Dimokre Chronicles Book 1: Crossed Paths

Chapter 17 - To Find Rabbits, Flowers, and Fire

Kael trembled in a tight ball, hidden in a patch of tall weeds. He clutched his legs, burying his face into his knees as much as physically possible. He was in his human form so he could feel normal and safe. Tears streamed down from his eyes though, cutting through the pathetic facade.

He wanted to see Michael or his mom. He wanted her to tell him it would be okay and Michael to ruffle his hair. The fear of hurting either one of them was enough to make him feel cemented to the ground. He thought about talking to Kara since fire couldn't hurt her, but since fire causes light, he quickly tossed that idea out too. He couldn't see anyone.

Kael curled up against the hollow log, feeling numb and looking down at the river below. It was probably best that he becomes a hermit until he figures out how to be a firefox. He'd rather be alone forever than try to get the Elders to help him. He sniffled and rubbed his nose. It was cold. His hands were cold. His feet, legs, head, everything was cold.

When I get good at my powers, maybe I could warm myself up. But that seemed too far away to reach.

He screwed his eyes shut, picturing his mother. The daydream quickly burned up and vanished after his mom began screaming in pain. The ash of her flesh drifted down, causing shadows in the light. Her bones fell into a pile, but suddenly cracked and crumbled apart.

Kael gasped and opened his eyes again as he panted. He clutched his shirt above his heart, his chest heaving up and down. He decided to stop closing his eyes until those scenes stop whirling in his head.

I don't get it. Kael pinched himself again and again. His leg felt tender and started to pale, though Kael kept telling himself it was because of the cold and not how often and how hard he pinched himself. I just don't get it.

Kael had the unthinkable iris color—the signal no one else had but everyone had deemed useless. What's unknown was always useless, unusable, and unwanted.

From an early age, a fox or firefox spirit learned how to talk, how to walk, how to turn into their two main forms, and that their hazel-eyed friends have fire but not to fear them and their blue-eyed friends don't have fire but not to disrespect them. That was how society worked.

His parents had always told him that having green eyes wasn't bad, but even as a little(r) boy, Kael knew they were just trying to protect him. Being bullied by his peers bothered him, but not as much as the old counselors did. They had hidden away in that stuffy room with the impossibly heavy, stone double doors that were gilded in gold. They sat at a donut-shaped table, whispering down their collective thoughts to King Charlie, Kael's father. He was seated at the back of the donut, high and mighty on his throne, fists clenched, as he had to listen to the unsolicited advice about his only child. "Green is a phenomenon, sire; we understand that, but to our people... well, it's an atrocity," Kael heard the Elder with the particularly wispy beard say before his mom, Queen Lynette, had whisked the boy away to play. Kael pretended he hadn't understood the situation and went along with his mother.

But it gnawed at him. How the Elders treated him when neither parent was there gnawed at him. Kael glowered at a rock until the heat Kael must've been sending into it sparked the grass nearby. Kael panicked, swooping it up and patting down the flames with his foot. They didn't hurt him and vanished. Everywhere he set the rock, it sparked more tiny flames. Finally, he tossed it into the river. At first, the water boiled, but soon simmered down.

Kael looked guiltily away as a few dead fish floated to the top and bobbed down the current. Kael glanced back at the hollow log. Weeds grew on, inside, and around it, and rocks secured both ends of it. Kael placed those there after the first time he encountered this place. He turned fox and crawled inside. He didn't want to see the world anymore, and he didn't want the world to see him either.