Fire's Song

by J E Mueller

  “You’re no better,” I retorted.

  “I’ve accepted this about myself,” he answered, shrugging. “The stubborn goody-two-shoes, here to save the day.” He stood up proudly and went to clean the plates. “It’s still the best plan. After that battle they’re sure to be angry, but hopefully they’ll give up and decide to leave. That’ll clear out the path and there’ll be less to worry about.”

  “Does that mean you won’t follow me?” I asked.

  “No promises.” He threw a smile my way.

  “Weren’t you the one saying you loved living here?” I with raised eyebrows.

  “Travel is still a nice option once in awhile, and you’re an interesting person. I’d love to get to know the Master of Flight better.”

  I rolled my eyes and went back to looking at the map, slowly going over all the villages I had visited.

  “Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone so fun and witty to travel with?” Lee asked, when he had finished his task.

  “I’ll let you know if I meet someone like that,” I replied in a bored tone not looking up.

  “I’m hurt!” Lee gasped. “After all I’ve done!”

  “You do make good hot cakes, I’ll give you that.” I glanced up at him.

  “Thank you.” He bowed dramatically.

  I laughed, and then the laughter died quickly. He was becoming a friend, and I really didn’t want any attachments here.

  Lee knew too well what I was thinking. He had had some time to consider what I had told him last night. “I’m going to ask the few I had in mind last night if they have any help they can offer you. I’ll be back in a bit. Okay?”

  I just nodded.

  After he left I sat there for a moment, conflicted over what I should do. The facts were clear. Lee was trying everything he could to be my friend. My fire wouldn’t simply kill him, but I was still a danger to everyone else. I worried that his lack of concern would cause others to forget I was actually dangerous. Staying still wasn’t the best option. That wasn’t likely to deter him either, though.

  Our matching stubbornness was problematic. I could leave, sure, but he could also follow me and there really was no way of stopping him. Even getting ahead of him would only just delay things. If he wanted to follow, he could. I admitted, if I said I really didn't want him there he’d listen, but more than part of me enjoyed his company, and he knew it. There was too much to consider in this situation and it was giving me a headache.

  Juni returned while I was still sitting and thinking.

  “Everything okay?” she asked worriedly.

  “You know, no.” I shook my head. What did the truth even matter? “But everything's not wrong so yeah…” Words failed me, “I guess that’s what's going on.”

  She slowly nodded, “Okay then…” She paused and looked around the room, “I forgot what I came in here for. How about some tea?”

  “I’d like that, thank you.” I smiled as best I could in reply.

  Juni started the kettle and went about getting tea ready as she spoke to me. “Lee mentioned that you’re having a bit of a rough time with some things in your past. Don’t know what they are, but if you’ve got to go, then be safe about it. Just know we’ll still be here when you’re looking for some support.”

  “Thank you, I will.” I’d never forget this place. “How is your sister’s family?” That was more important than my want for flight.

  Juni smiled, “They are fine. Things aren’t getting done as quickly as she’d like but there's been a lot of help. Tella’s been learning how to work with some of our baker friends. Being in the center of the village for most of the day will help a lot. It’s also is keeping her very busy, which she may need more than anything.”

  “Keeping busy is often a wonderful thing,” I agreed knowingly.

  Tea was soon done and we sipped in silence. Within a few moments after I had finished mine Lee returned.

  “Hi, Mother!” He called, giving her a hug.

  “And where have you been now? Leaving our guest all alone?” she scolded softly before her voice sharpened. “You’re not supposed to be out alone right now! It’s dangerous.”

  Lee rolled his eyes. “I missed you too, Mother. I know I’m your favorite, but if you must know I was visiting Aggie and Lela.”

  She nodded, the names quickly changed her tone as if it was a keyword for something else. “How are they?”

  “Aggie is as crabby as ever and Lela misses your zucchini bread,” Lee replied, grabbing himself some tea. “Lela also says she has more of that fabric you were wanting for your blanket.”

  “I suppose I’ll have to make her some bread then.” Juni sighed. “That can wait until later. I’ve got to get back to Margie and Nessa.” She stood up slowly. “Don’t give Aggie too much grief today, and tell Lela what I said.”

  “Yes, Mother.” He nodded, sipping on his tea.

  “I suppose we’re going to see them today?” I asked as Juni left.

  “Yep! Aggie’s sister had a curse and Lela does a lot of work with energies. That should be a lot of good information if nothing else.”

  “Never hurts to learn something new,” I replied not putting any hope into it.

  “Exactly,” he beamed, oblivious to my tone. “Ready to get going then?” Mr. Helpful was ready for action.

  “Suppose so.” I stretched and stood up, feeling a bit sore from the hard chair. “What’s there to lose?” We set off.

  Chapter 16

  The two women were sipping tea outside when we arrived. Aggie was an elder with gorgeous silver hair, and Lela appeared to be in her late thirties. Her acorn brown hair framed her face and fell down to her waist. I could see the equally appraising looks as we approached. Lee, not bothered by anything smiled and waved as we got closer.

  “Morning, ladies!” he called out before introducing us.

  Lela smiled kindly at me. “Lee doesn’t disappoint. You have much fire inside you.”

