Chapter 2

Playing with fire

 

The creature who called himself Tin raised me and nurtured me like the parent I never had. He grew incredibly defensive of me and always kept me hidden from the unseen dangers lurking outside. As I grew older and more aware, he taught me how to walk, then how to run. Running was my key to survival up here. Night Claw, the species Tin was, were all equipped with poisonous blood and an arm they could turn into a spear. They were bred specifically to haul heavy loads other creatures couldn’t. Because of this, they were often rounded up and forced into labour with another species called Shade.

The Shade were like gigantic spiders with extremely thick skin and had claws protruding from a joint in all eight of their legs that surrounded the top of every hoof. They had huge, spiked mandibles that were forever clicking away, and eyes that were tiny slits.

Compared to them both, I was useless. I was only five; my tiny teeth and weak claws could not defend myself against something that was near eight feet tall, so I stayed on the outskirts of the Unit with Tin before returning to the safety of our burrow every night.

 

Tin lived in solitude, unlike the other Night Claw; mostly to keep a watchful eye over the Unit below, but also to protect me from them.

The burrow he had bought me to as a baby became deeper as I grew. Soon it was like sleeping in a pit, but I loved nothing more than to curl up next to Tin and have his warmth shield me from the elements outside. My mother’s jacket had been reduced to a tattered rag from all the years we had spent sleeping on it. It had given me more security and comfort than she ever did but was a constant reminder of what Tin had saved me from.

The only time I left the familiar surroundings of the burrow was on my birthday.

The first few years were accompanied by my father who took the liberty of coming with me to explore what lay beyond the mountain range; but only as far as the forest grew. It was forbidden to go any further because of the possibilities of how the people might react if they discovered us. They didn’t have the same monsters as we did. The mountain protected us from their judgement.

As I grew older, I left Tin’s protection to venture on my own.

I was no longer a child who needed to be shadowed. Even though I had the whole of Transamagei to explore, I always found myself going back to the forest where I had almost met a different fate. For years I had been told to never leave the protection of the trees and never dared to disobey my father. For years I followed him obediently back to the burrow while looking back at the temptation over my shoulder.

Today was going to be different. Today I would find my own place in the world and leave the rules behind. I was nineteen now; practically an adult. The only fears I had were not about the uncertainty I would face, but how my father would react to the news that I would be leaving him after all the time he had spent raising me.

 

The early morning sun sent dread through my body when it basked over us. The frost from the night had blanketed the grass outside the burrow, making the soft blades look like sharp shards of frosted glass.

My stiff bones punished my body with ever step I took while my stomach knotted into waves of dread. The stress of confronting my father was making me feel physically ill. Tin seemed oblivious to my inner turmoil, taking my side as we set off towards where the rest of the Unit would be.

The frosted grass soaked my hands and tangled through my fur, irritating my burning skin. We ran through the woods; tearing through the bushes and leaping over rotting logs to try to outdo each other. As we ascended a slope littered with rotting orange and yellow leaves, Tin shot forward with incredible speed, silently challenging me.

The leaves glued themselves to my feet as I gave chase. The slope dipped into a stream, but I powered on, splashing the dark water everywhere and leaving a trail of leaves floating on the surface.

Tin was nowhere to be seen when I scrambled over the loose rocks and pierced my hands with broken twigs protruding from the frost. I kept following the exposed grass patches before me until the ground curved around a cliff edge overlooking where the Claw and Shade were working on the skeleton of a building.

“I win again” Tin smiled when I skidded to a halt beside him “will you ever beat me, little one?”

“Will you ever stop cheating?” I smirked back “I would have won if you weren’t so scared of losing.”

“Is that so?” he chuckled, before crouching down and shifting his position opposite me. His left hand fused together to form a giant glistening spear that he pointed at me.

I crouched down and bared my teeth back at him, my fur bristling up along my back. I let out a low growl as he made a clicking noise and took a step forward.

“If I win, you have to catch dinner for a week” Tin chuckled, lunging for my hand with his spear while I was distracted “fish only.”

I darted out of his way and snapped at his other hand, narrowly missing his wrist. Tin bared his teeth at me to make me back off, before he raked his claws along my side.

I snarled as blood began to trickle over my fur. Tin backed off, but I lunged for him again, seizing his arm in my mouth before he cried out and slashed my nose.

His black blood tantalised my tongue before it slid into my mouth. Shock waves of electricity sparked through my body as I let the hot, sweet flavour tickle my throat and coat my fangs.

I needed to have more of it!

I ignored his pain and lunged for his throat instead, pinning him to the ground, with my claws curled around his rib cage.

He was mine. His blood was mine…

“Zea” Tin gasped, tapping my neck “you win. Let me up.”

Tin tried to move but I applied more pressure to make his thick skin cascade sweetness over my tongue and gums.

“Zea!” Tin clicked, before piercing my neck with his claws “let me up, son.”

I only growled a response. I was not going to let him slip away from me now. My fangs were already buried deep within his airway. All I had to do was snap his neck and it would all be mine.

Tin began to struggle. He kicked his legs out since he couldn’t stab me with the spear pinned underneath his body. His claws in my throat tightened until they were trying to rip away my flesh from under them.

A rustling from the trees before us made Tin fall limp and focus his attention on it instead. I tore my teeth from his throat and bared them at the intrusion. Tin’s blood splattered from my mouth onto his face below me. He could only lay there as he desperately gasped for air.

A harsh snapping noise echoed throughout the forest, and the silhouettes of five people moved around the trees in the distance, focusing on our position.

Panic set in. With the adrenaline coursing through my body, clarity rushed through my mind and forced my attention on Tin trying to cling to life below me.

