On a String

Chapter 9

....Cole just didn't care.

Choking on gasps of air, Kai blindly stumbled backwards, running into the wall.

IthoughtIcouldtrustyou!

It was getting harder to breathe.

If he couldn't trust Cole, then was there anything left?

He could imagine it now; Cole picking up the knife on the table...

Was everyone against him?

.... The silver blade slicing (ripping) through his skin...

He was drowning.

(Cole had used him!)

There's no more air.

.... Beads of crimson pooling everywhere...

Cole would...

Cole would torture-

PleasepleasepleaseNO!

Don't do this!

Cole (the one person he thought he could trust) was going to (please don't do this) pick up the knife (blinding agony, burning red, blood and fire) to, to... torture him.

And then Kai broke.

Broke.

(The word implies noise; a last cry as the fortress falls or a cracking as glass shatters.)

But Kai broke silently. He didn't scream. He didn't cry. (Maybe he was falling and shattering. But there was nothing left to scream or cry for).

So he just closed his eyes tiredly in defeat and gave up.

[...When the Earth breaks, you see the cracks appear. You hear the rumbles. You feel it break.

But when Fire breaks... it simply extinguishes. Maybe that's because unlike Earth, Fire wasn't a solid substance to begin with. Rather, it dances as it pleases and is harder to control.

(You can take the Earth at face value. But to understand Fire, one must look deeper.)

The Earth is straightforward, upfront and honest. But Fire is blindingly bright, and anything can hide within in its flames (such as its fragility and dependence on fuel); behind its powerful front.

Fire and Earth. Opposing elements. Both play a key part in sustaining life and yet each is lethal if abused (Earthquakes. Wild fires.).

Death.

Death.

Unlike Earth, the destruction of Fire is like death: the soft exhale of one last breath as another life silently slips away.

No crashing cymbals, no flash of light. No rumbling, no cracks. Nothing.

It's simply death.]