Playing With Fire (2 page)

“You’re
pretty thick aren’t you? Whatever, my name is Scarlet,” I returned in an ‘I
really couldn’t care less’ tone. “So what were those things anyway?”

“They’re
called Shadows,” Vaze said with his tone suddenly getting dark. Vaze opened his
mouth to say more but was disrupted by an unexpected guest.

“You
aren’t really the smartest kid around, are you Vaze?” a deep raspy voice
sounded from behind us that scared me more than the creatures had. Vaze and I whipped
around simultaneously to find a man around the age of twenty-five leaning
against a tree. He had long black hair that went past his shoulders, and his
face was covered with tattered red scarves that only revealed blood red eyes.
His clothes were as black as Vaze’s but were lined blood red with a torn cape
hanging off his shoulders to match his ripped clothes. The only thing that was
in perfect condition was his coal black gloves.

“You
should have killed this girl and continued running; you’re much too soft to be
a prince,” his voice sent chills down my spine, every part of me was screaming
to run and never stop, but fear was holding me in place. He stood up straight
and started walking towards us. Vaze reacted first, which unfortunately freaked
me out.

Out
of nowhere Vaze grabbed me around my waist and enormous, black, bat like wings
burst from his back ripping off his cape and a good amount of his shirt. The
first thing that came into my mind was
how did I miss that?
But that was
all I got to think before we were airborne. We almost made it too.

I
looked back down for the man but he wasn’t there. “Where’d he go?” I asked,
hoping the fear stayed out of my voice. Vaze was about to answer when my
question answered itself. Vaze let out a pained cry as a knife made of black
metal stabbed through one of his wings, sending us hurtling to the ground and
giving me a look at our attacker. He was free falling straight towards us with
his demonic red eyes blazing and black daggers in both hands.

I
did just about the only thing I could do. Besides scream that is. A giant veil
made of fire erupted midair between us and him, and apparently he hadn’t seen
how the Shadows had died because he looked pretty surprised. It lasted about as
long as the fall did, five seconds. Vaze had lost his grip on me, but not far
enough from the ground so that I could save us both. I had enough time and
momentum to flip myself over and land on a tree branch, but Vaze had less luck.

With
a loud thud, he crashed into a stubby bush and laid motionless all except for
painful gasps of air that was accompanied by attempts to move a shredded wing.
An earth shattering crash blasted my eardrums from behind.

Fear
screamed at me to run, but stupidity told me to turn around and look. If
something like that ever happens to you, listen to fear. I jerked my head
around sharply, only to find our attacker. He stood up slowly and brushed ashes
and wisps of smoke off of his clothes. His deathly gaze fixed itself on Vaze,
who was still trying desperately to find means of escape.

I
was in the center of both of them. I could see our attacker but it was
impossible for him to see me because of where I was hiding. It was one of those
situations where you know you have two choices but only smart people chose the
right choice of saving their own lives. Unfortunately for me, I’m not one of
those people.

I
jumped from my last chance to get away to the cold hard ground to face what was
most likely the last time I would fight. I was terrified beyond belief, and
would have run if my feet would have let me. Adrenaline was pumping through my
veins, giving me that extra strength I needed to meet the man’s blood red eyes.

“You’re
brave for someone so young, but incredibly dim witted as well.” Just the sound
of his voice seemed to kill all life around us. “I would have let you escape if
only you had run when you had the chance. I need to kill the prince, not a
petty illusionist.” Confusion replaced fear in a matter of seconds, leaving me
with my comforting stupidity.

“Illusionist?”
I repeated with a dumb look on my face. I should have been terrified, but the
fact someone called my fire an illusion puzzled me, half because no one have
ever called it that and half because I didn’t know what an illusionist was.

“Don’t
play games with me pipsqueak, I’ve killed many illusionist who’ve used the same
trick and posing as Aru’s Legacy has become cliché.” His voice would have put
me over the edge of fear if he hadn’t said the taboo word in my family. All
fear that had been left in me dissipated and anger ignited my eyes. The last
person who called me pipsqueak lost any chances of having a family. One dumb
idea leads to another, and in my case dumb ideas are deadly. But then again,
NO
ONE
calls me pipsqueak and gets away with it.

