{"sf1_id":554685,"sf2_id":"J1O2lW4n","title":"Soul of Fire - Chapter 2","author":"Kolare","words":5625,"posted_at":"2013-06-23T15:22:00.000Z","tags":["Dragons","Magic","Novel","Unicorns"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/554685-soul-of-fire-chapter-2","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/J1O2lW4n","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/c4/c7/c4c75521-b42c-47ec-b5cc-055966702356","description":"Emmoss and Balthis continue to track the child. A child is born.\nIn which we get to see both Aywinnea and Myrkals in thier transfigured guise. Explosions! Two people die, and the plot indeed thickens...\nHope you are enjoying the story so far! Work made this chapter late, but I hope to continue to be on time from here on.","content":"Chapter 2\n\nSilvia clung to the side of the gurney as the paramedics wheeled her mother from room to room until\u0026nbsp;\n\nfinally the tide of motion washed them into a side room. There the doctors and nurses swarmed the\u0026nbsp;\n\nbed taking her temperature, helping her change into a gown, and attaching various machines to help\u0026nbsp;\n\nmonitor all sorts of things. Time moved in jagged jumps and starts marked by when doctors came and\u0026nbsp;\n\nwent. \u0026nbsp;Silvia feverishly attempted to recall a vanishing spell or anything that would allow her to\u0026nbsp;\n\nhide in plain sight. She figured at some point it must have worked because they all ignored her.\n\nThey wheeled in one machine or another and then one doctor called another over and they conferred\u0026nbsp;\n\nin hushed and worried tones. One sent the other out, then turned to Molly. \"Molly, we are concerned\u0026nbsp;\n\nfor the child. He,\" the doctor paused, \"He is not turned properly. We need to do a C-Section. We\u0026nbsp;\n\nneed your permission to perform the surgery.\"\n\n\"Granted, save my baby.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\nFrom there the activity grew more hectic and chaotic. Time got more distorted. The little room they\u0026nbsp;\n\nwere in had neither windows nor clocks and Silvia had no idea what time it was. A friendly and\u0026nbsp;\n\nrather heavy set nurse came in and took Silvia's hand, explaining that she was a caretaker being\u0026nbsp;\n\nassigned to make sure that Silvia was okay while her mother was in surgery. She took her to the\u0026nbsp;\n\ncafeteria and got her something to eat, even though she wasn't hungry, then took her up to a room\u0026nbsp;\n\nwhere it was explained her mother would be brought as soon as she was out of recovery. Silvia fell\u0026nbsp;\n\nasleep with the TV chattering in the background.\n\nArthur arrived at the hospital. He tried the Emergency Room first but got nowhere. The triage nurse\u0026nbsp;\n\nwas busy, overworked, and grumpy. He had just finished asking her for the third time if they had\u0026nbsp;\n\nadmitted any women in labor when she finally snapped at him. \"I can't give that information out, it\u0026nbsp;\n\nwould be a violation of HIPPA.\"\n\n\"I'm her husband!\" he bellowed at her.\u0026nbsp;\n\nShe put the clipboard in her hands down and finally looked at him. \"We have admitted three patients\u0026nbsp;\n\ngiving birth in the last two hours. None of the names you have given match. So, either sit down\u0026nbsp;\n\nuntil someone sends for you, or you can go home.\"\n\n\"Her... her maiden name! She might have been admitted under her maiden name, please check and\u0026nbsp;\n\nsee...\"\n\nShe took down the information then sent him to have a seat. She promised she would look and get\u0026nbsp;\n\nback to him. A few moments passed and then chaos broke loose in the ER. It seemed that a city bus\u0026nbsp;\n\nhad been hit by a drunken driver and it was all hands on deck.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Bloody red tape. Don't see why we 'ave to put up with this tripe.\"\n\n\"Emmoss. He has my focus. Unless you think you have a way to get things moving.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Actually, Oi do. See that bus, there?\" He wound the watch around his fingers then found what he\u0026nbsp;\n\nwas looking for. \"All Oi need now is a distraction... Ah!\" He cocked his finger and mimed shooting\u0026nbsp;\n\na gun. \"Blind.\"\n\nDown below on the street, just a mere block or two from the hospital they were standing on, a large\u0026nbsp;\n\ntruck swerved as the driver reacted to Emmoss's distraction. The bus rocked as it was hit, then\u0026nbsp;\n\nrolled onto its' side. Chaos broke out at street level.