A Touch Of Darkness

10 || Foolish

I am thankful my hands are now free and able to balance me as I stumble back, or I most likely would have fallen into the side of the tent. "Suppress? You mean to remove my flame?"

Tendrils of fire snake their way up through my ribcage, reaching for my throat, seeking to snatch the notion away. My heart thrashes uselessly against them. Black flickers are curling around the base of my fingers. I pray the lantern doesn't reveal them to Finlay, but I can't force them down. My hands are shaking.

"Hey, no!" Finlay's whisper merges into a soft hiss, accented with panic. My voice must have been louder than he wished, or perhaps my pulse for the way it thunders. "Not remove. Just... control."

"Control," I echo, focusing hard on the emerging flame, the shove of pressing it down. It's like peeling back a heavy sheet, but once it is gone, the rest of my thoughts can finally breathe.

They recoil instantly at the realisation of my initial reaction. What must Finlay think of me? The loss of my cursed flame, capable of claiming lives with ease, shouldn't be something to dread. It should be positive. Instead, my skin grows cold with fear woven into the idea.

I swallow back the foul taste that tips my tongue, trying to calm the race of my heart. If there's anything I do desperately need, it is control.

I want it, too, don't I? True control would mean I could touch people without causing harm. I wouldn't need this distance, this constant churning terror lapping at the edges of every interaction I share with another. I might not be quite such a curse anymore. Is that what Finlay hints at? Is such a thing really possible?

Yet before I can voice the rising questions, Finlay's head jerks sideways. His entire body stiffens. His eyes dart around the tent before settling on the flap, watching as the wind tugs at it weakly.

"We have to go," he murmurs, deliberate and commanding. "Now."

There is no need to ask why. Although I can detect nothing more than the rustle of the trees, he must have heard movement. He seems possessed by some nervous prey animal in the way he backs up to the far tent side, his steps light, his ears almost pricked with the intensity of his focus.

It is now or never. I can feel his gaze flitting to me, sharp, waiting with little patience for me to follow. He promises control. He has what I need.

My feet make the decision for me. My hands fall to my sides as I travel the few paces over to him. It is more than control he offers -- it is freedom, however uncertain, and that above all is what I need. Each of these cells I find myself in is solely a trap for my power. Without its danger, I can be free.

Finlay nods, flashing a smile, before taking a step towards the entrance. Metal clangs, quiet but sharp. The handcuffs. He mouths something unreadable to empty air, then bends, carefully setting them down on the grass. I can't help but wince with him at its noise as it settles. Everything feels so heightened now I'm so aware of the secrecy of our actions.

The sight, however, does bring back a sudden memory. I dash back to my previous corner, scooping up an item left in the dirt. Camdyn's dagger, catching a slice of lantern light. Finlay meets my eyes and I give him a nod, sliding the weapon into the right side of my belt, just behind the feather. Finlay's feather. Now probably isn't the time to return it to him. It brushes the side of my finger, gentle reassurance that I am making the right choice.

He leads me to the flap, holding its edge delicately as he prises it open and dances to the side to let me through. His eyes are never still. They roam the camp with fevered awareness, passing every tent in the space of a moment.

Nothing moves outside but the shadows and the trees. At his gesture, I hurry through, barely dodging the flap as he releases it.

We pause as he surveys the area again, thoughts whirring behind his darkened gaze. I take the opportunity to take my own picture of the area. Much of the camp is too shrouded in the fabric of night to make out, but I can more closely examine the pool the lantern creates, and it is there I find the bodies.