In
the blink of an eye a tiny spark on my arm exploded into flames, giving me a
weapon better than any blade that I have used.

“Say
that again and I guarantee you’re not going to walk away alive,” I knew deep
down I could never pull that off, but the fierce tone in my voice fooled me
into thinking I could.

The
man laughed and his red eyes seemed to glow. “Fine then, if you wish to die I
shall be happy to grant your wish.” Black daggers shot from his wrists and before
I could wonder where they came from he was gone.

“You
have no idea how easy you’re making this,” the man’s voice chimed from behind
me, but before I could react, pain shot through my arm past my flames. I let
out a howl and snatched my injury, and in the process let my flames rage even
brighter and deadlier than before. Hot blood seeped through my fingers
acquainted by the touch of ice cold metal.

At
almost the same time, another cry of pain rang through the night. I jerked my
head over my shoulder and found my attacker clutching a charred hand.

“It’s
not possible! I hunted down that servant and killed that cursed infant ages
ago!”

It
was sickening just looking at the damage my fire had done to his hand. The
glove that had been there was gone without a trace, and revealed a sooty black-blistered
mess that was now his hand. “You’re going to pay for this you little brat!” The
man’s eyes flared with intense anger and hatred as he shot towards me with a
dagger in his good hand.

Time
slowed down as I stared with wide eyes at what I was picturing as death. Vaze’s
far off voice was screaming run once again, but it couldn’t process into my
mind. I was utterly paralyzed. The pain in my shoulder disappeared, along with
all other senses. I’ve never been a smart person, but
man
was I lucky!

“Your
times up, Enzio,” a man’s voice hummed through the air like silver bells,
alleviating fear from my mind. The man stopped dead in his tracks and horrified
terror flooded his eyes.

“No!
I’m so close master! Just a little longer, please!” my attacker pleaded to the
invisible guest.

“No
exceptions my friend, we had a deal, and it came with penalties.”

The
man with the chard hand fell to his knees and let out a cry of agony as he
clawed at his face. “No! More time please give me more time!”

Black
flames suddenly engulfed him and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. All I
could do was stare blankly at where my attacker used to be, only a few feet
away. A sharp pain in my shoulder brought me back to reality and I winced. I
turned my head to observe the damage that was done to my shoulder. A small jet
black dagger was sticking out of the wound, and seemed to radiate pure evil. I
quickly removed it along with my coat, which I ripped to cover my wound. There
was no way I was going to fix my own wounds the same way twice in one night.

Sharp,
pained gasps from behind reminded me why I did something so stupid. I turned my
gaze to find Vaze struggling to get to his feet while clutching his rib cage
and harboring one broken wing sagging along close to the ground.

“You
have some serious explaining to do you jerk!” I screamed at him. He lifted his
eyes to mine and I got an expression that I hadn’t expected: regret and
pleading apology. He tried to speak, but pain in his ribs caused him to clutch
them tightly. My anger melted away and was replaced with a sudden worry, though
I couldn’t place why I cared.

I
grabbed his arm and slung it over my shoulder to give him extra support. “Come
on, I’m going to get you help.” I searched around frantically for a sign of Al.
I didn’t need much help to get Vaze home, but it would have calmed down my
nerves to have a familiar face.

“Al!”
I called out hoping it wasn’t in vain. “You win this time, so come out!” I
waited with only the sound of Vaze’s pained breaths and my rapidly beating
heart. As I was about to give up hope, a faraway voice echoed through the
lonely forest. “You swear?”

A
relieved smile snuck its way onto my lips as I let out a sigh of relief. Though
it hadn’t crossed my mind until the end of my fight it had never occurred to me
that the Shadows might have found Al before me and Vaze.

“Yes
Al, you win this time now come out,” I said in a much calmer tone. Faster than
I expected, my brother came trotting out of the thick trees and into the mini
clearing with a grin painted across his face, which disappeared the second he
saw Vaze and me. Al blinked in disbelief and rubbed his eyes frantically. When
his eyes met mine again his face went clammy and pale like it always does when
he’s worried and frightened at the same time.

“What
happened?” Al managed to ask as his voice cracked, which it does at the worst
times, sadly when I can’t laugh about it.

