Fire Proof

Chapter Twenty-Five

The next few days, my thoughts are consumed with getting out of here. I think about just leaving without a word and flying back to the Pack, to Bryce. But every time I subtly try to make my way out, someone stops me. Whether that's on purpose or purely coincidental, I have no clue.

Besides, I reason with myself, if I were to go back, Aislee knows exactly where to get me, and I can be assured her methods would be a lot less peaceful the second time around.

Ultimately, I'm trapped here. And it seems the only way anything can change is if my sister is stopped.

So, for the next week or so, I tuck myself away, completely emerging myself into planning mode. Mostly, I pace around my cavern, but sometimes I end up on my bed and lie completely still in deep thought. A day and a half goes by before I'm interrupted — not that I had much by then anyway, but still it dampened my motivation a little.

"I had an idea," my sister announces as she burst through my door without an invite. I sit up from my spot on my bed and raise my eyebrows. "After that little stunt you pulled during the ritual last week, I realized you have a lot of power. Both for your age and the fact you've been absent from this life for so long."

I already don't think I like where she was going with this.

"What if you learned to control that power, maybe even bring some more of it to the surface?" As she talks, she saunters around the room and I'm coming to the conclusion I won't have a choice in whatever she proposes next.  "I'll help you, of course, train your hands and your mind to shape your flames how you want."

"But you're a Water." I remind her.

She rolls her eyes, "I know that! But it doesn't mean I don't know some tricks about our powers. While every element is different, our energies come from the same place inside."

I suppose that was true, but I'm not sure I want to do this. Somewhere inside I know it has to do with more than just playing around with my abilities.

She stands there, waiting for my answer, though we both know whatever I say will still lead to these little training sessions going through anyway. Finally I shrug. Maybe I could use what she teaches me as a way out eventually. Probably not, but it can't hurt to try.

So the rest of the week included these sessions. When I'm not in my room, scheming ways to stand up to her, I'm in Aislee's room learning how to bring small clumps of flame into my hand or light up my hair until it seems to burn like embers in a pit. To be fair, that was a pretty cool trick to know.

I had known I possessed these capabilities when I was in the Pack, like when I set the ball on fire. Until Aislee told me, I wasn't truly aware that wasn't normal. Sure some dragons can use their elements in human form, but it was rare and still not like in a way I had at the fight. So Aislee is determined to bring that to attention.

In the days I spend with her, I learn to summon fire with a snap of my fingers, shape it in any way I desire as it sits in my palm. I'm taught to manipulate the element itself, bend it to my will. I can form it into a sphere and bounce it back and forth between my hands, spinning it on my finger as if it is some sort of game. Aislee becomes more and more pleased as the week goes on, and that is what scares me the most.

Suddenly I have a very disturbing thought cross my mind. What if she's using me. Would she do that? Would she deliberately bring me home, teach me these tricks, all for the sake of taking down what she believes to be evil? Would she sink that low?

I decide that yes, she very much would. And that is not okay.

It was because of this thought that I stall our next meeting. I walk down the corridor slowly and silently, but not appearing to be sneaky. I just really don't want to have her teach me anything else she can use for her own benefit. Especially because that benefit will probably destroy everything that means so much to me. I eavesdropped on her conversation with her mate the other day during a meal. She plans to draw the wolves out and get rid of them for good. A shiver travels down my spine at the thought of what that could mean for Bryce. For the Pack. For us.

As I parade down the stone hall — appearing more confident than I felt — I notice something. Families with young children about Jupiters age were enjoying time together. Some were teaching their kids to fly, or at least start the discussions on shifting. Others played games and laughed together, obviously enjoying themselves and being what families should be.

I smile to myself, flashing back to when my family was like that. Before the attack ruined everything I knew to be true.

I suddenly can see why Aislee is the way she is. In her mind, wolves took everything from her, from us. In her eyes, they're evil creatures capable of massacre, capable of destroying everything we have built here throughout generations of dragons. I suppose even I had thought that way just a couple months ago, when I was living in the woods merely trying to survive.

I was beyond frightened of Jasmin and Cole when they stumbled upon us, but I had gotten to know them, grown to be apart of their family, their community. I had met Bryce, who opened more doors than I would have imagined possible.  Aislee didn't have any of that. She only knows what she lost and how she lost it.

While none of this justified her wrongs, and I know she's still only using me as an ally to destroy the wolf packs, but I see her in a new light now.

However, it did irk me that while these families were playing and learning and teaching, I also noticed the methods of it all were still structured in war-like techniques. Whether they were aware of it or not, these dragons were training for this war in everything they did. It was very unsettling.

"Oh! There you are!" Aislee exclaimed as she turns the bend and finds herself in front of me. "I've been  waiting! What are you doing?"

Trying to appear nonchalant, I merely shrug, glancing through the arch another moment as a child beats it's newfound wings. The tiny things are flimsy, the webbing delicate, but it manages to lift itself off the rocks a couple inches. I remember that feeling, both with myself and with Jupiter. While only a few inches, each one was significant at that age. I can't help but smile to myself.

"Oh, just watching." I mumble in response.

She steps closer to me so she can see as well. Soon, a smile appears on her own lips, but while it's not quite sinister, it's definitely not as genuine as mine had been. "At this rate, we'll have more numbers than I'd hoped."

I can't be sure if she was talking to me or just making a note to herself, but all the same I was absolutely horrified. I know I should be discreet, but I probably look distraught, ever ounce of color drained from my face, as my eyes pierce the side of her head. She can't possibly expect to send these kids, these babies into battle against full grown wolves!

She nudges me, acting way friendlier than I'm comfortable with at the moment. "Careful," she snickers, "don't set me on fire with those eyes, I have actual targets waiting for it down the hall." She turns then and I follow, leaving the happy, unsuspecting family behind.