The skeleton of Nicres Manor lay broken and charred in the middle of the estate. Thick gray smoke rose from parts of the ruin that were still smoldering. The second floor had collapsed in certain sections, where the supports gave way, and the sunlight created a ghostly atmosphere. Two black masses with a humanoid shape lie near Sylis’s lifeless body. Something burned the bodies to the point of being little more than melted flesh, loosely clinging to the charred bone, and completely unidentifiable. The smell of cooked flesh, wood and fabric permeated the air. The aroma was sickening, and the two ministry agents had to wear masks to cover their faces, which barely did anything at all to stifle the scent.

They stood in the doorway to the living room, dressed in matching orange suits, white shirts, and solid orange ties.

“What happened here?” Agent Perras asked his partner.

Agent Masorie motioned to the three bodies on the floor. “No clue. These two are burned up pretty bad. This one looks like it wasn’t even in this fire.”

The boy’s body lay covered in a layer of ash and soot. It was clear however there were no burns on him at all. His clothes were untouched and the little exposed skin the agents saw was unmarred. They crouched down to observe the individuals more closely. They had obviously been burned alive. Their faces contorted and permanently affixed in a scream.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Perras scratched his beard in frustration. “How is there a way a fire could have been hot enough to do this and bring down most of the house, and yet not touch this one spot?”

“I agree, I can’t figure this out either,” Masorie lamented. “The fire appears to have moved from the fireplace here. Then bends around the boy like there was some barrier.” Agent Masorie continued to relay the scene before them as he followed the burn intensity. “These two on the side of him,” He said gesturing to the bodies on the floor. “seem to have gotten the bulk of whatever this was, and then the flames fan out from them.”

Perras moved to get a better look at Sylis, and the surrounding anomaly. A twitch caught in the corner of Agent Perras’s eye. He swore he saw some movement, but there was no way this child could possibly be alive. 

This mansion was a hellscape, and the odds of anyone living through the smoke alone was a ridiculous concept. He was about to put the thought out completely, but something gnawed at his mind. He needed to be sure. Perras placed two fingers to the boy’s neck but found nothing, no hint of a pulse, just warm skin touching cold flesh. But in the middle of the still smoldering house, warmth was rather subjective. He resolved that he had only imagined things. He hadn’t really seen the child move, it must have been his eyes playing tricks on him. This boy was dead. Perras leaned in to examine the child more closely. The boy’s small arm lay twisted at an unnatural angle, and then he saw something that made his eyes grow wide in disbelief. He fell back suddenly from his prone position.

“What in the name of gods is wrong with you!?” Masorie shouted at his partner in surprise.

Agent Perras picked himself off the floor, brushing soot from his orange suit. “He’s got Valas’s mark on his hand, and a damn Banix in his arms.”

“Surely, you can’t be serious!” Masorie said in astonishment.

“The mark is there, plain as day! And the damn thing nearly bit me, see for yourself!” he pointed at the boy.

Masorie leaned down and looked through the boys mangled body. He saw the brand on Sylis’s hand, a flame marring his skin, so vivid that it was hard to distinguish it from live flames. It was the mark that proved to the world he was a chosen child of Valas.

“Do you think he did all of this?” Masorie asked unsure what to believe. “He’s so young I’ve never even heard of a Padrin this young.”

“I have no clue, but it would make sense wouldn’t” Perras responded. “It’s the only thing that perfectly explains why this is all so weird. “

A feebly weak cough dislodged from the boy’s lungs, and the two agents looked at each other and then at Sylis’s body in stunned disbelief.

“He’s alive?” Masorie shouted, with a challenging glare at Perras. “I thought you checked his vitals?”

“I did, I swear I felt nothing when I tried” Perras responded defensively, mentally questioning himself.

“Well, that doesn’t much matter we need to get him to the hospital, now.”