\n\n\"Crude, but effective. Not sure what flooding the ER is going to do for you, though.\"\n\n\"Nevah worked a crowd, Balt? It's so much easier when t'ings are chaotic. Don't disturb me, Oi've\u0026nbsp;\n\ngot to put Arthur back on...\"\n\nArthur/Emmoss cracked his neck. It was always so confining to be inside a human like this. He got\u0026nbsp;\n\nup and moved behind the desk where the triage nurse had been sitting. He scanned the clipboards. He\u0026nbsp;\n\npushed aside all the male names and focused on the female. He flipped each one open and tossed\u0026nbsp;\n\naside anything that wasn't what he was looking for. After a few moments, he had scratched down\u0026nbsp;\n\nthree room numbers. He stood up and moved into the swirling chaos of the ER.\n\nThe first room was empty. Arthur/Emmoss breathed deeply and shook his head. Wrong room. He pushed\u0026nbsp;\n\nback into the hall. The second room held a black couple who looked up as he entered. He excused\u0026nbsp;\n\nhimself and stepped back into the hall. One last room. He pushed open the third door and found it\u0026nbsp;\n\ntoo, was empty. Another deep breath and he smiled.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Right, Oi've got 'er scent. She's moved, though. Dunno where. This is getting annoying, all this\u0026nbsp;\n\n'unt and go seek.\"\n\n\"Tell you what. Get us to Arthur. I want my focus back. Then I can help you better.\"\n\n\"Fetch this, find that, bloody un'elpful lot you colonists are.\" He flipped the watch to his other\u0026nbsp;\n\nhand and drew a rent in the air again. \"Translocate.\" On the other side was a tiny room with no\u0026nbsp;\n\nwindows and a gurney. \"After you, Balthiss.\"\n\nSilvia woke as her mother was brought back into the room. \"Mommy! I've been worried, are you okay?\"\n\n\"Mommy's here, sweetheart.\" She could hardly keep her eyes open and she looked pretty tired still.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Mommy's here. I'm okay.\" She patted the bed beside her. Silvia didn't hesitate to jump in beside\u0026nbsp;\n\nher. \"Listen. Can you find my focus for me, baby? It should be in with my things.\" She pointed to\u0026nbsp;\n\nthe foot of the bed, where her clothing and jewelry had been placed in a see-through bag. \"The one\u0026nbsp;\n\nwith the ...\"\n\n\"With the stone. I know mommy.\" Silvia crawled down the bed and pulled the bag off of its hook. She\u0026nbsp;\n\nturned around and held the slender silver rod up. \"Got it!\" She pulled herself up along the bed\u0026nbsp;\n\nuntil she could hand it to Molly.\n\n\"That's a girl. Now, look away, okay baby? I don't want you to see this. Make sure none of the\u0026nbsp;\n\nMundys are watching.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\nSilvia hopped down off of the bed and closed the door to the small room. On her way back, she poked\u0026nbsp;\n\nher head behind the curtain of the other bed, but found that it was empty and made with almost\u0026nbsp;\n\nmilitary precision. She had almost gotten back to her mom before she turned around. \"Almost\u0026nbsp;\n\nforgot.\" She darted back to the door and touched the frame. The charm on her wrist flared brightly,\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Seal,\" she commanded. The door locked with a very audible snap. The gap between frame and door\u0026nbsp;\n\nflickered blue a moment then returned to normal.\u0026nbsp;\n\nOn the bed, Molly was gripping the hair stick with a kind of white knuckled desperation. \"Healing\u0026nbsp;\n\nwas never something I was good at. Always got crap grades...\" She pushed down the sheet and pulled\u0026nbsp;\n\nup her gown, using both to shield herself from her daughter's view. \"Oh, I hate Mundy medicine...\u0026nbsp;\n\nthey always do things the hard way. Ugh and the drugs. My head is swimming...\"\u0026nbsp;\n\nSilvia was watching the door while nervously rocking from foot to foot. She heard her mother\u0026nbsp;\n\nmuttering spells and cursing in pain as they worked or failed. From the sound of things healing was\u0026nbsp;\n\nlikely something her mom should not be trying, let alone on herself in her present condition.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"When... when will I get to meet him?\"\n\n\"They told me they were going to bring him in after a bit. They wanted me to recover from the\u0026nbsp;\n\ndrugs. They let me hold him for a few minutes right after, but they are cleaning him up and making\u0026nbsp;\n\nsure he is okay.