“It’s
a long story, but first we need Seth,” I said seriously. Al nodded,
understanding that Vaze and I were in bad condition, and most likely couldn’t
go on too long without first aid.

“He’s
at the old Bookworm’s shop as always,” he replied. I let out a groan of
aggravation. The old Bookworm and I didn’t get along exactly. Or rather, I
didn’t try to get along with him under any circumstances. Al and Seth are the
only ones in my family who can go about the streets of Laetus without drawing
attention or causing trouble. Darren has trouble with guards, and I usually
always have unfinished business with punks who cross me. Jake’s only problem is
his scar and wearing a dingy cloak during the day doesn’t exactly scream
invisible man.

I
looked up to the sky. Dark clouds were gathering fast, and I knew we wouldn’t
stay dry the whole way to the Bookworm’s shop in Laetus. The only good thing
would be that hardly any one besides drunks were up at this time, so at the
very least there would be silence unless broken by a drunk man’s off-key singing.

Rain
drops rapped on the hard rock shingles of the houses and buildings we passed,
and gathered in giant puddles on the stone roads. The warm glows of fireplaces
and happy families whizzed by us as we raced across the streets, slower than I
would have liked because both Al and I had to support Vaze. My brown hair
turned black and damp while it stuck to my wet face and there was literally no
part of me that was dry.

Vaze’s
breathing was shallow and forced though slowly getting better, but his injured
wing was about to be dragged along the cold hard ground. I hadn’t gotten a good
look at his wings before, but now that I had, I wished that I hadn’t. At first
his wings were like the wings of a bat, but closer up they resembled wings of black
dragons did in illustrated books. They were like black leather stretched over
flesh and bone, much like demon’s wings.

Despite
the fact I was terrified by his demonic wings, I also found them strangely
mystifying, like a beautiful nightmare, if such a thing is possible. And even
though they could have been demon wings, I sensed no evil from them, or him. In
fact, if I dare say it, I found his presence calming and reassuring now that he
didn’t have a knife to my throat.

It
didn’t take long before we were in front of a dingy old book store in dire need
of a new ‘closed’ sign. I peered through the yellowish glazed window and saw
towering book cases filled to the brim. They weren’t what I was looking for.
The bright warm glow of a fire-place towards the back of the shop was what I
was really interested in. Without bothering to knock I yanked the door open and
strode in, while my brother supporting Vaze followed me as silently as if he
were my shadow.

Book-cases
loomed over us as I navigated my way through the maze-like walkways. It was
like the old bookworm actually liked giving his customers and visitors a hard
time finding their way to the door or right shelf. But unlike a customer, I was
familiar with the store from coming so many times with Seth when I was younger
and it was his turn to watch me. I hadn’t come in years, but I knew my way
around as if it were yesterday.

Within
minutes I stood before a roaring fireplace with two comfy chairs perched in
front of it. A boy around the age of sixteen sat in one of the chairs. He had
intelligent and curious fig green eyes when he glanced up at me, only to bore
immediately back into his book again with one olive skinned had gripping his
chin. In the light his eyes had turned purple almost, but this color trick was
not new to me. Random strands of ashy blackish brown hair fell in front of his
face, but he ignored them like nothing was real in the world except for the
book he held.

I
didn’t really like disturbing Seth when he was reading, but this was one of
those emergency times where I couldn’t do anything about it. I strode over and
yanked the book from his hands, which was just about the only way to get his
attention when he was reading. His green eyes grew wide as if his brain had
just turned off, which it probably had. Seth was the type of person where when
he reads he actually puts himself in the book and forgets there was ever
another world except for the one he chose to put himself in.

After
his book shock was gone he looked up at me with a stern look. It melted away
when his eyes found my blood stained shoulder which I assumed had covered about
half of my favorite (and only) white shirt by that time.

“What
happened?” He asked calmly though I knew he was freaking out on the inside.

I
rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips, as if it was nothing. I’d come home
with broken bones, small wounds, and the occasional fist full of my enemies’
hair, but nothing compared to this.

“Does
it really matter?” I replied cheerfully. “Besides, the real problem is him.” I
pointed my good arm at Al and Vaze. Seth peered over the chair and his eyes
widened. Whether it was because Vaze looked worse than I did or because of
Vaze’s wings I didn’t know, but whatever it was caused Seth to take command of
the situation.

