Save him
You could feel intense heat coming off of his body.
“Touch the lock,” you suggested.
He did and it melted.
You took a few steps back as he walked through the gate. “Your parents? The staff?”
“Killed.”
“Are you sure? Everyone? Chef?”
“I think so. They set the buildings on fire. They killed the people who ran out. I didn’t see everyone, though. I watched through the window until they threw a burning bottle at me. It smashed through the window and everything started on fire. I was surrounded, but it didn’t hurt. Instead, I felt…powerful.”
Very slowly you began to realize how quiet it was. The yelling and the screaming had stopped awhile ago and all you could hear were the crackling fires raging and the buildings falling down. Occasionally, a load bearing timber would break with a loud bang.
“What happened to the people who attacked the estate?” you asked.
“I was angry.”
You wet your lips and gulped, trying hard not to hyperventilate. “We need to go.”
“Where?”
“I know a place. It has a garden and a stream for fresh water. It’s a sacred place. I’m going to bring you home with me.”
“Home?”
You nodded. “I’m going to take care of you.”
“You are?”
“Yes.”
“But I’m a monster.”
“You’re a child,” you responded with conviction. “Our people don’t kill children. Now, follow me. We need to take a long route around the town and near the river to be safe. Try not to touch anything.”
As you traveled, at first, the young master made the grass around his feet shrivel, smoke, and burn with every step. But eventually, the young master became cooler and his own glow become muted.
“Who are you?” the young master asked after you had walked through the woods for a while. “What happened to your wife and child?”
“You heard that?”
“Yes.”
“My wife was a member of the royal family. We offered ourselves for execution to allay fears of insurrection after the annexation.”
“What does that mean?”
“The imperials were worried that if anyone from the royal family were alive, that we would be considered the rightful leaders of the region and not the central government. That’s why I wrote a letter to my child. I thought I was going to be killed, but they didn’t care about me. I wasn’t a blood relation. My child was. We were confused. In our custom, if a nation takes over another, we adopt the royal children to solidify the legitimacy of our rule, we do not kill them. In our custom, if we are married, we become family. We didn’t even consider it a possibility that they would be so cruel.”
“The imperials did that?”
“Yes.”
“I thought…”
“Lies,” you interjected. “All lies.”
“So, you’re a man?”
“No! I told you not to ask that.”
“Sorry.”
We walked a ways further before he just couldn’t help himself. “But you’re a father.”
“A parent.”
“But you had a wife.”
“I did and she’s dead now, would you please quit asking questions.”
“Sorry.”
“I can’t believe you’re asking these stupid questions after you survived a fire, started to glow, and felt cold even though you were as hot as molten iron. You imperials are insufferable…murderous…vapid…”
“Tutor. I killed people.”
“I know.”
“Am I bad?”
“You’ve been told you were a demon since you were born and you ask me this question?”
“But you said I wasn’t a demon. Am I a demon? Am I bad? Am I evil?”
You turned around abruptly and stared at him, wanting desperately for him to just be quiet. “How am I supposed to know?” you barked.
He wrapped his arms around his body in embarrassment at his nakedness. “What am I?”
“I don’t know, but my people believe that our choices make us good or bad, not who we are.”
“Even imperials? Even demons?”
“Yes.” You took a deep breath and looked away to respect his modesty. “Yes, even imperials, even demons.”
“But you said…”
“I was angry.”
Finally, you were climbing the stone stairs to home. The sun had set, so it was precarious, but you both made it into the chapel safely.
“I bought things in town, but I left them. I don’t have matches,” you admitted as you rummaged through your things in the dark. “I’ll find some clothes for you. You must be cold.”
You saw a light behind you and turned around to look. The young master had his hand on a small stack of firewood and it was burning.
“It doesn’t hurt,” he said.
You quickly found a thick robe and brought it over to him. “Will it burn? I don’t have many clothes anymore.”
“I don’t think so,” he said as he backed away from the fire and took the robe. “I made that happen.”
“The fire?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “I made my hand hot and started the fire.”
“That’s good. Maybe this is something you can control.”
“I hope so. I don’t want to be scary and dangerous. I really don’t.” He tried to wrap the robe around himself, but then stopped. “Tutor, is there something on my back?”
“Let me see.” You took a closer look. His back was covered with about a dozen raised oval shapes, but it was difficult to see in the firelight.
“What is it? Is there something there?”
“There is, but I don’t know what it is. We’ll try to assess everything and make plans in the morning. Right now, I want a drink.”
“A drink?” He wrapped the robe around himself tightly. “Can I have a drink?”
“I’ll bring you some water.”
“Thank you.”
By the time you came back from the stream with a full flask of water, the young master was sleeping. He was curled up in your robe with just the top of his bald head and his eyes peaking out from underneath. With each breath, his whole body glowed with a dark, subtle red light.
Though you felt guilty for considering it, you wondered if he was better off dead. Was he changing into something truly evil and dangerous? Would you pay the price for your compassion? Would he?
The longer you watched him sleep, the more your fears subsided.
He was a child.
He was your child now.