\" Molly straightened her gown and pulled the sheet back up. She opened her other\u0026nbsp;\n\nfist and dropped a wad of staples onto the bedside table. \"I really hate Mundy medicine. So ugly.\"\n\n\"Should I open the door now?\"\n\n\"Yeah, it's safe, thank you, Silvie.\"\n\nSilvia touched the door frame again, \"Dissipate.\" There was a loud click again as the door swung\u0026nbsp;\n\nslightly inward. \"I hope I get to see him soon.\"\n\nArthur stood in the middle of the recovery room looking around. It was freezing cold and quiet.\u0026nbsp;\n\nBeds lined either side of the room each separated from the other by heavy curtains and a rack of\u0026nbsp;\n\nmonitoring equipment. Behind and beside him stood Emmoss and Balthiss whom had both acquired white\u0026nbsp;\n\ncoats and scrubs from somewhere. They were speaking together in soft tones when the duty nurse came\u0026nbsp;\n\nin to check on the patients in recovery.\n\n\"Sir, I'm afraid you can't be in here. This is for recovering patients only.\"\n\n\"It's okay, nurse. He's with us.\" Balthiss moved forward with his focus hidden from her sight in\u0026nbsp;\n\nhis left hand. \"We're actually looking for his wife. We were told she was here in recovery? Have\u0026nbsp;\n\nyou been on shift long?\"\n\nShe eyed the two 'doctors' warily before nodding. \"Yeah, about eight hours. What was her name?\"\n\nArthur spoke up this time, \"Molly. Molly Fields, but I think there was a mix-up and she is listed\u0026nbsp;\n\nunder her maiden name.\"\n\nExperience is a cruel mistress. Unfortunately for the trio standing before her, the nurse had her\u0026nbsp;\n\nown experience with abusive husbands. A very good reason for being listed under her maiden name\u0026nbsp;\n\njumped to mind and brought memories of broken ribs along with it. She looked between Arthur and the\u0026nbsp;\n\ntwo doctors behind him and narrowed her eyes. \"What did you say she was here for?\"\n\nArthur did not notice the change in her demeanor but Emmoss and Balthiss did. They stepped closer,\u0026nbsp;\n\nfanning out to either side of the nurse while Arthur spoke. \"She was in labor. I was down in the ER\u0026nbsp;\n\nand they sent me here. They told me she was having a caesarean. I've been trying to track her down\u0026nbsp;\n\nfor the last few hours. Please, I'm tired and worried about my wife.\"\n\nThe nurse eyed Arthur critically then nodded. \"Wait here then. I'll go see what I can find for\u0026nbsp;\n\nyou.\" She turned and left before Balthiss could get too close to her.\n\n\"Let's hope she isn't gone too long. I am still going to kill that magus.\" He eyed Arthur, then\u0026nbsp;\n\nscowled at Emmoss. \"This is taking too long already. We may have to just kill the child.\"\n\n\"You know 'e wants 'im alive.\"\n\n\"Yes, but we can't let the child cross to the Hidden World. The brotherh-\"\n\nEmmoss hissed loudly, \"Don't. Don't talk about them, you'll jinx us bad, mate.\"\n\n\"The you-know-what's are looking for him. Superstitious prig.\"\n\n\"Kindly jog off. We're in this mess togetha now. Oi'm not exactly the low profile kind of bloke,\u0026nbsp;\n\nand this is wearing pretty thin. 'ad Oi my way, we'd...\"\n\n\"Shut it. And go see if you can find that nurse. Maybe hurry things along.\"\n\nThe elevator pinged softly as it reached the Labor and Delivery floor. A rather striking couple\u0026nbsp;\n\nstepped off of the elevator and stood for a moment blocking the slight traffic in the hall. She was\u0026nbsp;\n\nshorter than him by almost a foot, pale hair somewhere between white-blond and grey although she\u0026nbsp;\n\nlooked far too young to be grey haired. She wore a dark grey dress that fell in ruffled layers. The\u0026nbsp;\n\ndress had a low neckline, was cut high on her shoulders, and plunged in the back. She wore gloves\u0026nbsp;\n\nthat almost matched the dress but were a lighter shade of grey. Her lilac eyes were particularly\u0026nbsp;\n\nstriking next to her olive skin. Slight lips were pulled into a nearly perfect smile as she looked\u0026nbsp;\n\nboth directions down the corridor.\n\nHe was taller and broader. Where she was all curves and soft angles, he was hard planes and points.\u0026nbsp;\n\nHis slight tan looked washed out next to her exotic olive skin. Dark red-brown hair fell past his\u0026nbsp;\n\nshoulders in long waves with the very ends just below his shoulder blades. Long bangs nearly hid\u0026nbsp;\n\nhis sea foam eyes. He wore a thin shirt beneath a long sleeved shirt which was both unbuttoned and\u0026nbsp;\n\nun-tucked from black jeans that covered him all the way to the brown leather shoes he wore. His\u0026nbsp;\n\nright hand rested at the small of her back, the contact both familiar and unconscious. \"Which way,\u0026nbsp;\n\nAywin?