Tales From The Emerald Isles: Hope Chest

8

Ash's hands began to warm. He felt a sensation of warmth winding its way up his arms into the rest of his body. "I feel it" Ash said.

"Shh, no ye don't. You feel my energy showing your body how to use its own. I'm opening up the path ways for you to do this on your own. Now focus on the fire."

Ash followed Euan's directions. He felt the energy permeating throughout his body slowly. Every bit of him tingled. Even bits he didn't know could tingle, tingled. He could feel the fire. He could sense the fire. It was like a person or an animal. It had wants. It had needs. It desired life. It was hungry.

"Can ye feel it Ash?" asked Euan as he slowly let go of Ash's hands.

"I can." he replied.

"Ye ready?" Euan asked,

"Aye" replied Ash confidently.

"Turn up your right hand," Euan said

Ash turned up his right hand, waiting for Euan's next direction.

"Now that you have felt the true essence of the fire, think of it in your hand."

"Aye" Ash replied, as he focused his thoughts on creating a small flame in his hand. His focus was drawn to the campfire and then back to his hand. A tiny flame sparked into being in the palm of his hand, but quickly faded away.

Euan watched carefully, teaching any new student had its share of exciting potentialities. Not everyone handled magic in the same way. He was curious how Ash would handle it. Ash created the spark in is hand once again, but this time he was able to make it stay longer. It was like the flame atop a candle, small and delicate.

"Good. Good. Now I want you to envision it as a ball. A ball of flames crashing on top of one another, like waves in the ocean."

Ash closed his eyes and tried to image what Euan was describing. He saw in his mind one small wave of a flame crashing on one side and rising up on the other. The brilliant oranges, reds, and whites weaving together as each wave of fire grew, feeding off the energy from the one before it.

Euan watched as the ball of flames grew taller and wider, curling over onto itself. A new one rising from the break of the previous one. He smiled. "Good Ash. Very good."

The fiery waves grew larger. Ash could feel the hunger of the fire. Its need to grow. Its need to feed. The hunger for life, to feed; it was rising in him like flames up a tree. The ball of fire exploded in size, now the waves were a few feet tall, and just as wide. They crested wildly, smashing into each other. Ash felt the intense heat before his face and opened his eyes, startled his eyes grew wide.

"By the gods." Ash exclaimed. "Euan, what do I do? What do I do now?" The fire grew larger still, "I can't make it stop. How can I make it stop?" