Flames of Fury

Chapter 2

Never let it be said that I don't give the people what they want.

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Bastian

I wake with a jolt Gods only know how much later. It takes me a moment to realize I'm not in Drow Hollow, but rather in a comfortable hospital bed. I'm hooked up to an I.V. and I can feel the effects of whatever medicine they have running through the tubes slowly bringing me back to life.

I lay back down to rest some more when I hear the door slide open and footsteps sure and heavy enter the room. I'm still so tired I don't bother trying to open my eyes.

The door slides open again and more footsteps approach.

"Incandis, join us. I think we could all let off a little steam, literally." I hear a voice say.

Forget about being tired, my eyes fly open at the mention of my son's name. It doesn't make any sense though, we're not in the grove, why would Incandis be here?

No. I must have heard them wrong. Right?

Only one way to find out.

"Excuse me," I manage to croak out. "Did you say Incandis?"

There's a momentary pause before I hear his voice. "Dad?"

My heart swells, the emotion I have been holding in breaks through the floodgates and I choke out a sob as hot tears roll down the side of my face.

Incandis rushes over to the side of my bed. We wrap our arms around one another in a bear hug, afraid that the other will slip through our fingers if we let go.

"Oh Gods is it good to see you, dad." Incandis says.

I sit up in the bed while Incandis sits on the edge.

"My boy, you have no idea." I say with a laugh. "Where's your sister? Where's Mags?"

Those two have always been close. I'm counting on her being here with him, or better yet back home in the safety of the Grove.

Incandis' facial expression plummets to the floor, taking my heart with it. He looks towards the two men at the door and then back at me but doesn't meet my eye.

"We're pretty sure she took off for Drow Hollow. Alone." His skin begins to heat with anger. "If you're here... we think she may have traded herself for your freedom."

I shake my head as I begin to piece together what he's saying. "No, no that can't be. A guard got us out. He risked his life to save us. They were barricading all the entrances. We barely made it out."

The two men that accompanied Incandis had been silent up until this point. But now a deep, hair-raising growl bounces off the walls. The men shift into two huge wolves right there in the room before running off.

"Fuck!" Incandis curses. "Dad I'm sorry I gotta go after them. I'll be back."

With a final squeeze of my hand Incandis takes off running out of the room after the wolves.

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Incandis

It doesn't take me long to catch up to Ro and Varian, their loud growls were easy to follow. I'm doing my best to fly between the branches and bushes of the forest, but it's really more of a half sprint, half glide.