Seething Fire

Prologue

    My nightgown catches on the leg of a chair, turned completely upside down, and tugs me back violently. I screech, holding the giant red gem between my chest and my arm. I tug and tug at the nightgown, but it doesn't come loose. My twin sister, Tora, isn't anywhere in the house. I wonder where she is as flames lick the air, thirsting for destruction. I tug at the sleeping dress some more, and see red. Red, everywhere, destroying my home. The leg of the chair breaks, and I'm finally free, running in bare feet down the hall with nothing but my locket and the ruby egg.
    My hands find the brass doorknob, untouched by the burning red, and twist it open. Coughing, sputtering through hazy smoke, I enter my mother's room. Flames lick the far end of the room, threatening to make their way closer. My golden eyes search about frantically, trying to find her. Until they finally do, resting on her head of dark brown curls, they rove over her predicament. She's pinned beneath her massive wardrobe. It must have fallen on her as she was trying to escape. Heat presses against my cheeks, my fingers are laced with fire, but I suppress the feeling and move toward her.
    "I'm so sorry!" I scream, coughing immediately afterward.
   "It's not ... your fault," She replies, her hand reaching out to touch mine. She stops struggling against the mahogany wardrobe and reveals her breathtaking smile to me. Against darkness and stars and fire and flames she stops trying to save herself and looks at me. Our eyes lock; her brown irises reflect me within them. I'm small, face ridden with terror. I plead with her to continue struggling, to get out from beneath the wardrobe and run with me as far away from the burning mansion as we possibly can. But something within me knows she won't be leaving with me alive.
    I fall to my knees, flames creeping ever closer.
"No, honey, get up; run, run as fast as you can and never look back, never stop running. Because they will chase you, and you cannot allow yourself to be caught. Understand?" Only eight years old and I do understand. I understand completely; my mother is never coming with me. It was my fire that destroyed our home, and now, I'll be alone.
    I gather the ruby egg and the bottom of my nightgown between my fingers, then turn away from Mum as the flames bring another rafter down. I run for the door, grasping the handle but turning just to see her one more time, tears unable to spring into my eyes. I shudder, sob hoarsely, and stare back; her soft eyes glow against the fire, tears glistening over her eyelashes. She smiles, a painful, farewell smile. I don't return it; I'm far too sad. Instead I open the door, run into the hallway, and let myself break inside. I feel nothing; flames lick at my heels, my back, my cheeks; yet I feel nothing. I won't allow myself to.
    I follow the pathway through the flames to my sister's room, but she isn't there, and neither do I hear her screams. She must have gotten out, I tell myself, she must have.

    The door breaks free from the hinges when I push it open. It crashes against the snow and takes me with it, sliding on it like a sled down the slight incline. It only slows when we reach the bottom of the hill, right next to the frozen stream. I sit up, cheeks red hot, and stare at the house. I try to picture it like it was: elegant, maybe a little intimidating, a mansion built for the most wealthy of families; my family. But all I can see are the flames that consume it, the fire that rages because of me. I stare down at my hands, not realizing that the ruby egg has rolled off the makeshift sled. Red sizzles across my palms, pulsating against some sort of life force. I force them to fists, my eyes glowing with anger. I won't ever let my feelings consume me again. I'll not let my mother down. I will run, just like she said, and keep running because they will never stop trying to find me. This is my destiny, this is who I am, who I've forced myself to be. I feel an agonizing pain surge through me as I turn my back on the only house I've ever known my entire life, and step barefoot into the cold snow. A path of melted footsteps follows my wake, and I chase after the ruby egg, picking it up and brushing it clean. Within the ruby, something stirs. It's close to hatching time.
    I look up, my eyes grazing over an endless patch of pine needled trees. This is where I will run, and never stop running. My breath ripples out, steamy and hot, like fire, and I begin running. No one could understand the monster I've become. I won't run to protect myself; I will run to protect the world.