Chapter 34
This chapter describes abandonment. With themes of trauma caused by such abuse.
There was no pain.
No scream of nerves.
No blistering heat.
No scent of burning flesh.
Yet he was alive.
Flames wrapped around him like a living cloak, racing over his arms, his chest, his face. His blue camo caught fire instantly, cotton curling into blackened petals; yet his skin registered nothing but a rushing pressure, like plunging into a deep ocean current.
He staggered back, not from agony; from pure disbelief.
Rounding the wall, he pressed his back to the heavy iron door. His hands flew over his clothes, patting frantically, extinguishing the flames. He expected raw skin beneath the charred holes. Expected pain. Expected something.
There was nothing.
Not a mark.
Not a welt.
Not even heat.
The blast faded. The chamber dimmed from white-hot to ember-glow. The girl gasped, a horrified cry ripping from her throat as she folded in on herself, grief pouring off her in waves so strong, Rain nearly staggered down the stairs.
I have killed again, her energy screamed.
Rain slowly peered around the door frame. Her eyes snapped to him: wide and disbelieving. Terrified. He sent a soft pulse of calm into her aura as he cautiously stepped back into the room.
Smoke curled harmlessly off his shoulders. His hair was singed at the ends, but his skin… untouched.
“I’m okay…” Rain whispered, unsure if he was reassuring her or himself.
He lifted his hands before him, staring at them as if they belonged to someone else. They trembled faintly; not from fear, but from the shock of what he had just survived.
The girl recoiled, confusion twisting her features.
“You… how are you still alive?”
Rain inhaled. The air tasted of soot and scorched stone, but it didn’t burn his lungs. His pulse hammered in his chest. He had been in countless dangerous situations, but nothing—nothing—had ever felt like this.
For the first time in his life, he had felt the edge of death. Had been certain he was done for.
And then… nothing.
No pain.
No damage.
No consequence.
Fuck…maybe I am fucking invincible.
How?
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
Her flames flickered again, licking at her fingertips as she clutched her chest. Panic spiked through her aura like a lightning strike.
“You can’t control that, can you?” Rain asked gently.
She shook her head, breath hitching. Her pulse spiked and the flames surged outward again.
This time Rain was ready.
He threw up a barrier, the fire slamming against it like a tidal wave.
Heat rolled over him, but the shield held.
He didn’t know if he needed it, but he wasn’t about to test the limits of whatever miracle had just occurred.
His clothing was already half-destroyed; he didn’t wish to trek home naked on top of everything else.
She scrambled backward onto the metal cot, curling into the corner, clutching a blackened figurine to her chest. Her bedding was nothing but charcoal.
Rain approached slowly, lowering himself onto the edge of the cot; close enough to show he wasn’t afraid, far enough not to startle her.
“My name is Rain Royale,” he said softly. “Do you know who I am?”
She shook her head frantically, nails digging into her palms. Her dress; a simple red slip remained intact, clearly made of fireproof fabric.
“I am the Prince of the Blue Kingdom. I’ve been sent to rescue you. Do you have a name?”
She inhaled sharply, amber eyes darting over him with frantic, erratic movements. Her pulse spiked again. Rain reinforced his shield as her body tensed, flames threatening to burst.
“I am Princess Scarlett,” she croaked, voice raw.
Princess.
Rain’s stomach dropped at the realisation.
The Red King had locked his own daughters in towers. Like discarded prisoners.
Was he meant to free her… or take her hostage?
What the hell was his father thinking?
It made sense now why Azrien had hidden her identity. Rain could never have agreed to this mission if he’d known. And now that he did; there was no version of reality in which he could leave her here.
Was she imprisoned simply because she couldn’t control her power?
That could have been him.
That should have been him.
It was him for a time.
His prison had been a palace though, locked away surrounded by luxury. Hers was a furnace.
Footsteps echoed up the stairwell; rhythmic and urgent. Scarlett’s heart rate spiked violently.
Rain reacted instantly, slamming the door shut with his power, sealing the flames inside.
“Captain, STOP!” Rain shouted.
“Oh Gods, you’re alive!” Short’s voice echoed from the stairs.
“Unbelievably so,” Rain called back, “but you won’t be if you come up here. Stay back.”
Scarlett trembled violently, her power fraying at the edges, heat radiating off her in suffocating waves.
“Short, leave the building. Now. Do not let anyone enter. Stay away from the doors.”
Short didn’t argue; her footsteps retreated fast. Rain tracked her energy signature until she was safely outside.
