Before me stood the captain of the town guard, Bergen Stryss. The edges of his lips could be seen through his helmet pointing downward while his hand was on my shoulder. I didn't dare to look anywhere but his nose because I knew if I stared into his eyes, I would cry from the truth I was trying to deny.
'They're dead.' I thought while trying to keep my composure. 'Burned to a crisp and I can't even reach them…'
Images of two charred bodies entered my mind. Grandma and grandpa both lying on the ground while their lifeless eyes stared blankly into nothing. They had probably been in so much pain. Yet, here I was, still alive because I was too scared to listen.
'You should have died with them. You weren't there to save them.'
The voice of guilt was louder than ever. I blankly gazed at the flames before me. As blue as the sapphires found deep beneath the world's surface, nothing stopped them as they tore through the town and consumed everything in its path.
If you paid close attention you could hear the screams of those unfortunate enough to get caught in the flames. The anguished sounds filled my heart with dread and left me wondering: had my grandparents made the same sounds?
Bergen, noticing how I began to spiral, chose to sit me in a chair while the other guards tried to plan for a relief effort.
No matter what was attempted, the flames would not go out.
Water merely evaporated a few paces away from it and the heat caused people to suffer from dehydration. Following that was a heat stroke immediately. There were no adventurers with water based Iks to snuff out the flames, so we were on our own.
I felt so pathetic! The last time I had even seen my grandparents, I was acting like a petulant child. I never even got to say sorry…
'Maybe I should just let the flames consume me… It would be for the best-'
"Esther!" Caine's hand touched my shoulder softly. "I need you to get Cecilia and Caroline out of here. Please."
I went to deny him but I hesitated. I didn't think I could do it. Not when this was happening. I needed something to keep me going.
Staring into his silver eyes, eyes that held a strength I couldn't find, I realized that I hadn't lost everything. I nodded before he released my shoulder. He turned back to the other guards and raised his arm to what I could only guess was his chest, I wasn't certain since I couldn't see.
"Alright, boys! Let's get as many as we can out of here."
Ignoring his attempt at a rally, I rushed off towards the Hagenrader house. This would be my own mission.
I would get in, evacuate Caroline and Cecilia, and then come back to try and help. It was hard to evacuate with people running around like headless chickens but I managed to reach the house. The door was wide open and a glance inside proved that neither women were downstairs. There's no way they'd be upstairs.
That fire was visible even from here.
I turned to observe the direction everyone was evacuating in. It seemed some people were heading towards the East wall. That way had an exit wide enough that there would be no clutter or panic.
'Did they evacuate already?' I pondered.
Smoke filled my nostrils, catching my attention. I faced where the fire was coming from only to see that the fire was now closer. It was less than a hundred paces from my vicinity. I could feel the heat from here! My body had began to sweat at a rapid rate, I wasn't sure if it was healthy to sweat this much.
I turned to run away only to be knocked onto the ground. I grunted while rolling along the ground as pain echoed throughout my bones. Once I had come to a stop, I pushed myself to my knees and turned to see what had impacted me.
My gaze was met by the lifeless eyes of a charred corpse glaring into my very soul. There was no emotion in that stare, just an empty gaze. This is what death looked like. This is probably what the corpses of my grandparents looked like. I could end up the same way if I don't run. I needed to move. I needed to get to Cecilia and the others!
"Huh? This one isn't running. He must be broken." A cruel voice called out from my left.
It was a man of tall stature. His hair and eyes were teal in color. The uniqueness of his hair style which was pointed upward and fashioned like a flame called into question his sanity whereas his clothes were regal. He adorned strange teal robes with golden flame insignias on them while on his hip was a sheath for what appeared to be an axe.
Just staring at him filled me with such a primal feeling. It felt like I could be set ablaze by his words alone. I could die here now and no one would know, my body no different from the charred corpse near me. Could I breathe? Did I have the right to breathe around him?
"It's not you either…" He hummed, "I guess letting one of you live is fine. Rejoice! I, Kalio, fire personified, have spared you!"
He laughed condescendingly before turning his back to me. He put his right hand in his pants pocket while walking. I watched as he kicked a corpse in his way without batting an eye. He was also examining every corpse carefully, almost like he was looking for something important. He was specifically checking their wrists.
That wasn't what bothered me at the moment.
This man had walked through the flames like they weren't even there. There was no way for a person to do that unless they had immunity to such a thing. The only way for you to be immune was…
'Your Iks would have to be tied to the magic in question.'
I recalled hearing from an adventurer who hoped to inspire some of the children in our village to follow the same profession.
'If it's tied to the caster… the caster fears no harm from it…'
My eyes widened before focusing on the retreating back of the blue haired man. Kalio, he had called himself. Even if I hadn't been knowledgeable on how energy users worked, I could tell this guy was the culprit. He had kicked a dead body and spoke of sparing me.
'Because of him, my family was burned alive…'
I felt a rumble in my throat as a hot burning feeling spread throughout my body. The beating in my chest felt as if a drum had gone off. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't see straight. It felt like thousands of voices were whispering in my ears. Each one was different from the last yet they all cried out for the same thing: blood.
They were tempting me, no, begging me to attack him.
I tried to calm down as fear overrode the desire to get revenge. Part of me knew I was risking death if I attacked but another part didn't care.
'Kill him. An eye for an eye as they say.'
It felt like something within me had snapped at those words. I could hear the sound of footfalls followed by a roar of anger that echoed throughout the street. I hadn't even realized it until it was too late. That roar had come from me. I was attacking Kalio while his back was turned. I had picked up a sword from the ground and tried swinging at his back.
"Die! You murderer!" I screamed.
I couldn't tell what happened exactly but I knew my attack hadn't landed.
All I could feel the moment after my swing was a searing pain in my chest. It felt as if someone had put molten metal over my chest. Every second felt agonizing, then I could feel my skin melt. I could smell the burnt skin in my nostrils, it smelled horrible.
It was as if someone had burnt pork and left it out for the world to smell. The flames had disappeared and I could feel air brush against my arms before I finally fell into a wall, breaking it. It hurt to even leave my eyes open. I saw a pillar of flames shoot into the sky before all of the flames around me disappeared.
'I'm pretty sure I didn't land a hit… but he ran away?'
I let out a weak chuckle before coughing. Each cough caused agonizing pain to ring out through my lungs. Even if I died here, at least I managed to scare off the one responsible. I didn't want to go out in a pretty pathetic way but it clearly wasn't up to me.
'I think I just need a minute.'
Another cough caused pain to flare throughout my lungs. I groaned tiredly before shutting my eyes.
'Make that like ten…'
I felt the debris fall on top of me before my consciousness faded.