It felt like a drop of distilled sun had been dropped directly onto my brain.
It was agonizing endless pain, that only grew worse as it shifted down the rest of my body until I was nothing more than a blot of searing pain.
I didn't-couldn't pay attention to the slight shifting I felt in my head, as splinters of bone shifted in my skull. I couldn't pay attention to the feeling of my body being ever so slightly heavier than before, as it regained lost fatty tissue after a month of near starvation.
I couldn't feel it as muscles suddenly expanded, strengthening, and growing sturdier.
Yet I knew it, as it all happened.
Because I had thrust the tinder into the flame without a goal, because I had made a sacrifice without a goal, it had defaulted to just giving it all to me. To pouring an entire jug of water into a half full glass.
A Sacrifice, in which one gives something up in return for something else. I had sacrificed that man's life, after all I had taken it, hadn't I?
The agony cut out without warning and suddenly I was on my knees in the aptly named Pain room one more.
I took what should have been a haggard gasp, only to breath with no issue in confusion. Bafflement bubbled in my chest, before I forced it back down. Yes I should be having trouble, I hadn't done anything so physically demanding as my run here in more than a month. However it was also unimportant at the moment.
The moonlight was only just bright enough to see in direct light and anything outside of its soft light was almost impossible to make out beyond fleeting shapes. It was enough to see the girl strapped into the same chair I had despised.
Countless leather straps held the girl still, from the ones wrapped around her neck , to the ones encircling her waist, and even cuffs of some sort to hold her limbs still.
Even if I was dying from a head wound, I shouldn't relegate someone else to the same fate.
Actually, my head didn't hurt anymore, and my vision wasn't blurred slightly either. That was either a good sign or a horrible one, Gliding a finger hesitantly over my forehead I prepared for pain as I stumbled over a cracked skull.
It never came.
I felt incredulous, only for phantom sensations to play through my head as what exactly I had just done. Whatever it was had apparently healed me so I couldn't complain, plus this really wasn't the time, since you know, tied up girl.
I forced myself to my feet, walking out of the shadows with soft steps as I approached the tied up, Child? (Could I call someone my own age a child?) Anyway I did my best to approach in the least intimidating way I could, My hands visible and empty- having dropped the small knife as soon as I fell to my knees.
Apparently it wasn't enough as the blond girl flinched, her bright blue eyes full of both unshed tears, and growing fear as I reached for her gag.
I cringed as she shied away from me, but I couldn't very well stop, I could however change targets so instead I reached for the strap around her neck. That one had always hurt the most, I could remember it digging into my throat and forcing me to sit slightly above the seat so I didn't choke.
I followed the Leather with my finger, trying to find the buckle I remembered being there. Only a moment later my fingers found the cold brass fittings near the very back of her neck, pressing uncomfortably against her skin.
It was of an odd design and it took me a second to figure out how it worked, by the time I managed to undo the girl had stopped shaking at very least. Hopefully that was a good sign, and she had realized I was here to help.
The other option was far more distasteful, especially since I remember when I myself had given up struggling. I can't remember exactly how many times they had dragged me into the chamber, the pain caused it all to blur together, but I do remember when hopelessness had won.
I remembered every time I resigned myself to the yawning abyss in my chest as I lost hope. Only to do it all over again once they erased my memories.
The jingle of the buckles smacking into the chair snapped me back to reality, and I forced myself to focus on my task. I risked reaching for the gag once more, this time she didn't flinch even as I met her eyes.
Her eyes were wide, as I trailed my hands around her head to find the knot. Tear trails had seared the girl's cheek with salt, and her cheeks had a bright blush from all the turmoil and crying. As the not came undone and I slipped it from her mouth I noticed relief blossom across her face and her eyes beginning to flutter.
I shushed her quietly, noticing just how tired she seemed. Being kidnapped was horribly distressing and I had no doubt she was exhausted both emotionally and physically.
"You're safe now," I whispered, my voice as low and calm as I could make it. "Rest, you''l be home soon enough and this will be nothing more than a dead nightmare."
Something shined in her eyes for a moment, before her face slackened and her eyes fluttered shut one last time.
I felt my lips make a smile, before I began undoing the rest of her restraints. This girl truly had nothing to worry about, while my bracelet had a knife in it, it also had other features.
I remember My Brother's beaming face when he presented it to me, it was his Idea to make it a concealed weapon. My Father on the Other hand had commissioned someone in the ministry to enchant it, I have no Idea how much he must have paid for the service but it had been made into a tracker as well.
