The Sentient Fire (The Seven Signs)

by D. W. Hawkins

  Bethany was seated on her blankets, staring in wonder at Shawna. The three adults had forgotten about the girl, and Dormael wondered when she had awoken and how much of the battle she had witnessed. Strangely, he felt a little uncomfortable to have lost in front of the little one, but shrugged it off.

  “You’re really good,” Bethany breathed to Shawna in wonder, her eyes wide and a smile on her little face. Shawna laughed a musical silvery peal and sat down next to the girl to ruffle her hair. Dormael walked over to the pack horses and started to dig through their bags for breakfast.

  Soon the camp was struck, and the party was moving once again northward on the road to Borders. The land was still carpeted heavily in a thick layer of snow, and the morning sun had done little to melt it. Instead, the light beamed down upon the land, causing the snow to stand out and even sparkle a bit when the light hit it the right way. The effect was brilliant, and even Dormael had to admit that the day had dawned bright and beautiful.

  The air was brisk, and once again the breath of the small party of friends misted before their faces in weak clouds of moisture. The worst part was that there had been no travelers headed south, and so the road was also buried under the snow. The only way Dormael could tell the road from the surrounding hills was the slight depression it made in the snow and that didn’t help at all with clearing it from the path. So the party slogged through it, clearing a narrow trail as they passed. It slowed them greatly, and that began to irritate even D’Jenn, who was normally stoic and reserved.

  By midday they had made only half the distance they had passed this same time on the day prior and D’Jenn was scowling openly and grumbling as they rode along. Even Dormael gave him a wide berth and rode well behind him. Finally, Dormael felt D’Jenn’s magic being used, and a path began to melt before them.

  “Ah, cousin,” Dormael spoke up from behind him, “I’m just as impatient with this as you are, and I’m definitely for travelling more quickly, but do you really think it’s wise to melt the path all the way down the road?” D’Jenn turned in the saddle and regarded Dormael with an irritated expression. He did not stop Mist’s advance, nor did he abate the melting of the snow as he took a deep breath and replied to Dormael.

  “Normally, we would fly,” D’Jenn clipped irascibly, “or at least you would, and I would try my damndest not to hit the ground. Since there is no one around, and we are in a hurry, coz, I don’t think it an unwise decision at all, no.”

  “I really don’t see a problem with it,” Shawna shrugged.

  “Very well, then,” Dormael assented, “let’s carry on.” The going was a little easier with D’Jenn clearing the path, after all. Dormael hated the delays as much as anyone, but he felt like they had grown complacent in the past week. There had been no sign of the Red Swords, and it was a little disconcerting to realize they were bound to turn up sometime, but not to know when and where it might happen. Dormael didn’t place much trust in the idea that it was all going to be this easy. Dargorin’s men would catch up to them eventually, and Dormael didn’t want to be caught by surprise.

  The remainder of the day went by uneventfully, and they set up camp beneath another grove of maple trees, bared from the winter’s cold. They had gained some ground after D’Jenn had cleared the path for them, but were still some miles short, and the weather showed no signs of warming.

  That night they dined on rabbit, after Dormael had taken Bethany out in the hills to search for them. He thought it would be a good idea to teach the girl a few things about surviving in the wilderness. She wasn’t all that good with a sling yet, but she had learned to set a trap quickly and was soon adept at the task. Every time she got something right, she smiled the wide and innocent smile of a child, and Dormael couldn’t help but laugh and tug at the small girl’s braid.

  As the meal was finished and the wine bottle passed around once more, Shawna and Bethany went through their lessons, and D’Jenn sat quietly, regarding Bethany with an intense and searching stare. The youngling was engrossed in her learning, and did not notice the wizard glaring at her over his pipe bowl, the smoke rising in blue tendrils to float away in the cold winds. Finally the lesson was done, and giving Dormael a meaningful look, D’Jenn rose from his spot and came to sit beside Bethany. Dormael sat in front of her with his legs crossed.

  “Are we going to play a game now?” Bethany asked, crossing her legs to imitate Dormael.

