by A.L. Svartz
Chapter Six
A Hunter and a Seeker
Limping over to a nearby bench in the park, the boy laid across it. He was trembling in shock as he kept reliving the frightful scene he had just witnessed. Sitting up, he cupped his hands together, rubbing them frantically as a cold blast of wind came by. He was still wondering what Vog had done to him. As he was rubbing his hands, his palms began to burn. Revealing his palms, he could see parts of his skin starting to peel.
"What the?" He boy said to himself, bringing his palms closer to his face for a closer inspection. He grabbed one piece of loose skin from the center of his palm, pulling it firmly. Ripping the skin across his palm off, it revealed some strange markings. Tossing the long piece of skin away, he closely inspected the strange circular markings he had found.
The burning on his palms grew worse. He waved them around in the air, hoping the cold would soothe them. But it didn't. The boy ran over to the closest pile of snow. Burying his palms in the snow, there was brief moment of relief before the burning returned.
"What's going on?!" He yelled as the burning sensation increased. Smoke started to rise out of the pile of snow he still had his hands in.
The boy could feel his whole body heating up. Traveling up his arms was the same burning sensation. The skin on his arms started to peel. His clothes started to sizzle and burn away as he felt the burning spread. Throwing his whole body into the pile of snow did nothing. His shirt completely burned away as his pants only had minor damage.
He looked down as parts of his skin started to fall to the ground. Looking at his chest, the strange circular markings that were on his palms were there. As he ripped off the remaining patches of skin on his chest, he threw himself to the cold dirt ground. He rolled around, covering his eyes as he tried to deal with the pain he was going through. The top of the boy's head started to feel cool to him. Touching the top of his head, he noticed that his beanie was gone and his hair. A large circular mark stained his forehead.
In the boy's mind, he could hear Vog speaking to him. "You will return to your normal form after I have received the necklace," Vog said. "The gift of fire is your weapon. Use it to find the boy." His voice died off in an echo.
The boy sat up. He looked down at the puddle of water he had created from melting the snow. It was hard for him to take in that the hideous creature he was looking at was himself. All the hair that was once on his head was gone, including his eyebrows and eyelashes.
"The gift of fire is your weapon." Vog's words continued to echo in his head, even though he knew he was down speaking. Looking down at his palms again, he raised both of them forward. Closing his eyes and concentrating, he could feel the burning sensation that rang throughout his body suddenly rush to his palms. Opening his eyes back up, little flares of fire shot out from his palms. The boy was amazed at what he could do.
"That punk has it coming," the Shadow Seeker whispered to himself. He chuckled as he went off in search of Umbra.
