The hot liquid is warm going down my throat.



It makes me remember.



The fire, burning me outside and in. I die.



When I awaken, fire is all I remember. I want to use it. To burn them.



Burn them all.



Fire killed me, and now it is my only friend.



I realize I am muttering, talking to myself. Again.



A habit I recently acquired.



She sits across from me. Smiling. She offers tea and now she smiles?



She is a wielder of…

His lifeless body lies prostrate before me.



The foolish living continue to contaminate our lands.



They believe they can gain a foothold here. They should have learned their lesson long ago.



This one has been taught a lesson.



But there is yet one more lesson to be learned.



I am hungry.



My fires have consumed much of him already.



I will deal with the rest.



The cooked flesh tears away easily.…

The scent of singed fur lingers on me.



Another group of Gilneans will no longer stake a claim to Silverpine.



My gloves are cracked and blackened.



The fire spells take their toll on the fabric.



Carefully, I remove them.



I expose the metacarpals, the phalanges, the naked bones of hands burned away long ago.



My flames do not hurt them.



They are beyond the pain that heat can give.



From my pack, I produce a new pair of…

I don’t remember life, but I remember it.



The day I died...



His face... his anger...



The fire...



His gift gave me the plague. His fire took my life.



I remember the burning.



The searing flesh on my face... the white heat... the pain...



I took a breath. The flame entered me. The burning was inside me.



My mind screamed.



No sound escaped my lips.



Laughter in my ears, his laughter.



It was burning,…