Seth
burst up from his seat and started barking commands.

 “Scarlet,
get the guy into a chair and do your best to spread out that wing.” Seth
searched by a nearby register counter frantically. “Al, go get Mr. Hale and
Jake. They’re both upstairs with Darren.”

Al
nodded and trotted up the stairs to the far corner of the room by a boarded up
back door. Seth left but I could hear him shuffling through the contents of the
counter on the other side of the room as I helped Vaze over to a chair. Vaze
struggled as I lowered him into the seat and let out a pained breath.

“You
could have ran,” he managed to croak. “Why didn’t you?” His question made me
stop and think. I wasn’t the type of person to just do nice things for people I
didn’t even know. I decided to answer with a question of my own.

“Why
didn’t
you
?” I replied.

Vaze
let out a chuckle, and immediately grasped his torso and clenched his teeth.

“I’ll
tell you some other time if we get the chance,” he said and before I could
reply, Seth came back with gauze, a needle and quite a bit of very fine thread.
Remembering my earlier commands I yanked Vaze’s damaged wing so that it was
spread out, which wasn’t the best idea, because he screamed in pain and his
face went pale. Seth grabbed my arms before I could do more damage and made me
sit down on the other chair.

Rapid
footsteps echoed down the stairs as Al came bounding down the stairs at full speed
along with Darren and Jake. Jake rushed past Al and ran straight to me while
ignoring Vaze, who was wincing in pain from Seth’s work. It wasn’t long before
my big brother’s deep blue worrisome eyes were focused on me. In fact, it was a
little too soon. I still hadn’t thought of a smart mouth comment to explain
what happened.

“Are
you okay? How did this happen? You look like you’re freezing to death! You know
better than to run outside like a brain dead idiot in this weather without at
the very least a coat.” Jake removed his cloak, which I assumed he had recently
stolen from a shop or borrowed from the old bookworm because it was nicer than
what he used to have, and draped it across my shoulders. I laughed. Jake
over-reacted too much sometimes. He was the closest thing to protective parent
I’ve ever experienced.

Heavy
footfalls from the stairs signaled our last interruption. I turned my head to
see the old bookworm himself, walking slowly toward us. If he was surprised by
Vaze or me, he sure didn’t show it.

The
bookworm’s real name was Draco Hale, but I never bothered to call him anything
but bookworm since the day I met him. He was a round old man with a balding
head and a pure white beard to frame his always rosy cheeks. In reality he was
a sweet guy, but I’ve always had problems with almost every adult I’ve ever
met. And when I say ‘almost every adult’ I mean with every adult I’ve met so
far. Who knows? Maybe I’ll meet an adult someday that I
don’t
automatically
want to piss off. He wore round rimmed glasses to go over his soft black eyes.
His white apron was stained with ink from having to rewrite books that were too
damaged to put on the shelves, or from copying books down just so there was
another copy living in the world. Though he had the appearance of a kind old
grandfather, he always had a weary look in his eye, as if he’d seen too much of
the worst of what life had to offer.

He
towered above all of us with a presence I couldn’t place but it felt like  
something ancient and powerful. He strode over to me and knelt down.

“You’ve
seemed to have gotten yourself into quite a big mess this time haven’t you?”
The bookworm’s voice was deep and reminded me of a gong or maybe a conch horn,
but underneath its power was the lush feel of sympathy and kindness. And the
tone he used made me think he wasn’t surprised at all. At least there was one
person in the room who wasn’t freaking out.

“You
have no idea,” I sighed, smiling weakly. The bookworm removed my poorly made
bandage, carefully cleaning it with a wet rag, then picked up a needle. Through
the hole in my shirt he examined my wound, thinking of the best place for the
first stitch.

“You’ll
have plenty of time to tell it while I fix your shoulder,” He said with a calm
tone. The bookworm’s voice made me a little bit drowsy, so I hardly felt the
first tug and pull of the needle slipping into my shoulder.