\"\n\n\"Left. We go left. We are almost there. It is not too late.\"\n\n\"Thank the Power. I ...\" he cocked his head to the side, an awkward looking gesture as he peered\u0026nbsp;\n\naround. \"We are not alone in here. I sense Wild Magic.\"\n\nAywinnea looked a little green in the fluorescent light. \"Myrk. I am worried. This does not feel\u0026nbsp;\n\nright. He was supposed to be born into fire. There is no fire here.\"\n\n\"Not yet, at least. Let us hope that is a good sign.\" Gently he pressed against the small of her\u0026nbsp;\n\nback, urging her forward.\u0026nbsp;\n\nBalthiss and Emmoss stood outside the door. Emmoss had looked inside and confirmed that the child\u0026nbsp;\n\nhad not arrived. He sent Arthur in ahead to wait the arrival. \"Almost time.\" He rubbed his hands\u0026nbsp;\n\ntogether, \"So, do we kill 'im, or capture 'im?\" he held up his left hand as though cupping\u0026nbsp;\n\nsomething fragile, \"Kill,\" and his right, the watch dangling between his fingers by its chain.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Capture...\" he motioned back and forth as though literally weighing his options. \"Dunno about you,\u0026nbsp;\n\nbut either or as far as Oi care.\"\n\n\"Which ever seems more prudent. The point is that the little runt never grows up to stop it. We've\u0026nbsp;\n\ngot too much on the line now for a stupid prophecy to muck things up. Look sharpish, I think I see\u0026nbsp;\n\na nurse with a child.\"\n\n\"Can you see it, Balt?\"\n\n\"See what?\"\n\n\"Look at the boy. No, you daft twit, not with those eyes, your real ones.\"\n\n\"There are eddies around him. Bits of mist. Well, that is unexpected.\"\n\n\"And you thought this'd be easy. Looks like it's gawn to be fun now.\" Emmoss whirled the watch\u0026nbsp;\n\naround his hand and the chain grew shorter with each revolution until it landed in his palm. He\u0026nbsp;\n\ntucked it beneath several of the loops, allowing him to gesture with both hand and focus without\u0026nbsp;\n\nhaving to hold on to the watch. He closed his eyes and found the tether that held Arthur to him\u0026nbsp;\n\nthrough the spell laid down on his neck. \"Show time...\"\u0026nbsp;\n\nAywinnea stopped so suddenly that Myrkalis bumped into her from behind. \"We are late. See those two\u0026nbsp;\n\nin the coats? Serithi.\"\n\nMyrkalis closed his eyes and his horn flashed briefly in the fluorescent light. \"I have sent for a\u0026nbsp;\n\nWarden, but we need to buy some time. I have an idea, get them talking about anything. I will side\u0026nbsp;\n\nstep us all onto the Winding Path.\" One of the nurses in the hall gave Myrk a funny look as though\u0026nbsp;\n\nshe might have briefly seen the horn. She shook her head muttering about a headache and seeing\u0026nbsp;\n\nthings before slipping to the information desk near the end of the hall.\n\n\"You can not bring them entirely onto the path. The Third Children are not able to walk the Winding\u0026nbsp;\n\nPath.\"\n\n\"I know, my love. I shall bring them only a bit upon the path. Just enough to change the flow of\u0026nbsp;\n\ntime for them.\"\n\nAywinnea stopped directly between the two 'men' in white coats. She turned her body just enough to\u0026nbsp;\n\nbe able to watch them both and partially block Myrkalis from their sight. \"So. I gather you have\u0026nbsp;\n\ncome for the child.\"\n\nEmmoss kept his eyes closed, lips moving slightly as though he was murmuring in his sleep. Balthiss\u0026nbsp;\n\nlooked briefly at Emmoss then relaxed visibly. This only set Aywin's nerves further on edge.\n\n\"Ah. Clefthooves. Two? Yes, I see you both. Don't think you can hide him from me, nag. You both\u0026nbsp;\n\nstand out like bonfires among matchsticks.\"\n\nAywinnea heard Myrkalis behind her murmur, \"Tempora Translocate...\" and felt the slight sideways\u0026nbsp;\n\npull. The hallway blurred softly and she could see a flowing path before and behind her. Before\u0026nbsp;\n\nher, the pathway branched several times. Behind her the path was slippery and direct, though it\u0026nbsp;\n\nwound back and forth over itself.\u0026nbsp;\n\nBalthiss clutched at his chest and hissed. The sound was so utterly inhuman that it could only have\u0026nbsp;\n\ncome from something with scales. \"What... What have you done?!