Seared by Desire (5 page)

“
Sara, what are you doing? I thought we’d agreed that you
would stay and fulfil your duty as a fire elemental.”

“
I won’t die for these people Abi.”

“
You must.”

“
Abi, please move aside, will you really fight me?”

“
Yes Sara, I will and you know it.”

“
Abigail,” she pleaded. “I won’t fight you.”

“
Then surrender.”

“
I won’t do that either.”

“
Those are your only options Sara. Please, come back with me.
Our time together is short, we should enjoy it as much as we
can.”

“
It doesn’t have to be Abi. I won’t let it end like this. Just
let me go.”

Her words were falling on deaf ears and Abigail’s palms began
to glow as she summoned the fire within her, prepared to fight her
life long friend. Sara felt no inclination to do anything of the
sort. Her eyes flickered back and forth, trying to find a way out.
Trapped from the front and from behind. Her flames were wild, if
she tried to attack anyone she could hurt Abi and after all she had
done for her over the years, Sara wouldn’t repay that kindness with
violence. The world was closing in on her and it was on a shuddery
breath that she took the only option available to her. Running to
the open window, she threw herself outside.

It was mere moments into her fall that she realised what a
mistake she had made in the heat of the moment. She wasn’t an air
elemental so she couldn’t fly. She wasn’t an earth elemental so she
couldn’t simply make the earth rise to catch her and she wasn’t a
water elemental so she couldn’t simply dissolve into rain and
reform as she fell to the ground. She was a fire elemental and the
fall would kill her.

We are flame,
Seraphina hissed;
displeased with the turn Sara’s thoughts had taken. Her eyes
shifted, seeing the world in terms of heat and she saw it then. The
burning ever-fire that rested in the middle of the courtyard. Her
mind was quick to seize onto a solution for her new
predicament.

“
LANCE!” she bellowed, knowing without a shadow of a doubt the
horse would make its way to her side. He always did.

Her hands were alight as she threw fire towards the heavy
gates that would lock her in, the flame burning away at the
material the instant they met. Her preparations complete, she let
the fire wash over her from within. Her bones melted, her blood
boiled and her skin sizzled. Her eyes never left the ever-fire as
she burned away into nothing, her body never meeting the ground.
She strode out of the blue flames, her skin merely warm rather than
scorched. She stumbled, the transition from flesh to flame,
disorientating her.

Lifting her head, Sara’s eyes met Abigail’s, shock written
clearly on her friend’s face. Lance’s soft naying quickly brought
her attention back to the escape at hand and she ran the short
distance that separated them, mounting him in one smooth motion.
She dug her heels into his side, urging him on. He ran, hooves
thundering against the ground as he galloped towards the burning
wood, never hesitating in his stride, the trust between the two
deep and enduring. Tugging on Lance’s reins, Sara forced the horse
to leap, his powerful legs easily clearing the flames that licked
the wood around them.

He raced onward, until they were well clear of the castle
before Sara allowed him to stop, lightly patting his neck in silent
gratitude. It was then Sara saw them, guards from the castle were
following her and she groaned loudly in frustration. They would
never stop looking for her. Fire elementals were notoriously
determined, it was one of the reasons human Kings sought them out
to fight in their wars. Once a fire elemental was set on a path,
they never gave up and Abigail was one of their best, she had no
doubt her friend was already tracking her. If she caught up her
escape would end quickly. Sara knew what she had to do.

Gathering her strength, she remembered the line of fire
Geoffrey had created and sought to make one of her own. Simply
thinking about it made the line emerge and another thought made it
turn into a raging inferno, wild in its violent impulses as it
spread to surround the castle, caging the inhabitants within. She
could feel its heat, its desperate desire to rage free of the
confines she had imposed on it and ravage the surrounding
landscape, destroying all in its path. Her strength was waning but
her mind was strong and she forced the flame to submit to her will,
to surround the castle until she was far enough away that they
wouldn’t be able to catch up to her immediately. Her body weak,
Sara allowed herself to sag in the saddle, digging her heels in to
Lance’s side and letting him carry her off into the
unknown.

The one to cool the flame,
her mind
mused.
It must mean the water elementals,
so I’ve got to find them and convince them to help one of their
hated enemies. It might not be so hard,
she mused.
Once they find out that
I’ll probably destroy them without help, I’m sure they do all they
can to get rid of Seraphina.
So with only
the vaguest idea where she was meant to be, Sara rode off into the
night, determined to meet her destiny head on.

Chapter Four – A Chance
Encounter

It didn’t take long for Sara to realise that her hastily put
together plan was full of holes, holes she wasn’t quite sure how to
fill. She had been so preoccupied with simply getting outside that
she hadn’t given any thought to what would happen if she managed to
succeed. She’d never been outside her village before tonight and
she was quickly coming to realise that the world outside was a very
big place and that finding the water elementals somewhere in it
would be a lot more difficult than she had thought. Especially as
she had no idea where the water elementals lived.

The night stretched out before her, seemingly endless as she
tried to find direction for her suddenly confusing life. Things had
been simple inside the village even though she had been hated. But
now she was on her own and she would have to make her way in the
world by herself.

“
I don’t see what I’ve got to complain about Lance, do you?
I’ve got money in my pocket, food for the journey and you to keep
me company.” The horse snickered gently as she rubbed the length of
its neck fondly. “It can’t be that hard to find the water
elementals, all I have to do is ask someone for directions.” Her
sharp eyes spotted a small farmhouse in the distance and she
smiled, suddenly feeling all the more optimistic about her chances
for success. “Come on Lance, that’s got to be a sign. Shelter and
directions, what more could I ask for?”

