Hellfury

Chapter 9: Auri

   'I can do that,' Mawr said and moved backwards to the wall. She threw the blanket at him and walked across the drafty room. She left two of her daggers in his pile and kept the one at her thigh. Never go to sleep without at least one weapon. She prayed he didn't notice. He was unarmed, he'd expect her to be too. Though, she still had the flames-
   'Move over,' she said and poked at his shoulder. She'd struggle to sleep, no doubt about it. The bed barely fit him, and his feet hung off the end of it.
   'I wonder if they gave us the smallest bed on purpose,' he grunted when her elbow hit his ribs.
   'And made us pay double for shitty sleep and stew made of stray cats,'
   'Cats?'
   'I'm kidding.'

Auri wrapped herself in the least stiff of the blankets and kept the burlap one over her legs. Mawr had done the same, his head resting on the bed frame.
   'So? Who are you really?' Auri asked and tried not to look too much at how the scarce light from the cracks in the walls lit up his eyes and sent streams of light through his hair.
   'I am exactly who I told you I was. I am from the south. I escaped when Nilfgaard came after my parents died and the Usurper hanged my brothers,'
   'What about you?' she asked, seeing the fleeing memory painted on his face.
   'He didn't care for me, I was young. Useless. I was left to starve or die on my own. I fled, I went north and ended up in Cintra for a time before I moved on to Temeria. I got myself a position in the army, because-'
   'You're a good fighter?'
   'I am not really a model soldier at all, I have the fucking trifecta. I am impetuous, short-tempered, my judgment is too rash, but I like fighting. No time for rules or chivalry. I grew to be a great fighter, hence the rising in the ranks.' he said, and she could feel the pride. He was sort of like her, he had also fled.

   'And then the fields of Sodden went up in flames and you were caught?' she continued, hanging on to every word.
   'Yes. I spent half a year in the dungeons of Aretuza, having your rectoress prying her long fingers into my brain now and again.'
   'But you were in Foltest's army? There was no reason for them to imprison you?' Auri asked.
   'I tried to tell her, but she didn't listen. Then came the list of names with the men that abandoned the army, and mine was one of them. She decided to leave my fate up to Foltest and he wanted my head. The moment they let me out of the reeking cell I ran. They must have forgotten me in the chaos because no one ever came for me, not until later when I crossed back over into Temeria.'
   'You didn't desert! You were captured, there is a difference there,' Auri said and looked at him. He'd fled the fire, he hadn't left. He had saved himself. 'Did you rescue any of your men?'
   'I did. The ones who weren't already burning.'
   'Again, you didn't desert. There is no reason for Foltest to want your head. You didn't do anything wrong!'
   'Oh no? Try telling that to the next scout we see. There is still the reward, and it's several times the annual wager of a regular farmer.'
   'Did she burn you? Tissaia?'
   'No, she only made me think she did. I felt every bit of my body burning, my mind fell apart around me and she didn't stop until my voice died. I screamed for hours, and when I came to nothing had been done to me. It was all in my head, but the pain was real nonetheless. The others she sent were more dependant on brute force-'
   'I'm sorry.' Auri said and meant it. He might be as stupid as he was tall, but he didn't deserve that.

   'How does it feel?' he asked after taking a breath and wrapping the blanket tighter around himself.
   'The fire?'
   'Yes.'

Auri had expected him to ask her about that when she healed his arm. Not now, though she assumed it was a natural escape from his own pain.
She shook her hand out of the blanket and held up her palm. She moved to touch him but stopped.
   'Can I show you? It's easier to explain if you feel it,'
   'Does it hurt?'
   'No, it won't hurt you.' She didn't lie. It wouldn't hurt him. Just her.
She waited for him to nod before she continued. She moved her hand toward him and placed it on his chest, her fingers barely grazed his collarbone. Auri closed her eyes and played with the little ball of flame inside her chest.
   'It feels like this,' she said and felt the heat from her palm warm his skin. 'Do you feel it in your blood? How it moves through you and how it heats your feet?'
   'Yes,' he said and she felt his heartbeat quicken beneath her fingers.
   'It feels like that in the beginning. It feels like nothing in the world can stop you, I felt invincible and untouchable,' she removed her hand from him and placed it back under her own blanket.
   'What do you feel now?' she asked and opened her eyes.
   'Cold. The feeling is gone. My blood is cold,' he said and tilted his head to the side.
   'You see, fire-magic is forbidden because it consumes. It kills.'
   'I know,' he said and opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off.
   'I watched it consume my mother. She kept it in for so long, and then finally it overtook her completely. The fire feeds off rage, it takes what you give it. It's the only known way of getting it out, by anger or despair. My mother kept all of it in because the fire scared her. She kept it all in until it killed her. I was seven when I saw her burn to death on the cliffs of Fayrlund. My father found me next to her afterwards. That's when he sent me to my grandmother and she sent me to Aretuza years later.' Auri said without taking a breath. She had to get it out somehow.
   'I am sorry,' Mawr said from her side and she realized he kept a hand on her shoulder.
   'My grandmother called it hellfury. It hurts, Mawr. Which is why I only use it when I'm angry or in danger. It lives off of those emotions. If I'm not furious or terrified it burns me back.' Auri stilled. Mawr removed his hand and she felt her skin go cold.

