Born Of Fire

Born Of Fire Chapter 13

Nimbly, Phoenix jumped to the side, avoiding the wave. He reached out and snagged an orb from the stream, splayed his hands into claws, and pulled back. Bringing his hands up with the wrists touching, he circled them above his head for momentum, then swinging both of his hands forward, he thrust the small orb toward Lindani’s chest. She spun away, then exerted her own control over the same orb, and flung it back at him in one fluid motion.

The orb smashed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him as he fell to the ground. He rolled his shoulder and sprang back to his feet, growling. With a sweet smile, Lindani started moving her hands from side to side at waist level, and the stream's water followed, flowing and ebbing at her command. Phoenix stopped to watch, and his mistake was soon evident. Lindani raised both of her hands towards the blue sky and the water rose, leaving the stream-bed dry. Fashioning a wall of water fifty feet wide, she sent it toward Phoenix, whose eyes darted from side as he looked for a way out.

The wall passed over the middle ground between them, bathing both Spedro and Ember, who shrieked from the cold.  At a loss, Phoenix tried one last ploy. He clapped his hands, then extended his power to the water, and spread his hands slowly, in an attempt to tear a hole through the clear wall moving towards him. But it didn’t work. Lindani’s control of the water was absolute, and Phoenix could not wrench a hole through it. Lindani smirked, seemingly enjoying bringing Phoenix down a notch or two. The wall reached him, and mist from the flowing element bathed his face. Closing his eyes, Phoenix took a deep breath. The water closed around him, then coalesced into a giant orb around his body, cutting off his air supply.

Lindani raised her hands, and the orb lifted from the ground with Phoenix being tossed to and fro within it. Saying nothing, she settled to wait as the young man floated in the water, bubbles escaping his nose. After a few more seconds, Phoenix felt his chest tightening as his body used the last oxygen he had taken in. The tightness turned to pain, and Phoenix motioned for Lindani to release him, but she only shook her head.

Ten more seconds and Phoenix fought against the water blindly, trying to break its hold on him. Finally, a flash of anger coursed through him and he called forth his flame to coat his body, but only succeeded in making some steam rise from the top of the orb in which he was trapped. Dark spots now danced in front of Phoenix’s eyes, and he began to slip into unconciousness. It was then that Lindani dropped her arms, and the orb rushed to the ground, breaking apart as it made contact and throwing Phoenix’s limp body to the floor of leaves.

The impact jarred him back to full conciousness, and he rose angrily. “I said teach me, not try to kill me Lindani.”

She crossed her arms with a smirk. “If I were trying to kill you Phoenix, I would have. I am teaching you.”

His anger heightened at her arrogance. “And almost killing me is teaching? What am I learning? How to drown?”

The young woman laughed. “Call forth an orb Phoenix.”

Simmering, Phoenix reached out to the water, but nothing happened. Again and again he tried, getting more and more frustrated with each attempt. The water would only flex, never form. Lindani came forward and placed her hand on his shoulder, then sat on the ground, facing the replenished flowing stream. She crossed her legs in front of her and motioned for him to do the same, and he sat angrily.

She called an orb, and it rested above her palm, bobbing up and down slowly. “Look at this stream Phoenix. Tell me what you see.”

Phoenix contemplated her answer for a moment, watching the stream's current. “I see water,” he said.

Lindani smiled, then spoke as though with great love. “Water is not just water Phoenix. Water by itself is calm, passive, unchanging.”

Phoenix scoffed. “If water is calm, then why does it rush by so quickly within the stream?”

“It is not the water that causes the current, it is the land. The water simply goes where the land tells it to. If the land is slanted, then the water will follow, moving faster and faster as the earth urges it on. Watch.” Lindani turned to Spedro, who still stood with Ember. “Brother? Could you make me a dam please?”

Spedro nodded, then stepped forward. He came to the bank of the stream and planted his feet, then placed his palms facing up at waist level. A rumble echoed, then the ground started to shake and Phoenix had to place a hand on the ground to steady himself. Spedro slowly raised his hands, and a mound of earth started to rise. A wall of rock now blocked the river's path, and the water began to pool behind it.

Lindani thanked Spedro, then turned back to Phoenix. “Watch the water. When something obstructs its path, it bides it's time.”

The pool grew larger, over-flowing the banks of the stream. “Slowly, the water will rise. It will not blast through the rock, it will simply find a way around it,” Lindani said as the water began to flow around the rock, trickling at first, then picking up speed. Finally, the water broke over the top of the dam and flowed quickly over it, creating a small waterfall.

“Water will not fight an obstruction but rather work against it slowly, until the obstruction is removed or overcome,” Lindani said, rising to her feet. Spedro pushed downward with an invisible force, and the dam lowered itself back into the earth, then he went to stand with Ember once more.

Phoenix followed Lindani as she moved to the bank of the flowing river. She raised two fingers slowly, and a small jet of water rose from within, bearing a small, smooth stone on top. Lindani turned and strode back to where they had been, and sat down once more. She grabbed another rock, this time from the grass, and showed them both to Phoenix after he sat. The rock from the grass was bulky and full of bumps, rough and grainy. The one from the stream was smooth, devoid of bumps and any imperfections Phoenix could see.

His eyes questioned Lindani. “The rock from the stream was once just like this rock from the grass. But the water has smoothed it, after years of flowing over it, the rock, the hardest substance next to metal, was tamed by the water. Water can tame metal as well, by making it rust and fall apart. Water teaches that no matter the obstacle, patience, diligence, and an unwavering resolve will overcome.”

Realization dawned on Phoenix. “The water is ordered by the land, and by the rock, and by anything interrupting its flow. But throughout the years, it will remove these problems with the same flow?”

Lindani’s eyes sparkled. “Yes. Water is calm, smooth, ever flowing and gentle.” She laid a hand on his chest. “And you must be too, in here.”

Phoenix pondered for a moment. “Is that why I could not control the water when I was angry? Because I was not calm?”

Lindani laughed. “Exactly.” She smirked, and added, “I never knew good looking men could be taught. You keep this learning thing up and you may make someone a good husband.”