Playing with Fire [COMPLETED]

3 ~ anger

Ruin leads me into the room, the hearth crackling, casting long shadows on the walls. I stop before a man with brown skin and dark hair, his eyes gray, like his clothes. "Baxian. Nice to meet you, Elorha."

"Nice false name," says a woman's voice. I turn around, and face a blonde haired woman with strikingly blue eyes. Her clothes are very revealing and not at all suited for the bitter cold weather outside. Her pale tan skin is lined with tattoos and freckles, and when she leans forward to inspect me, I feel .... obsolete.

My black hair is shaggy, my blue eyes dull. My pale skin sallow, my bones sticking from my skin, because of the fact that my family is so big, for my village, at least.... that we didn't always have good food. Food enough for all of us, that is. My clothes, which are a pale pink shirt and blue jeans and sandals, are all dull compared to hers.

"Call me Star," she says. She smiles and I do my best to return one to her.

Star sits beside a girl who looks a lot like her, but paler. This girl has white hair, and she stands up on shaking legs, and I see she's using a cane. She studies me, her expression unreadable. Then she nods and faces Star.  "Call me ... Luna."

"Yeah, yeah, nice introductions, but what's this sorry sack of flesh here for?" asks a man I hadn't paid attention to, who is beside the hearth. He has white hair and a green tunic, with blue breeches and a pair of brown boots. "I mean, it's not like she'd be a good candidate ...."

"I decide such things, Anders," snaps Ruin. His eyes glow even brighter.

Anders raises his hands in surrender and turns back to the fire.  "I don't think she'd last a day here."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence," I snap sarcastically.

Anders whips his head up. "Haha. Nice. Maybe I was wrong about you, girl. Oh, sorry, Elorha. I guess you're also from the Village, right? The one that decided to "sacrifice" a kid every year so Ruin here'd protect them?"

"How'd you know?" I ask, curious.

Anders laughs. "Well, for what you are, it isn't exactly surprising to see you here."

"Anders." Ruin's voice is stern.

The guy shakes his head.  "Hey, I'm just here to make sure that you understand the severity of your sister's offer."

The flames beside Anders flare, and Ruin stands. "If Pain wishes to challenge me so soon after the summer solstice, she is a fool."

Anders growls. Like a wolf, he growls. "Watch it. I may just be an emissary, but I do not take kindly to my Lady being mocked. Even by you, Lord of Ruin."

Ruin's turn to growl. "Out, everyone but Elorha."

I expect them to leave, like walking out the door. But no.  Instead, they vanish into nothing. I blink and look around. But Ruin faces Anders, his fury evident and rolling off his very body, his wings spread out.

"Let's make something very, very clear, Anders," Ruin snarls. "Elorha and the others are of my Court. Not yours. Not Pain's. So next time you think to mock them, or even open your mouth like you just did, rethink it."

"You can't kill me, Ruin," sneers Anders, rising from his seat and stepping up beside the demon. "I'm Pain's emissary. If you kill me .... well, that'd be war. Something even you could not win. Your siblings would not side with you."

"Are you so sure of that?" Ruin demands. "You forget what my touch does to those beyond my Court." He removes his black gloves that I had not noticed until now. He grabs Anders by the throat, and the man gasps and gags as black and gray coats his skin, his veins pulsating darkness. No, not just darkness. Ruination.

I gasp as Ruin releases Anders, who collapses to the floor. He coughs and gags, clutching his throat. His .... ruined throat. Anders glares up at Ruin, who places his gloves back on and kneels to his level.

"Next time you think it would be fun to say that kind of shit to me, remember this day. I will always come out on top, when it comes to fighting you. Never forget that." Standing up, he gestures to Anders. "You're dismissed."

Anders looks at me with murderous rage, but he flickers out of existence then.

Sighing, Ruin sits down on his throne once more. He massages his temples and groans. After a moment, he looks up at me, as if remembering I am still here.

"Apologies, Elorha, for making you watch that grisly affair," he says.

"Um .... it's okay?" I say, not sure what else could be said.

"This must all be very strange to you," he says. He lifts his gaze to mine, that same fire burning within them, but yet, he doesn't let it go out of control. Instead, he watches me closely. "You probably assumed that which most people who come here assume. That I'm some evil, animalistic creature who wants to devour you. Am I right?"

I swallow hard. "Um ...."

He chuckles. "I'm right. Yes. Well, Elorha, I'm not like that. I think that Village is very.... wrong. But if I were to go there now, and try to tell them to cease, they'd likely not believe who I am, even with my wings. So, I offer a home for those who find themselves "sacrificed" to me. This is where you may live. This is your new home."

"But why not kill me? Why not eat me? I mean, wouldn't it be easier?"

He tilts his head. "Would you like me to eat you, Elorha?"

I back up, and he laughs. The sound does a funny thing to my heart.

"No, it would not be easier. I prefer that my subjects remain alive, and so, you will not be killed or harmed by anyone of this Court. And if someone from another one tries to do something, I will likely kill them."

"But why? What am I to you? Why am I so special?"

He sighs. "You ask a lot of questions."

"Yeah, I tend to do so when my life's in danger."

"You are safe here. Safer here than you were at the Village, that is for sure."

"Safer than with my family?" I whisper.

"Need I remind you that your family did nothing to stop this from happening?"

"They couldn't, Ruin!" I exclaim. "If they objected to the mayor's proclamation, it'd have meant that all of us would be sacrificed, or worse. Killed. If they had, I'd have been forced to watch my family die."

"And now, do you see what I mean when I say you're safer here?" he asks.

"But what about my family? What about them? Who's to say that they won't end up here too? Or get hurt or killed by other villagers?"

He presses his mouth into a thin line. "What do you want to do?"

"Go home."

"You can't."

"Then just .... ugh! Why can't I just go home if you're going to do nothing to me?"

"I never said I'd do nothing to you," he says, smirking. My blood goes cold. He sighs. "I was joking, sort of. I'd never harm you, Elorha."

"But why not? You're a fucking demon!"

"Just because I am a demon does not mean I am an animal. I am not my siblings. Do not mistake me for such again."

Silence stretches between us. He sighs again. "Lucian. I know you're there." A man materializes from the wall behind Ruin. The man looks at me, his green eyes flashing in the firelight. "Lucian here will take you to your room. You will be staying here, in my home, for the time being."

Before I can ask any other questions, Lucian grabs my arm, and suddenly, the world whips by so fast that I become disoriented. And then, we stand in a hall before a door.

"Home sweet home," Lucian says.  "I am across the hall."

Shaking my head, I enter the room and close the door in Lucian's face.