Enflamed (Book 2) (24 page)

* * *

The monster stopped short of
stomping Zarya and Nester, and it glowered at Kaijin.
“The Firelord does not
have ‘friends,’ mortal.”

Kaijin met the monster’s gaze
and gulped.

Screaming and crying for help,
Zarya and Nester scrambled away. White-knuckled, Zarya clutched the knot of the
bag.

Sigmund drove his glowing sword
up into the creature’s foot and ripped it back out. Fire erupted from the
wound, and Sigmund quickly summoned a protective shield around him to ward off
the flame that rained down from above.

The monster roared and
withdrew its foot. The wound quickly closed on its own. The monster locked its
eyes on the guardian.

Sigmund raised his glowing
sword, ready to strike again, expression determined. The monster advanced and
raised its foot to stomp on Sigmund. The fire surrounding its body intensified.

Kaijin ran toward Sigmund. He
got sideswiped by Aidan, who went barreling past.

Aidan grabbed Zarya with one
hand and snatched the bag from her with the other, animalistic frenzy burning
in his eyes.

Zarya grunted and struggled to
get free of Aidan’s grip. “Aidan! What are you doing? We must help the others!”

Aidan released her but clung
to the bag and fled the burning camp.

Kaijin eyed the monster.
“The
Firelord does not have friends, but he seems to have allies, for I am somehow
His tool. These people have helped me in fulfilling the Firelord’s tasks.
Destroying them will not bode well for you, should your master find out.”

The monster halted and snarled
at Kaijin. It reluctantly retracted its foot.
“They took your necklace too
easily. Next time, your carelessness will not be spared, Kaijin Sora.”

The burning flames around the
creature converged into its body, becoming smaller until only the orb remained.

The flames dissipated. The
land was charred, covered with cooling embers and rising coils of white smoke, highlighting
smoldering remains of debris. The air reeked of ash and death.

Kaijin froze in awe of the
monster’s departure.
Did he really listen to me out of fear?
Or something else?

It would be an answer he’d
most likely not find out in his lifetime—if ever.

He slowly approached the orb,
which still pulsated with its usual fiery glow. It was hot to the touch, yet
soothing in Kaijin’s hands. Energy rushed through him as he held the orb. He
gazed upon it.
“So, it is you who lives in there.”

The fiery voice whispered,
“Do
not attempt to fathom my power, mortal.”

Kaijin swallowed and tore his
gaze from the orb. Sigmund and Zarya slowly drew nearer. Nester appeared from
the shadows and followed the others.

“Inconceivable ...” Sigmund’s
gaze was fixated on the orb.

Nester hid behind Sigmund,
expression still shocked, his face devoid of all color. He was rendered
speechless—for once.

Zarya was still trembling. She
bowed her head and spoke a prayer of assurance and calmness. Her voice became firm
and lent a much-needed tranquility to the scene.

Kaijin smiled, showered by the
warmth and beauty of Zarya’s prayer and the assurance of Miele, who settled on
his shoulder and softly screeched.

Sigmund turned a hard gaze on
Kaijin. “Are we dealing with afriti now?”

Kaijin blinked. “What?” The
name sounded familiar.

“Has that monster been living
inside that orb this entire time?” Sigmund asked.

“I ... I don’t know. This is
the first time I’ve seen it come out.”

“Afriti ...” Zarya muttered.
“Ferocious beings of fire.
They have been known to level
cities and towns with flames—kill entire populations....”

Kaijin and Sigmund looked at
the priestess.

“P
–
p
–
populations
?!”
Nester repeated.

“I realize what it is, Zarya,”
Sigmund said. “What I want to know is what it’s doing in that orb. And why.” He
looked back at Kaijin.

Kaijin locked his eyes at the
guardian. “How in the hells am I supposed to know? I didn’t tell it to come
out!”

“You are the only one who can
hold the orb like you do.” Sigmund pointed at the orb in Kaijin’s hands. “You
obviously have some authority over it.”

Kaijin fell silent and looked
at what he held.

“Moreover,” Sigmund continued,
“I was unable to even harm it when I attacked. I sense rage and fury in the
creature, and yet, I could also feel some sort of divine aura about it. It
doesn’t make sense.”

Nester blinked at Sigmund.
“Wha—what’re you sayin,’ mate? That ... fiery thing’s a god or somethin’?”

“No,” Sigmund promptly
replied, “I’m not saying that, but ...”

“Perhaps not
a god, but a manifestation of one?
Or a servant?”
Zarya suggested.

Kaijin swallowed. He continued
staring at the orb, not wanting to face his companions.

