Chapter 4 : Burning Truths

..."What the heck is that?!"...

Kaelith 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 its nostrils. Its teeth were long and pointed, like that of a saber tooth's, and Kaelith didn't even want to know why there was fresh blood dripping from its mouth.

Her breath hitched.

“Mia,” she whispered under it, though the name offered no protection now. She used to joke that nothing scared her—not ghosts, not monsters—as long as Mia was around.

"Stop screaming. You're way too loud," the boy said with a click of his 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. Kaelith frowned, wondering if guys really did wear nail polish, too.

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

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

..."Ignis."...

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

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

Kaelith was about to question him. Then she remembered—he had tried to kill her just minutes ago. She stared at him 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 trying to find her way out of the building. Her feet flew over charred boards, but her heart dragged. Mia would’ve stayed. That thought cut deeper than the smoke did.

She knew the main hall had a bomb shelter on the bottom floor, so she was headed towards there.

"Damn it, Kaelith!" he shouted behind her. She ignored him and kept running, letting his voice fade behind her like every other voice that had ever promised to stay.

She wasn’t stopping. Not this time. Not until she—

Kaelith screamed when a tornado of fire suddenly crashed from the ceiling and into the ground, almost burning the tip of her nose. She wasn’t able to break her run and fell into the newly formed crater. Thanks to her instincts, she grabbed the edge of the ground before falling 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.

And just like that, one more connection to Mia was gone—those old voicemails, the blurry photo they'd taken in secret.

Kaelith looked up and saw the Ignis staring back at her. Its teeth formed into a permanent smile, making it look like it was expecting her to fall into her death.

"Kaelith!"

She heard the boy’s voice and sighed in relief. He kneeled near the edge and stared at Kaelith with a frown. Kaelith noticed his eyes weren’t as dark now—there was a slight glow.

"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 stuck out his arm. But just before he could reach her, the Ignis released a tornado of fire, separating the two of them and burning Kaelith’s fingers.

...Kaelith let go....

...Everything slowed....

...She was falling....

She thought. She knew she was going to die. And she regretted things—so many things. She remembered Mia.

...I never told you goodbye. ...

...Not properly. Not like you deserved. ...

Her chest burned with more than fire. She braced for pain. But instead—

There was a purple mist wrapped around her waist like a hand. She flinched at the sound of crackling flames below her. The boy was still there, shielding her. His hood was gone, his face visible now. His eyes… purple.

"Don’t panic," he said slowly.

...She didn’t. Couldn’t....

...She was stunned, and her heart forgot how to beat....

The mist lifted her. A glowing ring on his hand caught her eye, engraved with letters she couldn’t read. Back on solid ground, he glanced over his shoulder, a small smirk playing at his lips.

"You believe me now, right?"

In the few moments of quiet, the Ignis roared.

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

"I am not leaving the orphanage!" she cried. "I have to look for the children!"

"The children?" He cackled. "While I was saving your ass, the Ignis was burning everything. I doubt that there are any survivors."

"What makes you think that? This place was our home. Mine and Mia’s. You can give up. I’m not going to." she shouted. "I believe at least someone is alive! The bomb shelter—"

"You humans and your tendency to believe even in dire situations... It’s amusing."

Kaelith’s eyes widened. 'You humans'?

...So he really wasn’t one of us? ...

...Not that she felt like she belonged here lately anyway....

Kaelith slowly walked backward 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. Kaelith then noticed that his teeth seemed to have sharper canine fangs than 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 Kaelith 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.