  Aggie nodded. “There’s nothing I can offer you that will help.”

  Her words took everyone by surprise, but she held up a hand to stop our comments and continued. “I don’t say that unkindly. You are on the correct path – as twisted as you’ve made it, you will reach the end. There will be more wrong turns, but an end is in sight nonetheless.”

  Lela shook her head. “This child doesn't need more cryptic advice.” I could agree with that, but Aggie wasn’t having it.

  “There isn’t a word I could say that she would understand or believe. I was gifted, my sister cursed. I see much of the same in her as I did my own flesh and blood. Knowing the future, I see two strong paths. The one in which I tell her anything causes more delays. She can hate me and my words, but she’ll find a path more quickly this way.” Aggie stood slowly and turned to leave. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”

  I wanted to hate her, but at the same time, she had given me a sort of time frame. Insight. What did that mean to someone who saw the future? How far out could she see?

  Lela tried to smile at us as her friend left. “Excuse my old friend, she has been through much.”

  “If she thinks that’s what's best, I won’t argue with her,” Lee replied, undeterred. “She said nothing about your help though. I don’t think that was a mistake.”

  “Of course. She would have gladly told us if it would be unwise for me to help. She doesn't sugar coat even the strawberries,” Lela agreed. “Let’s begin, then. I can see your fire. I can see that it’s barely contained within your body. From my knowledge you are either cursed by touch or cursed by sight. Seeing your eyes clearly, I’ll go with the former over the latter.”

  “Correct.” I nodded, surprised. “That’s an amazing gift.”

  “It didn’t start as such. There were years of hate and anger, and then finally practice. Understanding didn’t come until well after that.” Lela waved off her words. “Have you had any moments of control? What happened during your biggest flare ups?” She got right down to business.
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  “I’ve been told it’s emotion based, and I have seen that it does kill faster when my emotions are higher but not by a large amount.” I supplied. “There may have been a moment of control, but I think it was really all just luck.”

  “Nonsense. Any moment of control, luck or not, is still a moment you can draw knowledge from. Use every second of it to your advantage. Running is easy. Blaming yourself for every loss of life is even easier. The demons inside of you will love to see you continuing to take the easy route. They hunger for you to give up so that they can consume you, but you’re strong. I can help you understand this, but it will do no good if you are starting at your best. I want you to think of your moment of luck as you call it, and be ready to describe it in as much detail as possible come sunrise. Do not rest until after we’ve spoken again.”

  I blinked in surprise. “I don’t understand. Why the lack of rest?”

  “When you're well rested you are more composed, more in control of your thoughts and feelings. You can’t break into yourself when you’re guarded. When you’re wide awake and well rested you can defend against your demons, explain your actions. Fire does well with care, but we can really see how it lives when it’s threatened. Then we can find answers.”

  “That is the most detailed yet cryptic advice I’ve ever gotten,” I admitted. The advice had a ring of promise to it. Maybe this was a good start.

  “It makes sense when you think about it, and you will have plenty of time to do so.” Lela dismissed us.

  As we walked away I had to laugh. “I wish the people I met at the Order had been this helpful.”

  “Maybe they were and you just weren’t ready to listen,” Lee pointed out.

  “Good thing you weren’t there to see, so we’ll go with my version.” I countered.

  “Your version seems a little dramatic,” Lee argued.

  I glared at him. “This is why I don’t ask for your opion.” I looked away from him, annoyed. I didn’t want to think about the fact that he may be right about me being dramatic.

  “I’m sorry, your view of the world is exactly how the world is and nothing can possibly be different,” he replied sarcastically.

  “This is going to be a very long day,” I grumbled.

  “Nah, it’ll be fine. You’ve got me!” Lee smiled, unabashed.

  “Goody.” My fire couldn’t kill him, but a knife would wipe the smile off his face. The thought amused me and I smiled.

  “I’m growing on you,” he said in reply to my smile. “And in a good way!”

  “Whatever delusion makes you happy.” I rolled my eyes at him, but he wasn’t wrong.

  “I like the one where we become the best of friends and we get to go on awesome adventures together. There will be no end to the shenanigans,” Lee replied gleefully.

  “Are you ever not happy?” I sighed, wishing for a clear moment to think about what Lela had said.

  “Well, the other day I got really pissed off and upset that you had set off without a good plan and decided to make sure you’d be okay and look into the future. Yeah, a new friend not making it another twenty-four hours is pretty upsetting.”

  “Glad I bring balance to your life.” I smirked. That was a bad move, but there was no way I could have expected my route to be so dangerous.

  “Me too.” Lee laughed. “Let’s go find you a job to help out with. I need to check up on a committee while we’re out.”

  While Lee went about his business I helped out one of the local bakers with Tella. There was a lot to be done, but Tella enjoyed talking to me the entire time. Or rather at me. She had a lot to say and didn’t give much time for me to reply, but I didn’t mind. She didn’t seem to want to hold a real conversation, and instead talked as a way to quickly pass the time. The only time she let me speak was when she asked what I liked best about the forest. The woods were her favorite place to spend her time. She loved everything from the smell to the sounds she described in wonderfully long details.

