The Atheil Chronicles: A Call to Fire

Chapter 1

Ariana ran across the yard, her bare feet barely touching the soft grass beneath them. As always, she felt that sense of elation that came when she was outside running free, feeling the wind whipping past her. Sometimes it felt like, if she could just run a little faster, she may start flying. As her light auburn hair danced on the wind behind her, her soft hazel eyes scanned the yard ahead. After a moment, she saw what she was after.
A woman knelt over a bed of different colored geraniums, her brilliant orange hair hanging in loose curls over her freckled shoulders. Even now, her skin was beginning to turn pink from the sun that was barely out. Ariana skipped the last few steps toward her and tapped her gently on the arm. The woman let out a gasp of surprise and turned her head toward Ariana, piercing her with a pair of bright green eyes.
"Why is it," she said, standing up and dusting off her knees, "that you're always sneaking up on me?"
Ariana smirked. "Not sneaking, mom, just walking."
She waved her off. "Whatever you want to call it, it's still sneaking to me. Even as a little kid you hardly ever made a sound when you moved. I can't tell you how many times you about gave me a heart attack." She pushed her curls back from her face, leaving a trail of dirt across her pale cheek. "Now, what was it that you wanted?" She asked.
Ariana flicked a ladybug off her arm, watching it land somewhere among the geraniums, and looked up. "I was wondering if you've seen Henry today."
"Henry?" She repeated, sounding puzzled.
          Ariana resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes mom, Henry. You know, the fat gray tabby cat that sometimes inhabits our house?" Despite her sarcasm, Ariana felt worry begin creeping into her voice. She glanced over at the surrounding trees with a puzzled expression. "I haven't seen him all day. I think he left sometime during the night."
Her mom waved her off. "He's fine, Ari. I'm sure he just wandered off to explore again." She chuckled lightheartedly at the thought. "Heaven knows he needs the exercise."
"But mom," she said impatiently, "where do you think he keeps going at night? This is the 3rd time this week." For whatever reason, Ariana felt uneasy about the growing consistency of Henry's absences. Yes, he'd always been the type to wander off, but this felt different. Every time Ariana saw his large form making its way back into the yard by the last light of the day, she scooped him up in a hurry, feeling a certain desperation to keep him close.
Her mom shrugged. "Maybe he's finally learning to hunt. Isn't that supposed to be a natural instinct in cats?"
Ariana looked at her with an exasperated expression. Why didn't she seem to understand that this was an issue? "I don't know, I guess so." She said with a sigh.  "Aren't you even the least bit worried?"
Her mom sighed, too. "If you're really that worried about it then go find him." She gave her daughter a pat on the cheek, leaving a smudge of black where her fingers brushed against skin. Ariana turned her face away and wiped her cheek with the edge of her shirt, rolling her eyes at her mother's lack of help. With a shrug, her mom turned back to her geraniums, throwing her tangle of curls over her shoulder. "I'm sure he hasn't gone that far."
Ariana just looked at her, frustrated. "Fine." She said loudly, making sure to put an emphasis on the word. "I'm going to go find him." She had just started toward the trees when her mom yelled over her shoulder.
"Put some shoes on, first."
Ariana sighed, turning back to the house. She climbed the stairs two at a time, grabbing her shoes from beside the door. Damn woman had eyes in the back of her head. This had been happening her entire life; anything she did, whether it be good or bad, her mom seemed to always be aware of AND criticizing. Regardless, Ariana slipped her shoes on quickly and bounded down the porch steps, landing lightly on the grass with barely a sound.
"Thank you." Her mom said without turning around. Ariana could tell that she was smiling, proud of herself.
Despite herself, Ariana smiled, too, heading into the woods.