  “We are, dear, of a sort,” D’Jenn answered her, “It is a game that Dormael and I played when we were around your age back in the Sevenlands.”

  “First, we have to get comfortable. Are you warm enough, little one?” Dormael asked her.

  “I think I want a blanket,” Bethany replied politely, her eyes bottomless pools of blue that reflected the dancing fire at Dormael’s back. Shawna rose quickly, and returned with the young girl’s blanket. She laid it across Bethany’s shoulders and wrapped the child in it tightly. Bethany smiled her thanks to Shawna, and the young noblewoman sat down on the other side of Bethany, watching the “game” with interest.

  “Now then, I want you to close your eyes, Bethany. I want you to concentrate on the sound of my voice, and nothing else. You don’t hear the wind rushing over the hills, you don’t hear the fire crackling behind me, you don’t hear anything but my voice,” Dormael said in a slow monotonous tone.

  “Alright,” the youngling whispered in reply, and her eyes shut tightly, but soon relaxed as Dormael droned on.

  “I want you to imagine blue, warm water all around you. You are floating in a warm, deep pool of clear blue water. You are perfectly safe in this pool, and nothing can harm you. There is nothing but you and the pool.

  “Now, deep inside the water there is a small light. You can see it at the bottom, shining and twinkling at you. What color is the light, dear, can you tell me that?” Dormael asked her in a near whisper.

  “It’s yellow, I think…maybe white, like a star,” Bethany whispered back, her voice sounding slightly detached, as if she were sleepy. Shawna was leaning toward her now, her eyes narrowed in great interest.

  “Alright Bethany, like a star. So, now I want you to go under the water. Just slip slowly under the surface and drift down toward the light, dear. Remember, you are perfectly safe here, and nothing can harm you. There is only the water, the light, and the sound of my voice. Can you hear anything coming from the light, little one?”

  “Yes…it’s like music, like a song, but I’m not sure,” Bethany replied breathlessly.

  “Drift toward it, dear, and open your ears to the song of the light. It is a friendly light, and it will not harm you. Just go deeper and deeper until you get to the light. Are you there, at the light now?”

  “Yes, it’s very bright.”

  “Reach out with your hand, little one, and touch the light,” Dormael intoned.

  Bethany gave an intake of breath as he knew she had brushed her magic and felt the sheer…life of it. However, she was not filled with it, she merely had brushed it. A smile of pride and smugness lightened his face and he looked to D’Jenn, who nodded his acceptance. Dormael felt very proud of Bethany right at that moment, and he could tell D’Jenn was slightly satisfied as well.

  “Did you feel that, dear? Did you feel the light?” Dormael asked her in the same tone as before.

  “Yes…what…what was it? What is it?” Bethany asked, tears leaking down her tiny little face. Dormael resisted the urge to pick her up and comfort her; he knew that they were tears of wonder. He had nearly broken down the first time he had touched his own magic. Taking a deep breath to steady his voice, he continued in the hypnotic monotone.

  “The light is inside you, dear. It is yours, and you can control it. Now, I want you to reach out once more, and try to hold onto the light.” Bethany’s face changed into an expression of anticipation and anxiousness as he knew that she was once again trying to hold on to the magic. Slowly, tentatively, he felt her power come alive inside of her. The tingling feeling that he al
ways felt when another wizard was using magic crawled across his skin like so many ants. Dormael smiled to himself, and opened his own power. He felt D’Jenn do the same.

  “Now, do you have the light dear? Can you feel it again?”

  “Yes,” Bethany whispered in wonder.

  “Can you hear its song? It is singing to you, isn’t it?”

  “Yes…it’s…it’s wonderful,” Bethany replied quietly.

  “Now listen to me very carefully dear. Let the light envelop you, let it flow through you, but do not let it take you away. I want you to concentrate on my voice. As long as you can hear me, you’re going to be alright,” Dormael intoned.

  “I feel something else…like tingling when your foot goes numb,” Bethany told him.

  “Yes, dear, that is good, that is very good indeed. Now, I want you to listen to the song of the light, but listen harder still. There are other songs there with you, can you hear them?” Dormael asked her, and Bethany scrunched up her little face in concentration.

