Aurelia
I haven't lost control in a long time. I'm careful with my temper. Always keeping it in check. But not today.
It wasn't even supposed to be a serious fight. Just casual banter. Except, like Elira kept reminding everyone, we are not friends.
And now I'm boiling over… literally.
I need somewhere…anywhere…to let the fire out before disaster strikes. After slamming the media room door, I ran. I ran like my life depended on it.
I didn't know where my feet were taking me. I just knew I had to keep moving. Every step made it worse. I could feel it again…that dangerous surge…starting deep beneath my lungs, heat gathering, simmering, building. The pressure climbed higher and higher, like molten metal forced through a narrow pipe.
My hands trembled. My jaw clenched. I needed to get away from people.
I turned around a corner then I saw it. A heavy iron door, I turned the knob and pushed it open, stepped inside, and slammed it shut behind me.
And then… I let it out.
The roar tore out of me before I could stop it…raw, guttural, and unrestrained. Bright orange flames erupted from my mouth, scorching the air, filling the dim space with light so intense it shimmered.
I felt it more than I saw it. The fire…the heat. My whole body shook with the force of it.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
The shout sounded unnatural to my ears. And it was coming from me.
Loud.
Hot.
Bright.
It poured out of me until my lungs burned and my throat ached.
The it stopped.
The walls around me were streaked black where the fire had kissed the metal, and the air reeked of smoke and hot iron.
I pressed my back against the door, gasping, my hair clinging damp to my forehead. My hands were still trembling…not from fear, but from the last shreds of that power fighting to escape.
Then I heard it.
A faint shuffle. The soft scuff of a shoe against the floor.
I froze.
Slowly, I turned my head toward the far corner of the room. The shadows there were deep, the kind that swallowed light whole. But something… no someone…was standing just beyond the edge of the glow from the scorched wall.
For a heartbeat, I thought it was my imagination. Then the figure shifted.
A woman.
A single thick braid hung over her shoulder, swaying gently as she walked forward.
"Avantika?" My voice cracked sharper than I intended.