Private She's Just a Girl, and She's On Fire [Kreed]

KREED

The kingdom has remained quiet over the last few weeks. My days are spent familiarizing myself with the expanse of terrain. From the northern ocean shores, to the southern mountain peaks.

I have yet to come across anyone, or anything, other than the wildlife that called the Chamber home. Likewise, I had yet to expand my knowledge of the lands by visiting neighboring kingdoms. It is perhaps why I find myself roaming the border of the Dale today.

It is within the shrouded mist of the pine forest that I travel. My muddy color is unremarkable and blends with the natural hues of the land. Each hoof is placed carefully amongst the fallen twigs and needles. There are more than usual these days. The drought of summer has continued into the fall, remnants of dying pines litter the land in a heavy, flammable blanket. It is only a matter of time before the renewing flames will sweep across the kingdom.

When the scent of burning pine tar grows thick I do not startle; burning pine was not a new smell for the kingdom. It is an unexpected taste on the winds that melds with the misty atmosphere that catches my attention. My nares flare, drinking in the delicious aroma. Ears flicker to a soft crackle of flame as my stride pulls me closer to where the smell originates.

My silver eyes shift, finding a glowing light beyond the trees. I draw to the edge of the forest, investigating what has come to find my lands. What has come to fear Her.

To my surprise it is a child, lit brightly in living fire. My movement stops as I watch the filly turn to leave, small flames threatening to ignite my lands are left behind. My crown tilts as I again taste fear swirling about.

The overpowering temptation to taste her fears cause my magic to seep into the lands. Weaving their way to the child, they infiltrate the girls heated core beneath the exterior inferno. Its hold is apparent as the filly stops dead in her tracks, turning to look at the forests once more.

A transformation occurs that only the mind being controlled can see. The small embers, left by the filly, turn into a raging wildfire right before her eyes. The tall pines are forced even higher by the fires stretching into the sky, seeking oxygen to fuel its fury. The fiery child gasps at the destruction she has set into motion. But it is nothing to what she is about to see…

Out from the inferno stumbles a familiar figure. His unmistakable masked face, the orange glow of his mane. The usual flames lick at his hooves as he walks out from the blazing forest. She screams his name, wanting to rush to him and lead him to safety, but as she moves towards him a change takes place. It begins at his face, flames begin to consume his flesh. Hair burns as skin peels back, revealing muscle and bone. This continues across his whole body, the flames consuming him right before her eyes. She screams his name again and again. Crying out as she can only watch her brother turn to a burnt carcass -crumpled on the rocky ground- from the flames she has started.

As quickly as it started the fires subside. Only the illusion of her brother's charred body remains…

Face Your Fears And Know Thyself