Forged in Flame

Chapter 15

Time seems to slow down, a few seconds stretching on as I'm ripped backwards and pulled across the cave on my stomach.

There's a flash of light, just a spark illuminating the cave briefly and I see Silas with his flint, trying to light a torch.

Flash.

Tristan's horrified face, hand reaching for me.

Flash.

Twisting shadows on the cave wall, nightmarish and distorted.

Flash.

A tentacle of pale, glistening flesh wrapped around my calf.

Flash. 

A creature pulled from the bowels of the underworld itself. All I see are rows of milky, blind eyes and a huge gaping mouth lined with serrated teeth. Fleshy tentacles writhe from it's bulbous body, searching for more prey.

I scream, ripping my dagger from it's sheath and plunging it into the ground with all my strength. I jerk to a stop, hard enough that my arms scream, and hold onto the hilt with everything I have.

The creature shrieks, a sound like shattering glass, and tugs viciously at my leg.

My fingers are slipping.

"Tristan!" I shout desperately, smelling the hot stink of its breath.

Light flares as the torch catches, Silas's bellow of triumph cuts off when he sees what's happening. He drops the torch and charges, yelling my name.

But Tristan is already here, chopping at the tentacle around my leg. His sword bounces off harmlessly though, the beast's skin rubbery and tough.

I meet his eyes for just a second, then my hands slip.

He lunges, missing me by half an inch.

Silas yells my name, the sound echoed by Sakala's roar. The whole cave shakes with her anger, her fear.

I latch onto our connection, clinging to it desperately, wanting to hold on forever, to have just another day with her.

Then I'm before the beast, it's harsh breath reeking of old blood and meat. Its teeth are snapping, inpatient to tear into my flesh. The tentacle pulls my to its mouth greedily.

I stare at death, knowing it will be painful, knowing it won't be quick. That I'll never get to taste freedom, never get to know how to will feel to be unchained from my invisible shackles.

I stare at death and I feel a surge of rage.

I take my connection to Sakala, the line pulled taunt between us and tug at it viscously, with all of my strength.

I explode in flames.

Fire, black and merciless, erupts from me. Heat like I've never known races through my body, spills from my skin. I taste smoke on my tongue, burning with fury at the thought of death, with the thought of what would be taken from me.

My obsidian flames sizzle when they meets the beast's flesh and it squeals in pain and fear. The tentacle around my leg disintegrates into ash, followed quickly by the rest of its body. They eradicate every speck of it, until nothing remains.

But all I feel is the scorching warmth in my core, the blazing heat. The flames licking at my skin, ready to obey like an eager pet.

I could burn this whole world to the ground, if I wished.

And just like that, the fire disappears.

I collapse on the the rocky ground, panting, ears ringing. All that remains of the ancient creature is a pile of smoking ashes and the scent of burnt flesh lingering the air.