Chapter 03

I'm so cold.
A blizzard raged against me as I walked slowly towards a light. A flame that was warm, a refuge from this bitter cold.
"Torin...." A female voice called out to me. It was a voice I'd never heard before, but it felt so familiar.
"Torin... come to me... now is the time" there was a slight desperation to its voice. I shuffled closer. "Who are you?" I questioned the voice that I felt so close to. Even hearing it was calming and peaceful, I wanted to hear it again, "please, speak to me!"
"I'm so sorry, your body is not yet ready for my power... But you must endure"
I was close enough to touch the bright and warm flame. I wasn't cold anymore. I reached out to the flame and when my finger touched it, the flame spread down my arm and covered my body. It was hot, and a burning sensation covered my entire body.
"agh!" I cried out in pain.
"hold on just a little longer Torin. Someone is coming to save you"
***************
I woke up. I was feeling extremely hot. I was riding on a horse in front of one of the dark knights. Normally they were accompanied by an intense chill but I couldn't feel any cold from them.
The moment I jolted awake the knight and horse I was riding on became restless and the knight tried to grab me. I grabbed his arm back.
Red and orange flames erupted from my grasp and melted through the knights arm. He could not scream, but he pulled his arm away, I fell off the horse.
My body was burning up now, an intense heat was emanating from my body.
"the boy is awakening, stop him!!!" The ghastly voice of the Knight leader rang out as I picked myself up. I instinctively felt that I could stay and fight these immortal knights, but a voice called out from within me, "no! You can't maintain the flame in your current state. You must run!" It was the familiar female voice I'd heard in my dreams.
I refocused on my enemies. The heat was intensifying when suddenly my body started to sprout tiny embers. My flesh was burning. The pain started to hurt me, "agh. It's too hot!" I turned and ran back on the road. But where could I go. The knights were much faster than I was.
Suddenly an ice blade made contact with my arm.
Ssssssssssss
The sound of melting and popping flames accompanied a melted sword. I was still uninjured. I turned swiftly towards the knight and grabbed his sword arm. The knight screamed with his body but only silence rang out from his mouth, as it's arm melted away like the knight himself was made of ice. I kept running.
"you won't be able to keep that up for long boy! You'll burn before you know it! hahahaha" He was awfully close but still out of my reach. "The moment your flame dies out, your mine again!"
He was right. My body was disintegrating before my eyes. I couldn't keep this up, and they knew it. Well, what am I supposed to do then?
"help is coming, look!" The voice in my head spoke. I instinctively looked up towards the road in the distance. There on the horizon was a woman with long fiery hair clad in white and red armor atop a white steed. She rode swiftly towards us.
"grrrrr the dawn brigade!? Get the boy now!!!!" The knights were closing in but they couldn't touch me or reach me. A few tried but when they touched me they began to melt.
Huff Huff
I was running but the flames on my body were making it hard to breathe. I was moving slower, but I kept pushing. Most of my skin was gone at this point. I was a body of charred flesh, but it was also the only thing keeping me safe.
"he'll die out soon enough keep close by. I'll fight the girl." The dark knight leader growled and rode ahead of me. The knights couldn't stop me from moving forward or they would melt. so they stayed close by while maintaining their distance.
I kept moving towards the female knight as best as I could. The dark Knight leader and the female knight approached each other at a rapid pace.
"move aside traitor!" The woman shouted. She glared with a vicious scowl and she rode full speed towards the dark Knight.
"TRAITOR!? hahahaha the frozen king is dead! You serve a dead king! I serve the king who sits upon the throne!"
The woman knight raised her blade then began to chant, "by the rising sun. Cleanse this fowl stain upon the land!" She brought her sword down right as they reached each other. The sword exploded into a bright light which blinded me as I looked forward. I stopped moving and fell down on my knees... My body couldn't move another step.
I squinted as I tried to look at the aftermath of the dark Knight leader and the woman who clashed blades. When my vision returned I saw the woman in red and white armor riding in front of me holding her arm out. I grabbed it. I was swung onto the back of her horse as she kept riding.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" The dark Knight cried out in frustration.
My flames died out as I finally relaxed.
"hold on tight. We're getting you out of here. My men are close behind us." The urgency in her voice was reassuring. I knew she could keep me safe
Only then did I remember my wound from the ice sword stabbing me earlier. There was no longer ice, but instead a cauterized wound with a small hole.
I was feeling weak, pain wracked my body as I held on tightly.