“Dad?” I whimpered, collapsing to the ground beside him “I d-don’t know w-what came o-over m-m-me.”

“H-hide” Tin gurgled, before blood spilled out of his neck.

I pressed my hands against it to try and stop the flow but every time he took a breath it cascaded down his torn flesh and seeped into the leaves underneath us, turning the dirt to mud.

“H-hide, l-lit-tle o-one” he begged, raising his hand to run it along my cheek.

Tears blinded me as they fell onto Tin’s crippled body below me. The air around me seemed to thin as my lungs tried to strangle themselves from within me. All the guilt hit me at once, pressing its weight against my chest to try and force the shaking sobs from within me.

I wrapped my arms around Tin’s body and heaved him to his feet as the figures advanced. As soon as his arm held weight, he cried out and tenderly held it to his body. There was no way he would get anywhere fast limping on one hand while trying not to bleed out from his mangled neck.

Two of the figures were laughing and giggling while another tried to hush them angrily. They were so close I could hear their whispers to each other as they fanned out.

I instantly held my breath while bolting behind the security of one of the trees, peering around it. Tin limped after me, urging me to stay hidden instead of aiding him.

I saw red flashes hover as someone else appeared a few metres from our location and went into a whispered conversation with the closest shadow, while the other two were still laughing.

“Shut up!” one hissed “there might be others around!”

“All I see is an injured Claw” a gruff figure's voice said and leant against the tree adjacent to me to watch Tin struggling “looks alone.”

“It’s only one person! A dog! He can’t have gotten far. We’ll split and cover more ground, ok?”

My heart leapt into my mouth as I realised they were talking about me.

What did these strange people want with me? Were they here to kill me?

Tin turned to face the strangers instead of hobbling to safety. His torn hand formed a spear as he clicked away, baring his teeth at the people who kept their bodies hidden from me.

“You deal with it” one figure grumbled, as another disappeared with another flash of red. Every other figure scattered, except for one, who lingered around the trees to watch its friend intently.

The figure moaned at the inconvenience it had been forced into but stepped out from the trees to stand opposite Tin.

The stranger’s hands started to glow like the embers of a fire were sprouting from under its skin before they burst into flames. The crackling light illuminated the stranger as it burnt away the layers of healing skin, causing the fresh blood to sizzle on the surface before dripping onto the leaves below.

The stranger was only a child. His young age was obvious from his rounded face and black spiked hair. His light skin was splattered all over with moles, partially hidden by his oversized blue longs and black jumper pushed up to his elbows. His right wrist was branded with a large grey armband that had a small screen and a flashing red bulb below that. His young friend had the same armband secured to his wrist. He didn’t seem bothered that the flashing bulb was giving away his position at all. If anything, he looked bored.

My blood boiled with anger at such disrespect. I could feel my skin prickling as I stared at his messy ginger hair and bronzed skin. I wanted to tear it straight from his bones. His red shirt should have been coloured with his blood as I tore his yawning face apart. I would murder him first, then his dumb friend.

The forest was alight as the boy shot a jet of flames toward Tin. Tin managed to dodge most of the blast, but his left side was caught in the fire, sizzling away at his pierced skin.

Tin’s screeching turned to a war cry as he launched himself at the fire boy to snap down on his leg. His spear hand plunged through the calf to cripple the boy, before he snarled and struck his throat.

The boy shrieked and panicked, trying to force Tin from him by gouging his fingers into his mangled throat. Tin stabbed his spear through the boy’s side over and over until the boy’s friend ran forward to kick Tin from him.

As Tin crumpled again, I bolted from the blazing trees to stand between him and the moaning boy.

“He’s here” the friend almost whispered as he locked eyes with me “the dog.”

“Come and get me” I snapped, as Tin’s blood dribbled from my mouth.

The fire boy let out a laugh and got to his feet. He clutched his bleeding side with his flaming hands to burn the flesh together and staunch the flow. His agonising scream only made the excitement of the kill rush through me faster.

“Burn him” the friend ordered just before a wave of blood- flecked fire was launched straight at me.

The trees around me were instantly ablaze. The blood-soaked leaves underneath me curled up and tangled amongst the intense heat sizzling the tips of my fur. The droplets of blood that launched from the boy’s hands splattered across my face like hot oil. They burnt away the fur they clung to, before melting through my tender flesh.

Arms wrapped around my ribs and threw me backwards as the fire began to melt my eyeballs from their sockets.

My burning breath caught in my throat and the tips of my fingers felt like they were being reduced to the bones as I desperately tried to clutch the air I sailed through.

I could only watch as Tin turned towards me to say something but was engulfed by the flames that smothered my body as I fell from the cliff.

Cold wind screamed into my ears before it flipped me through the air. The earth spun underneath me, and my stomach jolted upwards into my throat, to form my terrified screams.

The wind tried to wedge underneath my burnt flesh, so it could chill me to my core. I couldn't feel my burning fingers or toes anymore. I could barely breathe between my screams since I was so terrified and numb.

Any air that I tried to draw in just rushed past me to pound my melted eardrums or twist my stomach into knots.

The ground was rushing up underneath me now. The scenery that was featureless before snapped into focus, the frosted grass reaching upwards to prepare for my demise amongst its soft blades.

My screams became desperate sobs. I dragged my arms up to shield my face; even though I knew I wouldn't have one soon.

I never got to tell you that I was going to make my mark in the world, Dad. It was all because of you. You saved me. You were the only reason I was able to live when I was supposed to die. You had just been delaying the inevitable.

This was it.

This was my death.

I love you, Dad.