Lies Dressed In Lace

Love Isn't As Easy As A Knife Fight

Chapter 6 Love Isn't As Easy As A Knife Fight

Fire licks up my arms but doesn't burn. I watch the orange fingers writhe against my skin and feel the sting of it in my throat. Smoke burns my eyes and coals warm the soles of my bare feet. The sword in my hand sizzles and burns but I don't feel the pain of fire as I should. Then I hear them, screams, coming from every direction, men, women, and children, even the trees seem to scream and pop as fire consumes them. I realize the coals under my feet are actually smooth burning rocks. Houses flank me on all sides being swallowed by flames along with the families inside them. A huge black shadow rises form the flame as if born from them, a head as large as the castle is thrown back as fire pours form its black mouth. The night feels like the day for a moment. The stars are scared to shine here, my home.

I shriek as I wake from the dream my whole body shaking with fear. I thought dragons were all dead? My father killed them. My bicep begins to burn like a hot fire poker is being wrapped around my arm, tears tumble from my eyes almost as fast as the scream does from my lips, I hold the limb in pain. Then just as suddenly as it started the pain stops leaving my arm only stinging. I peel my hand away to see if there is burning flesh only to find blood pouring from my arm, my hand is soaked in my blood from where I was holding it over the wound. Where the fuck did this come from? What is it? The pain begins to crawl up my arm again forcing me to cry out and grab the wound again desperately hoping this will stop. The pain spreads through my chest and my other arm, then my legs up to my lungs, the pain squeezing them making it hard to breath and even harder to scream. I squeeze my eyes closed curling up into a ball trying to make the pain stop anyway I can.

Arms wrap around me gathering me up against a large chest the warmth soothing me as familiar smells of the woods calms the fire in my head. The burning stops all together and I finally take a breath left with just an ache in my bones. I realize who the 2 arms belong to and resist for a moment but loose my strength before I can do anything but squirm.

"Are you all right?" He asks concern drowning his words and tightening his face.

"I'm loosing blood, I have to stop it." I tell him instead of how I am feeling.

"It's ok, I've got you." He moves me slowly so he can see the wound and presses something to it sending a jolt of pain thought my burn making me flinch. "I'm sorry Sylenia did that hurt."

"Everything hurts, please make it stop!" I sob into his shoulder as the pain burns though me again. I'm too weak to scream as it happens again and again making me think it was over only to have another wave crash though me. The pain finally stops as the bleeding does gradually.

"It's ok Sylenia, its over now." He whispers into my ear as he continues to rock me. I let him too weak to stop it and in to much pain to want to.

"You shouldn't be here." I squeak worried that someone will walk in after all my screaming.

"Don't worry I'll leave when you strong enough to push me out the window," He jokes, "but I couldn't watch you suffer that alone."

"No, someone might come in after all that screaming and see you, they'll think it was your fault."

"Don't worry about me little princess." I know he doesn't want to tell me that even after all that screaming no one will come in, not for me.

"Whats on my arm?" I ask softly deciding not to dwell on the pain in my heart that I've felt for almost all my life.

"A lot of blood, do you want me to help you clean it?" I nod and he picks me up like I weigh nothing and carries me to the bathroom setting me gently on the large marble sink. I turn the water on not looking in the mirror as I watch him clean the blood from me again. He gets enough off to see where it all came from then cleans it off to show fresh pink skin where blood had been pouring from not 10 minutes ago. I realize from the scar that it's a brand, a fresh just burned into my skin, scarred over, burn, it's a brand of a dragon. I gasp almost falling off the sink starring at the small dragon wrapped regally around my arm as if the pain made me worthy to wear it. The dragons long body and tail winds around my bicep, its head sits on the outside of my arm right in the middle almost curving up my shoulder and ending half way down my bicep. It goes completely around my arm and instead of scales I find its words in the language like the one thats carved on Wolkif's knife.