  “Yes…there are two of them…other than mine,” Bethany said.

  “Those songs are mine and D’Jenn’s, dear. We are in the pool with you now, can you see our lights?” Dormael inquired, and she nodded in reply. “Good, good. Now, open your eyes.”

  Bethany’s eyes came open slowly, as if she were awakening from a deep sleep, and immediately widened in wonder. She tried to look at everything at once, to take in her clothes, the bared maple trees around them, and the fire that was moving like something alive behind Dormael. She smiled in wonder and touched the blanket that was wrapped around her tiny shoulders before gazing expectantly at D’Jenn and Dormael.

  “I can still hear the song,” Bethany told them, and both of the wizards broke into simultaneous laughter with amusement at the little girl. Dormael knew exactly how she felt; she was seeing the world now through her magical eyes for the first time. “I can hear yours, to,” she added. The last elicited a laugh from both wizards.

  “Right now, Bethany, you are touching magic. You’re a wizard, my dear girl. You’re one of us,” D’Jenn declared with a smile, squeezing the little girl’s shoulder.

  “I am? I’m using magic right now?” Bethany breathed in wonder.

  “Right now you are only touching it, dear. Using it will come later,” Dormael told her, but it did nothing to dampen the youngling’s awe and enthusiasm as she gazed around the campsite at one thing and then the next. She paused for a moment gazing at Shawna, who was smiling down at the girl.

  “Your hair is so pretty right now,” Bethany smiled, and all three adults laughed once more. Shawna kissed the youngling on the forehead in thanks and giggled along with her at the compliment. Bethany took a deep breath and looked up to Dormael once more.

  “Is it like this all the time?” she asked, and Dormael shook his head.

  “Only when you’re touching the magic, little one, and you can’t walk around touching the magic all the time. That is what we’re going to do next. You have to let it go, now,” Dormael replied. “Close your eyes again, and concentrate on my voice once more.”

  “Wait,” Bethany gasped, “There’s something else…there’s another song.” Suddenly Dormael heard it to, and looking at D’Jenn, he knew that D’Jenn was also listening. It was as if something were singing along with the magic that Bethany, Dormael and D’Jenn had been touching. Alarmed, Dormael realized that it was the alien song of the armlet.

  “Bethany – don’t touch that song, don’t reach out to it!” D’Jenn cautioned, but Bethany was entranced by it.

  “It’s so…pretty…it just wants…,” Bethany said, and Dormael felt her reach out to it. D’Jenn and Dormael both seized their magic and tried to force Bethany to stop, but it was too late. Before either of them could stop it, the armlet reached back.

  Suddenly there was a flash of light, and it was as if time stopped. The songs of the armlet and Bethany’s magic were blaring in Dormael and D’Jenn’s minds. Dormael’s own magic was being sucked into the link, and he was trying his best to hold it back, but it was like trying to hold water from a drain. Bethany’s eyes were wide with shock and wonder, and sweat began to bead on her face. Her eyes were wide but empty, as if they stared inward instead of at the world around her. They were the color of the firelight, a deep orange that faded into yellow. Dormael had never seen anything like it.

  Shawna’s face was a mask of surprise and horror, and suddenly Dormael realized that the phenomenon of the frozen moment wasn’t something in his own mind. He reached his hand out for Shawna, and she started when he touched her. She gestured slowly to the fire behind him, and Dormael, still trying to hold back his power, turned around to look.

  The fire was standing still. It stood as if frozen, its hot tendrils of energy reaching up from the wood that fed it in random patterns. Dormael realized that it was why it had seemed to him as if time had stopped. The firelight had simply stopped flickering, because the fire had stopped flickering. The sight of it filled Dormael with dread and wonder at the same time, and as he gazed at it the song of the armlet once again tried to reach for him, but Dormael held it off desperately.

  Slowly the fire began to undulate, to transform its shape. It flowed first as if it were molten lead into the shape of the stone temple from the dream, and then flowed just as seamlessly into the shape of the great stone basin. There was a feeling of confusion in the song, a feeling of sadness and a great and deep loneliness. It was almost…pleading with him. If he could just reach out to it, he would know what it wanted.

