Mad God's Love [Dark, enemies-to-lovers BL]

13 R 1

Unspeakable horrors swirled in my head, just outside the borders of conscious thought. I was master at putting unpleasantries out of my mind.

I and the bonfire made our way back to the bunker. That's right, the pile of embers was mobile – which wasn't entirely surprising seeing as it got here all on its own – but I still startled when burning heap began piling itself up higher. It grew and grew and was almost my height when the jarring blackness stopped rearranging.

It had vague human shape if one wasn't overly fussy with the definition. It balanced on two angular legs. Rib-like cage of haphazard material guarded the rustling heart inside. Occasionally, new items got incorporated into the jagged physique. It stood taller the longer we walked.

Animal paw was sticking out and oozed darkness. Not one of natives, then. My sparky friend informed me that the ambulatory locals were a terrible kindling. I wasn't worried – big part of me was past caring - but statement did not relieve any tension either. It could roast me on the spot if fancy struck it.

The two-legged blaze lumbered behind me. It fell sometimes, especially when descending into the precarious crater, but reassembled itself just fine at the bottom. For all I knew it was preferred mode of traversing, because it sure saved time. I considered plummeting once or twice myself. Landing barely concerned me.

I did not relish going back in even if it was whole and my captivity had little to do with the reservation. It was depressing place. Pristine abundance which was only ever accessible to likes of me only in the state of decay and abandon. The sight of it demolished made my insides churn.

The stressed structure had caved in some more in my absence. All this water we could never really afford trickled out of busted pipes and down the walls and deeper. Nobody would come looking for the leaks.

Sparky did not seem bothered to wade through, but damp kindling began smoking in black plumes and it was everywhere in moments. I coughed out my complaints and fireman turned the blaze down. It didn't help.

"Won't you be smothered without fresh air as well?" I asked in the next, clearer pathway. Perhaps it wasn't entirely bright of me to go indoors with a man-sized torch... But I was already deep in an infirm structure, my capacity for sound decisions was thoroughly exhausted.

I need to break out of this haze and start thinking and planning properly.

"... Just need heat heat heat," flames whispered insistently. There was something about humans before that, but I didn't quite catch it over the noise of our steps. I took a hard guess. Creature wandering so close to town could not have been not apprehended once or twice before. Containing a fire sprite must have been harder than flesh and blood. Surely they have not released it unprompted.

"So it's not your first tour around here either?" I motioned around us, albeit I had no idea whether it could see. Hell, I could barely see and my unlikely companion was the light source - some areas had no more electricity.

Couldn't hear the reply if there was any, which was fine - I didn't care either way. Hearing my surroundings just helped me stay out of my own head. Talking to myself worked just fine.

I stopped at an intersection of sprawling corridors and wondered which way armoury could possibly be.

"If it is buried under rubble can you... do anything about that?" I glanced at my barely smouldering companion. Could it manipulate concrete same way it held all the scattered pieces of itself together?

"Yesss," I thought I heard the hiss. I later learned that meant passing through blockages in the form of magma. Fireball stumbling upon the explosive jackpot didn't bother me as much as it probably should have. After all, I wouldn't even have time to panic.