Seraph

7

Serafina traveled quickly back to the site where she had saved the children. It had been picked clean by the other rescued prisoners, with only the bodies of the bandits remaining. As a courtesy, she summoned her flames and released them onto the corpses. All except Rich, she'd rather he be eaten by the desert and rot in hell.

She felt herself relax instantly and knew her eyes were glowing. She did notice before that the pain would lessen when she used her abilities, but she never really thought about it. After speaking with Red, she now thought the pain was tied to her abilities. Not a punishment from God like she used to think. But the flames were still strange to her; it felt to her as though they were rampaging inside her, trying to escape. She didn't understand if the flames were like pets living in her heart that had minds of their own but were smart enough to obey her commands. Or if the flames were actually just part of her heart, always doing what she secretly wanted deep down inside whether she asked it to or not. She hoped the former and treated it as such because she feared the latter option; if the latter was true, then she may be a horrible person.

She calmly watched the flames burn brighter with a smile on her face until she knew the bodies were done. It had only taken minutes. Leaving what appeared to be full human skeletons behind, but then a gust of wind hit, and those bones actually broke down, revealing they had actually been turned to ash as they blew away. She recalled her flames. The flames danced around her arms as though expressing their happiness before disappearing. To anyone watching it looked as though the flames just disappeared, but she felt the flames return to her body, slowly circulating through where she assumed her blood used to. Since the fire had a chance to vent, her pain was almost nil; she sighed in relief. It had been too long since she'd allowed the flames out to do what they craved to do. No wonder they were restless. She apologized to the flames in her heart but continued on her journey south.

She sped to the bridge for the Río Bravo nearby and just stood there staring for a while. It's not that she was afraid because fire can be extinguished by water. That's silly, the fire was inside her. She wasn't afraid of drowning even though she couldn't swim. She no longer needed to breathe, she'd just sink to the bottom and walk her way out. No big deal. What she was afraid of? It was that wet rat look anyone would get if they had gotten wet fully clothed. She'd be able to dry herself off fairly quickly with her heat, but what if someone had seen her? It was an embarrassment she refused to endure, so she typically avoided crossing rivers. Even in her many years of travel, she merely walked along the banks. She had roamed the country many times, as soon as she hit a body of water, she went around or turned around altogether. So standing at this fairly long bridge, she was pretty uncomfortable. But she took a breath and reassured herself that the bandits were planning on riding over with their carts and horses. So her alone, she'd be fine with no chance of falling through. But she still walked, she felt more comfortable walking.

Further south, she skidded to a stop when she came to a fork in the road. She was unsure of which way to go for a moment. She stood still looking towards the left. She didn't really feel anything, no gut instincts telling her to go in that direction. Looking straight ahead felt the same. To the right, she felt a certain desolation. It was in the air, a stillness, a literal chill blew in the air. She cocked her head to the side while she thought about it for a few seconds. The most haunted looking route seemed to be the best route. She nodded her head in agreement with herself and took the route to the right.

About twenty minutes into her run she could hear the town and she slowed down to a walk. The town was very lively. It reminded her of the good times she would have with her family in their saloon. Bottles breaking, yelling from arguments, fighting, cheers from the spectators of said fights. Fun. She smiled to herself in her nostalgia, but quickly cleared her face of all emotion as she walked forward. As soon as she passed the 'Welcome' sign to the town her presence immediately attracted the attention of the others. It was almost as though they were willing to ignore her until she stepped foot into the town. She supposed it was those animal instincts again, as soon as she stepped into their territory, they could sense it. She never slowed her steps even while all eyes were on her. Walking with her eyes straight ahead and shoulders back, as if she owned this town.