Mercutio the Tiefling: Part Two (special preview)

I sat up in a flury. “If you are angry then you should know!” I roared. “You should understand! I have no time to grieve!” He glared at him and stood up from my desk, shoving him away and falling backwards.  I stumbled and slipped, grabbing hold of the runner on the mantel which knocked over the candlestick. Hitting the floor. I sat there for a long moment until the wax began to drip on me.

“The rug is pulled out,” I whispered.

Tyrone came to my side and helped me up off the ground. “It’s going to be ok, we just need to-”

I gave hma  harsh glare again. “We?” I crack away the wax on my forehead as I move away from him. “There is no ‘we’ in this situation there is only-” I stop myself when I see the expression on his face and I let my shoulders fall. “I’m sorry,” I then whisper guiltily.

“No,” he shakes his head. “It’s uhm...it’s fine. You’re hurt.” His smile is uncertain and weak. “I just want to help you.”

My tail has curled itself around my own leg. “I know, but I don’t think I’m good to anyone.” I move towards the door and take my cloak. “I need to get away for awhile.”

“Mercutio,” Tyrone says sternly.

I smile up at him. “I’ll be back, don’t worry.” I left that evening, returning home where I stood in the ashes of my mother’s store. Harsh winds blew all around me, whipping my cape and making my tail coil around my waist for warmth. I shrugged my shoulders up as I gazed at the black charred remains of the back. Hot tears rose in my eyes, stinging against the cold. I looked up to the sky as snow began to fall and my eyes locked onto the moon, her half face peeking out of the sky as if spying on me.

My breath came in shudders, but soon I was breathing deep, taking in hard shallow breaths that made my chest rise and fall then begin to ache. Each breath stung, hurting me as I tried to swallow up the scream that wanted to rip from my throat. The scream escaped, echoing into the air and shaking the trees. The snow continued to fall, following me as I sunk to my knees.

The cried into the charred marks on the floor and they looked as if they were opening up. There came a faint glow from within them as if the embers were waking up to finish what they started. I pulled away as the lines glowed bright red and stretched out. They grew, spinning then warping into a circle. It spun around and around before sinking down into an open maw that spewed out darkness and ash. 

From within a woman stepped out. She was draped all in black but her body was very exposed. Her deep blue skin was almost the same hue as mine but I felt no kinship to her. I scurried backwards as she strode towards me. Her long legs stopped before me but I would not look up at her.

“I heard your screams,” she breathed. “Your pain has not been ignored, a mother knows when to come to her child.”

I held my breath, still just gazing at her feet and legs. I was too terrified to look up at her face, even more so now.

“You’ve been hurt, you’ve been robbed.” Her voice was a low snarl, both hungry and vicious. “Revenge is what you seek.” She knelt down before me, her long hair sweeping over her face. “Look at you, my beautiful boy. It pains me to know you’ve suffered so.”

“Who are you?” I choked the words out of a strained throat. 

“Fierna.” She breathed a low purr of a sound. “You may not know me, but I know you. I have known you from the moment you quickened in my womb.” She pulls her hair back revealing a beautiful yet striking face. Her horns curled back from her forehead the same as mine, but her eyes, oh gods, her eyes should not belong to anyone.

“No,” I shook my head. “No. My mother was Chell she was-”

“She raised you, yes, and an affable mother she was,” Fierna whispered. “Your father could not handle you, so he gave you away.” She reached out and touched my cheek. “But I have always watched over you.”

I pulled away from her and she stood again. “My mother was Chell! What am I supposed to believe if not that? You can say you’re my mother, but where have you been?”

She remained silent and blank. “I see your pain, my child,” she whispered. “I feel it as if it were my own.” She clasped her hands around her chest. “I want to end it for you. I want to protect you.”