Journey of Flame

Chapter eleven

I don't think I'd ever seen something happen so fast.

One moment, Zai was standing across from me, my hands in hers; the next, she was being yanked from my grasp and taken into the undergrowth.

For a moment, I could only stand there and blink. "Zai?"

I slowly retrieved the sword from my waist. Zai had ensured that I had one before we went exploring. Though I hadn't mastered the weapon by any means, it was still better to have it when exploring unknown places.

Slashing at the undergrowth, I followed the way Zai had been taken. "Zai!" I called out. "Where are you?"

"Run!" The half-strangled cry came from somewhere in front of me.

"Zai, hang on! I'm coming."

I was running now, not even bothering to use the sword to hack at the foliage, and in only a moment, I entered a small clearing.

Zai was at the other end of it in the... arms? Tentacles? Of a large plant-monster-thing. It looked like an ordinary orange flower, save the fact that it was probably twice my height and had three tentacle-like arms. Two of them were wrapped around Zai's wrists, while the other was at her throat. And I noticed a fourth lying on the ground, motionless, green goop oozing from one end.

Her sword lay a good five feet from it. It seemed she had tried to use it to kill the stupid thing. But she had only succeeded in cutting off one of its arms before she had somehow lost the sword.

She met my gaze, her eyes filled with genuine terror. It was something I'd never seen on her face and hoped to never see again. She mouthed the word run.

I swallowed hard, shaking my head. Slowly, I raised both of my hands. There would only be one way to get her out of this. I wasn't skilled enough with a sword to kill it. In fact, I was more likely to hurt Zai or myself.

"I need you to trust me, okay?" I said.

Zai managed a nod.

"Close your eyes."

She did.

I took a deep, steadying breath. Doing this could very well get me killed, but if it would save Zai's life... I had no other option.

I loosed the breath I'd been holding. And erupted.

* * *

Perhaps it was a bit much, the two blasts of flame I sent from each of my hands directly into the flower. But I wasn't sure how tough it was, and I wanted to make sure I got it down as quickly as possible.

And when the flames cleared, I found the flower nothing but a pile of ash, and Zai kneeling in the middle of it, a hand on her throat.

Slowly, she looked up at me, and I braced myself for the fear, but there was only utter shock in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" I managed to ask.

She nodded, getting to her feet. "I... You..." She looked around the clearing, noting the ashes she stood in and the charred earth and plants around her. "You have fire magic."

I gave a nod.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She seemed a little hurt by the fact that I hadn't.

I shrugged. "I have been hunted for it. In Auchten, Fire Breathers are feared by nearly everyone. Anyone that I stayed with when I moved from town to town either threw me out or tried to kill me when they found out. I just thought you might've been like them."

"Oh," she murmured. She held up a hand and stepped closer. "Well, I'm not like them, Bedelia." Her eyes were so sad. I wanted so badly to believe her.