* * * * *
Ariana walked slowly down the path, enjoying the calming feeling the forest always gave her. It was beautiful days like this where she truly appreciated her upbringing. Molly Lucade, her mother, had always been a nature lover, claiming that just one minute outside was the equivalent of a well needed nap or a warm mug of green tea on a cold day. Ariana's childhood had always centered around the forest, with morning walks being something of a ritual. She loved this place; it was her home. Sometimes when she couldn't sleep at night, she imagined what it would be like to have grown up somewhere else. When she did, she tried to picture herself living off in the city somewhere, taking cabs everywhere and only seeing the trees and the grass when she went to the park. No matter how hard she tried, Ariana just couldn't picture herself anywhere but here.
On both sides of her, the trees rose up, their branches reaching far enough out to cover the top of the forest with their leaves. Every once in a while, sunlight poked through openings in the leaves and shone down, cutting through the mostly dull light like a knife. While her mother loved the forest, she had always had a strict rule to stay on the path at all times. The density of the trees made it feel like a labyrinth; one wrong turn and you could be lost, wandering for miles before you found your way out. Her mom found the forest to be especially creepy at night, which really seemed to be the only time that she had any kind of negative opinion about it. During the day, the canopy above mostly muted the sun's rays from coming in, having a shadowy effect on the place. At night, however,  it was much worse. The air itself seemed to become thick with the darkness, enveloping everything within it. Once, as a child, Ariana had run into the forest at night, seemingly being swallowed by the trees. She wasn't scared, but her mother had almost screamed herself hoarse trying to get Ariana to come back out. When she had finally emerged, her mom had scooped her up and almost crushed her in a panicked embrace. This was where Ariana and her mom differed; Ariana found the forest to be fascinating and beautiful, no matter the time of day. She had always loved the way that the trees stood strong and firm, how the leaves only let in so much light, and how the wind made the branches dance lightly, as if they were bobbing on the water. At night, the forest seemed to come alive to her. The thick darkness was almost like a weighted blanket, giving Ariana a comforting embrace and making her feel safe and calm. While her mother found that to be off-putting, Ariana couldn't help but feel at peace.
           It seemed fitting, then, that it was on this very same path 7 years ago that Ariana learned the truth of her origins; that she was adopted. She had cried, wondering why her mom had told her but, at that point, Ariana realized that it made sense. As much as she hated it, she had always suspected something was different about her. Even when her hair grew long, wavy and auburn, she convinced herself that she just got her coloring from her dad, who Ariana had always been told left and never came back. While her mom was tall and lanky with her pale skin, bright orange hair, and green eyes, Ariana was tall, but not as tall as her mom, and had more of a curvy body, with paler, redder skin and hazel eyes. Despite these differences, though, they both shared their love of nature.
As far as family went, Ariana was all her mom had and vise versa. The two of them had lived out of town on the edge of the forest for as long as she could remember, and Ariana had always been content there. Her mom was the only constant in her life and she was thankful to have her. She was as kind-hearted as they came, and she had raised Ariana with the same principles and moral beliefs that she herself lived by; to put what's right before what's easy, and to never give up hope, no matter how grim life may become.
Ariana loved her to death, and she would absolutely never admit it to her, but, no matter how happy Ariana was with her, a small part of her longed to know who she was. There was a time in her life where it was all she could think about. Many sleepless nights were filled with tears and unanswered questions about her real parents. Since her mom knew nothing about them, Ariana stopped asking and tried to put on a happy face, but inside she always wondered. Where were they? Did they ever think about her? After some time, Ariana realized that she might never find out the answers to her questions, so she stopped obsessing over it so much, but every time Ariana walked through the forest, her mind always went back to thinking about her parents.
Sometimes Ariana liked to picture them, putting a face to an idea. She liked to think that her father would be a strong man with a rough-around-the-edges look about him, but inside he would be as soft as can be. He would have auburn hair like hers, but his eyes would be softer, more of a light green than a hazel. For some reason, Ariana always imagined that he would be a lover of poetry, like her. Ariana's favorite thing as a child would be reading her books of children's poetry and imagining that her father was somewhere out there, reading his poetry too, maybe even curled under a tree like she was. As for her mother, Ariana liked to think that she was her exact likeness. She would be tall and curvy like Ariana, with hair a few shades darker, but eyes the exact same hue as hers. That was always as far as she got, though; Ariana couldn't possibly dream of the perfect mom, not when she was already supposed to have one...
