Frozen Flame

Chapter 56: Contagiously Putrid, Utterly Vicious, and Vile - I

Warning: 

This chapter touches on a few heavier (mature) themes. (Not sex, don't worry.)

Fire Temple

Silence spoke whispers through the air, penetrating their movements and forcing a deep stillness upon them. They stood, almost in a direct semicircle, facing him with alertness and tensed fingers, ready at a moment's notice to curl together into fists or whatever else they have need to do.

Svorn opened his mouth and spoke, a torrent of words pouring forth; yet, each one of them was filled with great depth, great sorrow, great anger, great heartache, great power that as the Fire Lord he would be given all acute attention.

"Let me start by saying that Elena, whatever Thorn has told you about me, whatever preconceptions he forced upon your mind, whatever dark place your mind has ventured to in the seeing of these circumstances, of seeing Thorn's children here with him, they are all misconceived, strayed, misconstrued lies. However, I can't exactly tell you to ignore them, to banish them from your mind without back it up with reasoning and truth and evidence. So, if you want to hear the truth, if you want to know why I'm going to this extreme, if you want to know why I hate Thorn so, then fine. I'll tell you. I'm not telling you to convince you, or force you into choosing a side – even though, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you did after what I say – I'm telling you this so that you can understand."

His fingers clamped together, twitching slightly as his eyes flickered, as if he were about to meet someone he feared for perhaps the first time, as if he were about to open a door that had been sealed with lock and key and chain, as if darkness had closed the edges of his vision, forcing his eyes to peer through only a pinprick of light. His lips trembled; his arms shook. He closed his eyes and swallowed, a large gulp that caused his Adam's Apple to bob, a second of thought at his next words. And he opened his eyes, drawing his arms up and enclosing his chest with them, like a protective shield against his heart.

"Thorn is contagiously putrid." A pause.

"As you well know, my parents spent most of their time either running Fire or fawning over Thorn. They never spent time with me, barely even acknowledged my existence. Which was fine, honestly, I was fine with it. If they ever had paid me attention, it would probably have just caused even more pain on my part... a hell of a lot more pain. It just meant that never saw, or kept quiet about, the monster he had become. But I'm sure it was for the best, they probably would have praised him, or joined in or some such...

"He beat me, Elena. He hit me, he kicked me, he bit me, he used me as a punching bag, as a test for his abilities... He ripped me apart, he tore off skin and laughed while he was doing it; then he put me back together, got your parents and other healers to heal me...

"Do you remember that time, when I was seven or eight when you didn't see me for about a year and a half? I was in the Fire Prison. Thorn had locked me in there. Barely any food, heat surrounding me every day, him visiting me every so often just to torture me and then leave me, and sometimes he would just forget I existed and leave me by myself for a month... Those were the worst times, you know. The times you feel like you're practically going insane, when it's just you..."

He chuckled. "I lost a lot of weight that year and a half... And you remember afterwards? I was a wreck. An absolute wreck. Traumatised for years. But... the violence wasn't the worst bit. The violence I could handle. I mean, it's Fire, right? Violence happens all the time. Thorn went through violence when fighting, people are using their powers on each other all the time in anger, practicing their ability... Even if it isn't near the extreme that Thorn did, it's still just skin deep.