Chapter 4 : Ignis

"What the heck is that?!"

Kaya screamed with a screech and pointed at the thing. No. At the monster that she could see through the hole in the roof. The monster looked like a dragon, except that it had the wings of a dragonfly and the legs of an ant. It didn't have any eyes but it had a helmet-like face, thick smoke coming out of it's nostrils. It's teeth were long and pointed, like that of a saber tooth's and Kaya didn't even want to know why there was fresh blood dripping from it's mouth.

"Stop screaming. You're way too loud." The boy said with a click of a tongue before pulling her up from the ground and standing in front of her. As he tightly held her arms, she noticed that his nails were as black as his eyes. Kaya frowned, wondering if guys really did wear nail polish too.

"You'll attract it if you make too much noise."

"What exactly is that?" Kaya whispered as both them slowly walked backwards. The monster was snaking it's big head through the hole and was sniffing. Kaya didn't need to think twice to know that it was trying to pick up her scent.

"Ignis."

Kaya knew that it was some kind of Latin term but she didn't know what it meant. The boy caught her confused expression and scowled, which made Kaya frown.

"It means fire in Latin. There are many types of these monsters but this in particular is a combination of every single species that I've encountered. Obviously, this thing breaths fire but it isn't regular fire."

Kaya was about to question him then she remembered he had tried to kill her just a few minutes. He stared at her with a stunned expression as she pushed him away.

"Why am I listening to you? You tried to kill me! Whatever it is, I'm out!"

She sprinted away, jumping over all the rubble and tried to find her way out of the building. She knew that the main had a bomb shelter on the bottom floor, so she was headed towards there.

"Damn it, Kaya!" He looked at the monster who had heard her footsteps and was crawling on the roof. Now, he was regretting his actions. One of the things he hated about himself was that he always acted on impulse, without thinking through first. "Come back here, you idiot!"

Kaya ignored his words and continued running, taking no importance of the crackling sounds from the ceiling and the ashes that were falling on her head. He kept screaming her name behind her but it served as a motivation for her to run faster. All she needed to do was reach the bomb shelter. She believed that she would be safe after finding-

Kaya screamed when a tornado of fire suddenly crashed from the ceiling and into the ground, almost burning the tip of her nose. However, she wasn't able to brake her run and fell into the newly formed crater. Thanks to her instincts, she was able to grab the edge of the ground before falling inside completely. She felt something fall out of her pocket, her cellphone and watched in horror as it burned in a swirl of flames at the very bottom of the pit. Kaya, then looked up and saw the Ignis staring back at her, it's teeth formed into permanent smile, making it look like it was expecting her to fall into her death.

"Kaya!"

Kaya heard the boy call her name and sighed in relief then she spared a glance at the Ignis, which still wasn't moving. He kneeled down, near the edge and stared at Kaya with a frown. Kaya noticed that his eyes weren't as dark as they were before and there was a slight glow from them.

"You're so stubborn. I told you to stay with me, didn't I?"

"Whatever, just pull me up!" Her fingers were starting to slip and she swung her legs, desperately trying to hold on. He rolled his eyes before he stuck his arm out for her to grab. However, before he could reach her, the Ignis suddenly released a tornado of fire from it's mouth, separating the two of them and burning Kaya's fingers in the process.

This forced her to let go and fall, literally, into her doom. Everything went in slow motion as Kaya fell. She thought. No. She knew that she was going to die. She started to regret the way she lived her seventeen years of life and wanted to do more stuff. She remembered Mia and wished that she would lead a life that was even more fruitful and amazing as hers. Kaya closed her eyes when she started to feel the heat behind her head. She braced herself, expecting to be swallowed by the flames and feel immense pain of burning but nothing happened. Slowly and carefully, she opened her eyes and gasped.

There was a purple mist wrapped around her waist like a hand, which caught her fall. It was strange because she couldn't feel any pressure from it and it was like she was floating on air. She flinched when she heard the crackling of flames right beneath her.

She was even more shocked when she followed the trail of mist. It was coming from the boy's hands. He was in the same position he was in earlier, one hand covered in mist and the other above him, creating a dark purple force field to shield himself from the Ignis's fire breath. His hood was blown by the wind, exposing his unexpectedly handsome face to her. His shades had long been gone, since they had fallen into the pit of fire just a few moments ago. Then, she saw his eyes. They were no longer black. They were purple.

"Don't panic." He said slowly, his eyes glowing even more and the mist, wrapping around her like a snake. "I'll get you out of there. Just don't move."

Kaya really was too stunned to say anything. As she was slowly lifted up, a force field was made around her too and she assumed that it was to protect her from the fire. A small, glowing round object caught her eye in those moments of levitation. The boy had a purple ring resting on the ring finger of his right hand, which was surrounded by mist. It was glowing, equivalent to how much his eyes were and there was a letter engraved in it. Kaya couldn't read it, since it was a foreign language to her. In a matter of moments, she was safely back on the ground, sitting behind him, who was still creating a force field.

"You believe me now, right?" He looked over his shoulder and glanced at Kaya, a small smirk on his face. Now she was able to confirm that his eyes were glowing as much as his ring was. In the few moments of silence, the ignis roared, making her feel like she was in a movie.

"Listen to me, Kaya. I'll take care of the Ignis. You have to run. Now."

"I am not leaving the orphanage!" Kaya flinched as the scaffolding of the ceiling behind her collapsed, scattering dust everywhere. "I have to look for the children!"

"The children?" He cackled, making a chill run down her spine because he sounded evil. "The destiny of this orphanage and it's children was decided as soon as the Ignis attacked. While I was saving your ass down there, the Ignis was burning everything. I doubt that there are any survivors."

"What makes you think that?" Kaya stood up, catching the attention of the Ignis, making it release more flames. The boy glared at her, he obviously started to become tired because of how big his force field was.

"I believe that at least someone is alive in here! And the bomb shelter! All the kids are in there! With your abilities, we can protect them, right?"

The boy just chuckled at Kaya's long speech, which slightly annoyed her because every word she said was heartfelt.

"You humans and your tendency to believe even in dire situations like this. It's amusing, really."

Kaya's eyes widened upon hearing his statement. She slowly walked backwards and fell on the ground, blocking out all the surrounding noises. The purple mist was starting to wrap around the Ignis too. Everything was just too much to take in.

First, there was this Ignis monster that was burning down the orphanage, her home and everyone else is possibly dead. Then, the new kid had magical powers and was not human. Lastly, she was caught up in the middle of all this chaos.

"What? After all this, you still think I'm normal?" He laughed after catching her surprised and terrified- expression. Kaya, then noticed that his teeth seemed to have sharper canine fangs then a regular person had.

"I'm only half-human. The other half? Well--"

"Watch out!"

While he was talking, the Ignis's had snuck up at the side. Now, it was shooting out long spiked tentacles. As soon as Kaya warned him, purple mist wrapped around them and solidified, turning into purple energy rings, stopping the tentacles and forcing them into place. She was breathing heavily, especially because one of the tentacles was inches from her face.