#

Sylis awoke in a warm bed, something he hadn’t experienced in a long time, so he knew he was in a strange place immediately. His eyes were heavy, and his body was uncomfortably stiff. There was a weight on his legs. When he looked down there was a fluffy orange and red striped creature, curled up in his lap.Sylis attempted to reach out and pet the strange creature but, tubes connected to his left arm to some machines he hadn’t noticed, and wires were leading to his chest, restrained his movements. Trying to shift to get comfortable, he realized a pale white cast covered his right arm from his elbow to his fingers. As he surveyed his surroundings more closely, the stark white walls and stainless-steel surfaces stuck out. He realized that he had to be in a clinic room. But his parents would never have brought him to a hospital, even with a broken arm, he thought to himself solemnly. Try as he might he couldn’t remember much after they had broken his arm, everything past that seemed clouded and muddied.

A woman dressed in all white soon came through the doorway.

“Oh, you’re awake!” the nurse said in surprise looking into his barely open eyes. The fluffy creature that had been on his chest, almost instinctively moved down to his lap to give the woman better access to Sylis. 

“How do you feel?” she asked him with a sympathetic smile. Sylis barely let out a soft grown. His mouth was dry and chalky, and his brain was swimming.

The nurse held out a small cup of water with a straw to him. He suffered through the pain of two small sips before letting the straw limply fell from his lips.

“Thank you.” He croaked wincing at the harsh sound of his own voice.

“It’s truly a miracle you’re even alive. There wasn’t much to be done for the two broken ribs you have other than give you some painkillers. Those will take time to heal on their own, and sadly they will be painful.” She said checking his lines and vitals. “The bruises will go away with time, and the swelling around your chest and face should go down much faster. For the broken arm, however, you will need to keep that cast on for six, up to twelve weeks.”

“Where am I... and where are my parents?”

“You are in the hospital. Two federal agents brought you in. I think it would be best if they talked to you about what has been going on in the past few days. They told me they wanted to talk to you as soon as you were awake.” She tried to fluff his pillow without making him too uncomfortable. “But I don’t have to tell them yet if you aren’t ready.” She whispered to him, a sly grin on her face.

“I think I can manage, “Sylis replied trying to smile in response.

“Well, if you are sure... I’ll go get them.” She gave him a probing glance as she paused, but when he didn’t respond, she turned and left.

Two men in orange suits walked into the room shortly after.

“Hello Mr. Nicres, I’m agent Perras, and this is agent Masorie.” Perras said with a smile on his face as he gestured to himself and his partner. “It’s good to see you are awake, you’ve been out cold for four days now.” Sylis felt uneasy about this news. He’d never blacked out for that long before and learning that worried him. “Can you tell us anything about what happened?” Perras proceeded.

Sylis hesitated, then shook his head no. In that brief pause, he decided that what he remembered would only make his situation so much worse. The small animal in his lap let out a low growl as the agent came closer. 

“Are you sure?” Masorie asked in a gruff tone, noticing the slight hesitation in the boy’s face. The Banix’s growls became louder when Masorie spoke, which caused him reflexively to rub at the bandages on his hand.

Sylis averted his gaze to his lap without responding. The agents shared a glance between them. Perras tapped at the band on his wrist, pulling up a semi-translucent screen in front of his face.

“How did you get those bruises?” Perras asked with sympathy in his voice.

Sylis sat there quietly considering the question. After a while, he hoped that maybe if he just stayed quiet, this would all go away without him suffering any worse of a fate.

“We talked to a, Ms. Migrei.” Perras read from his screen. Sylis looked up to meet his eyes at the mention of the name, it sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“She used to work for your family until recently, do you remember her?” Perras asked.

The only person who Sylis remembered being let go recently was...

“The maid.” The thought struck him hard as he tried to figure out what and how much these two men knew. He wondered if he could trust them at all.

“You are safe now.” Perras said in a low, comforting voice, seeing the panic race across Sylis’s face. “Did they hurt you again?” He continued.

