A Tread Through The Castles Back Gates
Dirt tossed into the air, sparks flying as the ground scorched. Kerdict hissed as his back skid against the ground, fire escaping his control as he skid to a stop. He quickly pat out his sweater as he winced at the wound that must have formed on his back. His skin felt tight, and his head rang from being tossed.
"And stay out you miserable freak," The man above him spat, the door slamming. Kerdict was left in the darkness, the moon bright overhead. He was worried already, no light left around, open to any of the howlers at night.
He stood up, patting the dirt off of himself, scowling at the door. The royal family didn't need a servant that snooped around, but in his defense, the family was suspicious and he wanted to know more. The family was secretive, and rumors around their children went around their city often. The stone walls didn't hold things out all of the time, but the royal family also wouldn't let anyone out or else they wouldn't be allowed back in. His own family lived in a small cottage near one of the entrances to the walls, and they were constantly at risk.
He was pretty in control of himself, he was a phoenix-hydra, but he'd named himself a kukulu, in reference to a family name. It was just easier than explaining to people what he was, and he was considered one of the mixed creatures in their society.
He sighed, forming a ball of fire over his open palm, lighting up the area allowing him to see. It swirled around in a sphere, sparks cracking around it and warming his body temperature. The trees were barren, the back of the royal castle is abandoned. He'd never been back here in all of his work, but through the trees, he could see high metal fences. Useless in his case, his wings though, were made of fire and would burn the forest down when he took them out if he wasn't careful. He couldn't be charged for that.
He started walking, his footsteps on the dirt were almost inaudible. He was surefire to be an obvious target if anything saw, as it was likely the only light source from what looked like miles. He didn't worry too much though, as he was in the royal territory, he would just have to be careful of wild animals.
If he did have in order to ward anything off though, he could use his fire just fine, as he always did. He could use it for his wings, to throw, set explosions, pretty much anything normal fire can do on its own. As he was a hydra, he could also create a poisonous gas from his breath, and his blood was poisonous to the touch. He was hard to hurt, but he had minimal control over some of his bigger or smaller abilities, rather than these few.
He sighed, his eyes scanning the area as he walked. He didn't know where the exit was, and there wasn't a way around the castle without flying. He couldn't control the fire from a distance just yet, so he didn't want to risk a forest fire in the summer.
His sweater was singed now and he was in his common day form. The ends of his hair hot to the touch, fingertips giving off a constant blue and red flame, black spins on his knuckles, etcetera. His teeth were sharp, his eyes a red and blue that shifted like fire in glass with no pupils, and lines running along his skin in a pattern. His appearance wasn't too out of the ordinary for humans, but he was still a bit dangerous to be around the common day human. His human form however was a lot more mellow toned and he found it boring, though going to markets was a lot easier.
He stared down at the fire sphere, bringing his other hand up, opening his left palm beside the other. The ball split into two leaving a bright fiery trail as if flowed in his hands. He pulled it apart, spinning both as he made patterns through the air with it, the fire swirling around his fingertips, humming quietly. At this point, he was just trying to stay entertained rather than find a way out. It was a straight path down anyways, and the patterns he made in the air were much more fun to look at.
He heard some shifting in the trees to his sides, keeping alert as he glanced occasionally, soon seeing a small fence, likely leading to a backroad of the city. He sped up, flicking his hands as the fir dissipated, a sigh escaping his throat, He'd finally be out of this horrid backyard, dare he say forest with how big it was.
He was about to exit, his hand setting out the gate as he jumped back. He winced, a drop of blood leaving where metal must have scraped his hand on the gate. It stung, but he didn't see any misshapen metal on the gate.
"What are you doing~"
Kerdict furrowed his eyebrows at the voice, gripping his wrist. As he glanced around, he set fire to his hand, an attempt to burn the wound closed and stop the bleeding. He didn't see the source of the voice, his throat closing up as he glared.
"Who's there... I'm just leaving the royal house, I don't mean any damn issues," He muttered more so to himself, annoyance dripping like ink from his voice. He heard an echoey laugh as he looked up at the fence, movement in his peripheral vision. There was just a black shadow, the edges moving like his own fire. He stepped back a bit, the shadow moving a bit closer as well.
"I didn't know they kicked people like you back here," The voice from before claimed, Kerdict guessing the shadowy figure was the culprit, he made the small ball of fire appear again. As he did, the figure dissipated along as the light leaked along with the gate.
"People like me...?" Kerdict hummed, eyeing the gate as he held out the fire, his hands wary.
"Can you not control... that?" the voice mumbled. Kerdict was about to respond to this figure's claim before his fire turned black, swirling up and then encasing his arm, flowing over his own body as his eyes widened, not in control. He felt the fire- if that was what it was now, wrap around his neck, yanking him back into the dark path.
He pushed away, his hands going to his neck to contain it as he pulled back. The laughter echoed around him as he turned quickly. His eyes caught more movement though, his shadow had moved but he wasn't moving the same way. He froze, eyeing it as a grin appeared in the shadow, a light part. Antlers also seemed to appear in the shadow, his hands going to his head quickly as he glared at the ground.
"What is this- are you one of the royal children-?" Kerdict scoffed moving back towards the gate. He was aggravated as the laughter cut out, an odd silence and uneasiness filling him. He raised a hand to the gate again, his palm hovering over the handle. His stomach dropped, he didn't know why as he swallowed.
"...Are you still there?" he asked, staring at his own arm. He wanted to leave, just as he had for his entire journey, but something was holding him back. Like the same urge to stay you get when leaving your bedroom in the evening, to get a cup of water. Only 10 times more dreadful.
He shuddered to feel a presence beside him, someone breathing just over his shoulder. His skin felt tight, and he couldn't move as he felt a hand rest on his arm.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
