Enflamed (Book 2) by R.M. Prioleau Page B

fire too much, do
they?”
    Nester cackled. “ Now I
remember! Grandpa Nepp tossed ’is torch at th’ troll, and th’ thing burned up
like paper, it did! It was so scared o’ th’ fire, it ran around in circles ’til
it dropped dead. That’s when Grandpa Nepp ran like th ’
’ells.”
    Kaijin nodded to Nester and
smirked. “Open them up a bit.”
    Nester twirled his blades
again. While the four trolls were disoriented, Nester charged at them and began
slashing new wounds across their bodies quicker than they realized what had
happened. Globs of green liquid oozed out of the wounds and mixed with the mud.
    Their wounds began mending
again, and Nester gave a quick nod to Kaijin.
    The air seemed to waver around
Kaijin, as if he were a furnace. The tempo of his pulsating necklace increased,
keeping pace with his racing heartbeat. Soon, his entire body erupted in
flames.
    From the dark recesses of
Kaijin’s mind, a soothing voice broke through the maelstrom and directed his
fury. “Obliterate them.”
    He remembered the undead,
overtaking Easthaven—then the aftermath of the chaos, that destructive inferno.
Kaijin cracked a smile.
    A fireball materialized in
Kaijin’s hands, and he hurled it toward the trolls, sending them fleeing and
snarling in panic. They didn’t get very far before they collapsed, one by one,
in the mud. A wall of flames burst over the heaps of fallen creatures and
devoured their bodies hungrily, leaving behind ashen remains.
    Just as quickly as Kaijin felt
the fantastic sensation, it subsided, leaving him feeling somewhat
content—satisfied. He smiled faintly at the destruction. The fiery magic
dissipated, as did the ring of fire. He looked down at his own hands, which
emitted faint traces of white smoke.
    He exhaled slowly and looked
to his comrades.
    Aidan groaned and rolled over
on his back. “Kaijin? Nester?”
    Nester ran over to Aidan,
dodging smoldering remains of troll in the mud along the way. “Aidan! They’re
gone!” He tugged at Aidan’s arm, beckoning him to stand. “Kaijin burned them to
a crisp, ’e did! You should’ve seen it!”
    Aidan slowly stood to his
feet. He stared blankly toward Nester.
    “Aidan? How are you feeling?”
Kaijin approached them.
    Aidan’s eyes flickered. His
pupils were dilated, and the corneas were devoid of their silver tint. He turned
toward Kaijin and reached out to him. “You look like blurry blob.”
    Kaijin frowned. “We’re in the
middle of a marsh. It will be a long walk back to town to try and find help.”
    “What?!” Nester exclaimed. “We can’t go back now! We just got
’ere! We still got some ruins to check, remember?”
    Kaijin glared at the brownie.
“Aidan won’t be of any help if he can’t see a damn thing!”
    “Well, uh ...” Nester thought
a moment. “’E can just stand there an’ look all intimidatin’ so no one’ll
bother us, aye?”
    Kaijin rolled his eyes.
    “Don’t worry,” Aidan said.
“Aidan will manage as best he can.”
    “I knew this was going
to be a bad idea,” Kaijin muttered. He reached for Aidan’s massive, clawed
hand. “Take my hand, at least. I will help lead you through the marsh.”
    Aidan nodded and gently
clasped Kaijin’s hand. With Nester leading the way, the three of them resumed
their walk through the muddy trail.
    Aidan’s claws scraped Kaijin’s
skin, and Kaijin cringed. Beneath the remains of Aidan’s torn handwraps, Kaijin
spied many callouses. And yet, there was a certain gentleness about those hands. He really is a man of peace .
    Kaijin’s silent musings were
interrupted by an excited Nester. “That was th’ most amazin’ thing I’d ever
seen, mate! No wonder th’ people in Faywald say
fiddlers are dangerous!”
    “Let’s not get into that
again, Nester,” Kaijin warned.
    “You gotta teach me that trick
sometime! I know a few sods who need a good burnin’, I
do! Maybe teach Aidan that trick, too! We’ll be unstoppable, I tell you! Not to
mention,