Chapter 14: Act I Chapter 14: Fire and Flame

Chapter 14: Fire and Flame

Enya narrowed her eyes, tightening her grip on her sword as she eyed the ball of fire rising  from the man’s palm. She could still feel lingering traces of his emotion magic, and she grit her teeth as she recalled the sensation, the lack of control, the memories that rose unbidden. This was a bad idea, she knew. This man was almost certainly much stronger than her, but with each new lingering remnant of fear that she found planted in her mind, the burning anger rose. She got in a ready stance. 

“You’re an idiot,” he said. The flame grew in size, its light overpowering the faint sunlight filtering through the cracks in the roof overhead. Enya could feel her skin drying from the blast of heat, and she wiped away a bead of sweat, keeping her blade steady. He narrowed his eyes, that sneer still on his lips. “Well, this’ll be a good chance to test how strong you are.” He took a step forward, reeled his arm back, and propelled the flames forward.

Enya dodged to the side, barely able to get out of the way in time as the fireball pummeled into a nearby pillar. It sizzled and crackled, and in the second it took Enya to move away, the entire column exploded. 

Jagged chunks of stone came flying out, spearing into the walls and surrounding pillars. Enya rolled out of the way, wincing as one scraped her arm. She could feel warm liquid dripping down, flowing down to her fingertips, and grit her teeth. Her own magic flared as she pulled at her reserves, body glowing red as she darted forward, pressing against the rising heat flooding the hallway. She drew her sword back, ready to swing. 

Before she could follow through with the movement, however, she froze. She stumbled, barely managing to keep a grip on her blade as her limbs grew weak, and she felt the same creeping fear from earlier rooting her in place. It combined with the rising heat, forming a suffocating weight. From her periphery, she could see smoke rising and twisting around them, lingering flames blazing over the broken pieces of the pillar. She forced herself to take a step forward on unsteady legs, but found she could barely move. Even though the logical part of her mind knew it was magic, the emotions coursing through her were altogether too real. She felt like a little girl again, freezing up when the Rot had hit her village, unmoving until Maren had forcibly pulled her away and to safety.

Craning her neck to glare at the man, she clenched her fingers around the hilt of her sword. Even that was hot, and her fingers felt like they were burning. Her mind drifted back to the fight with Aeon, when she’d thrown herself at the Ark, recklessly releasing her magic, and the wave of cold that had completely neutralized her flames. Her mind was swimming, the air itself thick and heavy as newly lit fires erupted around her, bathing the hallway in glowing red and gold. How had Aeon done it?

Shutting her eyes, Enya inhaled sharply, struggling to breathe, and focused on the well of magic inside her. It was a relief to find it, a constant comforting warmth so different from the flames surrounding her. Her body glowed as she pulled away magic, but this time, instead of letting it burst out, she imagined it forming strings the way it did when she used form magic. In her mind, the strands wove around the air, wrapping around the heat and dragging it away and towards the ground. 

“The hell?”

A bead of sweat dripped down Enya’s forehead. Her arms were still trembling, but she could feel the air around her cooling slightly. When she opened her eyes, the flames had gotten smaller. They were still present, nowhere near the perfect extinguishment that Aeon had achieved, but the air wasn’t quite as suffocating. She inhaled, filling her lungs with air.

When she met the man’s gaze again, he looked furious. He took a step forward, and another fire rose from his palms. “How dare you,” he snarled, and a new wave of fear hit Enya. It took all of her concentration to remain upright. She stabbed her sword into the ground, using it as support. She wouldn’t be able to dodge the next attack like this, not when she could barely move; her only option was to release fire at the same time and hope her own flames hit the man first. She pulled at her magic again, the aura surrounding her growing in brightness as she gathered her magic, building it up in preparation.

The flame in the man’s palm had become white, a new wave of heat quickly replacing the temporary reprieve her earlier magic had bought. The moment he drew his hand back, Enya prepared to release her magic.

All at once, the fires encircling the hallway died out. The weight of terror lifted away, and Enya stumbled, limbs still shaking from the lingering effects. When she looked up, she saw that the man wasn’t facing her, but was instead looking behind him.

There was someone else there in the hallway, Enya realized. She’d been so preoccupied, so delirious from the combination of heat and emotion magic, that she hadn’t even noticed him.

“Leor,” the new arrival said. The voice was soft, calm, but it cut through the hallway like a knife. “That’s quite enough. She hasn’t awakened yet.”

The man in question (Leor, Enya remembered, committing the name to memory) tsked and looked away. The temperature in the hallway dropped further, slowly settling back into what it had been before. A light breeze whistled past, and Enya shivered. “It’s not like I was gonna kill her,” he muttered.

“Maybe not intentionally, but you forget how fragile mortals are.”

The man, Leor, clenched his fists. “Whatever. I’m done here. This was a waste of time.” He spun on his heel and pushed past the other person, disappearing down the hallway, and the part of Enya that wanted to chase him down and continue fighting lost to the part that was too tired and half delirious to stop him.

She turned her attention to the man who’d interrupted. He was about average height, with dark skin and wavy black hair that hung partially over his face and reached a little past his chin. Gold markings sat underneath his eyes, and he wore a soothing smile. “It’s nice to meet you, though I wish it could have been under better circumstances,” he said, his voice the same even tone from before. A soft yellow aura glowed around him, and Enya realized with a start that the stinging on her arm was fading. Before she had a chance to look down and check her wound, the man took a few steps forward, holding something in his hand. 

