Pyromantic

Figures & Flame

Flames licked at your skin, teasing their way up your arms to your shoulders... You felt so warm, so safe... You enjoyed the touch of the flames, their light dancing behind your closed eyelids... The flames enveloped you in a soft, yet firm embrace. You felt a pressure from the heat...

Why? Flames aren't exactly tangible... How were you feeling the weight that came with the fires gently caress? You were about to open your eyes when the humming crackle of the flames was broken by a voice.

" Don't ," A deep voice whispered. You shivered, despite the warmth enveloping you. "You'll regret it," You opened your eyes, anyway, ignoring the familiar voice.

All was void and inferno. The heat intensified, engulfing your form as rough hands grabbed at you, latching on and holding onto wherever they reached. You felt pain in your arms, legs, torso and neck as they gripped you violently. The disembodied hands groped for any part they could, yanking your hair and clothing in the struggle. You thrashed against the hands, which to your horror, began to manifest shadowy bodies. The flames flickered, but the shadowy figures stayed a heavy black mass, the fire only outlining them harshly against the light.

You silently screamed in the face of your aggressors as the flames ignited your clothing and hair. Eventually, the fire moved onto scorching your skin away, revealing the viscera beneath, and then, that too, was eaten away by the flames, being aided by the figures ripping and tearing away the tissue, until only bone remained, The bone was white at first, yet soon began to become darker in color as the fire began to claim it. The figures then began to grip the bones, breaking them at first, but as the fire raged on, a single touch willed the remaining bones to ash and dust.

The shadowed figures had stopped their assault. Surprisingly, you had felt no pain, only panic as you were stripped of your body. You didn't know what type of form you were in now, seeing as, by all of your logic and reasoning, you should have just ceased to exist. Instead, you now saw that the fire and the figures had backed away from you, or, where you once were.

A yellowish flow had formed at the bottom edges of your vision. At first, you had thought it was the fire, but, this was different. You shifted your view downward and you found the source of the haze.

An oddly colored, cartoon shaped heart was the center of the space surrounded by the figures and flame. It gave off a yellowish haze in the blackness. However, it had splotches of red orange tainting the otherwise perfect yellow.

You didn't know why, but, while before you felt utter blind panic at the assault from the figures, looking at this little heart, you were filled with a sense of calm. Like, just by having it there with you, you felt completely at ease, like all was right in your torn apart existence. You lost yourself in the way the two colors swirled and shifted. You were reminded of a lava lamp.

One of the figures moved forward. You almost didn't catch the movement, the abyssic black of their beings blending in so well with the void beyond the flames. The figure that had moved forward had stopped when you looked at them. They seemed to meet your eyes, despite neither of you having any.

"I warned you," the voice came back, familiar yet alien. This voice had a mix of hurt and menacing in its tone. Like you had hurt it by opening your eyes, and now it wanted to hurt you.

The figure took a few more steps forward, about an arm's length or two from you and the heart. You felt a sudden surge of.... Something , probably primal, settle in your being. You thought that if the figure even tried to touch the heart, you wouldn't hesitate to stop the figure however you could. The glow from the heart began to diminish from bright yellow to dull red-orange

You watched as the figure took another slow but sure step, lifting it's arm up so that it's palm was level with the heart. You felt as though you had been threatened. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw that the red-orange had begun to engulf the yellow, so that the two colors had traded places.

Suddenly the flames that had surrounded you and the figures began to coalesce and build behind the figure that was before you. All of the other figures faded in with the rest of the void, whether they were still there or not, you could not tell.

The foremost figure reached forward, fingertips brushing the heart as you just barely pulled it away. As it grazed the heart, you felt immeasurable pain scourge your entire conscience, making your very soul writhe in agony...

You felt the realization of what the fiery heart actually was. You didn't know why or how, but you knew that it was, in fact, your own soul . You suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of protection for the heart. You had to keep it safe, with all of your might.

The figure made to grab at your soul again, but you backed away with it. At the same time, the flames twisted around in front of you, blocking the figure from advancing. The fire had now created a wall, separating you two. Too late, however, you realised your back was now exposed.

The figures that had before faded into the void had made a comeback, somehow grabbing and restraining you. Apparently on some level, you still had a body. That, or they weren't normal, either.

They held you back as your soul floated, alone and unprotected just out of your reach. The wall of flame seemed to ripple, and a moment later, to your horror, the previous head figure stepped out of it, but no longer just a shadow. The fire from the wall had seemed to cling to them, so that they now resembled the flames themselves. You had a moment where you felt calm wash over you, the scent of woodsmoke and chai tea enveloping you as well as the warmth from earlier, the familiarity comforting.

It was all wrenched away much too quickly, though, as the figure stepped closer to your soul. Your calm went away, replaced by a fierce anger towards the shadowed figures that held you back and the one shrouded in fire that was now taking it's time, nearly teasingly, towards your soul. You thrashed with nonexistent limbs at the figures, but it was no use. You saw your soul turn a deeper, shade of red-orange, only a few specs of yellow visible now.

Then, as the figure raised its hands to grab the heart, you looked up into it's face. To your surprise, it had one, features molded out of flame. It's eyes were as black as the void around you, the bone structure of their face was harsh and angular. There was a bright jagged slash where a mouth would be and the flames of it's head shot up sporadically.

It came back to you, all the familiarity, as you realized you had seen this face before. Then, your savior had worn it; now, it would be your menace. The face's jagged grin opened up wide, the eyes narrowing, as though the figure was in triumph.

It finally grasped your soul, the long, elegant fingers closing around it entirely. You felt the light touches deep in your being, grating on you agonizingly. You once again looked into the figures eyes.

As the figure you recognized as a friend squeezed and crushed your soul, you saw the mirth in their eyes.