Eternal Fire

Chapter 4

For some reason, Ember's trainers were not worried about the max amount of fire she could bring up in a moment, unlike they were for most of the other young fire dragons. Instead, they concentrated more on control, which appeared to be much more boring than what most of the other eleven were doing.

Lighting the same dark and burnt tree hundreds (or thousands) of times meant that Ember could think about the other techniques that she had been shown. When she got bored, she would practice control even more by creating miniature dragons and practising the techniques on the tree's branches.

The twelve young fire dragons would trudge into the shared cave they had and fall asleep like tumbling rocks. At the crack of dawn and dusk, the dozen dragons would stand on a ledge and blend their flames, destroying imaginary foes like old and dry leaves beaten into dust by heavy paws.

The same routine, day in, day out, forging them into weapons of war. Ember knew why they wanted to try out this plan: to end the war and burn their way there, leaving their enemies in piles of ashes.

Although, every ninth morning, they would have a small practice before joining their 'normal' classmates for a day of catching up in their lessons. Ember both looked forward to and hated those days; seeing her siblings was nice, but the questions and looks made her feel like an abomination.

Like she was their worst monster. Like she was their greatest hero.

So when Ember woke up the morning before, not even the golden sunrise could remove the gut turning feeling that tomorrow would be bad. Plus, her fire wanted to devour the world, which didn't help her mind at all.

On the ledge that overlooked a barren area with a few trees that hadn't been scorched into ashes, Ember met with the eleven selected others. Sunlight gleamed on their scales as Ember glanced around, as the group waited for instructions; something was different.

Her mind whirled as a group of adult dragons appeared in the cave behind; they were important, Ember quickly decided, and not that familiar. Captain Scar led the group; a male adult fire dragon was steps ahead of three other fire dragons, and three lava, shadow, and demon dragons were looking around.

Moments later, all twelve young fire dragons watched the group of fourteen approach; their eyes remained steady as Ember's mind tumbled. Something was happening, and her mind created many theories about why, each probably more unlikely than the last.

One thing that Ember was certain of was that they would still practice something with their fire. A grin formed on her face as her flames tumbled inside, testing her barriers and sending warm waves of energy coursing through her body.

Silence reigned as the adults came to a stop in front of the youngsters, who all bowed their heads as they assumed that these were important. Striding forwards with his elegant wings held in a way that sparkled and shone with every movement, a male fire dragon studied Ember and the others as his body expressed the power that ran through his blood.

"Tell the group what they are doing for us this morning," the male said, striding away.

Bowing his head, Captain Scar covered the distance between the two groups in a few steps. "We are going to manipulate Ember's flames, and see whether this would allow you to work together for longer."

Glances were thrown Ember's way as her heart pounded in her chest before stopping; heat vanished inside of her before flames pushed against Ember's boundaries.

"Use everything."

Ember had no choice; she could not refuse in front of the adults, but the pain and the others would have to focus her flames. Inclining her head, Ember turned to face the empty sky that would soon be completely consumed.