   'Were you angry or terrified when you healed my arm?'
   'No, I wasn't. Not angry enough, I was only annoyed-'
   'Did it hurt you?'
   'Yes.'

He said nothing. She'd expected him to ask more questions, and keep asking her about how it felt, until she realized what it felt like being burned from the inside. Tissaia had done that to him for six months. Wading around in his mind and making him think he was dying and in pain.
   'Were you angry when you touched me before?'
   'No.'

She sat there next to him, waiting for him to ask her more questions. None came. He simply rubbed at his eyes with a hand and moved further down in the bed.
   'Get some sleep, we still have days of this.'
Auri turned over on her side and dragged her legs up to her chin. Mawr turned after her and his arm grazed her back. He'd have to sleep on this side she realized, he wasn't able to sleep facing the wall due to the still slightly reeking arm.
   'I'll check your arm before we leave,' she mumbled into her blanket and closed her eyes. It took a while before she realized he'd thanked her. She wanted to reply but the sleepiness at the edge of her brain took her before she managed to form words.

When she woke up it was still dark. She thought it had been the rats, gnawing at her feet. It took her a moment to realize it was him. She turned over on her back and looked at him from the side. Mawr was huddled together with the wool blanket wrapped tightly around his upper body. His teeth clattered along with his shivering breathing. She'd never be able to sleep again if he didn't shut up.
   'You're shivering.'
   'It's fucking cold, what else am I gonna do?' he wheezed, trying not to bite off his tongue in the process.
   'Funny,' Auri said and moved over on her side. 'Look, I promise this won't hurt. Just let me help, I need sleep, and you need to be still.'
Mawr raised an eyebrow at her but she ignored him. She moved her hand from inside her blanket and placed it between the smelly straw-stuffed pillow and his cheek.
   'Turn over on your back when you're warm enough,' she said and closed her eyes. Her thumb drifted slowly over his cheekbone as she gently coaxed the fire from her heart to her hand. She used the pulse she felt with her little finger to tell when he was calm enough for her to increase the heat.
   'You're useful,' he said quietly.
   'Nice compliment, thank you,' she said and tried not to burn him.

   'I'm not good with compliments, take it for what it is.'
   'I thought you said all you wanted to do was to get my, and I quote 'ungrateful backside' on a ship?' she smirked at him, 'and now I'm useful.'
   'I still want to get your ungrateful backside on a ship, that much is true, but I figured if I was nice to you you'd be less likely to hand me over to any passing soldier we come across.'

He did have a point. Though, she'd still not completely forgiven him for riding off without her, and again, he had another point, the blisters on the back of her thighs were impressive.

   'If you ride off without me again-'
   'I won't,' he cut her off. Auri looked at him. Some of the hair had fallen into his face, his reddening cheeks made him look healthier than he probably was. She knew the infection still worked its way through his body by the way he kept his arm elevated on his hip. When she fixed him she'd seen genuine anger and fear in his eyes when he saw the flame, and now, not even a hint of uneasiness. He just let her hand stay where it was, slowly bringing his body-temperature back up. Mawr closed his eyes.Auri stretched out her legs, moved her head closer to his and found herself thankful that she didn't have to sleep on the ground, the rats weren't that bad and the cold wind seeping in from the cracks in the walls merely helped to cool her. The fire still burnt and for the first time since she arrived at Aretuza the flames didn't hurt as much.She moved a finger across his cheekbone again. He didn't move.

If I was nice to you..

He was only nice to her because he was wanted and he was scared to piss her off? She rolled her eyes at that. There were at least six things she could do to him that would be worse than him being captured again- Tissaia? Auri furrowed her brows. Tissaia had seen the soldiers arrive, she should have recognized him from the army, it made little sense that she'd torture a man who told her he was Foltest's commander. Auri let her eyes close. She'd ask him again later, if he lied he'd struggle to keep the stories straight, and he would slip up sooner or later. Still, something on his sleeping face told her she could trust him, at least right now, and that was good enough for her.