Wildfire

Ninety Seven (18+)

I know what I must do... 

And seeing my chance...

I know I must take it...

I know that taking it will leave Emrys on his own once more... And I know that he likely will not appreciate me putting myself in harm's way...

But I do not think we have any other choice... 

Because while Shen is slowing down due to his exhaustion... 

So are the others... 

Not necessarily Emrys... But the others aiding us in trailing the wayward Hirai are starting to lose their steam and I know it is only a matter of time before the rest of them slow down and we lose his trail as he draws us deeper and deeper into the wooded mountains... 

I let my back bump against the joint of Emrys's mighty wing and know that it may very well be the last time I touch my husband... If not forever, then for some time so that the violence we must visit does not have to involve me any more directly than it has to...

Feeling myself scrape against his scales... And knowing that no matter what he shall always protect me and be ready to follow my lead wherever I guide us... Even if it is right into more confrontations like this one if anyone ever takes issue with my birth station ever again... If they take issue with me ever again, sitting where I belong and sharing my husband's throne just as I should be... It strengthens me and I find myself able to push myself forward, launching myself past the dragons ahead of us in our pursuit and I can feel their wings falter in shock over seeing me dart past them... A roar from my husband pushing so much heat after me that I nearly find myself hissing to try and escape the fact that he is distressed at seeing me charge forward just as I thought he would be...

...

Emrys

...

Just as I think things cannot get any worse than they already are, my grieving heart is struck with fear once more watching Rayne speed ahead of me, his body coiling its way through the trees in ways that I cannot due to my size and I cannot find a way to catch up to him so that I know he is sheltered... 

But for some reason, my wife seems to think that taking on the man who so viciously attacked both his body and his reputation is the right decision... Even if it means scaring me so much that I can hardly keep myself in the air... He should not have to face this abuser alone...  He should not have to confront the man who stole his vision and made him so very afraid in his own home... The man who made him afraid of nearly everyone but me and his immediate family...

No matter how hard I try to rush to his aid so that I know that I shall not be able to catch up to him properly... Not with how broad I am... 

So instead I am forced to watch in horror as my wife charges forward right towards the man who had hurt him so badly... But instead of Shen being the one to strike the first blow like last time I am graced with the image of my sweet Moon Beam crashing into Shen at full speed, the two of them hurtling towards the ground, my heart stopping and starting with each branch they bounce off of... My breath caught in my chest as they barrel into the ground so fiercely that my eyes go wide at the impact the Shen takes, Rayne very attached to his back as if to guide the way that they crash...

My beast cannot stand for it... And I cannot stop the flames bursting through my shifted forms lips... But it seems as though that is exactly what my shard of starlight wants as I, and the ones aiding us throw ourselves after them, Rayne lingering only long enough to allow us to get closer and prevent Shen from continuing to run by spitting flames towards the man's eyes every time he tried to buck my new bride off of his back...

The second that we are in range to start throwing flames that actually meet our target Rayne manages to lift himself up and away before joining the natural circling that starts to take place as we each throw bolt after bolt into the dreaded Hirai... All of us pouring out the pain that this man has caused to each of hearts into the fire leaving our lips... The cries he and his beast let out so pathetic as he burns away to nothing but ash not nearly pained enough to soothe the outrage of an entire nation... Just as Xiang's had not nearly been drawn out enough... 

Both of them deserve to suffer so much more than either of them actually have not just for the pain that they have caused both to Rayne and me... But for the pain that they have caused our people... And for the mistrust that everyone now must carry in their hearts until we know for certain that there won't be any more unexpected followers of theirs popping up to harass my wife and our home... 

All any of us has ever wanted was peace... But somehow... Somehow with my father being the man that he is... I should have known that there would never be peace without pain and bloodshed because that man could not and would not let us ever do anything the easy way... Not when there was not a single part of him that knew what love actually was or how to give it to or accept it from others after he let his heart fester so beyond the point of saving it... 

And that is why...

Even though we all know that at this point Shen Hirai's life is officially forfeit, his bones smoldering as his flesh is eaten away by the intensity of all of our near-constant flame... We all continue to continue... 

Grief is funny that way.