\" His eyes flicked over to Emmoss,\u0026nbsp;\n\nbut strangely, Emmoss was slightly blurred as well.\n\nAywin's gaze followed that of Balthiss and cocked her head at the anomaly. \"Myrk, something is\u0026nbsp;\n\nwrong,\" She ignored Balthiss.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"I see...\" Balthiss looked down and caught a glimpse of the Winding Path. He had to rub deeply at\u0026nbsp;\n\nhis eyes and plucked the false ones from his mask. When he realized what he was seeing he roared\u0026nbsp;\n\nwith laughter. \"Oh you foolish mare. Are we faster, or slower than Man's Time?\"\n\nNow Aywinnea looked at him. Ragged holes where the dark eyes had been now showed a pair of golden\u0026nbsp;\n\norbs with black slits. \"What matter is it of yours, Serithi? Know only that we have pulled you part\u0026nbsp;\n\nway outside of Time. Wardens are on their way for you. They will be here any time.\"\n\nMyrkalis had his hand to his face, horn blazing openly now. It was hard keeping all three of them\u0026nbsp;\n\non the path. He realized about the same time that Aywin had that there was a problem. Though it\u0026nbsp;\n\ncost him, he turned and gestured at Emmoss, \"Amplify.\" The whispers of the Serithi he had missed\u0026nbsp;\n\nbecame audible now. They slipped around like mercury on glass too fast to understand without\u0026nbsp;\n\nthinking about. Myrk caught only the odd word here and there. He heard the words \"Drake Ignatus\"\u0026nbsp;\n\nand his color drained. He dropped the greater spell and time caught back up to them in a jerk that\u0026nbsp;\n\ncaused Aywinnea and Balthiss both to stumble. Emmoss collapsed to the ground howling in pain right\u0026nbsp;\n\nbefore the door to the room they were standing outside of blew off its hinges into the hallway in a\u0026nbsp;\n\ngout of searing white-orange flame.\n\nArthur had left the two doctors outside the room. From the look on Molly's face, she was less than\u0026nbsp;\n\npleased to see him here. \"Where is my son?\" He strode the length of the room rapidly and snatched\u0026nbsp;\n\nthe curtains so sharply they tore from the rod. \"I want to see my son.\" His face held a snarl as\u0026nbsp;\n\nhis gaze raked the bed.\n\nMolly sat up straighter and gave him a withering look. \"You reek of alcohol, Arthur. And he isn't\u0026nbsp;\n\nhere. The nurses have him, they are cleaning him up. Birth is messy.\" She spat the last at him like\u0026nbsp;\n\na curse.\n\nArthur practically vibrated on the spot reigning in his rage. \"Then I haven't missed anything.\" He\u0026nbsp;\n\npulled a heavy and ugly chair away from the wall and sat at the foot of the bed. \"He needs a Name.\"\n\nMolly blinked and looked down at her hands. They had argued briefly about the name, \"I want to name\u0026nbsp;\n\nhim Erin. After my father.\"\n\nArthur stared at her, his eyes unblinking. \"Fine, so long as he takes Joseph as his middle name.\"\n\n\"Erin Joseph Fields.\" Molly felt a flicker of Wild Magic. Naming always caused a ripple like this.\u0026nbsp;\n\nIt could not be helped, crafting a name was old and powerful magic.\n\n\"Fine.\" Arthur continued to stare.\u0026nbsp;\n\nHis gaze was causing Molly to get more and more edgy. Why did he not blink? What was going on? What\u0026nbsp;\n\nwas she missing? She opened her mouth to ask a question and a soft single knock stole her moment.\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe nurse slipped into the room bearing a swaddled child.\n\n\"Ah, here you are, Molly. Your beautiful baby boy.\" The nurse looked down at the bundle, then at\u0026nbsp;\n\nArthur, \"And look! Your father is here too. Lucky little man, you know, not everyone gets to have\u0026nbsp;\n\nboth their parents here these days...\" She rocked and bounced the bundle gently as she crossed the\u0026nbsp;\n\nroom. The door closed with a 'snick'. A pair of white blurs stopped outside the door and appeared\u0026nbsp;\n\nto be in conversation. The small window was made of rippled glass for privacy, leaving little clue\u0026nbsp;\n\nas to who or what was in the hall.\n\nMolly took her newborn son from the nurse. \"Thank you.\" She sighed and gently tugged the blanket\u0026nbsp;\n\ndown from his face. \"Hello, Erin Joseph Fields.\"\n\nArthur stood up and raised his hand. He made a clutching motion with his fingers and the nurse\u0026nbsp;\n\nbegan to gag. He threw his hand to the side and she slid across the floor to hit the wall. Sylvia,\u0026nbsp;\n\nwhom had been sitting very still to avoid Arthur's notice, screamed as the wall shook. There was a\u0026nbsp;\n\nmuffled 'pop' very much like an egg being broken inside a wet newspaper and the nurse fell to the\u0026nbsp;\n\nfloor dead.