The blizzard cut at him like a thousand thorned specks. Step by step, he moved forward, though he couldn't tell if he was really moving at all. Pain had long faded; all that remained was a hollow wish for it to end. Yet the cold seemed endless, time itself frozen around him in an eternal storm.
He questioned why he had escaped that place. But if he had to, he would do it again. Ecardwark had treated him like a lab rat, cutting him limb from limb to test just how far his regeneration powers could go.
He lifted a trembling hand toward the white sky, hoping for the sun to break through, to bring warmth. Tears froze the moment they fell, crystallizing on his cheeks as he sank into a deep, icy slumber.
The boy woke in a warm room. Flames flickered in the corner, catching his eyes as he adjusted to the light. Instinctively, he reached for them.
"No, don't touch that you'll hurt—" a voice began, but froze as it watched him curl the fire into a perfect ball and consume it effortlessly. His heart glowed orange, steam rising from his body like smoke from a forge.
The woman dropped the bowl of hot water and the cloth in shock.
"You… you have spiritual powers!"
He looked at her, puzzled.
"Do you think I'm a rat?" Blaze asked.
"No, not at all. The priest found you in the blizzard and brought you here. You're safe with us," she said softly.
"What is 'safe'?" he asked, confused.
The woman didn't answer with words. She cried and hugged him, the warmth seeping through the numbness in his chest. But he didn't belong with humans. He wanted to escape from them, escape their cruel world, escape civilization. He wanted to be free.
Later that night, he left the house. He didn't want to live among humans; he wanted to vanish, .
An ice wall rose before him.
"Hey—you can't just go wherever you want," a voice called. He turned to see a boy about his age who had summoned the barrier.
More children appeared, waving smiles at him. His heart raced. His body ached as the scars etched into his flesh screamed back to life.
"Get away!" he cried, flames bursting from his core. The ice wall melted almost instantly under the heat.
He fell to his knees, sobbing, wishing he could disappear. He was exhausted by this cruel world, wishing it would just swallow him whole.
A warm hand wiped his tears. It was the same woman. She hugged him again, unafraid. Why did she come close? Didn't she know he was a monster?
"It's okay. There's no need to be scared. You don't have to run. This is your new home," she whispered.
"My name is Tana. What's yours?"
"Code-666-345-5777," he replied.
"That won't do. How does Blaze sound?"
The flames within him ceased. Blaze simply cried as Tana held him, singing a familiar lullaby—Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
The boy who had made the ice wall was Bill. He, like the rest of the children, was an orphan. Food was scarce, and the priest hardly came by, leaving little chance to give thanks.
Bill used his ice powers to play with the other kids, dreaming of being a hero. Blaze tilted his head, puzzled.
"What's a hero?" he asked.
"Someone who does good deeds for people in need," Tana said, scrubbing clothes at the basin.
Blaze's eyes widened in awe. "Then you're a hero, aren't you, Sis Tana?"
Tana paused, glancing at her burnt hands. For a moment, it felt as though he had called her mama.
"I wanna be just like you!" Blaze ran around, shouting his dream to anyone who would listen.
"No, no—we can't have two heroes. You'll be my sidekick," Bill chimed in, smirking.
"Nooo!" Blaze stuck out his tongue.
"Boys," Tracy rolled her eyes.
Rebecca ignored her, keeping her gaze fixed on Bill.
"Huh, looks like someone's falling in love," Tracy teased.
Rebecca turned tomato red. "No, I'm not!"
Tracy leaned toward Rebecca's ear, whispering, "I have the hots for Blaze." The two sisters giggled, the room filling with light laughter amidst the cold, harsh world they all shared.
Rebecca dreamt of being saved from a tall tower by Bill. He would defeat the evil dragon, and they would embrace, living happily ever after. She had no memories of her life before the orphanage. The priest had examined her and said she had bipolar disorder, but it was okay—she'd likely outgrow it.
Blaze and Bill went hunting, competing to see who could bring back the biggest animal. Tana warned them to be cautious of the king bear. Both boys had fallen in love with Rebecca—Blaze because she gave him a heart-shaped stone to welcome him into the family, Bill because she was the prettiest rose of them all.
They tried to act as cool as possible.
After a nightmare, Rebecca went to Tana's room. The door was open. She peeked inside, her heart sinking, and she ran outside, sitting on a cliff to cry herself to sleep. Tana came with a blanket and kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry, my child," she whispered.
Meanwhile, Bill fantasized,
"I have to get the biggest bear, wear its skin, and Rebecca will be like, 'Oh, Bill, my hero!'"
A low growl interrupted him. Bill turned and froze—the king bear loomed before him. Compared to it, he looked like a puppy. Its teeth were jagged, one eye scarred and infected, its entire body crisscrossed with old wounds.
Bill tried to freeze it, but to no avail. He screamed as Blaze, who had been beheading a wolf nearby, stopped mid-swing, panting through the snow, and ran toward Bill.
Blood painted the snow. Bill was inside the bear's mouth. The bear's claws swung toward him. He leaped onto them, then onto its snout.
He sank his teeth into the bear's jaw, flames bursting around him.
"Let my brother go!"
Finally, the bear released Bill. Blaze grabbed him and ran back home. Tana slapped Blaze across the face.
"I told you not to go deep into the forest!"
She attended to Bill, who was clinging to life, using her first-aid kit along with her healing powers. Blaze held back tears, feeling a pain sharper than the slap itself.
"I heard Bill almost died," one boy murmured as they slept. Blaze listened silently, pretending to be asleep.
"Serves him right for playing hero. He wanted all the attention. Let's see if girls still like him after he broke the bear's heart," another boy whispered.
Blaze clenched his fists as the room grew warm. These were the same kids who had once cheered for Bill and praised his powers.
"Stop it! I'll still like Blaze no matter what!" Rebecca shouted.
"Huh, his princess still likes him. Good grief. Doesn't matter—his sidekick didn't like him either. I heard he had burn marks on his body. Clearly a setup," a boy said with a twisted smile.
"I knew it… he's a monster," the whispers grew.
"Enough already! Take that back!" Blaze rose, grabbing the boy by the collar and stretching the last of his worn-out clothes.
"Do you want to kill me like you tried to kill Blaze? Do you want to burn our home again? Or hurt Sis Tana again, you monst—" Blaze connected a burning fist to the boy's face, removing the last of his rotten teeth.
The boy lay on the ground, blood pooling around him.
"He's a monster."
"I'm scared."
"He's the devil."
"No… I…" Tears filled his eyes.
Blaze ran outside into the cooling night as they continued calling him names.
At dawn, Tana met the priest in her room.
"Is it true the boy came from Ecardwark?" she asked.
"Of course. I couldn't let him freeze in the blizzard. I thought he'd connect with the other children," the priest replied.
Tana clenched her fists. "He was special to you. Well… apparently, he got into a fight after the incident with Bill."
"How's the boy?" the priest sipped tea.
Tana's tea ran cold as she watched the steam fade.
"He's… dead."