Fire detonated. The little girl scuttled behind a rock as my skin erupted with flames, lighting up the entire cave. I was no longer the host but the fuel—burning at the stake of my own bones.
Stop!
It spat and sizzled, reaching for the prisoners as if it would be a mercy to turn them into ash.
I choked and closed my eyes.
I couldn’t watch.
Couldn’t stop—
Don’t.
Don’t hurt them.
Freethem.
Save them—
My heart tore.
I coughed up blood, clutching the broken vitalsync core that always knocked me out.
For a second, I was grateful. Thankful that I’d never had to fight this level of power. Never had to be at the mercy of such catastrophic annihilation.
The fire enveloped the prisoners. They screamed—
“Don’t hurt them!”Another pulse detonated through my ribs. “Please!”
The fire paused.
Itlistened...
...another wave blasted out of me like a volcano, tearing through my skin that was never meant to contain such power. Cave walls blackened as incandescent power consumed everything.
“NO!”
Flames swallowed the prisoners.
“Stop!” I dropped to my knees. “STOP!”
The scent of scorched flesh hit my nose just before the acrid stench of melting slag. The fire didn’t slaughter them—it aimed its fury into their chains.
Every link ignited white-hot. The animal enclosures burst open as iron bars dissolved in a shower of metal shards. The cavern filled with burning rust as every shackle melted—plopping off wrists and ankles like mercury.
The fire cracked back into me with a soul-rending punch.
Heat crucified me—purring and murmuring, whispering its secrets that all I had to do was become one. Stop fighting. Sacrifice my life in return for its power.
It showed me what I could become.
Cities reduced to cinders. Mountains turned to ash.
No more cages. No more chains. No more helpless children—
Enough!
Sagging forward, I trembled violently as the fire listened and calmed, giving me time to think about its bargain. I choked on a mouthful of blood and smoke, wincing against the overwhelming wrongness of being trapped. The flames didn’t fit inside me anymore. They were too much. Too strong.
