Temptation of the Flames

Another short piece, I think I like short pieces :P

Power came in all shapes and sizes and for Kern, it came in the form of his soul. It could be called upon to grant him superhuman abilities and it never failed to amaze the people who were around when it happened.

Kern sat alone in his room, trying to gain some sort of semblance as to what he controlled. He closed his light blue eyes and sat silently. Journeying down into the dark recesses of his mind, he found it, a point, where he could feel a knot, the only fitting description. He probed it and found it too be a solid mass, with a soft centre, as he began to connect to the centre, he felt the power rush forth and envelope his whole body.
Blue flames spread out from his skin, flickering smoothly in the dark room. 
The darkness retreated from the blue power, the room took on a blueish hue and everything changed. His felt his muscles tighten and his mind become sharper, every sense was magnified and he felt lighter.

He stood up from his the chair and walked over to the mirror. The image there was unfamiliar and unnatural, yet it was calming and exciting at the same time. Kern's normally obsidian black hair, had turned silver, paling only to the silver of moonlight, and his skin was alive with blue flames. His toned torso was now even more defined, as if the flames sculpted them into even better form. Rubbing his hand along his arm, the flames dissapeared under his palm, and then flickered back to life once his palm was absent. It did not burn, it soothed.

Closing his eyes once more, he attempted to connect to the centre of the knot, but it was white hot and his eyes snapped open as pain flared from his mind throughout his whole body. As if in response his flames turned crimson red and lashed out from his skin, he could feel the melovalance radiated from them, no longer the soothing feeling like previously, they had taken on a warm, excited, tense feeling, as if begging to be let out. He approached the knot once more, slowly, cautiously, he touched the outside of it with his mind, and slowly the flames began to disappear.

That short but exhausting experience drained Kern rapidly. Falling down onto his bed, he surrendered to the darkness and let sleep wash over him. For once he slept peacefully, secure in his own self.

When he woke, the world was a different place, he was no longer lying in his bed, he was lying in a ditch outside of a still smoldering village. Rolling over, he hurt all over and there were scars all over his body, searching his memories for an answer, it hurt to think and nothing came. Slowly he made his way to his feet, standing up fully, the world began to spin and fell back down to one knee. After a few moments he stood upright once more, the sky was grey and black in patches. The air smelt like burnt wood and death clung to the air like a bad smell. 

Kern stared at the carcass of his village, no life shone here, every building had burnt down, even the fields were scorched, all the crops burnt away. A horrible feeling began to creep up on Kern, and a cold sweat ran down his back. A smell like rotten meat was drifting from the centre of the burnt down village, the smell so like rotting fruit could only have been what was left of the villagers. His Mother, his Father and all his friends. Everyone. Dead.

Suddenly from behind one the houses ran four of the village guard, three of them were unknown to him, but the fourth was Artemis. The Guard Commander. A close friend. Kern started towards them and suddenly they all stopped dead. One of the Guards, a tall muscular man, with a bald head and a beard, took out a throwing knife and launched it at Kern. Not expecting such a welcome at all, Kern, watched in silence as the knife spun, end to end, until it embedded itself into his shoulder. 

As Kern screamed in agony, the flames burst forth from his skin like bullets, they were a dark red but the tips were almost black. An almost complete replication of his emotions.

"Why!?" Kern screamed as he pulled the knife from his now bulging shoulder.
"Because you destroyed the village, you killed everyone I have ever loved! Why Kern!? What the hell possessed you!?" Artemis shouted.

The words were like a physical blow, he was responsible for all of this!? Why couldn't he remember it? No, surely not, this was not him. They must have it wrong. He looked at Artemis's eyes, and saw no lies there. Artemis has never once been angry with Kern, yet now he stands here with the full intention of killing him. 
The realisation broke his already fragile mind, Kern, fell to his knees and let the flames create a cocoon around him. The flames slowly turned black and enveloped his body, silence reined down and an awkward nothingness ensued. 

The men hesitantly approached the unmoving figure, Artemis, standing directly over Kern, rose his sword and without a word, drove it down into the boys neck. The sword came into contact with the black flames and instantly the flames wrapped themselves the sword and slid along it's silver blade, up the hilt and around Artemis's hand. Within seconds, the flames had engulfed him and he was screaming in agony, as the fire burned him from the outside inwards. The three men all went to grab him and shake the flames off of him, yet they too were caught by the unshakable grip of the fire. Within seconds, charred body's, unrecognisable, were all that was left on the dusty earth.

Kern rose, no longer himself, his eye's shone a crimson red and red lines ran their course all over his body. The flames no longer soothed, the flames had inhabited his mind and soon that would be all there was. Flames.