The suns life giving rays shone upon me, giving me strength. The glow had faded and the flames had died. All that was left was my smoldering hair and pants that had miraculously survived the ordeal, though they were smoking near the ankles. My bare feet left charred craters in the ground. An aura of heat melted the snow within five or so feet of me. My skin steamed against the cold bite of the winter air. I took a deep breath of the fresh air, it's crisp chill stinging inside my lungs. After a few, blissful, moments of serenity, my senses were invaded and far overwhelmed. The sun suddenly shone far brighter than before, almost blinding. The smells of the market invaded my nostrils and hijacked my senses. The sounds of clanking armor rang in my brain like a bell in a church tower. My senses were on overdrive, it could've been from the sudden overstimulation from being removed from isolation. Or it could've been from the commander and his evolution. The way he said that always made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. After I got control of myself and came out of my daze, I noticed I had been surrounded by the town guard. Their spears at the ready. "Kaine Bjornson. You're supposed to be dead." Barked one of the guards. "And you're supposed to be smarter" I laughed. He snarled at me and lowered his spear, leveling it with my neck, the wings glinting in the bright light. As he crept closer, the wooden pole upon which the spear was mounted began to smolder and char at the end closest to the head. The spear head began emitting heat waves, warping the image of the guards face before my eyes. The closer he got the brighter it glowed, the head of the spear red hot as if it had just come out of a forge. As soon as he got within a few inches of my throat, the pole flared up and the spear head dropped, sticking point first into the dirt. Everyone stared in disbelief, even me. After he recovered from the initial shock, he tried to jab me with the bare pole, only to have it crumple to ash against my bare chest. Out of reflex, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it outwards, disabling his arm. His leather bracer cracked beneath my hand like a drought plagued desert, charring under my grip. I felt something crack beneath my veiny hand. looking up my arm, it was just as distended. Veins popping up beneath skin, like writhing snakes or bolts of lightning, highlighted by marred flesh, scars showing a ghastly burn that had never occurred, pushed up by firm muscle that had not been there before. The pop I had felt before was not his bracer shattering as I thought, but rather, the bones in his forearm. Everything below the lower three inches of his forearm hang limp, dangling in the air. He cried out in anguish, an animalistic howl that rang out in the valley. some of the mocking owls picked up his cry, echoing it back to him from the trees. I immediately released his hand and he dropped to the ground. The only discernable words I could gather from his sputtering string of choked out syllables were "Kill him damn it" followed by more groaning. One of the guards behind me quickly jabbed his spear into my side, opening up a large gash that showed one of my ribs, the flesh steaming in the chilly air. The others quickly followed suit, skewering me with a dozen spears, all sunk into my torso up to the wings. Each one sending white hot spikes of agony into my body. Though, after what had to have been years of torture and pain, this felt like nothing more than a bee sting. My body reacted differently than my mind though. The spikes of agony coursed through my body and into the fibers of my entire muscular system. At once my entire body tensed and released a shockwave that blasted each of the guards back almost twenty feet. The flame started in the fibers of my muscles, as they tensed and shifted an intense heat erupted from them. The moment it met the air it turned the very air around us into a wreath of pure flame, golden in color and intense as the sun in terms of brilliance. I was surprised when my hair came out unscathed but, it wasn't even singed. The guards on the other hand were not so lucky. Some were splayed out on the street, while others were slumped up against the side of buildings. All were smoking covered in soot. They left their spears though unfortunately, still jutting out from my sides. The intense heat surged again within my body, and the spears fell, clanking against one another, to the ground. I examined my body, the one I had not seen in years. Where a young boys body had been, small and soft due to youth, a mans body stood. Hardened and rough, calloused and dirty. Lean muscle enveloped my arms and legs, the skin stretched over them, marked in some points, on my chest and legs, where the muscle had gown far too fast for the skin to accommodate. I ran my hands over my arms and torso. The fibers in the muscle felt like the small steel cables that weaved together to create the monstrous shackles that held