As soon as I pulled the knife free, my Father would be alerted by a map connected to my bracelet specifically. He would arrive here soon no doubt, the calvary not far behind.
In the meantime this room, no matter the distasteful memories, would actually be a safe place to wait in the meantime. I remembered just how adamant the man had been that no one enter this chamber under any circumstance. Even if someone realized something was wrong they would never look here.
Another distasteful memory, seeing as the man's loud arguments had been what broke my hope that time.
Regardless I had some straps to remove, and an unconscious girl to guard. It was time to get back to work.
When my Fathers men found us, the sun had started to shine in through the windows. My Father was greeted to the sight of his daughter sitting quietly with an unconscious girl resting her head in his daughter's lap and a shriveled corpse.
He wasn't very happy with that, even if he nearly broke down once he realized I was safe.
Maria Campbell was terrified.
An ugly man was trying to strap her to a chair, black smoke wafting from him like a chimney as he bound her hands to the chair's armrests.
She tried to scream, but all that led to was the man shoving a knotted ball of cloth into her mouth and tying it around her head. Muffling her attempts and rendering them all but useless.
Thick leather cuffs were buckled around her wrists and long leather bands strapped around her middle. Even her head wasn't spared, as a particularly tight strap was secured around her throat. All Maria could do was sob silently as her legs were locked into place. The tears dripping down her face felt like molten metal as they burned a trail across her skin.
As the last buckle was secured, the ugly man spun around suddenly with surprise written across his face as he turned away from her.
He had only just made a single step before he froze staring through the now open door. Why, Maria didn't know, the Ugly man's wide body concealing whatever occupied the doorway from her position.
There was only a spare second before something blurred through the open door, Maria only able to pick up the barest outline, before the Ugly Man stumbled a step backwards. An Unpleasant gurgling sound accompanied by the sound of spilling water, bubbled out of the man's throat.
Before he suddenly burst into bright flames that glowed with a light so pale it seemed impossible. The flames burned only a second, but they did so with an intensity Maria had never seen, before winking out like a ghost.
Despite Having been within only feet of where the Fire had blazed, Maria didn't feel any warmer. In fact, as the man's clothes slumped to the floor making a sound like a puff of air, she felt like Ice had been dipped into her veins.
For a moment there was only silence in the room, as Maria didn't dare even breathe. She could see a figure in the darkness, outlined by the glow seeping in from the hallway. She strained her eyes to see the being to no avail, only making her eyes start to water as she stared with utmost intensity.
Then it walked into the light.
Maria had read a story, one that had described a beauty so ephemeral, so perfect, that it could only have existed in fiction.
Maria was looking at such a beauty, with pale alabaster skin, and hair that shined like the moon, eyes as red as the blood in her veins and a face so pretty she couldn't describe it.
Fresh, shiny blood sprinkled her pale skin and dotted her hair. A trail of ruby dripping down her face as she quite literally glowed in the moonlight. Maria could feel something happen in her eyes, her vision just as focused as it had been earlier blurred before clearing. Suddenly the figure was bathed in the same pale flickering flames that had incinerated her captor.
For an instance Maria was afraid that the girl would be reduced to ash just like her kidnapper, only to realize the girl wasn't engulfed in flames. No, the Girl was a part of them.
Translucent pale flames flickered over the girl's frame, as she walked towards Maria. Emotion flitted through her mind, panic, terror, and fear overriding her rational brain.
As the girl reached for Maria her mind went blank with terror as she flinched away, closing her eyes. However no pain came, instead all she felt was delicate fingers glide over the strap around her neck and in practically no time at all it came loose.
Suddenly Maria could breath, and she opened her eyes to find impossibly beautiful red orbs staring into what must have been her soul. Her stomach flopped in her and she felt warmth flood her face as the girl trailed her hands around Maria's face.
Then the gag loosened, and was pulled gently from her mouth.
A surge of gratitude, and relief flooded her chest as she felt herself relax. Marai felt her eyes suddenly grow heavy as she tried to say something, anything, to her pale savior.
But a single pale finger was pressed to her lips as the white haired girl shushed her gently.
"You're safe now," the stranger's voice was harmonic, and tender as she whispered softly to Maria.
"Rest, you'll be home soon enough, and this will be nothing more than a dead nightmare." The flame covered figure comforted Her, and Maria could do nothing but listen as ruby eyes burned into her soul, and her own fluttered shut