Set the world on Fire

The unspoken rule of burnblood city is never walk into the soot, especially if you’re a fray unless you’re looking for trouble. Maivery knew this rule very well, and knowing her black hair and eyes like a fray’s would make her a target for the delorances lurking in the shadows. She ran through the dimly lit labyrinth of the alleyways of the soot all to find an exit. Rats scurried across her path along the dingy dimly lit alley. 

Her feet constantly stepped in what she hoped was just the water from the dinky ac units overhead of the apartments buildings and fire escapes. The pungent ordure of what she could only describe as a concoction of cat vomit, baby diapers and rotting carcasses. Which she knows she’ll be joining if she doesn’t find an opening fast. It was just supposed to be a simple mission: capture the delorance and put him in a holding cell.

But now she finds herself in a cat and mouse game feeling the shadows watching and lurking at her every move waiting for her to trip, to run out of breath. She’d heard lately that there are some delorances that are called extinguishers that kill embers. She knows they don’t usually go after fray unless they get in their way or see their faces but she doesn’t want to take chances because all delorances extinguishers or not kill fray just for the fun of it.

That’s what Delorances do. They are the outcasts of society, the embers that decided to go rouge against the state. A low level delorance capture like this should’ve been a breeze for her. That was until she got lost after what she believes is her fifteenth right turn in a row. She knew going into the alleyways was a risky gamble, it could be the best shortcut or hell. This was the last time she trusted Galivan’s directions; all it did was made her the bounty. The mouse looking for cheese that isn’t there.

A shadowed silhouette slowly starts to trickle in the corner, she hears an echoing whistle signaling her target was near. She had to trust Galivan’s “right turn method” would actually get her somewhere one last time. She took a sharp right turn around the corner, an orange light shining in her path. But she couldn’t celebrate, the light at the end of the tunnel led her face to face with a chain link fence.

It rattled and creaked under her fingers as they weaved through the wire. She gripped and shook the thing wondering if she could climb and jump it, but seeing the barbed wire she’d rather not. Behind her the shadowing silhouette becomes smaller as a yellow haired man stepped into the light under the streetlamp. The right corner of his scarred upper lip turned upwards into a lazy smile. He watched as she pulled at the fence as if trying to alert the whole of soot to her plight.

He finds her a foolish little thing, the soot having a rule for itself. Never interfere with someone else’s prey. It was to prey or be prey. He just didn’t know someone who would be so foolish to test it out. And a fray at that. Even if she was an ember pretending to be fray he knew she wouldn’t have stayed there that long without thinking to melt the wires.

“You’re a lot faster than you look little fray.” He says with a little laughter in his voice never having met a fray that had given him such a thrilling exercise before. He watched as her hand hitched on the fence. “I got to admit, this little chase has been the most fun I’ve had in a while.”

Maivery’s grip tightened on the wires, she could feel it digging into her palm to keep herself calm. The man laughs a little looking at her trembling thinking of how afraid she might be, or might even be on the verge of tears. “Don’t you know little fray not to come around these parts unless you’re willing to play with fire?” He walks closer watching her back, wanting to see what expression she has. “Why don’t I help you get a little more familiar about what happens when you run into the first alley you see–”

He reaches a hand out to turn her around, but his hand hitches, he hissed as steam rose from his hand . He drags his hand back flailing it about from the raw heat on his skin. He held it and glanced at Maivery, still turned away from him.

Then looks around at who is interfering with his fun. His hand slowly emits a yellow glow, he steps back letting a spark flick from his hand causing a burst of larger speaks like fireworks against the barrier. To his surprise his attack had bounced off without making a dent. He tried again and again and watched as the sparks died each time against the invisible barrier. He feels his body heat begin to rise, Maivery slowly lets go of the linked fence, her face still, black eyes watching him with cold indifference as he continues to set off more fireworks.

“Keep going, you’re only hurting yourself.” Maivery says, her voice still as a lake, the man looks at her surprised, seeing her calmly watching him observing— a little bored almost. He doesn’t know why but the condescension made his blood boil. He won’t believe that a fray could really contain him like this or more so be so arrogant to believe that he will be the one hurt. A dense heat rises around him as he continues to hurl more sparks at the barrier, it slowly fills his lungs. He seethes, his chest heaving harder with each breath becoming more laboured. His body riddled with sweat evaporated from the heat as it appeared swirling steam around him. He stumbled back after letting off one more burst of sparks, his legs wobbled, and his eyes started growing hazy.

“Had enough fun yet?” He heard a deeper voice while he fell, he stared at the sadistic smile that lifted the corners of her lips. A taller silhouette appeared behind her, face obscured by the light as a shadow. He slowly closed his eyes, letting the dark consume him.

Maivery stared at him for a moment, her smile faded slowly. She was trying to hold her laughter to the point it vibrated through her body. She’d almost given it away. But now, she felt a little disappointed having hoped this one would last a little longer than the rest. But as always a low level capture will always be just that, low level. She turned to her companion Aster behind her his eyes staring waiting for her answer. She sighed.

“The fun was just starting when he fainted. So no.”

Her obsidian eyes glowed like lit coals, the shield around the yellow haired delorance dissolved letting steam rise like an opened pot.

