𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𖥸 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙨

06 | Crown of Fire

Gabriel's heart stopped in his chest when he saw the girl collapse, her body burned and blackened as if the fire had consumed her.

     He was certain for a moment that she was dead, until a long stream of dry coughs sent a jagged knife through his heart and forced him to release the breath he didn't know he had been holding. She was alive.

     Kyran sat up, wheezing and breathing heavily. Her eyes were wet, and as Gabriel approached her, her sapphire eyes lit with panic and she scooted away.

     "Hey, hey, easy. Calm down." Gabriel did his best to soothe her, watching the fear and shock in her gaze as she stared at him with numb terror.

     "S-Stay back," her voice was shaking. "I don't . . . I don't want to hurt you. Please, please just stay away."

     "You're not going to hurt me. Calm down," Gabriel soothed in a gentle tone. "We need to get you help immediately. Can you walk?"

     Kyran flinched back. "Just . . . leave me here."

     "I'm not leaving you in the middle of the floor in the dungeons," Gabriel stated firmly. "You need help, and I'm not leaving this place without you."

     The redhead trembled. "Please, Gabriel. Fyre . . . she is beyond saving. I am beyond saving. No one can help me. No one can save me from myself. I'm better off here where I can't hurt anyone else."

     "Don't say that. There isn't any chance you can hurt any of us. You have to trust us. Don't underestimate our strength either. You're a part of this court and I'm not just going to stand by and watch you lose the will to live," Gabriel said in response to her.

     Her breathing hitched. "I should have ended it when I had the chance." She murmured. "Fyre is dangerous, Gabriel. She's my other half. There is no light without darkness, no savior without a destroyer. Fyre is the monster I've always been. I'll never be rid of her. She came to me the night I summoned Sīd. I had hoped she would disappear after the bonding sickness left us, but she just got stronger. Gabriel, she's killed dozens of people. She could kill you in your sleep before you could wake. I can't . . . I don't want that to happen. Not to you. Not to anyone in this palace."

     "Remember what I said about not underestimating us? Trust me, it won't come to that. We can help you. We can work with you and try to find a solution for this. There has to be some way to stop this. Nothing is permanent after all," Gabriel said.

     "How?" She exploded. "What can you do? You can't rip her out of me! She is me. I am Fyre."

     "That's not what I meant and you know that. I don't know what we can do, but we will figure this out. I have heard of something similar to this before."

     "Oh? Like what?" He could tell she hadn't meant for those words to come out so harsh.

     "Nothing relevant to this conversation. Let's just leave this place and go to the infirmary. I want to get the measurements for your new arm. You'd like that right? We can continue this conversation we're having later."

     Kyran closed her eyes, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps. Tears now fell freely from her eyes and she tore her gaze away from him. The sight of her like this, sitting on the floor of the dungeons crying, made something in his chest constrict. Why did his heart hurt to see her like this?

     "Take my hand. I don't want to help you up unless you're fine with it, given your condition and all. How are you feeling by the way?" His hand was outstretched for her to take to pull her up. He didn't want to pressure or make her uncomfortable in any way.

     She was silent and still for a long time, not looking at him, before she turned her head in his direction. "I feel like I've been run over by a rhino," there was such sadness in her eyes, but she didn't take his hand yet. "What . . . what did Fyre say to you? I-I was so busy trying to get her to stand down that I didn't hear it. Did . . . did she call me a monster? Did she hurt any of you?"

     "No she didn't. Pythios was harassing and antagonizing her though. She didn't say that much so don't worry about it," Gabriel answered her.

     The girl looked stricken. "She tried to fry you, didn't she?"

     "Yes. Didn't work out though. She only managed to get Kateri. That woman deserved it anyway."

     Kyran wiped her face with her hand, and Gabriel saw that she was sweating more than was healthy.

     "Hey, you really need to get to the infirmary. You don't look too good." His hand was still stretched toward her. "Please cooperate."

     Kyran hesitated for a moment longer before she finally gave in and took his hand, allowing him to haul her up, which was quite easy as she weighed less than an eight-year-old child. A breath of relief escaped his lips as he began to support and help her out of the dungeons. He didn't trust her to walk on her own.

      After all, the incident with Fyre had to cause a lot of energy to be drained from her. She definitely could use some rest for the time being, along with her wounds being patched up. An infection was really something they didn't need.

     A loud hiss caused him to pause as soon as he entered the hall once he left the dungeons. Was it Sīdereus? His eyes scanned the shadows. He eventually saw the serpent curled up in the middle of the hall, hissing at them aggressively. Kyran flinched slightly, but shook her head, to which the snake reared back and exposed his fang at her. He wasn't happy. No, he was enraged. And that rage was directed at his Summoner.
 
     Gabriel glanced sideways at Kyran, but her eyes had already left her spirit animal, filled with pain and misery. He let out a long sigh, pushing the thoughts out of his head as he focused on getting her to the infirmary.

     They reached their destination quickly, and Gabriel got her to a healer and stepped back to let them take care of her. He knew it was best to sit back and watch.

     Sīdereus had followed them to the infirmary and was watching the healers now with an unreadable expression. Kyran refused to look at the snake, and it was clear that there was a great deal of tension between the two of them.

     Gabriel took a seat at the nearest chair and rubbed his temples, letting the healers do their thing as he comprehended Kyran's words. If Fyre did come back, they needed to be ready. For now all they could do was wait. If the creature was truly the essence of the actual element of fire, then perhaps water would be their biggest weapon. However, if they used it on Fyre, would that kill Kyran? The risk was very high. As she had stated, they were one in the same. They shared a soul.

     His eyes wandered to Sīdereus again. The snake seemed to know what Fyre was, and he didn't like it.

     His own eyes widened.
 
     Could Sīdereus be the key to taming the fire within Fyre?