A Weasel with a Lion's Heart

Byron

With a virus in URSA and a holographic illusion of Whit, Ben and Liz running about the Brave New World Centre, I think that'll buy me about five minutes at least in order to save Wisty.

But when I find her, that's when reality hits. Hard. "Oh my God"

I don't really know what I expected when I found out Wisty had been caught by The One, who wanted to 'unite' them or something fucked up like that. Maybe I hoped that it wouldn't be as horrible as it sounded, and she'd just be hooked up to a machine that sucked out her power. But this…

Wisty looked like she'd been crucified to a metal table, beaten, stripped naked, drugged and raped.

I'd failed her again. She looked so weak that she might even die. I pushed myself away from the door, rubbing away irritable tears as I went. No. I wasn't going to let that happen! I have to save her from this hellhole! She can't die here. I grabbed the knife out of my boot and hacked away at the ropes tied around her ankles and wrists causing her to topple limply into my arms.
I dressed her in the white lab coat I'd picked up as a disguise when I first got to the Centre. It was like a tent for her skinny frame, but I guessed she'd appreciate it more than the now discarded nighty, which she had clearly been wearing before it had been brutally ripped from her body.

Her trembling hands reached out desperately toward the trolley I'd passed to get to her. It finally made me realise how she'd got in this state, those were batch 52 chocolates.

Those had been the most celebrated batch yet, their capabilities of causing drowsiness, confusion, dizziness, lustfulness and general lack of strength had been used on a few of the women in the city who no longer would sleep with their husbands; as having families without breeding programs in place were inefficient in their duty to populate the city with more workers. It was also used as a tool of torture in some cases. My Wisty seemed to be one of the latter cases.

"Ch-…Choc…late…"

I grabbed a handful of the chocolates, "Wisty. Wisty?" She didn't even seem to recognise her own name let alone me. Despite her head lolling slightly, she was just fixated on the chocolate. I got up, waving the chocolates under her nose and then dangling them next to my face. It seemed to work at least. "Wisty I'll give you another chocolate if you help me, okay?" She nodded like a puppy about to perform a trick. "I need you to lend me some of your power, alright? I want to be able to give you all of these chocolates but I can't do that unless you help me, okay?" She nodded more and more eagerly as I tempted her with the chocolates. Though in all honesty, if it was entirely up to me, she'd never be able to get her hands on another of these chocolates for the rest of her life.

She smiled dumbly, arms spread wide in a hug gesture. I played along, no harm in trying, right? I wrapped my arms gently around her, being careful not to irritate any of her wounds.

Sighing deeply, she cupped my face in her hands and pressed her forehead against mine.

I tried to mimic her breathing. In…Out…In...

Her warmth was spreading from my face to the rest of my body. Opening my eyes, I saw we were both alight! But not burning, like others would. Maybe she did recognise me after all; she knew I was the only one immune to her fire.

Just like I had done before, I inhaled her flames; warming my insides and making me feel so powerful. My courage was back, my faith in Wisty and in myself. "Thank you Wisty, that's enough" The flames died down and she looked around – expectant of her well earned chocolate. But I didn't let either of her hands go; at least not until the transformation was complete. I visualised Wisty as a field mouse; light and easy to hide, then I imagined myself as a peregrine falcon; the fastest bird in the world. If I wanted to get back to Freeland before the spell ran out I was going to have to be something seriously fast.

Within moments the transformation was complete and I was flying out the window, with Wisty tucked safely against the feathers under my stomach.