Dragon's Fire

Two

    I feel like I’ve been in this tent for a month. I’m pulled out once a day to use the washroom, a small shed. I’m given a small piece of bread and a cup of water once a day, I’m starving. I just want to die. Some of the men come in and beat me every other day. I have so many bruises on me that I don’t think I can feel anything besides pain at this point. I stopped begging a while ago.. Now I just endure the pain without screaming out, I think it makes them angrier than if I were to beg them to stop. 

It’s been so long since I saw the sky, I just want to look at it once more before I die.

I can hear birds outside. 

I want to be a bird and fly away… fly anywhere I want.. 

    I hear a commotion outside and think maybe this is the end, maybe they are finally going to end my suffering. 

    One of the men who usually beats me comes into the tent and I can see he’s drunk. 

    “I’m tired of waiting.. I want some kind of reward.. Obviously he doesn't care about you.. So I should be able to have you” He comes closer to me. Getting on his knees in front of me, unbuckling his belt. I stare at him horrified and wide eyed. I try to move away from him, to cower in the corner but he grabs me by the legs and pulls me back to him. 

    I feel my body set a flame as he touches me, his hands going up my dress. My skin feels like it’s about to burst into flames. Suddenly the tent is on fire, the man staggers backwards looking at me like I did it. 

    I’m just as confused as he is, I can feel the heat from the flames, but it doesn't feel hot, just warm. He rushes out of the tent backwards, tripping as he exits it. I stare at him as he starts to run but is suddenly stabbed. Another man is wielding a double bladed dagger. The man drops to the ground and clutches his stomach in horror. 

    I feel extremely tired and weak. As the tent burns all around me, I feel my body drop to the ground, too exhausted to keep my head up. I watch as the man looks around before his eyes land on me. He starts walking straight for me. 

    This is how I die I tell myself. After all this, I came this far and I die now, like this. He is probably going to stab me too. 

        As I watch him come closer to me the fire goes out and is replaced by a chill in the air as if a sheet of ice has come over the flames. He kneels down in front of me, looking me over for a moment before he removes his cloak and wraps it around me. I feel scared and my body responds making me feel hot again, the cloak catches fire suddenly. Not just the cloak but all the ground around us is in flames, just like the tent was. I don’t know what is causing it but I feel like it’s me somehow… My fear radiates off me in waves of flames as it spreads, but I don’t feel anything. His eyes widen and he waves his hand across me, making me feel like a spray of water has come down upon me. 

    “I’m not going to hurt you” He says, his voice solemn. My eyes close as I feel him pick me up off the ground, I cry out but nothing comes out of my mouth. I fear I have many broken bones at this point, if he’s going to kill me he may as well just get it over with.  

    “Sir, we have gathered up the remainders.. The forest is on fire.. I don’t know what caused it” I hear someone speak. 

Is he talking to the man carrying me?

    “It was her.. We have finally found her…” He says, I can feel his chest vibrate as he speaks. As much as I want to roll out of his arms and make a run for it before I can be killed I stay still in his arms. I remember how well making a run for it worked out for me last time. 

    I wake up in a bed, I pinch my eyes closed. I can hear a beeping, a machine, I turn my head and open my eyes looking over to see I’m in a makeshift hospital room. The heart rate monitor beeps louder and faster.

    “She’s awake” I hear someone say. I look over to see the man from before, relief flooding his harsh expressions. He is very large, around 6’4”, he has dark red hair, almost black looking. He is muscular and holds himself with importance. He takes a step over to me, I flinch slightly. 

    “I’m Kayden, do you know your name?” He asks as he sits down in a chair beside the bed. I nod. 

    Seeing him closer and in a better light, he is extremely good looking, a strong jawline and eyes like an ocean. He has a bit of a beard growing in, making him look rugged. 

“What is your name?” He presses. I shake my head at him. 

I don’t want to tell you… I don’t trust you..

    “Can you not speak?” He asks suddenly, looking frustrated. 

    I nod once, feeling relieved he will drop it now and not force me to talk. 

    He gets up and exits the room, making me feel more relaxed, he seems scary. To my surprise he comes back a few minutes later, handing me a pen and paper. 

“Your name” He says again. I click the pen and write down my name handing it to him. 

“Janessa?’ He almost laughs. ”Okay Janessa.. How old are you?” He hands back the paper.

    I write down 18 and hand it to him. He looks at me closely before he storms out of the room again. I curl up in a ball in the bed and close my eyes tightly, eventually falling back asleep. I’m woken again by an older woman, she has fresh clothing for me to change into. 