That was always the problem, though. She loved her mom more than anything else in the world, but, no matter how hard Ariana gritted her teeth and tried to move on, it was never enough. She felt guilty for thinking it, but it wasn't going to change. Ariana thought what made imaging her mom different than her dad was the fact that she had always been imaging who he was; before Ariana knew she was adopted, she just thought that her dad had left them, so from a very early age Ariana already had this perfect idea of who her father was. When it came down to imagining her mother, though, things got too complicated. Her mom was the most amazing woman she'd ever known, and an absolutely amazing mother, but that yearning to know her origins just wouldn't go away, no matter how hard she tried to push it down and ignore it.
Ahead, Ariana saw her favorite place in the whole forest. She headed for her spot under an old oak tree a little ways off the path with soft green grass surrounding it. The roots of the tree were knotted and thick at the base and seemed to twist and turn before diving deep into the soft earth around it. A spot right up against the trunk had roots that were twisted and gaping just enough that she fit perfectly in the space, the effect being a lot like reclining in a chair with pillows on either side. She had found this particular tree as a child and remembered thinking it felt like a throne for a Queen. She had always chosen this spot to curl up in and read as the days passed her by in the silence of the forest. Now, Ariana sat down beneath it and leaned against its rough, bark covered trunk. It was as familiar to her as her own heartbeat. She learned her head back, looking up at its winding branches moving gently with the wind. It was almost as if it were breathing.
Ariana recalled so many memories of her out here, under this exact tree, relaxing and reading poetry. If ever she was feeling sad or insecure, just sitting out under the old oak tree could make her feel better again, at least for a little while. Her mom, always the nature lover and an independent spirit herself, had always encouraged Ariana to go off on her own to think. It wasn't unusual for Ariana to spend hours in the forest, just exploring or climbing trees. While it was a strict rule that Ariana was supposed to stay on the path, she very rarely did. Once she was in enough where her mother couldn't see her, Ariana usually veered off on her own. Despite her mother's fears, Ariana had never gotten lost. She always seemed to find her way back to the path, no matter how far she went. She liked to think that she knew this forest forward and backward, and that was something she was quite proud of. Even then, the sheer beauty of its winding trees and dipping branches still took her breath away. Ariana suspected it would never stop impressing her, and that was just fine with her.
Ariana closed her eyes as a gust of wind blew through the trees, caressing her skin in its warm embrace. Rays of sunshine poked through the ever-shifting trees, kissing her skin with their warmth before leaving again. With her eyes closed, she could make out the sounds of the forest; the slight flapping of wings, the low and gentle call of a mother bird to her young ones, and even the rustling of the squirrels as they chased each other playfully up and down the trees. The calm of the forest could always still her busy mind. Ariana could feel the familiar pull of drowsiness starting to come over her, when suddenly the wind picked up again, making her hair brush against her cheek ever so slightly. It was only a light tickle against her skin, but it was enough to stir her out of her trance.
She opened her eyes and reached up to push the strand back behind her ear when she noticed a strange and unfamiliar shadow between a set of bushes 100 or so feet away. It was only there for a split second, but it was enough to catch her eye. The bushes were lining what seemed to be a large rock face, the sides of which went up 15 feet or so and then tapered off in either direction.
Curiously, Ariana stood up and looked toward the bushes. It was pure chance that she had looked at that exact moment, when the wind had shifted the light in just the right way. She walked toward the bushes slowly, running her fingers over the rough leaves that lined its bizarrely spiraling branches. In a way, it reminded her of Albert Einstein's hair; wild and untamed, twisting and turning in every direction. Now that the light had shifted, the shadow was gone, but the image was still etched in her mind as clear as day. Sticking her hand out, Ariana shoved her hand in the space where the shadow had been, surprising herself by feeling an empty space where she would have assumed branches would be. She brought her other hand forward, pushing aside the brush the rest of the way, and dropped to her knees, peering curiously through the opening.
