Page 10 of A Dance With Fire
No. No!
A silent scream echoed through her mind. She wasn’t sure if she voiced it or not. All she knew was the dizziness in her mind rising to fervent heights, bursting... bursting...
She screamed just as the fire consumed her.
She’d wondered on the day she would explode, wondered if it would be tranquil or if it would shake worlds.
This was worse than anything she could have imagined.
Her whole body lit up in flames. Fire, looking to wreak destruction. Everything she ever suppressed, every memory, every urge flicked out of her in blazing fingers that reached and searched.
A tingle spread down her spine, making her gasp. She thought she knew pain? She’d been wrong. It seared across her back like a burning blade against flesh, carving against her spine.
It felt like an eternity before the pain ebbed. Slowly, it spilled from her body like honey sliding from a glass jar, and the feeling it left in its wake was an aching throb that pulsed. And her back? That pain stayed.
Bile rose to the back of her throat. Her mouth opened and saliva slid out. She wanted to vomit; her stomach heaved but nothing came out.
“Ggnnh...” Her fingers dug into the dirt as she tried to haul herself up. She managed to get to her knees, which scraped across rocks and dirt. Her whole body was covered in ash. It coated over her lips and eyes, remnants of her clothes that the fire had burned off. Her hair curtained her face and she tossed it aside, but even the simple act of turning her head hurt. She heaved again and through the haze of agony, she heard a voice.
“Shules?”
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Through her lashes, she saw Fanny, saw her expression, saw the disgust on it enough to know that she’d witnessed everything. She’d seen Shula go up in flames.
Shula had wanted a friend. A deep part of her had wanted Fanny to accept what she really was. But she saw the expression in her eyes, and she knew, without a doubt, that it would never happen.
“Fanny...” Shula’s fingers struggled for purchase as she pushed herself upwards with painstaking slowness. She made it to her knees and began to crawl.
And Fanny... Fanny stepped back and tripped over her feet. She fell to the ground. “Stay away from me, Esses scum!”
Shula stopped, the impact of Fanny’s words hitting painfully like a spear to the chest. “F-Fanny.” She hated the weak sound of her own voice, the desperation in it, the hurt that leaked through every word. “Fanny, it’s me...” She reached her hand out and Fanny flinched.
“Stay away from me, Fae scum!”
The denial came to Shula’s lips, but she forced it back. What could she deny? Fanny had witnessed it; she’d watched as Shula’s body had caught fire. And now everything Shula had ever worked to keep hidden crumbled into the ash beneath her knees.
“Fanny, please.” Her voice cracked and she felt her lips bleeding. The fire hadn’t burned her. The first time her magic had come out, all those years ago, she hadn’t felt the heat of it touch her skin. She felt warmth and comfort of her elemental magic. She felt the life force inside her as bright as a star flicker to life. Only now, it hurt. She wondered if that was the price she had to pay for suppressing it for so long. The burns slicing down her back.
“Help me,” Shula begged again. She didn’t know who else had seen the flames or heard Fanny cry out. It wouldn’t be long before the emperor’s soldiers came running to chain her and take her to one of the camps. “They’ll kill me.”
And Shula didn’t want to die.
“You’re a Fae,” Fanny argued. She still hadn’t moved. She still hadn’t run away shrieking. Shula wanted to hope that it was a sign her friend cared for her, that the initial shock was wearing off. That she could put aside her prejudice and help Shula, who had been her best friend for years. “But, your ears...”
“I can explain everything, but please help me.” Her limbs still shook almost uncontrollably as she tried once again in vain to get to her feet. The pain down her back was too prominent. Her flesh felt carved up and she couldn’t even move.
Fanny’s eyes darted around, and she chewed at her bottom lip. Shula knew her well enough to know that she was contemplating it, that she was weakening Fanny’s defenses. If there was one thing Fanny liked, it was helping the less fortunate.
“We’re friends.”
“You lied to me. You’re a dangerous Fae.”
“When have I ever harmed you? You have to believe me. I would never, ever do anything to put you in danger.”
“But you are by asking me to help you.”
“Because I don’t have a choice.”
