Chapter 1: Ignis
ILA
☆Chapter 1: Ignis☆
"Control what you have or it will control you."
I stood trembling in the unforgiving darkness, a slave to my fears, the continuous thump-thump of my heartbeat sounded like bombs in my ears, with nothing but a taunting alluring voice continuously echoing through the atmosphere with a phrase, a warning that sent chills down my spine. I looked around in search of the origin of the voice but all I could see was never-ending gloom. I felt a hollow emptiness in my heart, slowly but surely trapping my body in a cage of loneliness.
"All your loved ones will run from you."
My eyes widened in fright as my breathing quickened its pace. I didn't know where I was or how I got here. I stared at the dark abyss in front of me, afraid to move.
"You will be all alone."
I held my hands to my head, rubbing my temples and shaking my head. It was a trick. It was all a trick. I couldn't let the words get to me.
"No, no my brother and father love me," I countered back.
"They will fear you," The voice replied.
"Stop it," I muttered, not liking where this was going.
"No one will care for you." It hissed.
"You have a dangerous power that could kill anyone. You are a monster."
My eyes narrowed in confusion. I cautiously looked down at my hands bewildered at what the mysterious sound was implying. The voice was taunting me messing with my mind.
"You are nothing but a freak." It continuously taunted me trying to pry a reaction out of me.
"Stop it!" I shrieked. My head hurt so bad that I couldn't focus on anything else but the pain. I groaned out in pain and yet the voice repeatedly messed with my head.
"Leave, leave everything behind, and live with the evil creatures just like you."
I started panting as sweat ran down my body like a waterfall making me dizzy. "No I can't leave," I said weakly, too tired to even speak.
"You are not only weak but toxic. You are a threat to everyone around you."
This was the last thing the voice said before leaving me alone in the merciless darkness. My eyes started to close. The dark was so inviting...
In an attempt to feel nothing I closed my droopy eyes. The thump-thump of my heart grew alarmingly slow as the last ounce of consciousness left me as I gave up on my body and let the abyss take me willingly.
I shot up into a sitting position, my eyes wildly looking around my room. Sweat covered most of my upper body making my hair stick to my neck. I felt sick. As soon as I noticed the dark I jumped off my bed and ran to switch on the light. I let out an audible sigh of relief once the light illuminated my room. My normal room. It was just a dream....at least that's what I kept telling myself.
I couldn't help but wonder why that dream felt so vivid...so real. I sank back into the comforts of my bedsheets, aiming to sleep with the lights on. I never wanted to feel the overbearing sense of loneliness I felt in that dream. Never again. My hands suddenly couldn't stop trembling and at first, I thought it was because of the dream however that theory was quickly disregarded as a dim light caught my eye. I looked down and noticed a dim spark in both my palms that gradually started to brighten. My eyes widened in fright. I didn't know what was happening or how to stop it or what to do.
A burning sensation slowly but gradually bled throughout my body. My hands grew brighter as my fear increased. Suddenly, my hands started to shake vigorously. My eyes filled with dread as I realized I couldn't stop them. My breathing increased as panic finally settled in. Tears stung my eyes as I felt myself lose control of my body then my hands abruptly shot up and rivers of sweltering fire shot out of them making me scream bloody murder.
My hands burned as the deadly flames surrounded my distressed figure. I screamed until my voice was hoarse. The dominant inferno surrounded my room. I watched as all my things burn away in front of my eyes. The scorching flames licked the walls, consuming its prey in a matter of seconds. Soon enough, I was in the center of a raging firestorm in my room. The pain started to rapidly spread through my body making my insides burn. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as I shone.
"HELP!" I frantically tried stopping the flames from shooting from my hands but the task proved to be impossible. I wailed out in agony as my insides started to burn and I was as bright as the sun. I was at the mercy of the flames now.
"Help me please!" I screamed I cried I shrieked, I begged. I bawled out in agony to anyone, anyone who could help me.
"Please..." My voice grew inaudible. The power took over. Beams of light shone from my state contrasting to the darkness. My throat started to burn, making me choke on my own words. As my heart started to contract in pain I heard a muffled voice on the other side of my bedroom door.
"Ila? Ila! Are you in there?" I recognized the frantic voice as my brother's, Ronan.
My eyes widened and I tried telling him to help me but due to my burning throat, all that came out was a pained whimper.
I heard the jiggle of the doorknob before he hissed in pain. "Dammit!" he cried. I figured the heat from the fire had made the door extremely hot.
I pushed through the burn through my throat and screamed at him. “Get Papa!!!"
I heard his muffled response
"O-ok! Don't worry Ila everything will be fine." I knew he was trying to reassure me but I could clearly hear the worry in his voice. I heard his retreating footsteps and cried even harder. I continued to helplessly stare and the fire burning my hands not knowing what to do. I felt excruciating pain, almost as if the flame was burning me in the process. My body shook as if I were possessed. I dropped to my knees having no energy to hold myself up anymore.
A few moments after, my father burst through the door along with my brother. Worry passed their features which was quickly replaced with shock. They stood at the room door keeping, a safe distance away from the fire.
"Help her dad, quick!" My brother shouted, obviously distressed. My father quickly jumped into action, fear evident on his face.
"Ila, listen to me okay shhhh daddy's here, daddy's going to help you okay?"
I was bawling my eyes out at this point. The pain was unbearable.
"Papa move I don't want to hurt you!" The fire was still shelling out of my hands and given the fact that I couldn't stop I tried keeping my parents as far away as possible.
"You won't hurt me baby I promise."
"I need you to stay still can you do that for me?" he asked slowly advancing onto me with his hands out forward. he walked through the inferno showing no evidence that the flames were impacting him. I nodded, hot streams of agony coating my face. My breathing started to go ragged.
"Help Me," I murmured.
My father took a deep breath, momentarily calming his features. Then his hand shot out and dark magic shot out of it, surrounding my defeated state. Black sand-like substance trapped me in a cage of supernatural power. My father started chanting words that were too complicated for me to understand. His chanting got louder and louder and louder.
"Amovere alius magicae!" he bellowed, moving his arms in the obedient sway of the darkness.
I felt the darkness seep into me take my body as its own. I was raised off the ground in the center of this madness as my father continued to chant.
I was exposed to my father's magic. A slave to his power. Dark magic continued to circulate around me, saving me from...myself.
I cried out as I felt my heart being tortured. The magic blanketed the raging fire, dimming its blinding light.
I just wanted it to end.
My father started doing exaggerated hand movements, practically screaming words that I couldn't understand.
"Hunc finem igne tenebris!!" He had a crazed look in his eyes as he concentrated on stopping the fire from taking me over.
My father's chanting suddenly got quieter and quieter and I was gently released back onto the ground. Everything stopped; the fire, the pain, the darkness, the chanting. and I was released back onto the ground, my legs gave out as soon as they touched the floor and I fell back into my father’s arms and was gently put back onto my bed, my body feeling tired and sore. I looked at my brother but he turned away with a pained look, avoiding my state.
I struggled to keep my eyes open.
"D-dad what was that? What happened to me?"
I had never witnessed or experienced that sort of power. Never. My head started to run with a million questions which I needed answers to. I looked into the familiar green orbs of my father's wise eyes which were overtaken by grief and regret. My father breathed in through his nostrils before suddenly snapping his fingers. "Sleep Ila."
My eyes rolled to the back of my head as I suddenly fell back onto the cushions of my bed and fell into a deep empty slumber.
