Firewalker

This is the beginning of a short story in the works.

Firewalker

 

            Anger coursed through my veins like a raging fire. Everything around me was a blur, except for the little blonde that I had in my sights. She was the last piece of the puzzle and I would soon have my answer. I couldn't allow her to live anymore. She was a monster, a menace; and I was her grim reaper tonight.

            I had my eye on my target and my fingers on the string of my recurve bow, arrow nocked comfortably on its rest. She was standing by a bubbling brook in a black linen dress that clung to the top half of her body and fell just above her knees in a diamond shaped hem line. Her long blond curls trailed down her back in shiny, silky waves. What I could see of her face was limited, but from her side profile I noticed glittering blue eyes. I tightened my grip on the riser, feeling the heat rise in my chest.

            She was stunning, and she had taken everything from me.  A cunning, conniving wench. She began to dip her toes into the flowing water before her, giggling as the cool liquid touched her skin. She couldn't have been any older than eighteen, and she certainly acted like it. My eyes followed her from the cover of the forest around me, about fifty yards from my target. I let my grip loosen on my bow as I remembered that a death grip would make for an inaccurate shot, and I wanted this arrow to hit. I wanted it to hit her right between her perfect eyes.

            I curled my fingers around the string and slowly pulled back, locking my arm to hold the bow steady. I had the arrow lined up right at the back of her head, it was the perfect shot. Just as I was about to release the tension off of the string, a voice from behind caused me to startle and send the arrow flying into a tree near my target, which in turn caused her to run in terror. I turned around; positively brooding. I clenched my fists and my nose twitched. However, when I looked at the man standing in front of me I couldn't help but stare.

            He had olive skin with the most piercing sapphire eyes that I had ever seen, and long scarlet hair that partially grazed his shoulders. The leather pants and matching black vest that he wore showed a muscle bound outline that probably should have made me start salivating right then and there, but I was too busy throwing a tantrum.

            “I don’t think that an arrow through her head will solve any of your problems, sweetheart,” he cooed.

            I flashed him a smile that was probably dripping with sarcasm.

            “And I suppose that you have a solution, Oh Wise One?”

            He crossed his arms over his chiseled chest and flashed a smile at me that was definitely not dripping with sarcasm. More like honey.

            I stood my ground.

            “You mind telling me why you interrupted my kill?”

            “The solution does not lie in murder, dear. You may want to consider a bit of research before you go around putting arrows in people’s skulls.”

            I actually growled at him.

            “I don’t believe that you have any right to judge me or my activities.  Who the hell do you think you are?”

            “I am Dominic. And I am not judging you; I am simply trying to open your eyes to other paths before you take the only one visible to your eye.”

            I placed a hand on my hip and held my bow in a tight grip with my other hand at my side, giving him the best glare that I could muster.

            “My path is my own, and that girl is as good as dead. And you are also in my way,” I countered, standing on my toes and peering over his shoulder towards the woods.  But this mountain of a man had no plans to move out of my way, and he made sure I knew it.

            “I don’t think that you should be running after her, she is not the root of your problem.”

            I narrowed my eyes and stepped up to him, staring up at his face.  Like hell he was going to stand in my way. I didn't care that he was nearly two feet taller than me and twice my muscle mass. I didn't give a damn that he could probably snap me like a twig.

            “If you don’t get the hell out of my way I will carve a path right through you.”

            He actually had the audacity to chuckle. This wasn't a laughing matter, and he had another thing coming if he thought that I was just some tiny brunette that talked up a fight but couldn't swing worth a damn.

            “I really don’t see what you think is such a laughing matter. I wouldn't be laughing if I were about to get a blade straight through my eye socket, if I were you.”

            Dominic shook his head and asked, “How old are you, sweetheart?”

            “How old are you?” I fired back.

            He shook his head again. My blood was already starting to boil. I don’t think I could have glared any harder than I already was.

            “So young,” he chastised. “You've hardly lived enough to be this malcontent. I wonder what drives such a strong penchant for revenge.”

I looked him dead in the eye and said, “You have no idea what I've been through. Don’t even try to analyze what you know nothing about.”

He only gazed into my eyes, and for a minute I was entranced. I really hated the fact that he was gorgeous and looking at me like I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But he was in my way, and he needed to move. He was wasting my precious time.

“You’d do best to listen me, Kaelyn,” he said with the most cunning smile I had ever seen.

I took a step back. “How do you know my name?”

Dominic looked at me, and at that moment I felt a rising heat in my chest as he stepped forward to brush a stray hair off of my face. I couldn't look away, he had more of my attention than I liked.

“What are you?” I asked.

            “I am a pyre,” he replied with a smile.

            “What the hell is that?”

            I had my answer without so much as a word. As soon as I saw his eyes begin to smolder with flame I knew I was in trouble.