Breaking the Ice (Book 1)

Chapter Thirty - Six

FLARE

He dragged the unconscious Icee by his shirt. Flare was undoubtedly worn out—Sleet put up a good fight. But he couldn't dismiss his azure fire just yet, not until he saw that the Scorpian and Nightling were safe. Scorch hadn't returned yet, and that was concerning.

Damn it, must I do everything? That Scorpian had ONE JOB!

He marched fearlessly through the gray field, hauling Sleet behind him—the Icee's face was dragged across the lifeless meadow, as what he deserved. The cave reminded Flare much of the Crimson Peaks where he grew up. He never thought he'd be going underground again. There was a sinister red glow at the end of the tunnel. I don't like this, Flare seethed.

He dropped Sleet and poked his head around the corner. A....glowing red plant was inside the cave, skeletons weaved in its bark and branches. Of course there's an evil tree, why wouldn't there be? Flare never saw much use for trees, they were just a waste of space in his opinion. His thoughts never changed after camping out in the forest for days, it in fact made him hate plants even more.

To his left were three figures. As he approached, Flare could identify two of them. The one laying on the ground was the Scorpian. Standing in front of him was Luna, pointing her sword at a masked stranger. But Scorch was not conscious as vines began to tangle around Luna and her opponent's frozen bodies. The heatling lifted his burning blue gaze to the tree, which was obviously the one to blame here—although he was unsure why.

Nonetheless, a sea-colored flame sprouted in the Heatling's palm. He shot the fire at the tree, which began to be eaten by the hungry blaze. The plant began to deteriorate and shrink in size. It transformed into a withering skeleton of its former self. Flare couldn't help but grin at how efficient his new fire was compared to common red-orange fires.

The vines began to retract from Luna and the stranger. The stranger was the first to come to, he stared at the burning tree. He then turned to Flare, his cold multi-colored eyes were like nothing the Heatling had ever seen. White and black. Which tribe had white and black? The stranger barely bowed his head in a thank you, then vanished into the shadows before Flare could do anything.

Luna broke free from her trance a few moments later, whipping her head from the right to the left in surprise. "FLARE?" She gawked at him in disbelief. "What—How—"

"We can do explanations later," Flare replied calmly, which was extremely unlike him. He needed to dismiss his azure fire eventually before it did something strange to him. He crouched down and grabbed the vines at Luna's feet. I can tie Sleet with those before he wakes up.

"Flare, your arms." Luna observed the cloth wrapped tightly around his forearms, the beginning of the discolored skin peeked out at his knuckles. She looked at them in concern, but the Heatling just shrugged casually. I need to lose this fire soon.

He hauled the heavy Scorpian over one shoulder, the Heatling grunted at how heavy he was. Flare handed Luna the vine. "Take this and tie Sleet up, he's around the corner."

"What? Why would I—"

"Explanations later," was his only reply.

As they sought refuge back in the prickly wilderness, Luna and Flare sat down. Scorch later came to as well, but he was uncharacteristically silent. "So who was that guy, wearing the mask?" Flare asked, attempting to break the tension.

The Nightling's expression grew weary as she sighed. "It's a long story. Let's just say that I ran into one of the assassins when you and I split up. We were mutual travel buddies....until he held me captive and brought me to that cave." Flare and Scorch looked at her in disbelief. But then they rolled their eyes, as they weren't surprised that she acquired another "travel buddy". Luna leaned forward, clutching her black cloak tightly. She's leaving something out, Flare observed. "So....why is Sleet our prisoner?"

Scorch scowled, glaring at his feet. The Heatling didn't know what was going on inside his head, the Scorpian had acted strangely after he'd awoken. Flare pulled down his bandages an inch, trying to hide his wince. His skin was now a purplish-gray color, and it throbbed painfully. "The Icee should have never been trusted. He attacked us when he had the chance."

Luna jumped to her feet. "I refuse to believe that! Sleet saved my life! He rescued me—"

"WHY DO YOU THINK HE DID THAT?" Flare bellowed, his fingers trembling. "He was a spy, Nightling. He wanted to find your tribe."

Luna shook her head fiercely, tears threatened her eyes. "I don't know where they are! I told him."

"Well he obviously didn't believe you," Scorch muttered sourly. "We should just get rid of him before he becomes a nuisance." Flare did a double take at Scorch's new attitude. Perhaps there is some common sense in him after all.

"What if—what if he follows us or tells everyone where we are?"

Scorch furrowed his brows. "What do you think I meant by getting rid of him?" His golden eyes burned menacingly. Flare grinned, perhaps he was rubbing off on the boy.

"That's not like you, Scorch." Luna frowned, crossing her arms. "Did something happen when I was out?"

Scorch curled forward, resting his elbows on his knees and ducking his head between. "I saw somethin', when I was asleep. Have you guys heard about how there's two halves to Antenias? There's the mainland and on the dark side of the planet are the islands where the Clan of Sins are from? ....I think that the dark side has shifted, it used to cover that cave where that tree was. That's why it seemed like an evil place."

Flare shrugged, not understanding why this was a big deal. "Anyways, I think we should keep the dog prisoner."

Scorch whipped his head around to face him, his features livid. "Are you insane!?" His deep voice rumbled, making Luna and even Flare flinch. "He just tried to kill us and you want to keep him around?"

"I don't want to grace him with a quick death, he doesn't deserve it." Flare argued. "Plus, we can put him to work. You know, catch food for us and turn him into our slave." Luna looked down, frowning. She clearly didn't like the idea of enslaving her formal friend."

The Scorpian, however, took this into consideration. "Manual labor....I like the sound of that."

Crossing his arms, Flare smirked smugly. "I guess it's settled then."

"Wait," Luna called as the others began to stand up. "Flare what happened to you? Your other eye....it's blue. And so was your fire." Scorch's eyes widened, staring at the Heatling in awe and confusion.

Flare simply shrugged. "When the Icee attacked me, I guess my full potential came into fruition. I am royalty afterall, so it's no surprise I'm special." He said, although he didn't quite understand it himself.

The answers would come to him in time, there was no need to be impatient.

Then he internally cursed, after using his azure fire....he thought more rationally and calmly. Two words that he would've never associated with himself.

"Where to next?" Scorch asked, a small smile on his lips. He seemed to have his spirits lifted again. The two boys turned to Luna with anticipation.

Luna thought about it for a moment. "When Sleet wakes up, he'll resist us. There's only one place that is unpopulated and dangerous enough to make him stay close to us. But...we might just trap ourselves in the process."

Scorch shrugged, giving them a toothy grin. "Eh, we've been through worse."

"Well....I always wanted to see the Venus Jungle..."