Destruction

With that set up in mind, an orange glow slowly started appearing behind the trees. Stronger with each step. But there was no fear in me. Not at all. Just clear hatred. Estel tried not to look at me at all. His head was almost shivering to look at me. He didn't though.

"Hayden. What happened to you…" He asked me while still looking away. Either scared or… lost. My long white hair falling down. Now all dirty. Dark brown…

"I… Know." The answer came out of my mouth. Small hesitation could be heard from my voice. But it's so slight it doesn't even matter. "What to do."

"Then… What do you want to do?" Estel's sanity completely came back. The thing from yesterday… Almost like a memory to him now. But for me… Not yet.

"I… Want a change." I repeat what I said some days ago. I don't remember even when. But I did. "Escape this place. And change… Many things."

"What… What do you want to change?" I looked at him with my sleepy eyes. I think he saw disgust. Anger. Fury…

"You see… What is happening to me? To us? I didn't do anything wrong… I'm only… Weak. You also didn't do anything. So why are we here? I think you get the point. I want to change that." I looked up at the sky once again. Flora came to my mind… And her head right before my eyes… He looked at me with no real expression behind it.

"So now you are sure of it huh…" He gasped and looked at me. No fear anymore. No negative emotions behind. "I see it in your eyes… You've made up your mind about doing it. It's as if no matter the costs you want to achieve that goal… That change." While saying it he came close to me and patted my shoulder. "Let's escape this hell first." He added and turned to the Orange place. We walked in its direction.

"I'm sorry…" The words came out of my mouth without control.

"Why are you apologizing?" He answered almost instantly.

"I scared you…" He just started laughing.

"You think a look like that is enough to scare me? You shouldn't worry about something like that. I was just… Surprised. It's hard here… Those eyes… That you think scared me. Were the eyes that shone your will to live. And that surprised me." Is that what happened? "You accepted your fate. And now you will set a new one… A new path." He added and that reminded me… The time when the imperial. The crimson world. Is that why it disappeared? That will… Pushed me out of it?

I looked at him from a different angle. He is like a person… Knowledgeable in many things… How does he see the world? It's so weird…

"Now be quiet. We are getting close." We went into a crouch and started walking very slowly. Just like we did with Marcus. Again behind a tree with the orange glow right behind it. We both looked behind it and saw a fire. No one was around it, not a single person.

"What do we do now?" I asked while gripping my spear even harder.

"We should scout our surroundings first then we can try and go in there. You go left and if something happens… Run." What is he saying…

"I refuse to run. I will fight!" I don't want to leave when I can fight… I made up my mind. I want to fight for my life.

"Listen! I know that you want to fight. But you are inexperienced! You said it yourself! If you will fight you will die! And you know that very well!" He almost screamed but he still held his voice because someone could be here… Listening to us.

"..." I didn't answer. I had no answer. He is just right… I have no experience in fighting… I just learned how to use a spear… And not even fully. "Okay…" I went to the left and Estel to the right. Making kind of a circle. We were surrounded only by trees, grass, and bushes but that still gave me a feeling of genuine dread. The darkness made by the crowns of the blue trees. The leaves hiding the moon. And only some of its light punches through them… Making malicious strokes of white light.

A couple of steps away from the place where we split I saw a silhouette leaning onto something laying on the ground. I got slightly closer but the silhouette was still like a dark ghost. Was he picking up something? What is he doing? I came behind another tree a little closer. Very slowly. I didn't want him to hear me.

"Who is there!" He said loudly but it still wasn't a shout. How did he detect me? I'm sure I didn't step on anything. I will just stay down and not say anything. "I know you are here!" I can't move. I can't. Move. A damn. Muscle. I don't want to die. Sweat started going down my spine. Goosebumps all over my body. "Imagine if someone was actually there haha" He started laughing into nothingness.

A stone fell off my heart. I gasped a little louder than normal. He had long dark hair almost unseeable in the dark forest. Woman? Voice doesn't say that... The silhouette was also very big. Enormous actually. That creature? looked around as if he heard something. "Am I daydreaming? Hallucinations from the cold?" The silhouette scratched his head and went further into the woods. I only looked at it if it left for sure. And the creature of dark surely did.

I didn't stop crouching but went on and almost completed the circle around the fire but I still didn't see Estel… At least the fire still kept some of the surroundings hot so I won't die from that… But where is Estel?

I saw a path on the ground made by walking. I think it's Estel's trail but… I'm not sure… I will just go behind carefully. I stopped crouching and just walked slowly. The trail I followed was very weird… It was completely dark from… Burn. What if something happened? I started walking faster. Something must've happened to Estel…

I almost ran at this point. Both exhaustion and cold took a toll upon my body as each step in that malicious run was hurting me. Every meter of it. I need to get there very quickly. I need to get to him as fast as possible. The ground got hotter with each step followed by more destruction and even burnt woods. How did I not hear this kind of fight? The grass around was covered in orange flames. Another glow appeared in my sight. A red glow.

I started running as fast as possible just to get there. In a sprint, I saw more burns on my sides. With the edge of my eye, I saw that some flames were devouring more of the wood. It may come in handy… But no, not now. Right now I'm right behind the tree… And behind it… Is the source of the crazy heat that's almost scorching...

I moved from behind it and saw Estel right in front of the fire tiger. He is sweating so hard that he could probably make a river out of it. His spear… The spear is almost made of ice shard. Like a magic spear. Is almost burnt. The pike is dark. Almost at the edge of crumbling into ashes… If it breaks in a bad moment… It will be the end. They both were making circles in the small arena that they've made by walking. The circle made by tigers fire… Dark circle… Estel stepped on a stick and it broke into two.

In that same instant, the tiger leaped onto Estel but he dodged the attack, as he wanted to counter with his spear… It crumbled to ashes. Right in the air. Estel's face went pale while the tiger made another jump. The animal was almost laying on him but he held the beast with the rest of the spear, more like a stave now. The tigers weigh… The heat that's emmising from its entire body could be already crushing. But he didn't give in. He held it with all his might, all of his muscles and veins popping out. His face looks as if he wanted to scream. A painful one...

"What do I do…" There is no time for thinking. I have to do something quick! The tiger is extremely big and the broken crook won't last too long. Besides that… It's so big that the only way to kill it is probably by a fatal wound… Right into the heart. Something like lightning went through my body and that made me move without my full control. The spear in my hand, shaking. I ran to him when I saw the stave at the brink breaking. I took a leap myself in the tiger's direction…