\n\n\"Aww, now don't you go feelin' bad for poor ol' nursy there. T'was a damn sight more merciful than\u0026nbsp;\n\nwhat comes next, Oi guarantee.\" The smile on Arthur's face showed too much teeth and his face held\u0026nbsp;\n\nthe kind of sadistic glee that Molly had never seen him express.\n\n\"Who are you, what have you done with Arthur?\" Her voice was quiet.\n\n\"Oh, nothin' permanent like, least wise not yet, love. Now, as Oi see this, you got two choices\u0026nbsp;\n\n'ere. Oi can either kill you lot, or you can give me th' boy. Don't really care which you pick,\u0026nbsp;\n\n'cept Oi get paid better if the littlest one 'as all 'is limbs in all the right places.\"\n\nMolly looked sick. Between the pain medication, the shock of the surgery, the drain of the birth,\u0026nbsp;\n\nand the length of time since she had last slept it was a minor miracle she was still able to call\u0026nbsp;\n\nupon the Power. She pulled the energy into herself and began weaving her free hand through a\u0026nbsp;\n\ncomplicated set of minor gestures before she spoke. \"Barrier.\" There was a minor flare as a blue\u0026nbsp;\n\nhued sphere encased the bed.\n\n'Arthur' danced in place briefly. \"Yeah! That's it, oooh she gots a little fight in 'er, she does.\u0026nbsp;\n\nAnd Oi thought this was goin' to be borin'.\" His right hand came up with a lighter. He flicked the\u0026nbsp;\n\nspark wheel and drew from the top a cone of fire that was pulled into a tight sphere in the palm of\u0026nbsp;\n\nhis hand. The skin beneath the sphere began at first to steam, then blister slowly. \"Oh, looks like\u0026nbsp;\n\nArthur's a Mundy, eh?\" That manic grin came back. \"See, the magic 'urts 'im, unlike us. Ain't that\u0026nbsp;\n\nroight, love?\"\n\nMolly's jaw had dropped as she watched her husband work the fire. She began to realize that this\u0026nbsp;\n\nwas not a simple possession or a homunculus sent to threaten her. Things were getting serious. She\u0026nbsp;\n\nclosed her mouth and flashed Arthur a tight lipped smile. \"Fool. Fire is my prime.\" She mimed\u0026nbsp;\n\nblowing a kiss, \"Extinguish.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\nArthur/Emmoss shook his hand as the sphere pulsed once and winked out. \"Oh, think you're funny, eh?\u0026nbsp;\n\nBloody pyromagus. Think they know everythin' there is to know 'bout fire. Well Oi'll tell you what\u0026nbsp;\n\nyou don' know jack about,\" He flicked the spark wheel on the lighter again. This time, instead of\u0026nbsp;\n\ndrawing the fire out of the lighter into his hand, he brought the lighter up before his face and\u0026nbsp;\n\ninhaled the flame. \"Drake Ignatus.\" The 's' in the last syllable was drawn out impossibly long as\u0026nbsp;\n\nArthur/Emmoss exhaled a fire so hot it was almost white, with orange at the very outer limits.\u0026nbsp;\n\nArthur's face began to smoke and blister immediately under the assault. A blinding sphere formed\u0026nbsp;\n\nbefore him. When Arthur/Emmoss had exhaled as much as he could, he gave her the finger.\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe white sphere contracted from the size of a chair down to the size of a baseball before\u0026nbsp;\n\nexploding outward so hard and fast it blew the door into the hall and set the entire room on fire.\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe heat was so hot so fast it melted the sprinkler system into twisted lumps of steel.\u0026nbsp;\n\nEmmoss had dropped to the floor just fast enough that the door tumbled over him. Balthiss had no\u0026nbsp;\n\nwarning and the door hit him full force. The wood and glass broke over him and sprayed outwards in\u0026nbsp;\n\na hail of shrapnel. He was slammed into the wall opposite and crumpled to the floor.\u0026nbsp;\n\nAywinnea had begun to turn as the explosion reached into the hall with greedy white fingers. Her\u0026nbsp;\n\nhand and arm had come up far enough that when the shrapnel reached her, it gouged her arm and side.\u0026nbsp;\n\nShe was lucky enough that the worst did not catch her in the face. Her dress sprouted holes and\u0026nbsp;\n\nbits of glass and wood. The force of the blast pushed her several feet down the hall before she\u0026nbsp;\n\nlanded on her back.