Playing with Fire [COMPLETED]

38 ~ search and rescue

After Lyric helps me find some better clothes for the weather, we head out in search of Ruin.

The snow and ice makes a pleasant crunch sound as we walk through it, and I do my best to not limp from the dull ache of my leg injury, which she patched up.

Lyric and I trudge through the snow for a while, my attention flitting from the world around us to the senses I am searching for him. I sense something then. Ruin. He is nearby, and he's.... he's hurt. Bad.

I take off running as best I can, my leg hurting so bad I want to vomit, but then adrenaline kicks in. I stagger through the snow, Lyric racing after me.  She calls my name, but does not catch up until I slam to a stop. Because before me is a sheer cliff. I spread my wings, trying to get down there to the bottom, where Ruin's pain is felt.

"Wait," says Lyric.  "Somethings not right."

"He's down there," I say.

"Yeah, maybe, but.... Elorha, right? Maybe we should try to get ourselves more ready. Maybe we should try to get our bearings."

"He's hurt, Lyric," I say. "I can't let him get hurt."

"What is he to you?" she whispers, eyes wide.

"I told you," I say. "He's.... I...."

A scream rips through the woods. I flinch and whirl around, my wings fluttering. I look around nervously, but there is no sign of the person who screamed. Lyric looks around us, her breaths coming shakily. She looks at me. 

"Was that him?"

"I don't know," I say.

There is a screeching sound, down below us. Then there is a sound like tearing flesh. I look at Lyric. She swallows hard and nods once.  "We need to help."

"But .... I thought you wanted to be careful," I say.

"I do. But there's something going on. We need to find out what," she murmurs.

I nod. "So, how are you planning on getting down there?"

"I'll find a way. But you should head down now, I'll meet up with you in a few minutes."

I nod and leap off the ledge. I glide down to the snowy ground at the bottom of the cliff, and look around. I can barely see down here, so I focus and call my fire forth. A ball of amber and gold flames hovers above my hand as I search for any signs of Ruin.

Then, I see it. A trail of blood leading up to a shallow cave. I trudge through the snow, which is deeper down here, and cast the orb of fire forward. It shines bright as it illuminates the small, somewhat shallow cave.

"Ruin?" I call, my voice shaking.

Suddenly, hands grab me. A knife is pressed to my throat and I am pressed tight against someone else's hard, strong chest. "Move. Cry out. Even breathe, and you're dead."

I don't move. It isn't Ruin who's holding me at knife point. This man presses the blade tight against my skin, and I feel my hot blood trickling down my neck. He leans closer, whispering in my ear.

"What do you want, girl? Why are you here?"

I feel my power thrumming in my veins, begging to be freed. I take a deep breath, well, as deep as I can with the blade at my throat, and call my power. I have never done this before. I have never tried to set myself on fire, covering my entire body in the golden flames I can summon with ease. But it seems I have no choice. This man is growing increasingly impatient with me, and I do not want to deal with his shit.

I gotta find Ruin.

So, my power bursts out of me. He screams as the golden flames erupt all over my entire body. The flames do not burn me, but they tingle a bit and I can feel the heat from them, too. And in my veins, I feel the heat, too. My skin and veins are all aglow with the golden flames.

I whirl around and kick the burning knife from the burnt man's hand. He screams as I advance on him. His clothes are on fire, his skin is burned so bad, it's practically melting. He backs away, still screaming.

That's when I feel something powerful shake the walls of the cave. I glance over, and see Ruin, leaning heavily on a girl I have never seen before. But I immediately know who and what she is.  She's his newest sister. This .... this is Wither.

My flames go out, and the man who attacked me collapses on the muddy ground, the snow having been burned away. I face Ruin and Wither, and race towards them.

"Ruin! Are you .... okay?" I ask as I meet them, taking the brunt of his weight as I loop his arm around my shoulders and we start for the entrance.

"Elorha?  Is that .... really you?"

"Yeah," I say.

Wither, whose golden eyes shine even in the darkness of this cave, turns to me. "You are Elorha?"

"Yes?"

"I am Wither, his new sister. He ... awoke me. I was trapped in this cave, and he woke me up. And I became Wither."

"Do you know that guy?" I ask, nodding toward the man who tried to hurt me.

Her golden gaze hardens. "Yes."

Lyric then runs into the cave, only to freeze. "Uh, hi? Elorha, is this .... are these your friends?"

"Lyric! Yes. They're my friends. We could use your help."

She runs in, supporting Ruin's wings as the three of us pull him out of the cave and into the ravine. The man I burned is unconscious, and Wither tells us to just leave him. I'd feel bad, but then I remember he tried to kill me. So I nod, and Lyric leads us to a hidden pathway. A shortcut she found that will bring us to her home. And so, the four of us walk back to Lyric's home in silence.