Rewriting His Past

Flames

Dusk and Word weaved through the remains of the school. They were occupied with an odd game of hot and cold until they discovered the collapsing opening in the wall of what Dusk assumed to be the dormitory. They had a fortunate break. Word slid Dusk off his back and into the hole, rather than Dusk jumping into it. He felt the heat of the magically induced fires as he landed on his feet. He could sense the magic tingling through his body. The heat from the burning building was intense, but the stone hallway was quiet and left his skin feeling cold.

"Word, can you change back?" Slightly whispering, Dusk inquired; the corridors were anything but small at first. Small tables in the hallway were on their sides; there were debris and small fires. He did not wish for Word to suffer any harm.

"Coo," Word cooed sadly, moving his head from side to side. "Too hard on my own."

"Do you need to get help?" With his heart still thumping with the emotions of his two mates, Dusk's voice was prickly with worry.

"Get mama!" Word leaned into the structure and rubbed his face across his upper body. "Stay safe; be back soon." Word whirled around and rolled back, glancing again at him before flickering away.

Dusk laughed, but it was more of a driven, nervous laugh. "Stay safe." Before relocating here, he had not heard this phrase very frequently. "I can do that." Dusk spoke, drawing in a deep breath and allowing his heart to continue pounding with feelings. Dusk felt uneasy as he turned left and ventured further into the school; he was afraid for Micah and Pyrite, not for himself. This was not how he usually felt. Since coming here, Dusk has learned a lot of new things.

Dusk walked down the seemingly endless hallway, watching his footing. The deeper he went, the hotter it got; sweat was dripping off him, and his heart felt like it was about to burst. Grabbing his chest, Dusk gritted his teeth and plowed through it. Gasping for air due to the intense heat, he watched as the strange flames adhered to the walls, only ever extending to the edge of the central red carpet that extended down the hallway. Then Dusk hit a fork in the hallway, sighing with frustration. He was unable to decide which direction to take. The feelings that had brought him there were becoming more intense, to the point where he was unsure of which direction to go.

He was quickly relieved of his frustration by a muffled voice coming from the right. Even muffled, the voice sounded feminine, and it sounded familiar enough to raise hairs on the back of his neck. It couldn't be; Dusk turned right too fast, and his shoes slipped on the rug. Thank goodness, he could not be heard over the woman's loud screaming. He could hear her screaming more clearly the closer he got to the door at the end of the hall.

"Why!" The voice cried out from behind the door. As dusk turned to scan his surroundings, he saw flames growing up the stone walls, crawling along the baseboards, and flickering from under the door. The burning cannot exist without a suitable source. It ought to have been his first indication that magic was the source of the fire. With everything that had been occurring in succession for him, it is not as if he had time to reflect on anything. "Why do you choose him?" That was all the confirmation that Dusk needed. Behind the door stood Aimee Thyst. Even the queen's admonition failed to deter her.

"I attempted to get him to leave, but he refused." There was a crazy edge to Miss Thyst's voice that even the Duchess Black lacked. Dusk hovered outside the door now that he was here, observing the fire that shot out of the bottom opening. What was he going to do? "I tried to talk to you, but your mother sent me away!"

"Take a hint, ya crazy woman! We have no interest in you, him, or me!" Through the door came Pyrite's growling, sour voice, and it was clear that the rage he felt was not his own. Faded away.

"Prior to him arriving here, you were! The times we looked at each other in the hallway, the time you completed the project instead of me, even though I was meant to lead it... Is that all a result of your concern for me?" Miss Thyst yelled, and Dusk pursed his lips, trying to come up with a plan of action. Does he just have to barge in? The shock should give Pyrite a chance to react.

"You ought to get away before anyone finds you. It is all we can do for you." Micah's voice was gentle; the vibration in it hinted at the fear that had also left Dusk, along with Pyrite's anger. Those words were not for Miss Thyst. Dusk clenched his teeth; he had long since given up on getting help, but he had longed for it. Now he wanted to help someone, but it wasn't as easy as the words made it sound. Even in his head.

"I understand that you are concerned about the dragon flames consuming me, but it is okay." Miss Thyst once again twisted the scenario to her own purpose. "Even without these decades, I will live a long life, and if this is sufficient to establish my worth to you..." He was not a martial artist by any means, but he was an angry man when her words trailed up, and he raised an eyebrow in disgust and kicked in the door. He could feel the heat from the door through the soul of his shoe, but it was not hot enough to burn. Fortunately, he had not used his hands.

"I believe I am sick and tired of pretty much everybody." Dusk said his words were as pure as his feelings. He escaped the Duchess and her abuse. That was what was meant—abuse. Dusk was not naive; he understood that what he endured qualified as abuse. He had never allowed himself to consider it before. Considering that he left the nation to lay line shakes, he reasoned that he would never have to! He is unable to get a break; why?