Sylis’s heart raced, he wanted to trust them. He needed to trust someone. There was finally someone involved that might help him. But his parents, they were far too important in the empire, there was no way these agents could do anything for him. He agonized over his thoughts for a few minutes, an awkward silence filling the room. But his parents had said they wanted him gone. He remembered that moment very clearly now. Although part of him knew they would never really let him leave. “I have to try.” He concluded, realizing this might be his only chance to get away from them.

Sylis slowly nodded his head. Tears welled up in his eyes, as the release of the truth hit him all at once. Deep down he knew that that single admission would probably earn him an even worse punishment later.

“Is that how you broke your arm?”

Again, Sylis nodded his head.

Once more the two men shared a glance.

“I am sorry to have to inform you, there seemed to have been a fire in your home. Your parents did not seem to make it out.” Masorie said crouching down to be eye level with Sylis.

“They’re dead?” Sylis asked the first words he had spoken since the pair entered the room.

“Yes, it would appear that way.” Perras interjected. “We really don’t know what happened. The fire seems to have been very intense, and the forensic teams are still piecing things together.”

Sylis’s thoughts were swirling at this news. Never would he have considered his parents would be dead. What did that mean though, what would happen to him now? Then a powerful image swept across his mind of warm orange light and screaming.

“Unfortunately, right now you are our prime suspect for the fire.” Masorie said as he tried to gauge the boy’s reaction. But, he didn’t get one, Sylis sat there with a blank stare, thinking to himself. 

“You did what you had to do to protect yourself, my son.” A familiar voice echoed into his mind. He looked back and forth between the two men trying to figure out which of them spoke. Then it hit him. “Lord Valas?” Sylis mentally questioned.

“Yes, my son, it is I, but worry not, this is only the beginning of your journey.” If he could talk to Valas, then that meant... His eyes drifted to his cast covered hand, and his gaze did not go unnoticed by the two men in the room.

“It’s our best guess right now. Under your cast... Is the Padrin mark of Lord Valas, the Eternal Flame.” Perras said acknowledging where the boy was looking. “And, there lies a Banix in your lap. The creature looked up at Sylis as if to acknowledge it was being mentioned. 

Sylis continued to look at the cast in disbelief, as he couldn’t see anything. Then he remembered the pain that had come from his hand. In the events of the night, that was insignificant by comparison, but that must have been what it was.

“Yes child, you now bare my mark” the voice was soft, but Sylis knew what he heard. Perras wouldn’t go into details of what exactly happened to his parents, just telling him that there was a fire. Sylis could fill in the blanks, however. 

Masorie crouched in thought, continuing to stare at the boy. It disturbed Masorie at how accepting of the events Sylis appeared. In his experience he found, when someone learns they are responsible for the deaths of two people, it should have a bigger effect than this boy’s reaction. But Sylis seemed uncaring and reserved. Everyone realized they had been abusing this child, and for who knows how long it had been happening, but Masorie couldn’t shake the unnerving calm the boy seemed to have about the incident.

“What happens now? Sylis asked still trying to work through his thoughts. Sylis didn’t know if he was happy or sad or if he felt anything at all over the news. Now that he recalled the episode more clearly, he was just numb.

“Well, regardless of what happened in that house, we don’t have the authority to detain you.” Sylis looked at Perras, stunned by his statement. He had expected punishment for his parent’s deaths, arrested, executed, anything.

“You will stay here to recover until the doctor discharges you. Then you will be transported to the Temple of Valas in Sulet. The Bishop there will decide what happens with you from there.” Masorie spoke up.

“We will leave and let you get some rest.” Perras added, giving Sylis his most sympathetic smile. “If we have any more questions, we will be back later.”

The two agents left the room turning off the light behind them. Sylis wasn’t sure if it was the painkillers or the stress of the moment, but a calm overtook him. No matter what happens to him next, he was finally free of his parents. Knowing that nothing else worried him. Whether they threw him in prison for the rest of his life or whatever the Bishop decided was his fate, no longer seemed critical or troubling. He said a silent “Thank you” to Lord Valas and drifted off to sleep.