Fireborn

31 ¦ Terrors of the Night

In the comfort of dreams, I sank into pleasant memories.

Once again I had the form of a small child, long before this evil had befallen my family. Before the Gatál had destroyed my home. Summer flowers bloomed on the plains of Halden as the lambs bleated for their mothers. Hardly a cloud blemished the pure blue sky.

My giggles filled the air, and Mama smiled at Father while Bragda and I played tag after a family picnic. The warmth and love of family fluttered through the air like the butterflies on the field.

Father stood up and held out his arms to me. "Run, Zelle, run!"

"Go get him!" Bragda called out with a laugh.

At full speed, I raced towards him, knowing he'd never let me fall. After I'd sprung into his strong arms, he spun me round and round. Extending my arms out to my sides, I squealed with the pure joy of being alive.

"Fly, sis, fly!"

The summer sun shone on Father's fiery red hair, turning his skin an even deeper shade of bronze. His hazel eyes twinkled with mischief. "Would you like to go higher?"

"Higher, Papa!"

"You wanna show Bragda you can fly?" he asked me, throwing me into another fit of giggles.

"Yes, Papa! Higher!"

While he continued to spin me, Mama and Bragda vanished. My heart sank into my stomach. The bright, warm sun disappeared behind obsidian clouds swirling in the sky like a witch's brew. Night fell over the land, and I shivered at the encroaching darkness.

"Papa, something's wrong. Put me down."

The beautiful grassy meadows melted into basalt rocks and lava flows. The undulating hills of Halden dissolved into fiery volcanoes vomiting rocks, ash, and dust into the night sky.

My smile vanished, and fear crawled down my spine. "What's happening, Papa?"

Everything was red, dark, and dead. The world twirled faster and faster even though he'd long since set me back down to terra firma.

My eyes widened in fear. "That's too fast, Papa!"

Before my eyes, he slowly morphed into a Fireborn. Papa roared as black horns burst through his skull, and I screamed in fear. His body grew impossibly large until it blocked the entire horizon. Balling his hand into a fist, he pummeled the ground, causing massive earthquakes that split the hills in half.

"No, Papa! No!"

"I can do more than make you fly," he said in a bass roar that almost deafened me.

"Papa, stop!"

With a mirthless smile, he bared his fangs at me. "I can make you Queen."

❄️🔥❄️🔥

Soon I realized why I'd dreamt that the world was spinning. I hardly made it to the lavatory before I vomited bile for the fifth time that night. Long after I had nothing left in my system, I kept retching until the tears streamed down my face.

"Oh, gods!"

"Liselle?" A deep voice called out to me from the other side of the door. "Should I call for a Healer?"

When I retched in reply, he ran into the room, cupping my forehead in his snakeskin palm. His cool touch soothed my feverish forehead like a damp cloth in the middle of summer.