Scarlett broke.
A tidal wave of blistering force erupted from her tiny frame, a scream of fire and anguish. Rain braced himself, letting the flames crash against his shield. The chamber roared like a furnace. Stone glowed and metal warped.
It took a full minute for the fire to die.
When it did, Scarlett sagged, arms limp, her body begging for sleep.
“Scarlett,” Rain said gently. “I’m going to reach out and hold your hands, okay? I won’t hurt you. I’m going to help you calm down.”
She twitched, too exhausted to resist, watching him with wide, frantic eyes.
Rain moved slowly, kneeling before her. He took her small, soot-stained hands in his own, applying just enough pressure to ground her.
Her skin was hot but not enough to deter him.
He focused on her energy, feeling her vulnerability, her terror, her isolation. No one had touched her in years. No one had dared.
His touch distracted her from the fire.
And for the first time since he entered the tower…
her flames dimmed.
Rain funnelled calm into her, letting the emotion flow through the bridge of their joined hands.
He watched her energy closely; the frantic, jagged pulses gradually syncing to his own steady rhythm.
He exaggerated each inhale, each slow exhale, letting the sound guide her.
Bit by bit, her muscles loosened. Her shoulders dropped.
The wild panic in her eyes softened into something curious, almost childlike.
“How did you do that?” she whispered, as if afraid her own voice might startle her back into ignition.
“It’s one of my powers,” Rain said gently.
“I can channel emotions. I’ve learned to isolate certain feelings and mirror them into others.
We can do that; we can learn to master control over our powers.
I struggled for years, just like you. But with the right tools, I learned how my power works. I want to help you do the same.”
He squeezed her fingers softly.
“Can you tell me how long you’ve been locked away in here?”
Sadness flickered across her face; a deep, ancient sadness, but no tears fell. She seemed too dehydrated, too exhausted, too traumatised for tears.
“I have been here always,” she murmured. “By myself. For as much as I can remember.”
A memory seized her; sharp, disjointed. Her head twitched.
“No… I was a child somewhere. But I don’t remember.”
Her pulse spiked. Panic surged.
Rain tightened his hold, sending calm through her again, anchoring her with steady eye contact.
“That’s okay. I understand.”
He took a breath, choosing his next words carefully.
“Scarlet, we can’t stay here. I need to get you out, and we have a long journey back to my kingdom. I was ordered to retrieve you…”
He hesitated.
He could not bring her to Azrien.
He would not hand her over to a male who would lock her away again or worse.
“…Someone in your court wanted me to rescue you. I don’t know who. But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is getting you out of here safely.”
Her flames flickered at the word safely, as if the concept was foreign.
“I need you stable enough not to harm my troops,” Rain continued.
“To do that, I’m going to teach you, quickly, how to regulate your emotions.
I notice your power releases when you’re dysregulated.
Mine used to do the same. Emotional regulation is the key.
I can help you feel what that feels like and I’ll walk you through it every time you need. ”
Her lip trembled.
“You can’t,” she whispered. “I hurt everyone.”
Her chest convulsed; a small burst of fire escaping her. Rain shielded his torso but left his arms exposed. The flames bounced off his barrier and shot toward the ceiling. His sleeve caught fire; he swatted it out with mild annoyance.
“But not you,” she breathed, staring at his unburnt skin.
“I think Red Aetherchrome activated a new power in me,” Rain said, half to himself.
“Are you a Red like me?” she asked.
“No. I’m from a forgotten bloodline.”
He surprised himself with how easily the truth came.
“If I want you to trust me, you deserve honesty. I’m believed to be Blue, but my blood responds to all Aetherchrome. Only my sister knows of this and she is like me. This morning, I held Red source Aether and it ignited something inside me. I wasn’t fireproof before today.”
He had burnt himself on candles countless times. Sometimes intentionally, when pain was the only thing, he could control. This was a new power, that, he was sure of.
“Are you a God?” she asked earnestly, shuffling closer on her knees. Her amber eyes were enormous, inches from his, studying him like he was a constellation made flesh. “Is that why your eyes look like green stars plucked from the night skies?”
Rain smiled softly, letting her look.
“No. I’m just like you.”
He straightened, gently guiding her back to focus.
“Now, do you have any shoes?”
She blinked down at her bare feet.
“No. I don’t leave here.”
“That’s okay. We’ll take a pair from the guardians.”
He stood and offered his hand. She froze.
“How did you get past the guardians?”
Her fear spiked like a blade.