The Cinders of Dezu

8th: Manifestation (4)

"He's Vincarsee!"

"Vincarsee?"

"Alert the guards! Someone tell them!"

Julian had stopped trying to break the solid block of the fountain and moved to Cairo's arms. He was making progress in chipping away the thinner layers by pounding it with his fists, only for it to form the layer again. Cairo was making a low fearful groan in an attempt to release some tension so he didn't panic.

A few started to look back into the crowded marketplace. Some suddenly left the fountain all together. Cairo and Julian were too distracted to notice what was going on but the crowds attention slowly started leaving them. Before they knew it, there was an uproar happening outside of the group crowded around the fountain. Soon, no one was looking at the steadily freezing Cairo. Their attention had turned towards the inner walls of the market.

Flags were stationed there. Neither of the boys had really noticed them when they entered. They lined each wall, flapping with an insignia of a flame. Ironically, they were being consumed by a rising fire. Gradually, a panic began to make its way through the people. Carts were being loaded and stands taken down out of fear. Julian kept at his fist pounding. It was all to no avail. The ice was thickly coating Cairo's shoulders and back.

"I've got to grab something! I can't do this with my bare hands! I'm sorry, I have to go look for something."

Julian's voice was pleading as he faded into the panicking crowd. Cairo lost the tear distorted figure of his friend as the the ice crept up his neck. He couldn't move his head. A helmet of ice slinked over the back of his cranium and inched down his forehead. A separate sheet covered his chin and began encasing his bottom lip. He resisted against the stiffness of his body and realized he was wholly unable to move now. The ice had taken all of him. For a moment, as the last bit of his nostrils were overtaken, he thought of all the times he'd considered his own death. He couldn't possibly have ever foreseen this.

He held his breath. His eyes now peered through a sheet of ice that only allowed him to see colors, shapes, and shadows. The panic had come in waves and a new tide was coming. His life was about to end in a muffled scream. One of the shadows made him hold it back. Something completely filled his field of limited vision through the ice. The shadow turned from dark to intensely bright. Cairo squeezed his eyes shut.

All at once he could breathe! He could hear! His eyes snapped open to see a face. It was a young woman. A beautiful one. He felt like he could go swimming in the eyes that peered down at him. She was kneeling over him as she pulled her hand from his nose and mouth. Cairo could feel heat coming from it.

"Hey! What are you doing to him!"

Her hair whipped over Cairo's face as she turned her head to the sound of Julian's voice coming out of the herd of panicked people. She then turned back and made a fist. With a single strike to Cairo's ice-covered belly, the solid shell all over his body cracked and gave way. Cairo flopped onto the ground like a fish. She stood over him while looking toward the congestion of wagons and patrons around the exit. Her voice came out smooth and low.

"You guys are idiots."