\n\nAside from Emmoss, Myrkalis survived the blast the best. Having been next to the wall he was spared\u0026nbsp;\n\nfrom the shockwave and Aywinnea had taken the worst of the debris. He hesitated only a heartbeat to\u0026nbsp;\n\nsee that Aywinnea still breathed before throwing himself into the room.\n\nIf the hall was bad, the room was by far worse. The floor and ceiling where the drake fire had\u0026nbsp;\n\ndetonated were both bowed away from the point of detonation. The bed closest to the door was an\u0026nbsp;\n\nunrecognizable twisted heap of burned plastic and metal. Like almost all of the furniture, it too\u0026nbsp;\n\nwas burning with an unnaturally hot fire. Arthur lay unmoving behind where the blast had originated\u0026nbsp;\n\nwith a black and white flash pattern on the wall that outlined where he had been standing. The only\u0026nbsp;\n\nthing even marginally untouched by the fire was the bed in which Molly was laying.\n\nMyrkalis was moving as fast as he could, but even still he feared he would be too late. Molly had\u0026nbsp;\n\nher head down with her focus glowing almost as bright as the drake fire still lashing through the\u0026nbsp;\n\nroom. Her barrier had shrunk to three distinct spheres: one around Erin, one around Sylvia who had\u0026nbsp;\n\ncollapsed in the corner, and the weakest one around herself. Myrkaliss' horn was plainly visible as\u0026nbsp;\n\nhe slid to a stop at Molly's bed. The fire prickled across his skin and began to quickly raise\u0026nbsp;\n\nwelts. He was madly working to build his own barrier.\u0026nbsp;\n\nMolly looked up as he approached, her eyes drawn to the glowing horn between his eyes. \"Now? NOW\u0026nbsp;\n\nyou come?\" her voice held pain and anguish that nothing to do with any physical source. Tears\u0026nbsp;\n\nsprang from her eyes, either from pain, smoke, or heart ache. They evaporated almost as fast as\u0026nbsp;\n\nthey formed.\n\n\"Ms. Fields, there is no time...\" He could see her barrier failing as the unnatural fire continued\u0026nbsp;\n\nto pummel it in wave after wave of heat. He reached out to take her hand but she snatched hers\u0026nbsp;\n\naway.\n\n\"No. Not me. You take my children, or none of us.\"\n\nShe could see her words hit their intended target when he flinched slightly. \"I want to get you out\u0026nbsp;\n\nof here, too.\"\n\n\"No.\" she coughed and sighed, \"I'm all used up.\" As she spoke the words her own barrier flared out\u0026nbsp;\n\nin a dazzling rush of sparks. Blisters and bad burns began immediately to pop up on her exposed\u0026nbsp;\n\nskin. \"Save them!\" Her free hand pointed desperately at her daughter while she thrust her son at\u0026nbsp;\n\nhim with the other.\n\n\"I swear by The Power that I will.\" He gently took the now screaming child from her arms. He tried\u0026nbsp;\n\nbut could not get around the bed due to the fire. Instead he gestured at the fallen form of Silvia,\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Levitate.\" The girl rose over the bed and moved towards Myrkalis. \"Can you keep them shielded\u0026nbsp;\n\nuntil...\" he gestured to the door.\n\n\"GO!\" She screamed at him. Her hair caught fire and her focus began to melt from the heat, but the\u0026nbsp;\n\ngem still shone bright. Too bright.\u0026nbsp;\n\nMyrkalis realized in a flash what she was putting into the spell. He could do nothing else but\u0026nbsp;\n\nfollow her desperate plea. He spun in place and dashed through the door, the boy in his arms and\u0026nbsp;\n\nthe girl flying behind him limp and unconscious. He rebounded off the wall near where Balthiss had\u0026nbsp;\n\nfallen, but while he had been in the hospital room the two Serithi had disappeared. Myrkalis\u0026nbsp;\n\ndropped to his knees beside Aywinnea. He laid the boy beside her and was startled to find that at\u0026nbsp;\n\nsome point his shirt had caught fire. He threw it off then as Silvia settled beside Aywinnea. He\u0026nbsp;\n\njerked his hand through the air, cutting a sharp series of lines that outlined a rough rectangle\u0026nbsp;\n\naround the four of them, \"Metatranslocate!\" The two humans and two unicorns seemed to fall through\u0026nbsp;\n\nthe floor into a hole that lead into a green place. As soon as they had passed through, the hole\u0026nbsp;\n\nsealed behind them with a snap.\n\nEmmoss slapped Balthiss again, this time hard enough that the mask he was wearing tore a bit. He\u0026nbsp;\n\ncould see the black scales beneath the human looking skin, \"Rise and shine, ugly!