Fireborn

34 ¦ Let the Ashes Fall

I would never forget the morning I woke up with horns growing out of my skull.

After two weeks of basic training, I thought life couldn't get any more surreal. With twice the limit of Fireborn treatments, I could hardly stand the agony any longer.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I woke to a stabbing pain in my temples like two blades piercing my skull. I peered into the mirror. Two black horns about three inches long poked out of the surrounding dry, inflamed, itchy flesh.

Until my horns appeared, I could pretend that a strange illness had caused my physical changes, aggression, and burgeoning desires. But now I could no longer escape the truth.

I was transforming into a Fireborn.

Despite Peter's attempts to preserve my soul, a pure demon would stare back at me in the mirror one day. Liselle Alta would fade and never return. A fate worse than death. I'd lose myself with my eyes wide open.

I roared in anger.

Peter raced from his adjacent room through our shared bathroom and knocked non-stop on my door. "Liselle? Let me in! What's wrong?"

I wanted to tell Peter how my soul was slipping from my grasp. How my magic had faded, leaving only anger and lust in its wake.

Instead, I simply cried out in dismay, "My horns are starting to grow!"

He raced into my room to find me leaning against my bureau. "Oh, Liselle, it won't be long now."

"Tell me that means the pain will stop soon." I gingerly touched the pink, raw skin. "I want this to end."

"Let me take away your pain."

Peter placed his hands on both sides of my head and muttered guttural words that I believed to be Ancient Draconic. Black tendrils of wispy fog burst forth from his hands and surrounded my head. With a grimace, he imbibed my pain until my headache finally eased. He waved his hand, and the magical tendrils vanished into thin air.

"Thank you."

Peter gave me a reassuring squeeze. Turning his face towards me, I gazed into his silver-gray eyes, the intensity of which almost stopped my heart.

"Peter?"

"Yes?"

"We can't fight this anymore," I said in a regretful tone. "I'm becoming a Fireborn, no matter how much we try to stop it."

"I know it's helping, or you'd have no soul left to save."

"Don't protect my soul anymore."

Peter furrowed his brow and grasped my shoulders. "How could you ask that of me?"

"Every time you try, you go through such agony and physical stress. It's not worth it."

"That's not true."

"You wait until you think I can't hear you." I shook my head. "Every night, you yell into your pillow in anguish."

He averted his gaze, pretending to stare at the wall. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"Peter!"

"Yes, I admit that it can be painful," he muttered, "but it won't last much longer."

"It's my fate to become a Fireborn. I accept it."

"You can't give up now. Not after everything we've been through together."

I pointed at my horns. "Look at me! There's no point in delaying the inevitable."