You placed the flask of water near him, but not too close.
You took off your constrictive outer-garment and hung it on a broken chair. Then, you reached into the basket of food and took out a bottle of wine.
“To you chef,” you said, as you took out the cork and drank deeply. “You were nice to me. Thank you.”
There was no possibility of sleeping without the help of wine, not after what you had seen. So, you sat by the fire and drank until you passed out.
The morning came soon enough.
You opened your eyes and the young master was no longer there. In a panic, you hopped to your feet and ran outside. The sun was bright and your eyes needed to adjust. “Young master, where are you!”
“Tutor, what’s happening to me?” you heard him call out. “It hurts.”
You found him standing near the edge of the plateau. You had to squint to see. Cloth from the robe was tied around his waist. The growths on his back had become more prominent and numerous. They were deep red and iridescent, like scales. Two spindly horns had started growing out of his head. They were black and branched out wildly like the roots of small trees.
You walked up to him out of extreme curiosity, but you kept a safe distance.
“Puberty?” you guessed as a joke.
He laughed and smiled, but then looked concerned and started massaging his mouth and jaw.
“I have a theory,” you said more seriously, trying to sound like the scholar you were. “Maybe there is some kind of creature, an animal that we don’t know about, who only comes out at very specific times of year. You call it a curse, but I don’t believe in curses, I believe in natural things, such an animal that could have inhabited you when you were a baby but was only awakened when you experienced extreme heat. That’s not unheard of. Some plants only drop seeds when there is fire. Some insects need heat to mature.”
“Insects?”
“Be brave, Young Master. It’s your only choice.”
He nodded his head, but then spat several teeth into his hand and started crying. “I’m scared. I did…I did horrible things when I was afraid and angry,” he said, lisping slightly since half his teeth were in his hand. “My touch is death. I’m dangerous.”
“If it’s any consolation, you may have stopped a war.”
“A war?”
“The people who attacked the estate were not there to rob you or even for revenge. They wanted to send a message to the central government that they are willing to fight. You stopped them. The central government will make up a lie to keep the peace. They will say the fire was an accident and the people who died were trying to save your family but were killed in the blaze. At least, that’s the lie I would tell.”
“Is that how the world works?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry about your child,” he said. “I don’t understand all these things. You told me why, but I still don’t understand why the central government would do that. We…we are supposed to be uniting the world…ending chaos and needless death. I thought…”
“You thought the people who fought back were misguided and that the central government was welcomed by the locals?”
“Yes.”
“This place is where the Kyn used to induct members. Each of the outer buildings was the home of a Kyn scholar and teacher. We were also well-known healers. Many of us learned how the body works and how to fix it.”
“Can you fix me?”
“No. You are something I have never seen.”
“Where are the other teachers and healers now?”
“They fled during the annexation.”
“You didn’t leave with them?”
“My continued life was a surprise.”
He chuckled with a toothless smile and touched the horns that were growing out of his head with his fingertips, which made a quiet sizzling sound. “That…that we have in common. My continued life is also a surprise.”
“Will you be alright if I go into town? We need supplies.”
“Do you have money?”
“Huh?”
“I have a plan of my own. I don’t know if I will survive whatever is happening to me. We should do this right away.”
“Do what?”
“Make you my guardian and beneficiary.”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course I am.”
“I would be honored.”
The next several weeks were surreal. The young master continued to change, but he signed several withdrawal slips. You had enough money to buy supplies, begin repairs, clear the grounds, add to the gardens, and to live relatively comfortably.
The young master decided that the chapel was a good place for him to sleep.
You wanted your privacy, so you moved into one of the outer resident buildings.
Both the locals and the imperials were becoming very suspicious. There were rumors that you had started the fires and that you were holding the young master captive to gain access to the family’s fortune.
The insurance company was refusing the release funds, claiming that the fire was likely arson. The central government, however, was very clear that it was an accident and that all the casualties were heroes; they were locals and imperials attempting to fight the fire side-by-side.
One day while in town making purchases, you noticed three men following you. You decided to confront them to make sure you stayed within the public eye. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“Are you the one stealing my money?” one of the men responded.
“Of course not, I’m not stealing anyone’s money.”
“Take me to him.”
“Him? Do you mean Young Master Gannon? Who should I say is coming to visit?”
“The rightful beneficiary of the estate.”
“Who? You? Funny, I’ve never seen you before today. You must have been very close.”
“I’m his father’s brother.”
“I’m sorry for your loss of revenue.”
“Don’t mock me,” the uncle responded angrily and signaled one of his men by jerking his head forward. When the man hesitated, he signaled again, now less subtly.
“But…but what if it’s a woman?” the man protested. “I…I can’t hit a woman.”
You couldn’t help but laugh, but that’s when the other man kneed you in the stomach.
“That was unnecessary,” you wheezed. “Don’t cause trouble. I’m Kyn. The locals will be unhappy if I’m mistreated.”
“Is that supposed to intimidate me?”
“Respectfully, Mister Gannon, look around you.”
A crowd was beginning to form.
“Take me to see my nephew, now.”
Comply
Refuse