With a gentle nudge, she urged Lance into a trot, determined
to reach the farmhouse and be put on the right path. It was true
that no one had followed her thus far so she could only assume her
fire was keeping them at bay but for how long she couldn’t know.
Fire elementals weren’t known for letting targets escape them.
Eventually they would find a way around her flames or the fire
would die down without her there to fuel it. The sooner she was
headed in the right direction rather than wandering about
aimlessly, the better.

The house was within reach when she felt Seraphina begin to
stir within her again. Sara continued riding towards the house,
ignoring the voice, there were more important things to deal with
at the moment than a spoiled spirit.

Hungry,
Seraphina whined.

Sara dismounted, starting to walk towards the farmhouse door.
She felt a frisson of unease run up her spine, unsure if she should
wake the residents so late into the night.

Hungry.

“
I don’t have a choice,” she mumbled to herself.

Eat. Now!

Seraphina’s voice echoed around Sara’s mind, shocking her
with just how loud the spirit could be when she wanted to be and
then she felt it. The same feeling that had filled her when she had
annihilated the demons was rising within her once again. Her skin
was so hot the air around her began to pop as it was heated to
phenomenal temperatures. Seraphina was beginning to take control.
Backing away from the farmhouse door caused Sara to hit Lance in
the side and when she turned round to look into his trusting dark
eyes, her anxiety turned into terror. Lance would be
killed.

“
Run Lance!” she screamed as she fled away from the house on
the rise, determined not to injure anyone with her spirit’s
destructive appetites. The horse trotted after her, never once
leaving her side. “Please Lance, I don’t want anything to happen to
you. Please, run away from me. I’ll come and find you
soon.”

He ignored her pleas, even moving to help her as she
stumbled, her legs giving way beneath her. Her already tired limbs
hadn’t taken her far and as Seraphina washed over her, Sara
realised she would end up destroying everything she could
see.

Not Lance,
she begged, the fire
already pouring over her skin.
Not Lance.
I won’t let you hurt him Seraphina.
Her
grip on consciousness was already slipping.

Hungry,
she snarled.

I don’t care how hungry you are. Don’t hurt Lance! I won’t
let you hurt him.
Those were the last
words Sara spoke before the world around her burst into flames and
everything went black.

When Sara woke, it was morning. The shining sun seeming to
make a mockery of her own feelings. She lay against the hard
ground, tears slipping from beneath her closed eyelids, her head
pounding in agony. She didn’t want to open her eyes because she
knew the moment she did she would see Lance’s blackened body lying
dead beside her. She had killed him, murdered her only companion on
this trip and her heart was heavy with guilt. A gentle push to her
stomach made her roll over slightly but she refused to move away
from the source, she deserved whatever fate it had planned for her.
The next push was accompanied by the soft whinnying of a horse and
her eyes flew open, instantly meeting Lance’s large dark eyes.
Leaping to her feet, Sara wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling
his body close.

“
Lance, you’re okay. I thought I’d killed you. I’m so sorry.
You’re not hurt are you?” She stepped back, running her hands over
his neck, his nose, his flanks. There were no burn marks, not even
a patch of overly warm skin. She hadn’t hurt him.

Her joy at leaving her horse unharmed was short lived as she
looked at the damage she had managed to create. The farmhouse she
had been so desperate to reach was nothing more than a burned
shell, a few black wooden pillars the only sign that it had once
been a house of some sort. Her hands tightened on Lance’s reins as
she led him towards it, her heart feeling heavier with every step
she took. She stopped at the door’s remains, unable to go any
further.

Why Seraphina? Why did you do this?
Seraphina was silent.
Didn’t you
burn enough when I escaped? There was no need to do this.
The tears that had stopped falling when she’d
seen Lance returned. Her hands turned into small fists. “I’ve got
to get help.” Her eyes took in the wide swath of destruction
Seraphina’s flames had caused. “She’s only going to get worse. If I
don’t get help then who knows how much damage she’ll do if she
kills me. The fire elementals have a lot of enemies; the strength
of a fire that could kill them all would be devastating. I have to
stop her.” She swung into Lance’s saddle. “Seraphina only seems to
burn this badly once a day. I’ve got to make this day count,” she
decided looking at the rising sun. “I’ve got to know where I’m
going before nightfall, before Seraphina makes another appearance
and by then I have to be alone.”

She dug her heels into Lance’s side forcing him into a neck
breaking gallop. She was all too conscious of the fact that those
trapped in New Kennington castle were probably free now and she had
wasted valuable time unconscious. She couldn’t let them catch her,
not only to save her life but also to save the lives of thousands
of others.

*****

When Lucian rose it was dark and he was hungry. The darkness
was natural for a vampire and embraced him like a lover but the
hunger was gnawing at him, making his fangs ache with the need to
be buried in warm human flesh, was distinctly unappreciated. It
made him dangerous and a threat to others around him. He couldn’t
put off the need to feed any longer; he had been without sustenance
for too long. Sitting up, he ran a pale hand over his face, weary
though the night had yet to begin in earnest. The task that lay
before him was a daunting one, almost as daunting as it had been
when he had first started it over a century ago. Though he was
nearing the end of his quest, he couldn’t rest.

“
Those ungrateful whelps don’t even appreciate what I’m doing
for them,” he cursed, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed.
His rise to power meant that he and those that followed his lead
were in a perpetual state of war. A war he hoped would end any
night now. There was only one faction left, one faction that hadn’t
submitted to his will and acknowledged him as the leader of their
kind and once they did, his slumbers would be peaceful, his nights
his own once again.