Lambert skimmed through a pile of books and parchments, raising dust and spooking spiders. They had been searching through the ruins of a mage's burned out home for hours now and had found no sufficient clue about what they were dealing with.Ā
The contract was on a red eyed demon that haunted the crumbled structure at night and terrified the villagers. They had credited the evil with many deaths and everyone had chipped in to employ an expert to get rid of it. To the witchers' frustration, the description of the monster was as good as non-existent, the red glowing eyes the only pointer the witnesses could give them, and the victimsā deaths all seemed unrelated and irrelevant.Ā
Musing that the deceased mage must have left behind some incomplete experiment, Lambert and Aiden tried to figure out what they were dealing with by investigating the area after sunset, but no demon or wraith or other monster had shown up so far.Ā
Giving up on the writing desk, the Wolf witcher walked over to the laboratory's fireplace and prodded the charred debris with his dagger, hoping to find some secrets the former resident didn't want to share. To his surprise, the disturbance caused tiny sparks to jump from the charcoal. He pushed the outer layer of scorched logs of wood to the side and found the ember beneath still glowing hot.Ā
"Did you notice someone leave when we arrived?" he asked Aiden, concentrating his senses in case whoever had set the fire was still around.Ā
"Would have told you," the Cat answered distractedly while inspecting the insides of an old chest.Ā
"The fireplace is still warm," the younger witcher explained. He held his hand over the smouldering embers in demonstration, then snatched it back when suddenly the heat increased and the charcoal moved as if flowing on a coat of molten lava.Ā
Detecting magic, his medallion hummed against his leather armor until the motion in the fireplace stopped.Ā
"What the hell? The fire just moved."Ā
Having felt his own medallion's vibrations, Aiden joined him and leaned over Lambert's shoulder, who poked the logs once more with his dagger. Again, the embers broke smoothly apart like volcanic rocks on a bed of magma. Aiden's brow furrowed while he contemplated over the low burning wood, which slowly began to form short limbs and soft facial features. Two dots of red eyes blazing like hot coals looked up at them. The fire's light reflected in sparkles in Aiden's own eyes as they widened with recognition and delight.Ā
"And such a small one," he cooed and, to Lambert's shock, reached forward with both hands to grab the thing.Ā
Hissing, the rabbit-sized creature rolled into a ball and cast out a darting flame.Ā
Aiden yelped startled and jumped backwards, pressing his burned fingers into his lap and cursing under his breath.Ā
"You fucking idiot!" Lambert shouted and the little fire elemental withdrew completely. "Why would you touch it?"Ā
He took hold of Aiden's wrists and lifted his hands to check the injuries.Ā
"It's a baby," the Cat reasoned with a low whine in his voice. "I wanted to hold it."
"It's a hazard and probably the reason why this whole house burned to the ground. I'm pretty sure it's the demon the villagers keep seeing at night."Ā
While Lambert was still dotting over his hands, Aiden's attention had already turned back to the ifrit.Ā
"The mage must have conjured it but couldn't control it. All this time it's been all alone here. Can we -"Ā
"No!" Lambert barked before the other man could finish his thought.Ā
"It could help us hunt. A royal griffin would stand no chance against a walking fire," Aiden tried to sell his case, but even his pouting lips couldn't sway Lambert this time.Ā
"It would burn the whole valley down. It already burned your hands, Aiden."Ā
"Accidentally, it's not the elemental's fault that I frightened it."
"And accidentally it will destroy a whole town and kill many innocent people." Letting go of his partner's hands, the Wolf let out a deep sigh.Ā
"Look," he argued in a soft tone. "We can't take it with us, it's too dangerous. But neither can we leave it here. It's only a matter of time before it becomes more bold or more desperate and starts wandering off."
Lambert unsheathed his silver sword, then paused.Ā
"Do you want to wait outside?"Ā
"Just do it quickly," Aiden urged, then watched as the Wolf witcher thrust his blade into the small ifrit's pulsating body.Ā
Slowly, the low fire extinguished and the embers' glow went out. With the fading red light, the night seemed to turn a bit colder.Ā
