Born in the Flame

Chapter 35

Rage was flowing through me. All who bore witness to me looked with awe. I was power. I was flame. I was Killian Oakwell's demise. My large body had sprung into action, I willed my four legs to move with ferocity. The crowd who had stayed behind in the chaos, parted beneath me. None wanted to be in my path of destruction.

    The earth trembled before me. Smoke and ash flowed around me like I was the essence of flame. My fiery eyes locked onto Killian's. I was far away from him and my mate, but I could see with such powerful clarity.

    Chimeras launched themselves toward me. My maw opened for them, allowing them to sizzle and fry within, before launching them aside. I wanted anyone in my path to feel my pain, my undivided wrath. Any who tried to stop me from retrieving my mate would burn. I would taste their blood. I would let the taste of them drip along the sandy ground as I ate them from existence.

    When I reached Killian, I towered over him. My eyes burned as I looked at him. Fear coated his gold eyes. My lip curled into a snarl, showing the fire and razor-like teeth. I displayed what awaited him. It was a promise that it would hurt and would last for as long as his body could last.

    Uzlos and Gabris, still squirming, stared up at me in awe. I was a god. I was an heir. 'Take me,' my eyes told Killian, 'if you dare.' Liquid-like tentacles shot up toward me but burned at the touch. I was the ember in the fire. I was the smoke that would come from his home. I was the danger to his entire plan.

    My jaw snapped for him. He leaped backward, barely missing. Like a fox hunting a rabbit, I leaped at him. Again, he dodged. More tentacles launched for me, trying to ensnare me. One managed to grab ahold of my ankle. A roar came from my mouth, making the world around me shake and flames explode from my body. The tentacles sizzled away, allowing me to again snap at the dawn elf. We had a dance of fire and dark magic. Tentacles would explode from the ground, trying to capture me, but my fire would burn them away.

    Killian took another leap backward but missed his footing. I heard the snap I was all too familiar with. He broke something. Killian was now the injured rabbit in my snare. Glee shuddered through me at the hunt I was on. Like every god supposedly did, I would eat my first mortal. I would savor the taste. I would cherish the memory of him dying by me and my giant canines.

    He groaned and lifted himself with his staff. I continued to approach. There was nowhere for him to run. I would end him here. I would save my mate.

    "Until next, we dance, Elwin, heir of flame." He smirked. With a tap from his staff, he disappeared; Uzlos and Gabris with him. I paused, not completely realizing what was happening. When it came to me what happened, I began to weep. As I wept, I shrank.

    I barely felt my body return to its mortal form as I screamed. A new rage came over me. Not the powerful rage I had coursed through me only moments earlier, but the helpless and weak rage that came after the crash of adrenaline.

    Hands grabbed me, trying to pull me away from where I was. I wouldn't budge. I sobbed until there was nothing left in my tear ducts. My mate was gone, and I was so powerlessly hopeless to stop it.

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    I awoke in my bed. Sigurd was by my side. My heart was still racing as I pat for the familiar feel of Uzlos' chest.

    "Hey... hey... try to take it easy." Sigurd said, holding my wrist.

    "Where is he? Where's my mate?" I nearly shouted.

    "I... I don't know... We don't know..." He answered, starting to cry, "I didn't... I didn't know... We all drank the alcohol... we tried... I'm sorry..."