Ashes to Ashes | ✓

17 || A Rude Awakening

Felix had no recollection of how long he lay motionless, enveloped in the heavy, comforting weight of sleep. He drifted aimlessly in his dreams, though he couldn't quite shake the nagging worry that something was wrong.

A sliver of ice cut through his dream, pressing down on his throat until his breaths came in strangled gasps. His eyes shot open and met with the sight of a figure looming over him, the blade of a knife pressed firmly against his throat. His hand moved before he could make out the face in front of him. The action was automatic: he grabbed the figure by the shoulder and shoved them off. The blade scraped his neck as it fell away. A sting pulsed in his neck, lacing across the path of the cut. With a hiss, he sat upright, gingerly touching the wound. It was superficial—barely any blood—but it still burned beneath the surface. Hurt, like his pride.

His attacker groaned, shuffling as they rose to their feet again. In the dark, he couldn't make out the face, but the sound of their footsteps was the same as that of the shorter guard—a heavier set, lulled by a slight limp.

A curse slipped through Felix's lips. Unsurprising, he thought bitterly. As the knife came swinging toward him again, he rolled out of the way. His wounded shoulder slammed into the hardwood floor beneath his pallet and he bit down on the cry that rose to the tip of his tongue. With a swift kick, he swiped the guard's legs out from under him. The guard collapsed heavily, gasping as the breath was knocked from his lungs. Felix scrambled to his feet and bolted for the entrance to Aiko's room.

Weak, amber light greeted him as he stumbled through the doorway. Aiko stood by the edge of her cot, holding a lantern in one hand. Her feet were already tucked away inside her boots, and her wild curls were wrangled into a long braid down her back. She lifted her head as soon as he entered and her eyes widened as they traveled down to his neck. "Fe—"

"We need to go," he gasped, brushing his hand against the cut again. There wasn't time for the striking look of pity in her eyes. "Now."

It took her a few seconds before she nodded firmly and raced to his side, carrying the lantern light with her. Inside, holed up behind walls of glass, the lantern's flame was oddly still. Its dance was slow and erratic. When he met her eye again, he found the same flame buried in the depths of her gaze. Determined, though it edged into an unfamiliar look. He shook the thought away, raking his fingers through his hair. There wasn't time to puzzle over it.

Felix glanced back to find the guard slowly rising to his feet. Gritting his teeth, he took Aiko's hand and raced for the stairs. His shoulder burned from the movement, screaming with each movement. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, but the numbing effect of the medicine seemed to have worn off completely.

Aiko squeezed his hand, pulling him to a stop in the middle of the staircase. As she spun around, he caught a glimpse of the guard at the foot of the stairs, glaring up at them with his knife in hand. Unfazed, Aiko squared her shoulders. "The Core is displeased with your actions," she muttered. Though the words were softly spoken, they carried an edge that was sharper than any blade.

From the way the guard stepped back, fear loosening the malice in his face, he had been sliced through. There was no blood, no weapon, and yet his face paled with the mask of death.

Raising the lantern high, Aiko threw it at the guard. It smashed right into his forehead, knocking him back several paces. The glass shattered as the lantern hit the floor, and the flame, now free of its prison, licked hungrily at the feet of the guard. Light flooded the whole area as the flames climbed higher, racing across the wooden floors with an eagerness that was almost alive.

"Go." Aiko shoved Felix's back, pushing him away from the flames that roared below.

He nodded. The last thing he saw before he fled to the floor above was the terror that masked the guard's face, his body rapidly being engulfed in the unruly, unforgiving wrath of the fire. All that came from his lips, however, was a string of curses.