“I believe you dropped this.”

She blinked and took the object with shaky fingers, recognizing the lavender color and realizing that it was the earing Nadine had given her. Her eyes widened. She must have dropped it during the fight. Clutching it to her chest, she carefully placed it in her bag. She looked up again, but before she had a chance to thank the man, he spoke again.

“I would love to speak for longer, but I must be going. Wren should be here soon. Please take care.”

He turned away, and as he left, Enya caught a brief glimpse of two women waiting at the other end of the hallway. One was shorter, with straight silver hair and extremely pale skin, while the taller woman had dark skin, long curly white hair, and gold markings below her eyes that looked similar to the man’s. She wasn’t able to make out anymore details, her vision slightly blurred with weariness. Enya took a step forward, but the three of them turned the corner and vanished from view before she had a chance to call out.

She blinked, eyelids heavy with exhaustion and skin still too warm, and just barely registered the sound of running footsteps before the world went dark.

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When Enya came to, she found herself lying in the same hallway, now entirely devoid of flame. The temperature had returned to normal, no traces of the burning heat left. Opening her eyes and sitting up, she came face to face with Wren, who was crouching beside her with a worried look. “You okay?” the woman asked.

Enya’s eyes immediately drifted down to the wound on her arm. The cloth of her sleeve was torn and still bloody, but the skin itself was perfectly smooth. She touched it hesitantly, almost expecting it to crack away, but it was perfectly solid. Only the slight dull throb gave away that it had ever been injured at all. “Someone healed me,” she recalled. “I think he was another Ark.”

“That must have been Rigel. It’s good he showed up when he did.” Wren frowned. “I’m sorry for leaving you there. From the magic signature, I’m guessing you ran into Leor. I didn’t think he’d come to the gathering.”

“It’s not your fault.” Enya stood up carefully. Her legs were still a bit shaky, but she felt much better than she had during the fight. Her mind was clear, free from any traces of emotion magic; she could breathe evenly again. Belatedly, she realized this was the second time she’d encountered an Ark and ended up unconscious as a result. She balled her hands into a fist. What had she done? As far as she could tell, there was no reason for Leor to attack her, especially when she hadn’t even awakened yet. You’ll see it for yourself one day, but Arks aren’t all great people. Wren’s voice rang in her head, and she clenched her jaw.

“What were you discussing?” She decided to change the subject. The lingering sensation of overwhelming, uncontrolled fear still made her skin crawl. Even after she awakened and gained access to the mental fundamentals, she would never use emotion magic like that, she swore.

“We discussed some of the newer Rot appearances.” Wren sighed, pushing her hair out of her face, and smiled wryly. “I haven’t been as active in fighting Decays lately, so I was scolded for a bit.”

Enya stared at the ground. “I’m sorry. It’s because I’ve been using your time.”

The woman waved dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. Besides, after almost getting you killed twice, training you is the least I can do.” She frowned. “It’s a shame that things with Leor went so poorly. He’s one of the Arks who forcibly awakened. This might’ve been a chance to ask about that, but I suppose it’s too late now.”

A strange feeling rose in Enya’s gut at the new information, but she pushed it aside. “Did Caspian leave?”

The woman nodded. “He had some things to take care of. It looks like the first three left already as well.” She sighed. “Well, it’s safe to say this gathering hasn’t gone as planned. I was hoping some more Arks would stick around, but I suppose I got my hopes up.” Her eyes darkened, but the look quickly faded as she faced Enya, brow furrowed with concern. “Do you have any other wounds?”

Enya examined her limbs, testing for any pain, and shook her head. It seemed that Rigel had healed all of her wounds; there wasn’t a scratch or burn left on her. She frowned, fingers drifting to where the earring was tucked safely into her bag. She hadn’t had a chance to thank the man.

“Do you feel normal? Nothing’s different?” The woman’s gaze was sharp. Enya shook her head, confused.

“No, I feel the same.”

Wren hummed thoughtfully. She stood, rising to her full height. She glanced around at the destroyed hallway, where large, charred chunks of broken stone were strewn about. She pressed a hand against the wall, a crimson glow enveloping her. It flared, shooting through her fingers and rising up from where her hands touched the surface, eventually spiraling into the pillars. Enya watched as the cracked stones warped as though they were water, flowing into the hollow spaces and smoothing away the fissures until the columns looked like they were brand new. The glow faded and Wren dropped her hand and stepped back, completely unaffected by the amount of magic she’d just used. “Well, there’s not much point in staying here any longer if no one else is here. I’d feel bad if this was all this trip amounted to, though.”

The Ark turned to face Enya again, cocking her head to the side. “Do you feel well enough to travel some more?”

Enya nodded after a moment of hesitation. “I can go for longer,” she said. She still felt tired, but all her wounds were healed. That, and the idea of quitting for the day because of Leor ignited a deep well of frustration sitting in her gut.

Wren nodded. “Good.” She reached out a hand, which Enya took without hesitation, grateful for the support as she took careful steps forward. The woman led them back outside the temple, walking at a slower pace than usual. 

“Where are we going?”

Wren chuckled. “If none of the conscious Arks are willing to be cooperative, you might have better luck with an unconscious one,” she said jokingly.

Enya blinked, processing the words. “You mean…?”

The woman glanced back, an eyebrow raised. “Earlier, you were curious, right? About the Ark of the Fourth?”

She nodded, and Wren smiled. “Since we’re already traveling, why not pay him a visit?”

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