Sacrifice of Twilight (Finished 10th)
an excerpt

“Wait.” He said.

“Don’t worry about that now,” Saorsia said, “Go with your sister. I’m getting sick of the sight anyways.”

“Not until you believe me,” He said.

“Believe what?” Lauren whispered in her ear. Saorsia shook her head.

“Your brother is being silly.” She said.

Jarai looked back at them, “I heard that.”

She rolled her eyes and he made a face in response before returning to his task. He bent down and lifted a man up, levering him against his abdomen.

Jarai stared intensely at the blackened face, scars drawn down the skeletal features in jagged, crusty red lines, cutting over hollow, burnt-out eye sockets.

The left side was completely disfigured, melted skin hanging off like plastic. He hooked his arms underneath the man’s. He dragged the corpse towards Saorsia.

She trembled as he drew near and she caught sight of the man’s ragged face. Her friend’s was frightening too, a cross of blankness and numb focus on moving the difficult weight across the uneven dirt ground.

“Is that him?” Saorsia asked.
“No,” he said, “But look at him.” He grasped the man’s face, tilting it upwards. She jumped as the dead man’s feet brushed against hers as Jarai had stopped disturbingly close to her. “Look at him and tell me if normal fire could do this to a man.”

A chunk of the side of the nose and pallid cheek scraped off in Jarai’s hold, flaking off like dead skin and attaching itself to his fingers. He didn’t flinch or shake it off, allowing it to hang there. It began to wither and rot, curling inwards.

She could feel Lauren shaking violently beside her. Saorsia tightened her hold and the girl took a deep breath but did not calm down. “Only wildfire savages its victims like this,” Jarai said. He prised the man’s jaw open, ignoring the rotting skin encircling his fingers. His gums were blackened and only a hideous stump of a tongue remained. Thick ash had settled in the bottom of the mouth and still emitted small fumes.

“Do you want to see the rest of his body?” he asked monotonously, “Wildfire likes to attack the lungs. Usually it tears straight through the skin, hollowing them out and bursting all the air sacs, leaving them like smashed eggs in an emptied womb,”

He gestured slightly as he spoke, snapping the man’s jaw shut with one hand. The skin flapped on his fingertips, clinging on tight. “So?” He violently pulled the dead body more upright, causing the spine to twist and crack.

“That’s enough,” Saorsia said, “You’re scaring your sister.”