Read Soul Blaze for Free Online Page B

office.
“I hope you’re settling in,” he said, not looking at me.
“Are you ready to discuss your task?”
“Finally,” I said, sitting down in the one chair in front
of his desk. “Lay it on me. I want to go home.”
Netalia came to stand behind my chair. I made sure not
to show them how uncomfortable I was.
“Do you know this man?”
    Iain slid a portrait towards me. On the parchment was a
painting of a young man with long brown hair. The artist
had coloured his eyes a bright orange. Even through the
painting, I could feel the intensity of his gaze.
“No,” I said honestly. “Am I supposed to?”
“Of course not,” Iain folded his hands on his desk.
“Your task is to kill him.”
    A bead in the glass bar behind him rattled before
clattering down the other end. The whole thing tilted to
the right.
“Kill him?” I repeated incredulously. “You want me to
kill this man?”
“Yes.” Netalia said from behind me.
    “Are you crazy?” I asked them both. “No, are you
actually insane? I’m not going to kill this man just because
you say so. Also, I don’t know what you’re thinking. I’m
no assassin, I’m a year twelve student; I should be studying
in my room right now.”
“You are the right person for this task.” Iain said.
    “Why?”I shot back angrily. “I want answers, Iain. You
can’t just point to a random guy, say ‘kill him’ and for me
to snap to.”
    “This man is a very bad man,” Netalia said, apparently
resorting to simple words for me to understand. “He will
cause death and destruction for a lot of people.”
    “You can’t punish someone for something they haven’t
done,” I retorted, pushing one foot against Iain’s desk so
my chair leant back. I folded my arms. “Besides, if he’s so
bad, why don’t you guys do something about it?”
They exchanged glances. I could tell they were trying
to work out how much to tell me.
“If we kill him, he’ll just come back,” Iain said finally.
“He’ll reincarnate again.”
I let the chair fall back to all fours with a resounding
‘ bang
    “Ok, you two are seriously off of your rockers. First all
this magic crap, and then wanting me to kill someone I’ve
never met before, and now reincarnation ?”
“Sky-”
    “Also, can you stop calling me that?” I stood up,
shunting the chair backwards. “My name is Rose. Rose
Evermore.”
“Fine,” Netalia was grinding her teeth. “ Fine . Rose,
then. Please. You must hear us out.”
    “Nuh-uh. I’m out. I’m done.” I began to walk towards
the open door, but stopped in my tracks as it slammed
shut.
“We can’t allow you to leave the castle, Rose,” Iain said
slowly. “As for your consternation about magic, well...”
    I turned slowly. Iain was still standing behind him
desk, but in his hands was a white fireball. I watched,
disbelieving, as he transferred it to both hands, and stood
there, ablaze.
“What’s that?” I asked quietly, my mouth dry.
“Magic.” Iain answered simply.
    I was suddenly filled with the desire to touch the
fireball, like it was a possession that I owned, and had
owned, for a long time previously. I swallowed nervously,
and then reached out a hand for it.
“May I see?” I asked.
    Iain closed his fists, and the fireballs disappeared except
for a few sparks that flickered between his fingers before
dying. I curled my fingers into a fist and then let my hand
drop.
“So that’s magic,” I said. “It’s real. Or you’ve drugged
me. Probably the latter.”
“We haven’t drugged you,” Netalia said. “In fact-”
    “That’s my magic, isn’t it?” I wasn’t really asking, and
they knew it. “You said you’d come to take my magic
again, that you’d never had to take it twice.”
    “Yes, well, we succeeded a second time, though it took
almost dying to accomplish it,” Netalia replied,
disgruntled. “You held onto it fiercely.”
    I suddenly remembered the sport’s day at my school,
how easily