    “Go bathe first dear, you’re dirty” She pushes me into a bathroom and I jump into the shower and I wash my long hair, then my body. It hurts but I manage to get myself clean. I come out dressed in the clean clothing provided, it’s a bit big on me but I’m not complaining. They have clothed and let me have a shower so far so I’m not complaining they haven’t just killed me yet. 

    Kayden is waiting in the room when I come out of the bathroom. I stand awkwardly as the doctor comes in and tells me that I have six broken ribs and a fractured wrist. She says I need some bed rest but I am free to go for now. 

Free to go? 

Go where?

“Ready?” Kayden asks as he makes for the door, I nod and follow behind him. 

“Why don’t you talk?” He asks. 

Nobody cares what I have to say, so why bother?

    He looks back at me for a moment before he looks forward again. He leads me to a room with lots of books, a library? 

“Sit over here.. I’ll be right back” He gestures to a chair. I do as I’m told, not wanting to piss him off. 

    A few minutes later he comes back with a woman, she looks like a hippy. 

“Ohh my goodness. It really is her! I’d recognize those eyes anywhere” She cries as soon as she sees me. 

        “Yes but she can’t speak and she thinks her name is Janessa.. Can you help me please?” He says to her. 

    She walks over to me, I feel scared of the way she’s looking at me. I flinch as she reaches out and grabs my arm suddenly. She pulls back in fear right away.  

“She burned me!” She says in shock

“She’s scared.. She almost set the forest on fire when I found her…” He says with a sigh. “She doesn’t understand what is happening.. What do I do Theodora?” 

    He looks like he is begging this woman for help, for me?

Why though? 

What’s so special about me? 

I’m nothing, a nobody.. 

    “You need to calm down dear.. I’m not here to hurt you.. I’m here to help you.. Have a bit of trust okay?” She says, I feel calm suddenly. I nod, feeling like I’m in a trance.

 She places her hands on me again, this time not pulling back. 

My child.. What has happened to you?

I..I don't know.. I was grabbed and then kept in a tent.. They beat me over and over.. I don’t know what’s going on.. Everything caught on fire.. I’m so scared..

Oh my Child, I know… What do you remember of your family? 

Family? Nothing.. I was abandoned when I was 12.. They didn’t want me.. They left me.. 

No, no my Child, they wanted you… 

How do you know?

Because I knew your parents. 

She pulls back suddenly, staggering backwards. I feel tired and my head droops down. I can’t move my body. 

    “She needs more time.. She doesn’t remember.. I wasn’t able to break whatever spell was put on her to make her forget.. I will try again but not now. She needs to rest” She says sadly. 

“It is her though right? I finally found her after all these years?” He asks hopefully. 

    She nods and pats his shoulder gently before walking away slowly as if she will fall to the floor at any moment's notice. 

    He smiles at me before picking me up gently, “You’re safe now. I promise..” He whispers as I feel my body drift off. I feel as if I’m flying for the first time.. All those times I wished I could be a bird, now I feel like I finally am. 

    He carries me a long time before putting me down, I expect to be back in the makeshift hospital room, my eyes flutter open and I see I’m in a spacious room, greys and blues all over the room. The bed is large and comfortable. 

    “I’ll be on the couch over her if you need anything” He whispers as he brushes away the hair from my face. I just close my eyes again and let the pull take me. 

    My dreams haunt me, I feel like I’m at the bottom of a river, unable to get to the surface, the rapids pull me deeper and deeper until I can’t tell which way is up. I feel hands on me, on my legs, my knees, my stomach, my chest. I scream. I’m thrashing in the water trying to get the hands off me. 

    “Stop.. You’re okay.. Stop!” I hear Kayden yelling at me, he is on top of me, holding me down. I’m kicking and screaming, well sort of screaming, my voice sounds like I’m being strangled. I stop after a moment when I realize it was just a dream. He let’s go of me and stares at me horrified. I curl into a ball and turn away letting the tears fall freely down my face. I’m in hysterics and I can’t stop. I feel him scoop me up into his arms and he holds me while I cry. Something about him feels comforting, like I’ve been here before. 

    I smell something burning and open my eyes, I see the bed is on fire all sound us. I stop crying and claw to him for dead life, the fire getting closer to us. He holds me closer and uses one arm to sweep it over the bed, making the fire go out in the next second. I stare at him in amazement. 

Why am I making everything burn up in flames?

Why is this happening?