\" He glanced\u0026nbsp;\n\naround the bar nervously. \"Oi ain't going to break the news to 'im meself, you're goin' to 'elp me\u0026nbsp;\n\neven if Oi 'ave to...\"\n\n\"Emmoss.\" The growl was almost unreal the way it seemed to crawl around the bar. The lights were\u0026nbsp;\n\nalmost out and only the odd stretch of track lighting here and there cast anything beyond a pale\u0026nbsp;\n\namber glow. \"Tell me what, exactly?\"\n\nEmmoss stood slowly shaking like a man going through detox. He tried to calm himself by slipping\u0026nbsp;\n\nhis hand inside his jacket and drawing out a battered pack of cigarettes. Instead of reaching for a\u0026nbsp;\n\nlighter, he just snapped his fingers and lit the cigarette he drew from the pack over the tiny\u0026nbsp;\n\nflame. Slowly he turned. \"Well, the truth. Oi mean, 'snot like Oi can lie to you, now is it?\" He\u0026nbsp;\n\nkicked Balthiss one more time.\n\n\"Leave him. He's going to be out for a bit.\" The voice was coming from closer to the ceiling than\u0026nbsp;\n\nshould have been possible. There, between a pair of lazily spinning fans were two fire colored\u0026nbsp;\n\npools of light. They were farther apart than the eyes of a human and the light cast by each eye was\u0026nbsp;\n\nreflecting off of scales. As he spoke curls and spirals of smoke slipped from the reptilian mouth\u0026nbsp;\n\nwith a set of teeth a shark would envy. He seemed to have a tongue of fire within his jaws, as\u0026nbsp;\n\nlight spilled out when he spoke, backlighting his teeth. \"And no. At least, I should hope you don't\u0026nbsp;\n\nthink you can lie to me.\"\n\nEmmoss slumped against the bar, taking his time with the cigarette. He knew, just as the dragon in\u0026nbsp;\n\nthe shadows knew, time was something they had in excess at the moment. Being nearly immortal they\u0026nbsp;\n\nhad no pressing engagements. The dragon was just as content to wait Emmoss out as Emmoss was to try\u0026nbsp;\n\nand drag this out. That is not to say that he would not be punished any less for how long it took.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"'e's in the 'idden World.\" His voice was quiet. Had there been any of the usual noise in the bar,\u0026nbsp;\n\nthe words might have been lost. Instead the deathly silence made it sound as though he had shouted.\n\n\"I see.\" The twin orbs of fire blinked once very slowly. \"Emmoss, remind me what you two were\u0026nbsp;\n\nsupposed to keep from happening.\" Steel bands seemed to circle the words, his control was so tight\u0026nbsp;\n\nin his voice.\n\n\"We were t' kill the kid, or keep 'im from getting to the 'idden World.\"\n\n\"Which you failed to do.\"\n\n\"Which we failed to do.\" Emmoss stubbed the last of the cigarette out on the bar. Balthiss would\u0026nbsp;\n\nhave hurt him for that had he been awake.\n\n\"Then I am glad I sent such... competent snakes to do a drakes job.\" Heat shimmers blurred the\u0026nbsp;\n\noutline of the dragon in the room even farther. \"You realize I'm going to have to punish you two.\"\n\n\"It... it t'weren't me! Oi swear by The Power, Oi were only actin' on information what Balthiss\u0026nbsp;\n\ngave me.\" He jerked his hand at the unconscious form on the floor. \"And 'e was workin' on\u0026nbsp;\n\ninformation that flake magus gave us. We're bloody lucky we did what we did, consderin' what little\u0026nbsp;\n\ntime we 'ad to do it tonight.\"\n\nThe dragon hardly moved. He swallowed and the light behind his teeth went out. The red eyes went\u0026nbsp;\n\nblue for a moment before finally flaring back to life as two spheres of green fire. \"Yes, well.\" As\u0026nbsp;\n\nhe spoke, a sickly looking green light now backlit his teeth, \"I only need one of you at this\u0026nbsp;\n\npoint.\" He made a sound like he was clearing his throat and then spat. The light was blinding for a\u0026nbsp;\n\nmoment as a ragged mass of green came flying at the bar. Emmoss shrank back from it, but it became\u0026nbsp;\n\nobvious his target had been Balthiss when the one on the ground was covered in it. Everything the\u0026nbsp;\n\nacid touched corroded or began to dissolve. Balthiss did not even wake as the acid reduced him to a\u0026nbsp;\n\npuddle around a discolored skeleton. The flooring was also being burned by the acid and shortly\u0026nbsp;\n\ngave way, spilling the whole mess down into the cellar below the bar.\n\n\"Oi won't let yah down, sir.\"\n\n\"Yes, well. You see that I don't tolerate failure very well.\"\n\n  \n\n  \n  \n\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/550407-soul-of-fire-chapter-1.json"}