  Dormael ripped his thoughts away and back into his mind, steeling himself against the enticing song of the armlet. He turned slowly, as if his own body were fighting him with every movement, back to Bethany. The girl sat transfixed, her eyes still the color of the glowing fire, soundlessly leaking tears of fear and confusion. He felt her magic rushing through her, heard its song entwined with that of the armlet, the harmony ringing through his mind with a power he scarcely thought possible. He reached out to her with his mind, trying his best to batter his way through the deluge of power rushing through her consciousness. Finally, with an effort that almost exhausted his power, he broke through, and felt Bethany’s mind there, trapped inside a storm of fire.

  He held on tightly, gripping the young girl’s mind as if he was falling from a cliff and that was all there was to save him. Finally solidifying his hold on her, he began to feed his own power into her, giving her strength to resist the storm of power in which the armlet held her. He felt D’Jenn there as well, doing the same, trying to shield her from the alien power.

  “Bethany, I need you to look at me, girl. Look at me, dear,” Dormael commanded, and Bethany slowly turned her still orange-tinged eyes toward him. Her gaze was vague, and it seemed to Dormael that she couldn’t see him clearly, as if he was out of focus. “Now, try your best to concentrate on my voice once again.”

  “I…I can’t…it has me…it won’t let me go,” Bethany moaned weakly, fresh tears leaking from her eyes.

  “Yes you can little one. It will be hard, but you can do it. Concentrate,” Dormael soothed, and the girl shut her eyes tightly once again. “Imagine the pool and the light again, Bethany. We are all there with you; me, D’Jenn, and the armlet. We are all here.” Bethany nodded slowly and still had her eyes clamped tightly.

  “I…I can feel you all there,” Bethany said.

  “Good, now listen to me carefully. I want you to push the armlet out. Push it outside of the pool, and drift down into the water again. We will help you push, dear, but you must try as hard as you can. Now push it out, sink into the pool…”

  Dormael kept repeating the mantra until he felt the power of the armlet recede, and Bethany seemed to have control once again. She breathed deeply and her shoulders slumped, but she was free of the armlet. The firelight began to flicker once again, and Dormael felt the armlet’s power withdraw from the night, back to the place where it slept…wherever that was.

  “Now, do you still s
ee the light, dear? Is it in your hands now? Can you feel it?” Dormael asked her, and Bethany nodded in return. “Alright, now I want you to let go of the light, just let it fade from you and drift back to the surface of the pool. Just let it go…”

  Dormael intoned the mantra once again, and gradually he felt Bethany’s magic leave her, and sleep once again. Dormael immediately put his own magic to rest, and felt D’Jenn do the same. He was surprised to see that Bethany was no longer crying or shaking, but sitting serenely before him, gazing up at him with big eyes that were now the color of emeralds.

  “That wasn’t really a game, was it?” Bethany asked him solemnly, and Dormael couldn’t help but smile down at the child. She took a deep breath and looked at the ground in solemn tiredness. “I think I want to go to sleep now,” she declared.

  ****

  Dormael, D’Jenn, and Shawna sat around the flickering campfire after Bethany had lain down to sleep. Dormael half expected the fire to freeze again, but it seemed normal enough now. Roughly an hour had passed in silence after the incident with the girl, and no one seemed ready to break it just yet.

  D’Jenn held the silver box in his hands, turning it over and over and gazing down at it with interest, though he dared not touch it with his magic. The box reflected the firelight dully, and orange highlights danced across its surface with a hypnotic rhythm. Finally, taking a deep breath, D’Jenn spoke.

  “How did it seep through the shields? Gods be damned, those shields were strong, and they’re still in place! It just went right through them as if they weren’t there at all.”

  “Perhaps our magic has no effect on it, coz. Maybe it sort of…cancels out our power,” Dormael offered quietly. Neither wizard found that notion particularly appealing. D’Jenn mulled it over a moment and finally shook his head.