Fire's Flame

Chapter 7~Reckless~

5 years later...

A small ball of light appeared in the middle of Scotland's sky. It then started to increase in size, to show the golden yellowish sun. the golden fingers of sunlight lit up the scene. The just risen sun created a harmonic contrast with the bright green leaves dangling from the towering trees. Then sunlight made contact with Fire's eyes revealing the enchanting color of her eyes. Her eyes were too green to be hazel green but not green enough to be emerald green. So like the many shades of green in leaves her eyes were windows to an enchanted forest. She was sitting on the highest hill of the forest with her knees pressed against her chest while watching her favorite scene, sunrise.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she directed her words to her black Friesian horse, which was resting on the soft grass of the forest. She'd made it a habit to talk to her horse. She learned this from Erik. She constantly hears him talking to Frida, and without realizing it, she finds herself in the middle of long conversations with Freedom. The black horse let out a loud sigh that made his nostrils vibrate. "Moody, are we Freedom?" she said sarcastically as she tilted her head and looked behind her at him. Freedom answered her with a loud whinny. "Alright, let's go back to the village," she said, grabbing her bow that was lying on the grass next to her and walking with big steps towards her angry horse.

She didn't go anywhere without her bow. Not because she was afraid of being attacked, but because she was too emotionally attached to it. To think it was the first gift Erik had given her for her twelfth birthday four years ago. He noticed that she loved archery and was naturally talented at it. She was always stealing his big bow and playing around with it. So he thought a bow and arrow would be the perfect gift. And he wasn't wrong.

Because her legs weren't that tall as she was a short girl, she had to do a long leg hop to reach the bare back of her big horse. She hated using a saddle because she thought it would make him uncomfortable and controlled. She also didn't have him on a leash because she hated to control him with it. She believed that Freedom should be completely free.

She nudged him and signaled for him to start running. He gave a loud whinny. She clung to his thick black neck as he reared up. "YAHH!" she shouted, ready to take off at full speed. Freedom took off immediately. Fire loved the feeling of the wind running through her hair. "Faster Freedom, faster!" she commanded. Her black horse continued sprinting through the forest. Finally, they reached the end of the forest and the beginning of a wide green plain. She could see the village in the distance, but that didn't slow her down. Finally, they reached the village.

Freedom's hoof made a clanking sound as he no longer cantered on the soft grass.
"A girl riding a horse?" said the voice of an old man, annoyed and slightly shocked. It didn't bother her much, because she was used to the comments by now. She could feel people staring at her in shock, some looks even seemed disgusted. She could hear the gasps and the comments. But she just shook them off.

Finally, she arrived in front of the smithy where she and Erik worked. The smithy was also their home since they couldn't afford a cottage. She jumped off Freedom's back and stood in front of him. She grabbed him by the muzzle and looked him in his pitch-black eyes, "Good boy, you've earned a tasty snack." Then she took out a red apple from the pocket of her not-quite-clean skirt and fed it to him. She grabbed his muzzle once more and kissed him. Then she turned around and saw Erik already in his welding apron.

"Goooood morning" she extended her words as she walked over to Erik."Good morning, Sunflower," he said as he felt her strong arms hug him from behind. "Are we a little early today, Father?" she giggled.
They'd lived together since she and Erik left the City of Savages five years ago, and she would refer to him as her "father."

She walked towards her apron, which hung on a rusty nail in the wall, still waiting for his answer. "I'm not early, Fire, you're a little late," he said as he began to gather his tools. "It's not my fault Freedom isn't fast," she replied as she tied her apron behind her back.

"Freedom is a very fast horse, Fire, you're the one being reckless as usual," and he was right, Fire was synonymous with reckless. "That's not true!" she replied, slightly offended. "We both know it's true," he muttered as he was in the process of making a double-headed axe he'd been working on for a couple of weeks. "Prove it," she replied with raised eyebrows. "Where's the saddle I got you two weeks ago?" he asked with a grin on his lips. "The one I'm supposed to use on Freedom?" she asked in a much softer tone, knowing Erik would win this argument again.

"Yes," he replied, still with his back to her. But she felt him piercing her with his eyes. She fell silent and looked down at her feet. She knew how much Erik cared about her. He didn't want her falling off Freedom's back and how much he hated it when she didn't use a saddle and a leash. Erik looked at Freedom, who was standing next to his mother Frida in front of his smithy. "No saddle". He said without being surprised because he already knew Freedom had nothing on his back. Fire cleared her throat and quickly grabbed a hammer, she stood next to Erik and began to work. Erik smirked quietly at her action. The curly headed glanced over his shoulder at the double-headed axe he was finishing, with detailed inscriptions on the wooden handle. And beautiful Celtic patterns on the blades. It really was perfect. "Nice axe,".
she said with amusement.

He grabbed a piece of cloth and wiped both of the axe's heads so that the silver blades gleamed flawlessly. "Happy sixteenth birthday, Miss Reckless," he said as he handed her the double-headed axe. "For me?!" she said, still not believing him. He shook his head and smiled at her. She held the axe with both hands. She eyed it with her glittering eyes and examined it. "Thank you, Dad," she said in her cheerful Scottish accent, smiling broadly at the weapon. "You're welcome, sunflower." He loved seeing her happy and smiling. "I forgot it was my birthday," she said after finally averting her gaze from the axe and looking at Erik again. "You forget every year, sunflower, but I never do." She gently placed the axe on the table in front of them and threw herself on his chest to hug him tightly. It was more like she was squeezing him.

"I would have made you a new bow since the one you have is old, but I know how much you love it. So I decided that a brave warrior like you needs a weapon to fight a duel with. The first weapon that came to my mind was a sword, but you tell me how plain and boring that would have been for you," he explained as he broke away from her embrace. "I realized that the weapon that would suit you must not have a Viking core. And that would certainly be an axe," he said in his obvious tone. "But not just any axe, a double-headed one," he said, smiling broadly at her happy face.

"I love it, I love it, I LOVE IT!!! Thank you so much, Dad! " she said excitedly, still fascinated by the axe.
"I sure wasn't going to duel with an arrow, how thoughtful of you, Father."
She said as she grabbed the axe and pretended to duel.

Erik looked at the girl, who he believed would one day become a great warrior, with a warm grin on his face. "What?" she asked Erik, who had his gaze fixed on her. "Nothing, shall we start working?" he asked. She swung the axe and propped the wooden handle on her shoulder so that the head's of the axe faced the wall behind her. Her free hand propped on her hip. "We certainly will."

Author's note...
Hi, so this is where the story really starts. I want to thank all of you guys for reading my story I highly appreciate all of your support.🫀