"Why are you here?" Anger flared in her purple eyes, reflecting the surrounding fire. The flames in the hallway, which were actively destroying other areas of the school, were not like that fire. It poured its chaos onto the floor, scorched the walls a charred black, and burned whatever furniture there was to blacken sticks. Dusk laughed, telling her that she was terribly mistaken if she had thought this would frighten him. Though he detested black, he refused to be scared of it. Not anymore. It has the power to take those nightmares and daydreams and shove them straight up their ass. That was what he thought of the color black.

"What am I doing here?" Every bit of resentment he had harbored over the past few weeks, even years, boiled up inside of Dusk. "What are you doing there?" Dusk was pretty sick of everything extra taking up space in his life and making it harder. "A commoner girl in the dorm for men?" Dusk displayed his bravery and nobility to the fullest.

"You are holding a prince and his mate captive, no matter what the situation. Nothing your family does, in my opinion, will keep you out of trouble right now." At this point, Dusk doubted that she would survive. Dusk had avoided looking at Micah and Pyrite, his mates. Not wanting his temper to subside or his resolve to waver.

"I would not be in trouble if it were not for you!" Flames the color of dark wine engulfed Miss Thyst's hands. Though Dusk knew that Micah had been doing it all along, logic insisted that he try to reason with her.

"You would not be harming Micah if you really loved him." In a sharp tone, Dusk said he had told her what he thought of her proposals.

"You-" She began to argue, but Dusk interrupted her.

"You don't understand. I am acting in his best interests." Dusk began to recite the all-too-common justifications. While she might not be able to mimic the Duchess Black, she is beginning to resemble her. "They will come around one day. You are not involved in it at all." The floor gave a creak as Dusk moved forward. Miss Thyst and her flames had greatly weakened the once-firm flooring. "If only they would listen to me." Dusk stepped forward again, and the floor gave a warning cry. "Control, not love, is the source of all those things."

"Which do you really want from Pyrite or Micah?" Dusk added Pyrite to the mix, but it was differently Micah that caught her attention. She must have feared Pyrite or respected Micah enough to not bother him before now. "If you're not too far into your lie, that is, to answer truthfully,"

"Dusk!" Pyrite spoke, his arms encircling and sweeping him aside. On the floor beneath his feet, a fireball burst. He had not fallen through the floor, though. Did him rashly going after her hit the mark? Dusk narrowed his eyes at this thought and came to the conclusion that she was a coward. What did he have to fear from a coward?

"Did what I said resonate with you too much as the truth?" Dusk spoke it aloud, interpreting every facial gesture. Her eyes were wide, and copious amounts of sweat fell from her face that should not have been. Usually, a mage is immune to their own magic. Even Dusk knew that much. There was a wild pulse in a vein in her neck; she was either sick or afraid, maybe both, because her pupils had shrunk so much. Now that Dusk was actually looking at her, her short purple hair had been cropped even closer to her head. To achieve that look, she would have taken a pair of scissors and hacked her own hair.

"I have repeatedly demonstrated my love for him. Since we were children." She had the widest possible eyes. "I drove away the rats that ventured too near. Pyrite was destined to be, and the royal family has long had a close relationship with them." The room was getting unbearably hot, and the flames continued to grow. Pyrite tried to pull Dusk in closer, but he wouldn't be budged, not without force. Micah came in and touched his arm.

"She will not listen to reason; she has been possessed by the dragon flame." With a whisper, Micah asked him if he was still unsure about Miss Thyst's sanity. On his arm, Micah's hand trembled. Dusk reached up and took hold of that hand, and even though the fire was making the room hot, it felt cold.

"I am not trying to get her to listen to reason." Gazing at Miss Thyst, Dusk continued to speak. Looking around, the floor caught his attention. Where he had stood, he could see deep fissures in the wood. "I want her to go away. How long has she kept you in this place?" When Dusk finally met Micah's gaze, he turned away. Since he had left him this morning. No other reason could have led him to turn away.

"You're the only rat that refuses to leave!" She let out a scream at his final words, completely deaf to anything that did not fit her plan. How familiar. "It went against my plan to get rid of you at school. There were always way too many people staring at you. When I found out about your mother, I thought you would leave." She started towards them, and Dusk let go of Micah's hand. He could do this.

"I apologize," Dusk said, snatching Micah and shoving him toward Pyrite. Pyrite's eyes turned wide, but he caught Micah. Like he planned. Dusk, then turn and meet Miss Thyst's mad dash. He grabbed her and stomped the weakening floor as hard as he could, wondering if it was good or bad luck. He took hold of the flames that he could not feel the burn from. With a scream that could be heard a mile away, Miss Thyst grabbed onto his arms as dusk broke through the floor. He turned to look at Micah and Pyrite, and saw them scurry to get a closer look at him. He smiled at them. In order to complete the next part of his plan, he was hoping that it would be the lucky charm.