“Afriti thrive in the Realm of
Fire—not an orb,” Sigmund said. “Unless, it is a beacon of some sort—a link
from the mortal realm to the Realm of Fire. I don’t know. But while this orb
remains in our possession, I remain wary of that horrid creature paying us
another visit.”

Kaijin stuffed the orb back in
the bag. “I don’t think the creature will come out anymore.”

Sigmund scoffed. “Are you
certain, Kaijin?”

“No, but if I have authority
over it like you say, then I can tell it to stay in the orb, right?”

“You think it’s that simple?”

Kaijin scowled. “Do you have
any better ideas?”

“... No, I suppose not.”

“Let’s just tread carefully
from now on,” Zarya broke in. “Let’s avoid towns, cities, and any other
densely-populated areas. We are still taking the orb to The Pyre, right?”

Kaijin nodded. “Yes. I think
it belongs there. Maybe the clergy there can shed some light on some other
things, as well.” He’d hoped the suggestion would satisfy Sigmund, but the
guardian still kept a narrow watch on Kaijin, as though he were a dangerous
criminal.

Kaijin sighed. “Where’s Aidan
and—”

He spotted Omari approaching the
camp, bloody and walking with a slight limp, with something in his hand.
Percival walked alongside him.

The four of them rushed to
meet Omari, relieved that he was still alive. Omari held up the cooked corpse
of a crow and smiled thinly. “This is what happens when someone challenges me.”

Zarya grimaced.

“Ugh! What in th’ soddin’
’ells is
that?!
” Nester asked, making a face.

The sight also revolted
Kaijin, but he maintained his composure as best he could.

Sigmund crossed his arms and regarded
Omari, stone-faced. “Your point has been proven, Omari. Now, get rid of that
gruesome thing.”

Frowning, Omari tossed the
bird-corpse into a pile of ashes. “So this is what remains of the camp? To whom
do we owe this glorious destruction?” He eyed Kaijin, smirking.

“This is no time for your
little quips, Omari.” Kaijin frowned. “We need to find Aidan and that egg.”

“He took it right out of my
hands and fled!” Zarya said. “To where, I don’t know.”

“Perhaps back to the
Mistress?” Sigmund asked.

She slowly shook her head.
“He’s been acting strangely as of late.”

Nester raised an eyebrow.
“Aye?
I didn’t know ’e was actin’
normal
before.”

“We must find him and the egg
at all costs,” Sigmund said. “Or we will
all
face
Her
wrath.”

XXI

Aidan fled until he was
satisfied that the egg was far enough from the camp to be safe. He stopped to
rest, and from where he stood, he watched light consume the camp. As the glow
spread, he worried about his friends, but his urge to protect the egg and keep
it safe was greater than his concern for them. He fidgeted with the knot on the
bag while he mused.

I am not a coward
. The sound of footsteps approaching snapped Aidan
back to the present. He clutched the bag close to his body.

Gaston drew nearer with Carver
slung over his shoulder. Gaston stopped in front of Aidan and dumped Carver at
his feet.

Aidan’s lip curled, and a
growl of distaste rumbled in his throat.

“A trade,” Gaston said coolly.
“The boy for what’s in that bag. No violence, no hard feelings.”

Groaning, Carver lifted his
face from the dirt, and he gazed at Aidan pleadingly.

Aidan glanced from Carver to
Gaston and bared his fangs. “Do not take Aidan for fool.”

Gaston lifted his eyebrow.
“Of course not.
I just thought you would have more feelings
for this boy than you would for an egg. An advantageous trade, wouldn’t you
say?”

“Aidan, I’m sorry,” Carver
whimpered. “I should’ve listened to you. Please don’t let him hurt me.”

“Shut up, boy!” Gaston drove
his heel into Carver’s back, causing the boy to let out a yelp.

Aidan winced in sympathy.
Seeing Carver being abused left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Well, Aidan?” Gaston asked.
“Are you going to give me what is mine, or not?”

“This does not belong to you,”
Aidan retorted.

Gaston scowled. “So it seems
you would rather do this the hard way.” He drew his sword and slipped the blade
under the top shoulder seams of Carver’s armor, slicing them through.

Aidan swallowed.
No ... but
if I interfere ... I must protect the egg.

Gaston put the point of his
blade against the tunic on Carver’s back.

Carver froze. “No!” Gaston
planted his boot on Carver’s back, smashing him into the dirt.

Gaston looked coldly at Aidan.
“I can keep going.” He pushed ever so slightly on the sword and Carver cried.

Aidan gritted his teeth at
Carver’s reaction but did not let go of the bag.
I cannot. I ...
He
barely repressed the fury. “Only a coward would kill helpless boy.”

