Malion: Up In Flames

Comfort in the Cold

I headed back home to Nathaniel's cottage and up to the second floor. The house was empty of all but Kaylum sleeping peacefully in the darkest corner of the room. I took the other and laid down. When I stared into the thatch that lined the inside of the roof, I gazed at it for too long, feeling time crawl by and my exhaustion ever growing. I heard Kaylum mumble something incoherent in his sleep, until I recognized Beneathean.

"Get away from me. I'll kill you. I swear it, I'll kill you. I'll kill you." He mumbled softly. I turned and called his name. No response. I called again and he stopped mumbling and upon a third call, he responded with a weary huff and a hoarse mumble.

I turned to face him and saw his eyes. I gasped and instinctively, my body morphed into its true form. He squinted and blinked a few times until his eyes were normal.

"Oh, That's surreal... You look a lot like how Carvarak always presented himself. Runs in the family, I guess." he grumbled nearly inaudibly.

"What was that? Did you see Orin? Did you hear an annoying echoing cackle?" I pelted him with questions. He blinked at me, bleary-eyed and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Orin...? What in the Beneath are you talking about? Am I hearing things? How do you know that name?" He asked. It was his turn for questions.

"I... right, you weren't in that realm. Orin is a sorceress of some kind of darkness her eyes have the exact same colour as yours in your Beneathean form. It just... it freaked me out." I explained and glanced away, remembering her incessant laugh.

"And she's here?" He asked, deeply perturbed. I looked up at him to see the sleep completely shaken from his face. He got up and stormed towards me.

"Is Orin in this realm, Decoda?" He demanded, kneeling down. There was an unbridled fury in his now orange eyes. My chest panged with a sudden burning. I hesitated but answered honestly.

"I... I don't know." I told him meekly. Suddenly a terrible cackle rang put and I screamed, ducking under my folded arms.

"Go away!" I yelled. When I glanced up, Kaylum was frozen in his kneeling pose, his expression softened and his hands on their way up to where my face had been.

That was when I noticed the shade that had been cast over everything. I slowly got out of the ball I had been reduced to and carefully made my way out of the corner. When I turned back to face Kaylum, Orin's face appeared just before mine. I screamed and raked my claws accross her face but they faded through what I thought was her skin. Another cackle left her.

"What in the Beneath are you doing here?! Where's Michelle?!" I demanded, my neck getting thicker as horns framed my face. Everything only got only slightly brighter.

"I see you've met Kaylum... He looks much less uptight than I remember the boy being." She hissed. I let out a deep, rumbling growl and took a step back.

"If you touch him, I'll track you down and kill you." I threatened.

"My lovely dear, you know that's not a good idea when I have your beloved friend in my possession. You make this mistake too often. You escaped me prematurely last time. This time, I want you to come alone. Tomorrow evening by the bridge. Make sure no one knows about this. I'm watching you." She explained. Suddenly I appeared back in my curled up position in my Gaian form, Kaylum reaching his hands up to my face and cupping my cheeks in them. His brows furrowed deeply.

"Are you alright, Princess? You look like you just had a vision... I'll ask about Orin later. For now I think we both need some sleep. I'm so sorry for raising my voice at you." He said and took me into an embrace. I melted into it and started to sob. I felt the space around me ignite suddenly and my wings fold around Kaylum. He welcomed the seclusion and rested the side of his head on the top of mine.

"You know, warmth like this is welcomed in the dead of autumn." He mumbled softly, "And Anthony says that I'm the heater." He let out a small laugh and stroked me.

"I..." I started and trailed off, too deep in thought to say anything else. When I calmed down, I still hadn't moved away from the comfort of the embrace. There was a gradual chill that crept into the room from the ladder and the windows. When I glanced up at the windows, I noticed that dark clouds had carpeted the sky and thick drops of rain or hail started to slowly tap on the panes of glass. Slowly but surely, the tapping became a consistent pelting that I drowned out into white noise. Then a sudden crash from downstairs made the otherwhise stable house shake. A slam made it shake again and an audible huffing was heard downstairs. I couldn't tell who they were, but there was deffinetly more than one person. Kaylum tensed up and transformed into his Flamewraith form. Instantly, the room was warmer, so I did the same, in part wanting to be warm, but mostly to strike if those downstairs were hostile. That thought was immediately discarded when I heard Elliott's voice as he counted heads.

"Anthony, Mistyal, Alex, and myself. Perfect." He hummed, "Alright. Four of us. Almost everyone is here. Drevel and Tavius are with their Father..." He made an audible mental note.

"What about Kaylum and Decoda?" Anthony's voice perked up with a concerned tone.

"Does anyone else notice where the warmth is coming from? I think two of three Beneath Walkers are up there, so I think I'll go make it three of three." Mistyal noted and climbed up the ladder.

"Hey! You forgot one!" Alex's outraged cry filled the room below. I really didn't want to fold up my wings. I didn't want.them to go away either, but they disintegrated, dusting a flaming Kaylum as well as the floor in ash.

"Mistyal, you were right! It's a lot warmer up here!" Anthony exclaimed. He got quiet rather quickly when I assumed he'd noticed Kaylum and I. Elliott hadn't said a thing but I knew he'd already come upstairs.

"Hey guys!" Came Alex's cheerful call, "Mind if I join the cuddle party?" I glanced at her from my position in Kaylum's firey chest to see a massive grin on her face. Kaylum chuckled. The room's tension eased up immediately.

"The more the merrier." Kaylum invited them and heald out an arm for whom I assumed would be Anthony, who took the spot with gratitude. Misytal was happy to take up a spot nearby and Elliott cuddled into me. Maybe company wasn't such a bad idea.