“Took you long enough.” Lark, her other companion, walked out from the shadows of the alley, his orange hair bright under the street lamp. He had been propped against the wall the whole time watching the show a little disappointed himself that it was over this quickly.

He bent down looking at the guy motionless on the ground. He tsked a few times shaking his head at the sorry sight having heard this guy had been terrorizing the district for a month and had hoped he’d be worth watching. He lifted the guy up and swung him on his shoulder like a bag of laundry. Lars wasn’t used to targets being this limp. “This guy feels light, you didn’t kill him did you?”

Maivery turned to him and rolled her eyes; she walked over and placed a finger under his nose. The light dusts of hot air on her finger. “He’s still warm and breathing. He should be fine I guess.”

“You guess?!”

“Are you sure you didn’t overdo it, Mave?” Aster looked at her, noticing that her eyes had taken a while to cool down.

“What’s with you two? He’s alive. What more do you want?”

“Who cares if the delorance lives, I’m asking if you’re okay.”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

Aster was about to say more when Lars groaned in frustration. “Come on Aster, we can worry about Maivey later. We’ll have worse problems if this guy wakes up before we get him back to the facility.”

Aster sighs knowing that he’s right, his glow a scarlet red, in the alley a flame ring burns in the air, the round edge burnt like paper.

“Finally, home sweet home here I come.” Lars said hopping in first, the delorance’s arms swinging as they disappeared into the rippling clear wall.

Aster sighs not knowing what they’ll do with him, he was the one that was begging to go delorance hunting only to be the one complaining the most about wanting to go home and doing the least work. Maivery took a moment allowing her eyes to cool before stepping through. She knows that if the director sees that she went over her power limit the delorance won’t be the only one in the facility for a while.

Aster reached into his pocket just as she was about to reach out her hand and placed a compact mirror into her palm. She looks at herself for a moment, noting that there was a slight twinge of orange, and hopes it’s faint enough to go unnoticed at first glance. Or enough that they’ll let her go home. She hands Aster the mirror and takes a deep breath and patted her chest before walking into the ring. Aster right behind her tucking the mirror into his pocket, his eyes faded to amber just as they stepped through.

On the other side they see that some other ember agents were already hauling away the delorance with a suppressor cuff on his hands still unconscious. Already knowing that the guy is going to wake up feeling like he had the worst hangover in his life. But this was the least of their worries because on the other hand the director stood before them with a big grin and two other agents by his side.

“Maivery, my smart girl. Good job as always on the mission.” Maivery always hated when he called her that and tried not to grimace each time. Now not being an exception either, she’d rather not get on his bad side not wanting to stay at the facility for much longer than she wanted for treatment.

She tries to avoid his eyes, but by his smile she already knows what she hopes he’s thinking is a lie. “But I do wish you would follow orders more properly and stop hurting yourself.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Maivery tried to smile as innocently as she could, but everyone knew she only smiled like that when she was guilty or hiding something.

The director smiled and tapped his can on the white metal floor lightly signalling the agents beside her to take her to the medical bay. While being dragged away she turned to Aster with a pleading look. He tried to step forward to help her but the director put his cane in the way.

“You know the rules, Aster.”

Helpless he watches as her figure grew further away. She stretches her hand behind her giving him a thumbs up. But he knows she’s not fine at all, and watches as she disappears behind the alloy door.

“Hey guys you know I can walk on my own now right?” Maivery says shaking the guards off, there was no point in them holding her once those doors were sealed. She walked the infirmary with them by her side closely monitoring her until she reached the bay. She didn’t even need instructions walking past the physician with a wave.

The physician sighed upon seeing her knowing that she just came from a mission and had been closely monitoring her heart vitals. But still hooked her up to the machine anyways, strapping the vest around her chest.

A sharp beep fills the air the moment it was on her. And the monitor showed her heart glowing with an irregular rhythm. “Tell me, is the cryopool much more comfortable than a normal bed?”

“Good question, but I haven’t been able to sleep in one long enough to make a comparison.”

“If you keep going like this.” The physician said turning the monitor to her showed her heart glowing like a star. “You won’t live long enough to know the answer.”

Maivery squints at the screen pretending not to know what the physician is talking about. “Look Petera, I’m not in pain.” Maivery moves her arms about running in place all the while the physician notices her left eye twinge ever so slightly. “See, I’m fine. Please can you just give me a clean bill of health and send me home this once?”

Maivery stops and looks at her pleading, the physician stares at her nodding. “Uh huh.”

“Great, you were always my favorite–”

“Nice try, the only thing you’re getting is a VIP cryopool with your name on it.”

Maivery’s lips form into a thin line, looking as if she was about to cry.

“Don’t give me that look, you know sending you home is more dangerous. If your heart decided to, I don’t know, explode in the middle of the night it could cause more aerial damage than good.” The physician paused. “Besides you’ve heard what has been happening to other embers lately. It’s safer for you here for now.”

“But I was promised after this mission I could go home.”

“I know, but sometimes life doesn’t always go as planned, now.” The physician hands her the icil pills. “Cryopool? I’ll make sure it’s extra comfy for you.”