed.

"No!" The
grasp on my neck tightens. Something small and bright catches my
eyes, and I look up. A star. A single star. Shutting my eyes tight, I
picture a burning star. I give it a multitude of colors, red, orange,
and blues. I make it into a moving fireball, rotating and turning
like waves churning. When I open my eyes again, it emerges in front
of me, faint at first, and harder and brighter as I hold the picture
in my head. My hands grab the invisible rope on my neck, and I see
all my fingers are flaming red. Burning the rope with my fingers, I
gaze into the fiery star, silently commanding it to devour the alien.
When the rope slowly loosens, melting underneath my onslaught, I
shout with every ounce of energy I have left: "Go!"

With a roar, the
flaming star sends itself through the short distance to Damien. It
launches itself onto his back, thick like liquid cement. Cackling,
the fire melts the metal on his body. With a shout, Damien jumps off
Kaiden, flailing his arms wildly to put it out. The rain is steadily
coming stronger, but it's no match for my fire, and the star burns
brighter, consuming more.

Kaiden looks dazed on
the ground, staring at Damien's burning form. I limp to him, tugging
his shirt. "Kaiden! Let's go!" It takes a moment, but he
seems to snap out of his haze. He shakes his head like he's trying to
get rid of something in his head, and takes my hand. Damien is
howling, and still alive. I want to go back to finish him.

I don't get my chance
though because something is suddenly roaring from underneath me.

"Watch out!"

The earth is breaking,
shuddering to be free. I scream, clutching Kaiden. He's trembling
violently, and all of a sudden I know I'm too late. Damien has
already pulled out his greatest fear.

"What is it?"
I shout to Kaiden over the earsplitting roars.

"A night
creature."

I have no idea what
that is, but I know it's not good because Kaiden's face is paper
white.

"If I kill Damien,
will it die too?"

"I-I- don't know."
Kaiden looks at the ground, violently anticipating what will come
out. I look back to Damien, and my star is still devouring him,
slowly burning through his skin. He's still standing though, and I
feel a rush of panic. Should I leave Kaiden to finish off Damien?
Looking at the petrified expression on Kaiden's face I'm afraid if I
leave he'll be unable to protect himself. My heart is pounding with
my decision.

"Kaiden!" I
grab his face, pulling it down to me. "Kaiden!"

His eyes are completely
round and unblinking. I don't know what else to do so I kiss him. The
kiss is a wet and desperate one. It tastes like rain and panic, and
when his cold mouth moves against mine, I know I've made the right
choice. I pull away, gasping for breath. His eyes are no longer dazed
and he's looking at me with a shocked expression.

"I'm going to kill
Damien. You stay back and kick some night creature butt!" Saying
the words "night creature" seems to make him nervous again,
but he's looking at me strangely like he's suddenly seeing me for the
first time. He nods, then pulls me roughly into his arms and gives me
another quick kiss. I let him, hoping it will make him stronger. When
I pull away again, I see that his eyes are back to normal.

"Go!" he
shouts.

I limp back to Damien.
He's still standing and it's a grotesque sight to behold. His skin is
burning, some parts are scorched black, and others an odd muddy
brown. His eyes continue to glow though, and when he spots me, he
snarls, the sound vibrating through the flames still latched to him.
I picture more arrows and I shoot them toward him. There is less this
time because my energy has waned considerably, and he dodges them,
raising his hand to take hold of me. I know this trick already so I
fall to the ground, crawling and dodging his invisible arms. My leg
is breaking more underneath the pressure of what I'm doing, but I
don't dare stop. When I get close enough I use every part of my body
to stand. I make a flaming fist and punch him in the face.
Simultaneously his hand connects with my cheek, slamming me back.
It's got a trace of fire on it, and my skin sizzles with the contact.
Within seconds, my face is numb.

I shove him back, and
my leg collapses underneath me. Falling back with him, I grunt with
the impact of our bodies. We crumple in a struggling heap, our magic
spinning between us. Even in his state, his eyes are slowly growing
black, and I panic. Clutching his shirt tightly, my hands turn into
flames.

His screams of agony
don't stop his powers though, and I feel him touching my mind.
Desperately, I raise two fiery fingers and press them into Damien's
eyes, digging as deep as I can. His howls of pain terrify me, but I
don't stop, pushing harder until I feel the muscles underneath his
eye sockets. Then I twist, shoving more fire into his face with my
fingers. I don't stop digging until he's completely collapsed on top
of me.

When I finally realize
his face is next to mine, I scream, pushing his body away. The flames
are still licking him, and they swirl around him, latching like
maggots. I watch, fascinated I created that, but disgusted at the
same time. My fingers are wet with blood, mucous, and fire.

