Flames roared to life.
Heat blasted up her legs instantly. Fire crawled up her clothes, eating fabric. Smoke filled her nose and throat. Celia shrieked, a sound ripped from the deepest part of her soul, instinctive and strangled.
Then…
A coolness.
It started in her right hand, slowly spreading throughout her body. Suddenly the heat was gone, as though she had been coated in ice.
Her screams faltered as the flames licked higher.
The fire can’t hurt you.
The voice was soft. Familiar in a way she didn’t understand. It was Ariadne, but it spoke to her in a similar way.
You can bend it. Just breathe.
Her mind spun, frantic and disbelieving. Her shirt caught fire, fabric curling and blackening, but the expected agony never came.
The coolness remained strong, coming from her right hand
