"I began working at the Serin palace in my early teens."
Mr. Thomas lowered himself into a slashed chair near the fire Kel had kindled.
Thanks to the pleasant spring sun shining just outside the cabin's wall, the warmth from the flames wasn't needed. Rather, the purpose of the fire was for its ability to completely erase an object's existence--an object like the crumpled hunting order still trapped inside Mr. Thomas's tightly clenched fist.
"I certainly wasn't the most impressive guard, but I always did my job," Mr. Thomas continued, staring into the flickering orange flames.
Kel nodded, her gaze drawn to the ajar door. Should she go tie up Mr. Thomas's horse before it ran away? The man didn't seem too concerned with the matter, but…
"So when countless enemies swarmed the palace in a coup that seemingly everyone except us lower-ranks knew about," Mr. Thomas went on, "what could I do except my duty?"
"Coup…" Kel trailed off, her mind suddenly snapping to focus. "You mean the Dragon Emperor's coup?"
"That's right. It was around ten years ago when that man.. no, that creature launched an invasion on the palace."
Kel nearly dropped the stack of papers in her hands that she had busied herself picking up.
"C-creature?"
Mr. Thomas's eyes narrowed.
"There's no way he could be a mortal human. Not after what I saw that day."
After such an ominous allegation, Mr. Thomas went on to relay a story of a pitiful group of palace guards, cornered in the great hall leading to their ruler's throne room. With nowhere to run, the guards' only option was to stay and protect the emperor who was cowering behind the massive scarlet doors.
But they were badly outnumbered and slowly falling one by one to the enemies' weapons.
As a last resort, the heavily injured commander ordered the men to aim for the large bronze braziers hanging on the walls. The hope was that the massive fiery torches would fall and cause significant damage to the opposing force--at least enough to buy them more time for backup to arrive.
After their arrows were exhausted, the men threw daggers and swords in desperation until finally, one of the large structures began to budge.
The weaponless, waning group of faithful guards had their hope rekindled as the fiery bronze deathtrap fell directly toward the fearsome red-eyed man leading the attack.
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "That man.. he should have died there," Mr. Thomas recalled in a low voice. "He should have died, but he didn't."
"The brazier didn't hit him, then?" Kel asked, realizing her hands were lingering nervously near her mouth.
"That's the thing," Mr. Thomas replied, shaking his head. "It landed squarely on top of him and rolled off to the side but-"
He paused as a gasp escaped Kel's lips.
She'd seen those massive torches lining the hallway to the throne room. The thought of one falling on top of Calix was too horrifying for her to even picture. Nobody could possibly survive such an event.
"But he still stood there, his entire back covered in flames," the man described, shivering as if he were watching the scene unfold. "Then the fire sank into his skin somehow… and he became a monster."
Kel's throat, that had momentarily been filled with a relieved sigh, quickly became dry.
"What do you mean by monster?"
"He was too strong. And fast," Mr. Thomas replied. "Everything he touched immediately crumbled. I've never seen anything like it."
"A-and the fire?" Kel stammered.
"I know it sounds crazy," the man shook his head, "but it was like he absorbed it. Just sucked it right up!"
"No, it doesn't sound crazy," Kel breathed to herself, subconsciously reaching for her lips again.
She thought of the kiss that once calmed the burning fever inside her--Calix's ice cold lips that seemed to absorb the fire from her body.
If he knew about her…
If she wasn't the only one with an unexplainable aptitude for fire…
If there was a reason Itzae had been connected to both of them…
"Anyway, I somehow managed to escape with my family after it was all over," Mr. Thomas's voice echoed somewhere outside of Kel's whirling thoughts. "And I've been on the run ever since."
He leaned back in the chair with a sigh.
"I guess it's time to run again now, isn't it?"
"What about the rest of the palace guards?" Kel questioned blankly, unable to shake the heavy doubt encompassing her thoughts.
"Either executed or on the run like me," Mr. Thomas shrugged. "Though, I don't know how many are left. This kind of life isn't easy. Frankly, it's not always worth living for."
"I see."
Kel should have given a more sympathetic answer. The crippled man deserved at least that much for the trials he'd been through.
But she couldn't stop thinking about the Dragon Emperor.
It wasn't until she found herself seated again in front of Mr. Thomas on the miraculously obedient horse that she was able to put together a rational comment.
"So the emperor still sent soldiers to find you in the midst of his war," she remarked thoughtfully, breaking the silence that had persisted since they left the man's house.
She didn't exactly care about the identity of the three oafs from earlier, but she couldn't suppress the growing curiosity regarding the emperor's strong desire to silence the previous emperor's palace guards.
Did it have something to do with what Mr. Thomas and the others had seen that day?
"No, they aren't soldiers," Mr. Thomas clarified. "Not officially, anyway. They just wear those uniforms to seem more intimidating."
That makes more sense, Kel thought to herself, recalling the trio's weak skills and even weaker resolve.
"In wartime, all kinds of self-proclaimed mercenaries try to take advantage of what they think will be easy money," the man explained. "I suppose it's fortunate for me that such unskilled hunters are the only ones looking for me these days."
"It must be difficult.." Kel responded, this time managing the tiniest bit of compassion for the man.
Throughout all of the day's events, a tiny corner of her brain had constantly nagged at her that the life Mr. Thomas had so candidly described was the life awaiting her.
On the run. Hunted until the very end.
"Difficult is being stuck on the losing side of a battle," Mr. Thomas chuckled bitterly.
"This… this is hell."
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