Wildfire

Ninety One (18+)

"You really are just another useless runt... Nothing but a mongrel who cannot even finish what he started." The words are gurgled as Xiang forces himself to continue speaking down to me... For he has realized now that if I leave him living that he shall be nothing but a hollow shell of a man and a laughable thought of a King no so disfigured and blinded from the justice my talons have rained down upon what used to be his face, "Kill me... Or set me down so I can turn you into a pile of ash you pathetic excuse of a-"

I find that I no longer have to listen to the awful words flowing from Xiang's mouth demanding that I chose whether or not I take his life and that I do it quickly for behind me a scream rings out that causes us both to jump...

As badly as I want to turn around I can feel Xiang's temperature start to rise, the demon of a man probably thinking I would submit to the urge to turn around and rush to my husband as his anger rings out around us in the form of him shouting over those terrible wails... And I know I have not a single other moment to lose... 

If taking his life protects my King, Kingdom, and family... I do not think I have any other choice... 

Even if the thought makes the blood running through my veins run cold... I need to do what is best... For I no longer am making decisions solely for myself... And if I can end this pestilence... I should... And I know I should... I know that if he is left living Xiang might never stop... That even now after I've torn his eyes from his flesh and threaten him with death as his lifeblood leaks out and rains down onto the destroyed floor tiles like the most cursed blessing from the Gods he still sees it fit to challenge and taunt me...

I know that this madman will never leave us alone... 

Xiang will never stop... 

So why can't I seem to let myself puncture Xiang's throat?

...

Emrys

...

If I pull anything away from the time Cho spent betraying our trust I know that yelling my demands at the man will likely not get me any answers...

I know that to a dying man's ears my words are meaningless, even if his are not... Even if  all he does is keep gasping the same phrase over and over again between the wretched wails he keeps releasing, "M-My son... My s-son..." 

I cannot seem to get him to see the sense it makes that to divulge the meaning of what he says... The sense it would make to shed light on why his price had been my bride instead of this Kingdoms gold... Even if it might save him from having his reputation becoming an infamous one in death... 

"Who is your son? Cho? Name him!" It is all I can do to not bend down and shake the man...But I know that his wails would only grow louder and louder if I were to get anywhere near his person with how the pain of his injuries finally sets in and starts to pull him from this world... 

"An... M-My so-"  

I am so very close to what I think may be the name that I am searching for... Only to hear a deafening roar behind me that could only come from my beloved, the only shifted dragon among us, and I am forced to chose between straining and listening closely as the light begins to fade from Cho's eyes to try and get some form of an answer from the man... 

Only to know in the end that I will never know what he uttered with his last breathe... 

...

Rayne

...

For a moment I had feared that I had lingered too long on trying to decide whether or not the murder of Xiang would scar my soul... Or whether the traumas he has already inflicted upon me have left me so scared that it would matter naught one way or the other... But before I can try to redirect his flame I find myself flinching away and then pulling him just a bit closer as if to shield the others in the room from his flames, his eyes no longer able to tell him exactly where his target is... His hands finally coming up to claw at my arm as if to help him focus on me... The way he is able to extend his beast's talons into a partially shifted state so that he might reciprocate some of the pain I have unleashed upon him with so much intent... And the feel of his daggered fingers embedding themselves so unexpected leaves my beast shouting at him to release me in his foolishness... That killing me will do nothing more than sealing his fate among the dead... But unlike me, no one will ever mourn his passing... The roses harvested for the funeral will only be started with my ashes while he would not even be bothered to be burned...They would cut him into pieces and curse his soul... And he would deserve no less if he is finally successful in windowing his only child out of spite and unearned pride...

I had felt his flesh heat past the point of no return and in horror, I had watched the blinded man's mouth open and point straight for me... Only to have him pulled from my grasp and pinned to where I had been beating him against the palace walls with a blade, now broken from colliding with such force against the Palace walls... The tip of which now lay ringing near the feet of the one who saved me... 

As I let my eyes scroll up from the booted feet of the man who has saved not only my body... But my soul... I find the only thing I am greeted with is a smile of someone I know has always protected me...