Tales of Kephaream - Scales and Petals

3 A Scorching Past

Flaming. Burning.

Sizzling. Searing.

Scorching. Smouldering.

Flames engulfed me as I sat there, beat and broken.

Wondering if I even still was who I thought I was. My head lost in a fog called truth.

Enkindled by a warm embrace that had been part of me all my life that now felt like it turned against me.

Hot, blistering waves of radiant light surrounding me. Igniting a pain deep inside I was unaware I carried. Illuminated in the purity of the scorching flames.

Flames that had licked around my body since I was a child now turning against me.

The searing pain of my scales breaking away as if my fire was corrupted.

Afire, blinded sight. And when the sizzling of my skin stopped a stinging cold crept over me.

Piercing and numbing even more than the white-hot flames that enveloped me as the fog slowly lifted and my clarity returned as painfully as it was taken.

How am I not dead embraced by this sacred flame?

---

Keris restlessly laid in bed, breathing out dark smoke as places of his body light up like smouldering embers of a forgotten campfire. He groaned as his hands dug into the mattress and covers. Tears streaming down his face torn in agony.

He had woken up Daliah, who had been asleep against his chest until he almost burned his face from the sudden bursts of flames. At first, he thought it was just a dream but now being a bit more awake he noticed that was not the case. Slight panic filling his head unsure what to do.

"Keris! Wake up!"

He tried to shake him awake but quickly pulled away his hands as they burned on his skin. Tears welled in his eyes from the painful sensation in his hands. He was shaking.

He looked around the room if there maybe was something he could use to help wake him up. There was a brass metal bowl in the room filled with water that functioned as a washbasin. It was worth the try to either wake him or extinguish the flames with the water.

Daliah hurried off the bed to grab the bowl and carefully carried it back. It was heavy and cold. When he got close he turned the bowl over onto Keris head and torso.

"Please, just wake up..." His voice shook as he whispered a wish.

Steam rose from his body as the water touched and Keris jumped up gasping for air, looking down. Slowly but surely the fiery waves on his body died down and his breathing no longer produced the thick black smoke. He clutched his face in his hands as he continued to cry a painful cry.

Daliah put the bowl on the floor and carefully crawled onto the bed with him. Carefully testing if his touch would burn him he reached out for his back. When he didn't feel any odd sensations he crawled closer, embracing him tightly.

"Keris... It's okay now..." He could feel the tears well back up in his eyes as he heard Keris hyperventilating.

"I'm here for you... It's okay... You're no longer burning up..." He rubbed his face against his shoulder.

"I'm s-so s-sor-rry-y..." He eventually was able to get out of his coarse throat.

He tried to breathe deeply and his body shook with tension.

"Shh..." Daliah sat behind him and pulled him back so his head would fall in his lap and he brushed the hair wet from his tears out of his face before kissing him softly.

"I got you, just breathe..." He took Keris hands and held them against his face, softly kissing them as Keris started to calm down.

"I shouldn't have invited you over..." Keris said as he clenched his teeth and felt the raw skin on Daliahs hands from where he got burned. Daliah looked at him with disbelieve.

"Did I hurt you anywhere else?" He gasped shakily and held his breath waiting for a response.

"You don't get to say that after last night... I'm glad I was able to wake you up..." He brushed a tear out of his eye, looking angry.

"Are you okay? What happened..." Daliah gently touched his chest checking for burn marks.

"Just... A bad dream... I'm okay, just a lil-Nhhgg!" He cried out as one of Daliah's fingers ran over an old scar on his ribs hidden under scales.

Daliah lifted an eyebrow at him as he pressed on the spot again. Keris cried out softly and he could hear the sizzling inside his own body as if flames were trapped under his skin.

"Fine, huh. Don't lie to me. That seemed like more than just a bad dream." Daliah grumbled.

"I swear I didn't notice that before! Please don't.." He grabbed Daliah's hand.

"I would tell you I'm not sleeping with you again till you tell what's wrong if you didn't almost make me regret sleeping with you in the first place just now." He gritted his teeth as he pushed Keris from his lap.

Keris sat up with regret on his face. He grabbed Daliah's wrists and pulled him against his chest, holding him tight.

"You'll have to promise me something, though... If I tell you..." He sounded grim.

"I don't like making promises I'm not sure I'll be able to keep... Just tell me..." He wrapped his arms around him.

"You cannot harm Jeltea or anyone else involved in what I'm about to tell you. You need to understand that she followed orders, just like I did mine. I don't blame anyone for what happened..." He cleared his throat nervously.

It was silent for a little while.

"Okay..." Daliah said. "I won't hurt anyone because of what you'll tell me. If I hurt them it'll be because of future actions." He crossed his arms and huffed annoyed. "Like her looking at you funny yesterday..." He added so softly Keris could barely hear it.

"I was researching forbidden rituals, according to the Daesii law in Zania, for the Prince. I saw his motivations were just to do research into alternative ways for the ritual... Anyway... The court found out... They captured me and tortured me to tell them the truth." He took one of Daliah's hands and placed it softly on the spot on his ribs from before.

"They didn't leave any scars other than this. Later I was brought to the King and Prince and forced to confess the crime with 'truth magic'. A seer even looked at my future and told them it didn't matter what happened to me... Eventually, I was punished with the Sacred Flame... Or, purified as they call it... Engulfed in white, hot, burning flames... Jeltea was the mage to execute those orders. Vaal told me if Rashan hadn't pulled me from the floor then I might've died..." He sighed deeply.

He looked at his hands as they trembled and started sparking little flames.

"I had never been hurt by something so much before, that I've known my entire life to be a part of me."

Daliah pushed him down on the bed and crawled on top of him. Holding on to his face as he kissed him softly over and over again. Keris was shocked by the response.

"I'm so angry you made me promise that... I can't imagine how painful it must've been..." He kissed down his chest to the scar as if he was going to kiss it better.

"Daliah... I'm sorry what I said before..." He ran his hands through Daliah's hair pulling him back up for a kiss. "I'm glad you were here for me when I needed you..."