The Legend Of The Fire Barer

Chapter 4

Kal sat alone in the far corner of his cell. It was cold and dark. The only lights were the torches in the hall and. Small window at the top of the cell that carried sounds of working down into the echoey cell.

His eyes were dry. He'd already cried far too long. He felt betrayed, angry, and scared all at the same time.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. Kal heard a door open and looked up to see the prince walking in. The door closed behind him. He smiled at Kal who was confused. He walked over and sat next to the bars.

"Hi."

"....hi?"

"I'm sorry about my father. I'm sure you aren't a danger to us."

Kal looked away. "I'm not. Or at least... I don't want to be."

"I believe you. Honestly I think it's really cool what you can do."

Kal looked up. "Really?"

"Yeah. It's amazing."

"I know right? No one else thinks that though."

"Come over here. I wanna talk to you. It's a bit hard when you're so far away."

Kal stared at him. He hesitated, but eventually stood up and walked over. He sat against the wall and the prince scooted closer to the bars.

"My name's Julian by the way. What's yours?"

"Kal."

"Can I see it?"

"See what?"

"Your magic. The fire."

"Oh. Um. I don't wanna get in trouble." Kal said, rubbing his hands.

"Come on. No one's gonna see. I won't tell anyone. I promise."

You can't let anyone see. Ever. Promise me you won't.

I promise.

He had already broken that promise. Why remember that now?

It may be beautiful and amazing to us. But not everyone sees it that way.

But... Julian did. Or at least he said he did.

"Ok." Kal said. He took a deep breath and opened his hands. Without even a thought, a flame burst in his hands.

"Woah."

Kal glanced at Julian. He was staring into the flame with fascination and wonder in his eyes. He smiled.

"It's amazing."

Kal remembered his own reaction when he learned to control it. It was about the same. Kal smiled and turned back to the flame.

"Watch this." He said sitting up straighter. He held out his hands and hit the back of his hand twice making the flame break into three balls of fire that bounced into the air. Kal started juggling the balls of fire.

Julian's face lit up even more. "That's so cool."

Kal glanced and saw his smile. He blushed and all the fireballs hit his head rolling off his head.

Julian laughed as Kal struggled to snuff the flames.

"How do you have so much control?"

"Practice. And focus. Fire is difficult to control. But as long as you keep the flames small it's easy."

"Where did you learn to use fire magic?"

"Learn? I didn't learn fire magic. I was born like this."

"Really? Why?"

Kal shrugged and leaned back. "I found out when I was 8. I thought it was so amazing. I immediately told my brother, Eren. He thought it was cool too. Or at least... he said he did. He told me how dangerous it was. How people would seek to destroy me. He told me not to use my abilities in front of others. Of course that didn't happen or I wouldn't be here."

Kal hugged his knees as the high of talking to someone faded away. "I didn't hurt anyone. I would never hurt someone. I just wanted to help. I was careful. But... Eren... he told them. He always said he wanted to protect me. So why would he do that?" Tears started welling up in his eyes.

"Why would he do this to me? He... he called me a monster. I don't wanna be a monster. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I was just trying to help." He sobbed.

Julian didn't know what to do. He felt bad for the boy. But at the same time he didn't know what he could do about it. He reached through the bars and set his hand on Kal's shoulder.

"Julian?"

"Yeah?"

Kal looked at him with a pleading look in his eyes. "Am I a monster? Do you think I'm a monster? Is there something wrong with me?"

"No. Of course not. You're not a monster. It's not your fault."

Kal turned away. "Then who's fault is it? If not mine."

"It's no one's fault. You did what you had to do. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why am I here?"

Julian was silent. He didn't know how to answer that question. He didn't have an answer.

Kal stood up and walked back to his corner. "Just go away. Leave me alone." He said, hiding his tear stained face.

Julian had nothing to do but leave. "I'll be back tomorrow. I'm sorry. I could try to talk to my father but I'm not sure it'd do any good."

"I don't care. Just go."

Julian sighed and left the room after one last look at the small boy. He left the room and shut the door.