I
told the story, beginning to end, making sure I didn’t leave anything out.
Darren came over while I was telling what happened. For the first time in days
I examined my brother. He had pale blue eyes that were always alive with joy
and long brown hair that fell over his forehead in long wisps, but unlike the
rest of my brothers his hair looked like he actually tried to take care of it
sometimes. His skin was snowy white, but was bruised and cut. It wasn’t
unusual. Guards would beat him whenever he got caught. They didn’t beat him
just because he had broken a law or because he made fun of them while being
arrested though it probably encouraged them a great deal. It was because they
knew he didn’t have an actual family that could do something about it. I would
never tell him or any of my other brothers about it but every time Darren came
back and looked like he’d been beaten I take it out on any guard I find that
night unfortunate enough to go out alone. The funny thing is they never saw it coming,
let alone see me at all, the poor idiots.

Usually
when he and I are in the same room we fight like there is no tomorrow, physically
and verbally. But his eyes were swimming with guilt and worry as if he were to
blame for my shoulder injury. He only looked at me like that one time before
after I had broken my arm falling out of a tree when he was supposed to be
watching me. It was just such times that reminded me he was my big brother, and
even though we fought we still cared about each other. It made me a little sick
because I hate all that mushy crap.

When
I finished my story I waited for a response from the bookworm. Everyone else
seemed to wait for him to speak as well and all eyes were on him, all except
for Vaze, whose curious blue eyes still hadn’t left me. It unnerved me. I
wasn’t used to being stared at, or even used to being given a second glance.

“I
had hoped that Siren’s sacrifice would have prevented this, but it seems that
Aru’s plan failed.” The bookworm’s words sounded grave though they made no
sense to me. I glanced around to see if my brothers looked like they had a clue
what he meant. They all had blank faces, except for Jake, whose face was filled
with fear.

“Wait,
what are you talking about?” I asked, feeling as if there was a bunch more to
the situation than how I found Vaze. Instead of the bookworm answering, Jake
took his turn to explain.

“Scarlet…there
are things I didn’t tell you about. When I found you in the forest, you weren’t
alone,” Jake said slowly, as if trying to find the easiest way to explain.
“There was a woman there and a boy that was exactly like a younger version of the
one that had attacked you and Vaze. At the time I had been sleeping on a tree
branch like I always did before I had found you and the others, but was woken
up when a loud crash came from behind me. Then I saw the woman hiding behind a
tree, clutching a baby to her chest. Tears were streaming from her eyes, but
they weren’t like tears that come from a regular person, they were like liquid
amber. When I looked closer I saw that she didn’t look all that human. Her skin
had a gold twinge to it and her eyes were deep purple. She was dressed like
royalty, even though her clothes were torn and shredded. But the strangest
thing was that she seemed to glow.

The
boy was getting closer and closer to her, and immediately I knew that was bad.
The woman kissed the baby’s forehead and set it down on the ground. She then
touched a pile of leaves next to her and it transformed into an exact copy of
the baby. She grabbed the duplicate and ran past the boy as he was about to
pass her. The boy chased after her and caught up in no time. 

He
stabbed her and she screamed and fell to the ground. She tried to get away, but
it was useless. Her white gown was quickly soaked with gold blood. The woman
stopped and clutched the ground and…well, roots shot up from the ground. Don’t
give me that look! I’m not making this up. Anyway, they shot towards the boy
and I thought for a second she was going to be able to kill him. But the boy
had disappeared right before the roots impaled him. The woman was just as
confused as I was. Suddenly the boy was behind her, and before she knew what
was happening, he stabbed her in the back. The boy didn’t wait to watch her
die, but instead grabbed the duplicate infant and stabbed it over and over
again until he thought it was dead. The woman’s eyes trailed over to me and
with her last act she mouthed the words, ‘save her’. Then in a shower of light
the woman’s body was gone and replaced by a crystal. The boy looked down on it
and his eyes filled up with disgust. He was engulfed in shadows and was gone.”

Jake
stopped. What came next was a sensitive subject for me. He had already told me
what happened when he came to get me. I had flipped out and burned him.

“That
woman you saw was Siren,” The bookworm said. “Your suspicions were right, she
was not a human. She was a Guardian; Scarlet’s Guardian.” All my brothers
stared at him blankly. That was good. It meant I wasn’t the only clueless one.