Fire

Chapter Thirty Three

I can barely breathe. How did they find me? I don't know how long it was, but I couldn't look away from Fenrir and the rest of the warriors. Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement and my instincts kick in so I look at what was moving. I see Seb slowly moving towards me while keeping an eye on both Conny and Fenrir. I see Conny give him a look and he responds with a slight nod. Next thing I know, Conny is walking towards Fenrir with her hands up in a sign of surrender. By now, Sebastian has reached the base of the tree and is holding his arms up as a sign for me to come down and he will help me.

"What is she doing?" I whisper to him as he helps down and sets me on the ground.

"She's going to talk to her best friend Conny," he replies, giving me a pointed look when I give him a funny look. Looking over at Conny, I see that she no longer has her vibrant hair but long redish curls and is much taller than normal. Pulling a piece of my hair in front of my face, I see that it is now the color of what Conny's normally is. I give Seb a weird look and he just shakes his head, a signal to not say anything.

"Look at me. I'm fine. They haven't hurt me and I'm the same as when I left you," Conny says in my voice as she continues to approach Fenrir.

"Sparks..." he says quietly, but loud enough that we can all hear, even across the clearing as he touches Conny's face. "You've been gone so long. If it wasn't for Dalla, we would have been able to find you. We had a funeral for you. Viktor... He lit your pyre. The river was still frozen when we had it otherwise we would have given you the full warrior's funeral. Viktor was devastated. He's grown up so much since you were taken." He smiles sadly at her while Dalla pushes to the front. Sebastian grips my waist harder to keep me from running to her. Even from here I can tell she's changed. Her hair has gotten lighter and her eyes... they don't seem her normal brown... they seem different. When she finally makes it beside Fen, her smile falls.

"That's not Ember."

"Dalla! What are you talking about! It's me! I mean, I know I've changed in the time I've been here but I'm still me!" Conny says, trying her best to convince Dalla that she is me.

"You are not my best friend. You are a con artist," Dalla says firmly. At being called a con artist, Conny flinches. "You are a shifter. Not my best friend. Where is she!?" Dalla screams, almost lunging at Conny but Fen grabs her and hands her to another warrior. He stares at her eyes, and I can tell the moment that he actually sees her for her. His eyes get wide and then they scrunch. I know he is seeing what I did when I first met her, the flickering from my eye color to hers. The green to the blue she broadcasts normally. His face then contorts in anger and then hits Conny, and blood starts to bloom to her skin on her face, neck, and chest. Her magic no longer works, she transforms back into her normal self and I assume so do I. I run to her, Seb running after me.

"Conny!" I yell. Once reaching her, I fall to my knees beside her I rip part of her cloak off and attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Sparks!" Fen says, relieved that I am actually here. "I thought you really were dead once this imposter tried to fool us," he says as he goes to grab my shoulder. I hit his arm away.

"No. You are not the same boy I left in hopes of saving the entire village. You have become the one of the brutes that we used to laugh at together. You may have killed one of the only people that actually understood me here. She helped me Fenrir! When I first got here, I knew nothing and she helped me. She became my friend and you may have killed her!" I screech. I then turn back, beckoning Sebastian over to help me with Conny.

"Sparks, I'm sorry. I didn't know. We've been looking for you for-"

"Almost a year. Yeah, I know. I've been informed. Now where is Dalla. I need her help. Or another healer that you have with you," I say in a demanding tone. He shakes his head.