me. Remembering the hell I had just escaped caused the heat inside to flare again, but, instead of going down, it continued to burn, unyielding. In fact, it grew exponentially, every second doubling its intensity. The scars on my arms flared with light, bursting into golden tongues that licked up to my shoulders. The pain the spears had left still seared against my sides, as if the wounds were hot branding irons. I looked down and found that the wounds actually were searing hot, the flow of blood slowly ebbing as they cauterized themselves, closing up as if being sewn together by an invisible needle, leaving only thin white streaks as scars. The heat, which had before been cozy and comforting, like the fireplace after a long day hunting and a nice hot meal, grew painful. It started out dull, as if it were just soreness of the body. Then it started to grow, as a small ember in a dead forest, igniting the brush and growing into a raging inferno that consumed all, destroyed all. The aura of rippling waves of heat grew further around me, evaporating snow and charring the ground underneath the soles of my feet. The heat grew still, a blazing pain that started in the pit of my stomach, then raging through the rest of my body. Fiery tendrils cascading down my legs and clawing up my arms and neck. I knew it was only a matter of time until the next shockwave, and this would be much more disastrous. Last time had been accompanied by only the shock of the spears slicing into my ribs, a fate I had become accustomed to. This time, it felt as if every atom of my being, even piercing into my soul, had been lit ablaze. I stumbled through the town as if in a drunken stupor, crashing up against the sides of buildings and carts, the slightest brush up against them sent tongues of ravenous flame, hungry to consume whatever they touched. I soon recognized my surroundings, the market in which I had been taken last time filled my view. The people swarmed the stalls, sounds of haggling and jingling coins filled my ears. New sounds that had previously never been loud enough for me to became sharp and clear. The heavily trodden snow still crunching under shoes, whispers in the back alleys, and sounds of meat being sliced into portions. It sounded rough, their knife must've been dull. Smells also invaded my nose, the spices and meats of the market were almost too overpowering, some of them were so strong scented the inside of my nose burned with a renewed intensity. The people in the market took notice of me. Looking back on it, I probably did seem quite comical, or terrifying depending on your view of it. A young man walking barefoot into the market, wearing nothing but a pair of hide pants that had singed halfway up his calf, glistening with sweat in the dead of winter, tongues of flames dancing off his hands. As I shambled forward, the people parted to let me through, all staring me down. The exit to the city was close, but I feared I wouldn't make it in time. The pain and pressure continued to build, like a bomb ready to detonate. And detonate I would have if, I had not seen her. Her piercing eyes met mine and everything froze. The flames on my arms extinguished, and the heat vanished. My feet carried me towards her, no longer shambling like a drunk but going numb in the snow. The entire world seemed to go silent, even the winds had stilled. "I-I uh". She stumbled over her words. "You made it out" she smiled, her eyes glistening. "About time right?" I said with a pained laugh. She wiped her eyes and lunged at me. Instinctively, I swooped out of the way, narrowly avoiding her outstretched arms. I was hunched down on all fours, breathing heavily. She stared at me curiously. "I'm sorry. I-" I was interrupted by her throwing her arms around my neck and squeezing tight. I tensed up, uneasy at the contact. This was the first time in five years someone had touched me without trying to dissect me, stab me, or throw me in irons. After a moment, the tension melted away. I felt the tightness in my shoulders release. Slowly, I returned the embrace. A new heat burned in my chest. But, unlike the uncontrollable curse that plagued me, this heat was seated in my heart. For the first time in years, I allowed myself to feel, to collapse into what I had been bottling up since I woke up in that god forsaken lab. We slightly separated, our faces mere inches apart. Staring into her beautiful eyes I began to realize the emotion that had been boiling in my heart for years. "Aloura, there's something I need to tell you." I whispered. "What is it Kaine?" she asked. My heart pounded in my chest, every beat sending its own shockwave through my being. And as I opened my mouth to tell her the truth, my body expelled its most magnificent blast yet. The scars grew over every single part of me, crawling up my arms and into my torso. Creeping up my neck and marring my face. Eyes becoming crimson irises in an obsidian void. I couldn't stop it. I could only stare into her eyes as she turned to ash.