Gaston laughed and pressed the
sword deeper. “What do you know about courage, Aidan? Half-breeds like you are
the bane of this world: too lowly to be accepted by your own pure-blooded
Dragonkind, and too repulsive to be accepted by the rest of society.
Half-breeds are like festering wounds that won’t heal. Now, give me that egg!”

No, I must stop Carver’s
suffering ... but ...
Aidan clenched
the bag’s knotted top more tightly. “No. There is no need for death. It solves
nothing.”

“You’re insane, Gaston!”
Carver shouted. “Get off me! Aidan, help!”

Aidan shut out Carver’s voice
and said to Gaston, “You will not kill him.”

“Oh, no?”
Gaston lifted his foot and drove his blade into the
small of Carver’s back. Carver screamed in agony.

Aidan froze.
This man
really is evil.

Gaston smirked. “All I have to
do is give it a little twist and he will die a slow and painful death.”

Aidan gently set the bag down.

“Good,” Gaston nodded at
Aidan. “Now, give it to me.”

He frowned. He had a feeling
he’d lose both Carver and the egg if he continued playing Gaston’s game. “Aidan
is no fool.”

Gaston tilted his head. “Did
you not hear me, Aidan? I am going to kill him.”

“You will kill him regardless
of what Aidan does.”

“And what if I do? It’s not
like you can do anything about it. You are too much of a pacifist. You will not
kill me. You’ve never killed.”

You’ve never killed....
He
had
killed—only once in his life, true—but
he still regretted it. He wanted to forget, but he couldn’t. Would he be forced
to add more darkness to his shame?

The more Aidan dwelled on his
thoughts, the more Carver suffered.

“This is unnecessary,” Aidan
said softly. “Please do not force Aidan to do something he will regret.”

“No, you will not kill me,”
Gaston jeered.
“Because if you do, it will haunt you forever.
You will have a huge bounty on your head. The Legion will find you and avenge
my death. You will always be a fugitive. No one will trust you—not even your
own kind. You will be forever shamed.
As if you weren’t
already alone, half-breed.”

“No, Aidan will not be shamed.
He will have saved Dragon’s child from evil slayers like you.”

Gaston’s smile quickly faded,
and he slowly twisted his hand. Carver began screaming more loudly.

These weren’t screams of
pain—they were dying screams.

Aidan snapped.

He lunged at Gaston and
tackled the Legionnaire to the ground, knocking the sword out of his hand. He
tore at Gaston’s armor, tearing the scales away and puncturing skin with his
claws.

“You ... you won’t kill me,”
Gaston sputtered, blood running down the sides of his mouth. “You
can’t
kill me ... pacifist.”

Aidan felt as though he’d
entered a nightmare—his greatest fear. But he couldn’t stop. He felt like he
had to do this—he had to finish the job.

Gaston gagged and weakly
looked up at Aidan. “My death ... will only prove everyone right.
That Dragons
are a dangerous threat to society and must be
... exterminated.”

Aidan gritted his teeth,
frustrated. His eyelids fluttered, feeling as though something had possessed
him, he drove his claws into Gaston’s neck and severed his windpipe and jugular.

Blood spurted; Gaston writhed,
then
went still. Blood dribbled on the ground beneath
the jagged wound, coalescing between Aidan’s fingers.

Aidan lowered his head and
slowly withdrew his hand. He watched the warm, crimson liquid drip from his
fingers, staining the ground. Gaston died looking right at him, the way Aidan’s
first victim had died, so long ago.

The image had etched into
Aidan’s mind, and he remained on his knees, staring at his shaking hand.

Carver stirred nearby and
groaned in pain. “Aidan ... Aidan ...”

Aidan’s gaze turned to the
boy, but he did not respond.
There has been too much death already, and the
day is not yet over
.

Carver’s body twitched. He was
barely able to swivel his head to gaze at Aidan. “Aidan, I ... I can’t feel my
legs!”

Aidan focused on the burlap
sack. He undid the knot, uncovered the egg, and examined its speckled surface.
The urge to protect his kin was so strong that it frightened him. He rubbed his
bloodstained hand over the egg’s shell, checking it for cracks or other damage.

Blood smeared onto the
surface. Aidan attempted to wipe it off, with little success. To his relief,
the egg overall appeared safe and sound. Aidan tenderly nestled it back into
the sack, re-knotted the top, and carried it over his shoulder. His feral urges
subsided.

He went to Carver, who looked
up at him with a face drawn with pain.

“Aidan,” Carver whimpered. “My
back ... I can’t move ...”

Aidan carefully scooped Carver
up with one arm and slung him over his other shoulder. He sniffed the air and
caught the scent of Kaijin and the rest of his comrades not far away, faint
amid the reek of smoke.

Slowly, Aidan began his trek
back toward the camp’s smoldering remains.

