"Don't be afraid. It won't burn you."
Thane spoke gently as if coaxing a child while he held out a clay pot filled with burning oil.
"... at least I think," he added, turning his face away from the flame's uncomfortable heat.
"How comforting," Ira rolled his eyes. "I still think this is a bad idea."
Leaving the pot in Calix's hands, Thane whirled around to face the naysayer.
"You're just angry he's been working on this for two years without telling us," the knight retorted.
"I'm not upset by the fact that Calix hid an entire world from us for more than a decade," Ira corrected with a sigh. "I'm upset that the people from this 'hidden world' managed to convince the both of you that drinking burning oil is perfectly safe."
"You should really get used to calling him 'His Majesty'," Thane grumbled through pursed lips, unable to refute his friend's words.
The appointed day of rebellion was fast approaching, and Calix had finally decided to confide in his friends regarding the research that had taken place in Subterra. To make things simple, he'd left out everything about the old legends of Halrad and the first empire aside from the fact that his kinsfolk were descended from those with special abilities.
Naturally, Thane and Ira had been quite skeptical at first, but Thane, the ever optimist, quickly warmed up to the idea.
"Either way, I can't trust this nonsense," Ira continued protesting. "Everyone on the continent knows there's no such thing as magic.
"Not magic," Calix reminded him. "Power. The power of dragons to be specific."
Ira shook his head, still unconvinced. "Right because dragons are so much more believable than magic."
Clearing his throat, Thane directed all their attention back to the burning pot.
"Remember not to tip the bowl at all," he warned Calix. "That oil could still do some serious damage if it made contact with your skin."
Based on what Lila reported, Orfeo had already successfully consumed fire this way multiple times. Once the fire was consumed and assimilated into his body (depending on the amount) the man's strength and speed improved dramatically. He truly became a beastly warrior of legends with the help of the fire.
Calix stared into the dancing flames.
Nobody aside from Orfeo had been able to absorb the power successfully. According to Lila, some had even suffered burns in their attempts.
He was different, though. The blood of Orfeo ran through his veins, so surely he'd be successful like his father.
Closing his eyes, he brought the burning bowl close to his parted lips. Immediately, his body began to react.
A burning hot, yet strangely unpainful, sensation trickled down his throat directly into his chest. Contrary to the way they'd been referring to this practice, it didn't feel like he was 'drinking' the fire at all.
It felt like he was breathing it.
When the fiery sensation faded away after a few moments, he slowly opened his eyes again.
The small clay pot in his hands no longer contained fire. Even the once burning oil had gone cold.
Glancing up at his friends, he saw a look of shock on both of their faces. Thane, still surprised even though he had complete faith in the bizarre idea, and Ira, unable to contain his awe that, in spite of everything he'd ever learned, he'd just witnessed what could only be described as magic.
"H-how do you feel?"
It was Thane who spoke up first.
"Hmm, hot, I guess?" Calix replied, laying a hand over his frantically beating heart.
It was true, he did feel uncomfortably warm. But, more than that, he felt.. strong.
Strong in a way he could never describe with words.
Sliding his glasses down onto his nose, Ira took the pot from Calix.
"It's odd," he mused. "How could-"
Bam!
The front door of Calix and Itzae's house, where the three were currently conducting the experiment, flew open, revealing a boy none of them recognized.
Panting, the child with brown hair and golden eyes surveyed each of their faces before stomping over to Calix.
Instantly, Thane drew his sword and jumped in front of the soon-to-be emperor. "Just who do you think you.. eh?"
It wasn't the stranger he found himself facing, but Calix's back.
"Who are you?" Calix demanded, his own sword already poised at the boy's throat.
"No way," the boy gulped, his eyes wandering to the cold bowl of oil. "You already.. drank it?"
Stepping up next to his friend and brandishing his own sword, Thane growled, "he asked who you are."
Ignoring Thane's question, the boy turned his gaze back to Calix.
"My dad is dead," he spat. "He's dead all because of you."
Calix's brow furrowed, and he slowly lowered his sword. While nothing else about this boy was familiar, he was certain he'd see those eyes.
"... Soren?" he asked.
With a snort, the boy's eyes dropped to the ground.
"I thought it was that old man using both of you," he mumbled. "I thought he was going to kill my family, so I came here to warn you."
"Warn me?" Calix questioned.
"But now I find that old lunatic isn't even behind this," the boy raised his voice. "It was you all along! You killed my dad!"
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "Just who do you dare accuse!" Thane shouted.
"So Orfeo is dead," Calix said quietly, holding up a hand to silence his rowdy friend.
"My mom, too," Soren sniffled. "Do you know what they said when she died? That it was all for the sake of our 'divine mission'."
Right. The Subterrans were like an ant colony. The death of one person was simply a part of life, even considered an honor if done for a good cause.
Calix couldn't help but be impressed, however, by the fact that Itzae had managed to convince them that this fire testing was part of the divine mission they served so devotedly.
"I only got a glimpse of her body," Soren continued, "but my mom was covered in burns."
Calix swallowed. That woman must have been one of the unsuccessful attempts. Had the other attempts also resulted in death, then?
"Then my dad collapsed from some unknown illness and died within a day," Soren revealed, his voice growing even more bitter.
He turned his golden glare to Calix once again. "To think, it was all your doing all along."
All four people in the room fell silent at the boy's last sentence. Thane and Ira didn't know, but Calix was absolutely guilty of everything he'd been accused of.
For some reason, however, he didn't feel as sorry as he should for a boy who inadvertently killed his own father.
Was it because of the way those people had abandoned him when he was young? Or was it because his heart had become so steeled that he could no longer feel anything for anyone?
"Look here, Kid," Ira spoke up for the first time since Soren had made his loud entrance. "The Young Lord isn't responsible for what happened to your parents."
Soren opened his mouth to protest, but Ira cut him off.
"If what you say is true," he went on, "then Calix will only suffer the same fate because he has done the same thing. He's a victim as well."
The gravity of the situation finally dawning on him, Thane turned to Calix with a panicked look.
"Is that true?" he murmured nervously. "Will you.. die?"
Calix shook his head and turned back to his brother.
"Soren," he commanded. "You should go home now."
With teary eyes, Soren swung a clenched fist toward Calix. It was too pathetic to even be called a punch and stopped before ever making contact.
Holding Thane back, Calix watched with curiosity as the child unfurled his trembling fingers, one by one. In his palm was a captivating glowing stone.
"I found it too late for my dad," the boy whispered. "But this will save you from the fire."
Ignoring the protests from Ira not to accept strange things, Calix picked up the stone from his brother's hand. It was smooth and cold to the touch. So cold that his entire body seemed to cool down as he held it.
"It's a moonstone," Soren explained. "This is the only thing that can counteract the power of a dragon."
"Remarkable," Calix breathed.
Just as the fire had heated his body and made him feel strong, the stone cooled him and brought calmness to his heart.
He glanced back up at Soren, who was turning to leave.
How could a fourteen-year-old boy find something like this? Come to think of it, how had the boy managed to find him?
"You are all I have left," Soren said quietly as he opened the door. "But I guess it's not the same for you."
With another loud bang, the boy disappeared as abruptly as he'd arrived.
"Who.." Thane started to ask but then trailed off. "No. That doesn't matter. What are you going to do now?"
"If that boy spoke the truth, you could be in danger," Ira agreed.
"No." Calix closed his fist around the moonstone.
"This doesn't change anything.. We will proceed as planned."
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