          Amazingly, the bushes seemed to be hiding a narrow opening between the rock faces. Ariana shoved her way through the two bushes, ignoring the branches as they snagged on her clothes and her hair. With one final push, she freed herself of the bushes and tumbled onto what appeared to be a small path. She raised her eyebrows as she looked around. The path tunneled beneath the rock, something that never would have been seen from the outside, and it was framed by the high walls of the rock face on either side of it. It was not nearly as dark as Ariana would have suspected of it, with sunlight streaming through cracks in the roof. It wasn't much, but it was enough to break through the darkness and give her some idea of her surroundings.
       Without any hesitation, she started on the path, which seemed to be making its way down. It wasn't by much, but Ariana could definitely tell that the trail was descending further and further with each step. The path curved several times, throwing off her sense of direction quite easily. Before long, though, Ariana could tell that something was changing; the earth smelled different, less damp. Up ahead, she could see a brilliant light shining from what appeared to be the exit to the tunnel. Even before she reached it, she could feel the cool breeze blowing in from outside.
"Finally." She exclaimed happily, brushing her hair back from her face and looking around before realizing that maybe she had spoken too soon. Now that she was out of the tunnel, the path still hadn't ended; it had turned into a narrow path running through trees that lay so close together that they almost seemed to form a wall. For the first time, Ariana felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She didn't know what it was, but something about this new path gave her a strange feeling. She considered turning back, but instead continued on, curiosity overtaking her uneasiness. As she walked, Ariana noticed that this new path was even smaller than the tunnel had been and was practically unnoticeable from outside the dense trees that formed around it. Seemingly out of nowhere, the trees began to thin out, and they opened into a small clearing in the shape of a circle, the area being enclosed with rock walls rising up on all sides.
At the center of the clearing lay a small pon and, as she walked closer, Ariana could see the scene more clearly. The pond was perfectly clear and was a sparkling crystal blue, its waters almost completely still except for the occasional ripple. The funny thing was, Ariana was almost sure that it didn't belong there. She walked slowly toward the pond, not really sure what to think. It made her feel strange in a way that she couldn't quite explain. She stopped when she was a few feet away from it. Now that she was closer, Ariana could see that it was only 6 or 7 feet across and that it was surrounded by a perfect ring of rocks. What she didn't see when she was farther away was that a small waterfall trickled down water from behind the pond, the water seeming to spring from nowhere. Ariana went to take another step closer to examine it when a gray mass appeared from behind the rocks. She jumped, startled, only to realize that it was Henry, and she put a hand to her heart, giving the cat a stern look.
"Henry, what are you doing this far in the forest? I thought I had lost you. Bad cat."
Henry looked at her with his unchanging golden eyes and responded with a single, low meow.
She frowned at him and turned her attention back to the pond, wondering why she had never stumbled upon it before. Henry ambled over to her, using the rocks as stepping stones until he was in front of her. He let out a soft meow, rubbing his body against her hand and distracting her from her thoughts of the pond. 
She looked down at the cat, petting him thoughtfully. "Is this where you've been disappearing off to?" She asked him. Henry meowed as if in response. "It's beautiful." She said thoughtfully.
Henry meowed again, and Ariana glanced down at him. He was staring up at her without blinking, and Ariana placed a hand on his head. He leaned into it, meowing softly.
She leaned down, scooping him up gently in her arms. "It's time to go, now. You've had everyone worried sick." Henry nuzzled into her neck, licking it, and Ariana laughed. "Well, I was worried, at least."
After a second, Henry settled in her arms and they made their way back through the winding path, leaving the clearing, and the pond,  behind them.