  “Oh and the hawks!” she chattered on. “I’d love to train one someday, but no one here really knows how. I mean sure, some can mentally connect with them, but that's not really the same thing. I want my own connection with them! I really doubt Momma would like that though. They eat rodents and she really hates that. Would you ever want to train a hawk?”

  I considered it for the second I was allowed as I rolled out some dough to make bread. “Possibly. You do need those special gloves for it, so it wouldn’t be impossible.”

  “See! Now there’s something you should really spend more time on rather than wandering around. There’s lots to learn here and you can train hawks with me! It’s a perfect plan,” Tella prattled on as she worked on her own project.

  “And where would you get a young hawk to train?” I asked, pointing out the small flaw in her plan.

  “I’d convince someone to call it to me and go from there. I’m sure there’s got to be a book on it somewhere. There’s lots of old talents here that have just been overlooked since so many of us now have magic, but that doesn’t mean every skill is lost. We can totally rebuild this! Just think! An army of messenger hawks. I bet one could have gotten to the palace in half the time a human would take and we’d already know for sure if they were sending us their aid or not. It’s a great system we’re overlooking. Don’t you think?”

  “Well I-”

  “Perfect!” Tella rejoiced before I could reply. She continued, “And could you imagine how much easier it would be for hunting parties to send word of an injury? We’d have so many good things coming from this, we really should see how possible it is. It can’t be impossible, I mean nothing really is impossible. If you’re training to use your magic, and curses can be broken, then I can totally learn how to train a falcon!”

  By the end of the day I was feeling worn down and beaten. After dinner Juni offered to teach me how to crochet to give me something to do to stay awake. It wasn’t too difficult, but it took time to get right at first.

  When Juni finally went to bed Lee offered to stay up and told me stories of his life and childhood. He didn’t leave out any details. Stories about the village, stupid things he had done, some small adventures with camping and traveling to other places. It made the time go by more quickly as we waited for dawn.

  “What do you think you would be doing now if your father had died in battle but you weren’t cursed?” Lee asked.

  “Hard to say.” I admitted, even more so since I hadn’t had any leadership training. “Could easily just be part of the king or queen's counsel or married and living in another kingdom. At this point, I can’t imagine sitting around trying to rule. Being out and about in the kingdom makes life much more interesting.” I curled up pretending I wouldn’t fall asleep by resting my eyes.

  “Someone’s got to rule it, though.”

  “Yeah, that's true, but I’d not likely have to rule anything. That would mean I’d still have two older sisters and I would be at the very bottom of the list for taking. This is probably better in the long run. I just don’t want to be in such a strong position of power.”

  Lee shrugged. “What will you do if you get your magic under control? Better yet, if you make progress here, would you stay longer?”

  My brain was starting to feel like mush. My second wind gone long ago. I opened my eyes and tiredly replied. “I don’t know Lee. I like traveling and can’t say what I’d do with more options. It’s like if I was allergic to chocolate and there was a miracle in the tangible future that would allow me to eat it, what would I do first with it? Would I care that I could have something new, or just be indifferent to it until I saw a chocolate cake? It’s hard to say.”

  There was a soft knock at the door. We both started at it, confused, before Lee got up to answer it. He returned with Lela.

  “We need to go where there’s room for error,” Lela stated calmly. “Come.” She beckoned us to follow.

  Tired and still confused, I followed behind her and Lee as we went outside
past the entrance and walked a good distance into the night. We stood in a wide clearing.

  “Lee,” she instructed. “When I say, we’ll test the exact level of the fire. It’s going to be terribly hot, and likely out of control, but you can handle it, yes?”

  Lee’s eyes glazed over for a moment with magic. “Yes,” he replied with confidence.

  “Good.” She backed up several feet. “Key, remove your gloves. Just a simple handshake will work for this test.”

  I stared at her for a moment thinking that she was crazy, and only then remembering that Lee wouldn’t actually be killed. Would it hurt him? I was unsure. Nothing seemed to phase him.

  Removing my left glove, I held out my hand and Lee took it without question. The fire blazed strongly inside me, and I could feel it not only latch out at freedom, but latch onto Lee who just started at his hand with mild interest. I pulled away quickly and he just continued to stare at his hand.

  “That was really hot,” he said with mild interest, “What was the point of that?” He asked raising an eyebrow at Lela.

  Lela pointed at me. “Describe what happened.”

  “I could feel the fire being drawn to the surface, and not being able to go anywhere else, it latched onto Lee.” It was like the moment with the poison again. I could tell what was going on. Was I always able to tell what was happening and just ignored it, letting the horror of my curse taking hold of someone cloud my vision?

  “Lee?” she asked, nodding for him to answer the same question.

  “The magic latched onto my hand. It’s source is basic demon fire. Demon fire will attack what it first latches onto but cannot be transferred to the surrounding environment without an actual demon to guide it, which is why it only attacks and destroys the subject if the subject cannot combat it. With my own magic I kept the fire centered on my hand and didn’t let it spread. When she withdrew her hand she cut off the source of power. Without the power source and something to feed on, it died. With my elemental magic against it, it wasn’t difficult to fight back against the fire.”