A loud howl sounds
close by, making me flinch. Turning toward Kaiden, I see a giant
black wolf like creature circling him, red eyes glaring menacingly.
It's larger than he is. Dread fills my body as I struggle to get up.
Emitting low growls, the gigantic creature is digging his claws into
the ground, baring large fangs the size of my arm. Kaiden is bracing
himself, holding his hands up like a boxer.

Reaching over I grab
some flames, decaying by Damien's body. I let it wash over me,
massaging for more fire. I curl my fists, stretching my fingers to
pull for more flames. I'm so tired that at first nothing comes out
then gently, more fire is created, pulsing on the surface of my skin.

Crouching the creature
roars, jumping onto Kaiden. His long nails slash Kaiden's chest. When
I see his blood spilling out, I want to faint. Screaming as loud as I
can to get its attention, I yell, "Over here you piece of filth!
Over here!"

Fighting to get up, I
use the ground to push my body. I crawl over. The distance isn't far,
but my body is so ravaged I can barely move. Trying to shoot the
fire, I raise my hands but it's no use. The blaze sputters, but
continues to rest on my fingers.

"Kaiden!" I
shout. "Bring it over here!"

He spares me a look
like I'm crazy, and continues to ward off the creatures biting
advances.
Damn it,
I think, crawling over. The animal's jaws
snap precariously close to Kaiden's face, and it's enough to give me
the energy to crawl faster. My bleeding knees are drenched in water
and soil. Through sheer determination, or desperation, Kaiden flips
the animal to its side, and both struggle to dominate. Kaiden punches
with all his might, narrowly avoiding sharp claws and teeth.

When I'm near, he
catches my eyes, and tries to push the animal closer. That's all I
need, and reaching my hand out, I pour every ounce of fire left in my
body onto the animal.

It howls, screeching.
It's the most terrifying sound I've ever heard, and I'm so afraid I
press my hands deeper into the fur, transferring more flames onto its
flesh. Kaiden pushes the creature further from his body, and closer
to me. When I can't hear any more grotesque screams from the animal,
I pull my hand back, staring at the blackness stained there.

Breathing hard, Kaiden
stands up, looking as disheveled and exhausted as I am. Walking over
to me, he gives me his hands. I take it and he helps me up, arms over
my waist. He looks to Damien's smoking body, then to the beast
burning in front of us.

"First thing you
should know: magical creatures take forever to die."

A tiny smile curls the
corner of my lips. We're both staring at each other with identical
expressions of bafflement at what we've just survived. Even though
Kaiden's holding me, I sway, dizzy. Looking at him helplessly, my
whole body collapses. When I close my eyes, I'm thinking nothing at
all.

The earth is breaking,
shuddering to be free. I scream, clutching Kaiden. He's trembling
violently, and all of a sudden I know I'm too late. Damien has
already pulled out his greatest fear.

"What is it?"
I shout to Kaiden over the earsplitting roars.

"A night
creature."

I have no idea what
that is, but I know it's not good because Kaiden's face is paper
white.

"If I kill Damien,
will it die too?"

"I-I- don't know."
Kaiden looks at the ground, violently anticipating what will come
out. I look back to Damien, and my star is still devouring him,
slowly burning through his skin. He's still standing though, and I
feel a rush of panic. Should I leave Kaiden to finish off Damien?
Looking at the petrified expression on Kaiden's face I'm afraid if I
leave he'll be unable to protect himself. My heart is pounding with
my decision.

"Kaiden!" I
grab his face, pulling it down to me. "Kaiden!"

His eyes are completely
round and unblinking. I don't know what else to do so I kiss him. The
kiss is a wet and desperate one. It tastes like rain and panic, and
when his cold mouth moves against mine, I know I've made the right
choice. I pull away, gasping for breath. His eyes are no longer dazed
and he's looking at me with a shocked expression.

"I'm going to kill
Damien. You stay back and kick some night creature butt!" Saying
the words "night creature" seems to make him nervous again,
but he's looking at me strangely like he's suddenly seeing me for the
first time. He nods, then pulls me roughly into his arms and gives me
another quick kiss. I let him, hoping it will make him stronger. When
I pull away again, I see that his eyes are back to normal.

"Go!" he
shouts.

I limp back to Damien.
He's still standing and it's a grotesque sight to behold. His skin is
burning, some parts are scorched black, and others an odd muddy
brown. His eyes continue to glow though, and when he spots me, he
snarls, the sound vibrating through the flames still latched to him.
I picture more arrows and I shoot them toward him. There is less this
time because my energy has waned considerably, and he dodges them,
raising his hand to take hold of me. I know this trick already so I
fall to the ground, crawling and dodging his invisible arms. My leg
is breaking more underneath the pressure of what I'm doing, but I
don't dare stop. When I get close enough I use every part of my body
to stand. I make a flaming fist and punch him in the face.
Simultaneously his hand connects with my cheek, slamming me back.
It's got a trace of fire on it, and my skin sizzles with the contact.
Within seconds, my face is numb.