* * *

“Look! There ’e is!” Nester
pointed toward Aidan in the distance amid large rocks and boulders that dotted
the landscape. He ran ahead of the group to greet him.

“Nester, wait!” Kaijin flung
his hand out, but the brownie was gone.
He couldn’t even wait for us?
Kaijin sighed.

The group eventually caught up
with Nester, who had stopped in his tracks and gawked at Aidan, who carried a
boy in his arms. Aidan was bloody and looked exhausted. He barely acknowledged
them.

Zarya gasped and rushed
forward. “Aidan! What happened to you? Who is that?”

Aidan didn’t respond. Instead,
he laid the boy on the ground in front of Zarya. There was sadness in Aidan’s
eyes—and regret.

“Please, help me,” the boy
said weakly. He turned his head, trying to see everyone. His gaze settled on
Zarya, who knelt beside him.

Zarya laid her hands lightly
on him and spoke a prayer. The healing light came in answer. She released him.
“Your spine was almost severed. You are lucky to still be alive. What on Exodus
happened?”

The boy stirred, and his face
lit up. “Oh! I can move again! Thank you! Thank you!” He leaned on an elbow and
slowly eased himself up to a sitting position.

“Will someone explain what in
Celestra’s name happened here?” Sigmund demanded.

Nester narrowed his eyes at
the boy, scrutinizing him. “Wait, I think I’ve seen you before. Somewhere in
Faywald, methinks, aye?”

The boy’s gaze leaped from
Sigmund to Nester. “I used to live in Faywald, yes. My name is Carver. I was
recently recruited by Sir Gaston to join the Legion. I thought it would be a
great opportunity to finally get off the streets and make something of myself.
Gaston had me convinced that Aidan was evil, like all the other Dragonfolk. But
Gaston hurt me and tried to hurt Aidan.” He sighed and lowered his head. “I was
such a fool. Aidan got injured because of me. I’m sorry, Aidan.”

Aidan’s gaze fixed blankly on
the camp.

Zarya mended some minor
scratches on Aidan’s back, chest, and arms. “Something has happened. Aidan is
in shock.” She looked at him closely. “Can you hear me, Aidan?”

Aidan’s gaze flicked to her
briefly, then away again. They watered, but no tears came.

Nester stood before the giant
and jumped up and down, waving his hands to get his attention, but Aidan didn’t
seem to notice.
“Nope! ’
E ain’t ’ere.”

Tension kept Kaijin on edge.
The sensation came from Miele, who fluttered not far above him. He had her
attention, and she beckoned him to follow.

He left the others, following
the sounds of her flapping wings for a short distance, until he noticed a small
mound further away. It looked like a human body.

Kaijin approached it but
stopped when he was a few steps away. The armored man’s face and body was
maimed to the point of being almost unrecognizable. A large gaping hole
replaced his throat.

“Looks dead to me,” Omari said
from behind him.

Kaijin jumped.
Did he
follow me the entire time?
He exhaled and turned to the other mage. “Aidan
could’ve not done this, could he? I mean, he doesn’t like violence.”

Omari studied the body.
“Perhaps the afriti did it? ... No, the claw marks are much too small. Perhaps
it was a bear.”

“These lands seem too sparse
for bears.” Kaijin paused.
Claws.
Could it
have been Aidan after all?

Percival approached the
corpse, sniffed it once, and then retreated back between Omari’s ankles,
shuddering.

Omari picked up his familiar
and set Percival on his shoulder. “It is all right, my friend,” he said aloud.
“He is the way he should be: dead.” He cast a dark look at Kaijin.

Nester skidded to a halt
beside them. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped.
“Soddin
’ells!
Is that ...”

Nester tilted his head and
squinted at the mutilated remains.
“Aye.
I remember
that armor. Scalier than a fish! ’E was a big bloke, too! What
’appened
to ‘im?”

“I don’t know,” Kaijin
replied. “We found him this way. Omari suspects he was attacked by an animal of
some kind.”

Nester blinked.
“Aye?
Well it must’ve been a pretty big animal!”

“Did you know this man,
Nester?” Omari eyed the brownie.

“If it’s who I think it is,
then aye. I remember ’im from back in Faywald. ’E was crazy enough to challenge
Aidan to a fight! Aidan beat ’im, of course ...” Nester suddenly scowled. “And
that’s when we won all that money and ... Arg! Aidan was a soddin’ fool and
gave it all away to some orphanage.... Oh, all that money ...”

Leaving the brownie to wallow,
Kaijin and Omari joined the rest of the group.

“Find something?” Sigmund
asked.

Kaijin and Omari exchanged
glances.

“There’s a ... corpse back
there,” Kaijin said.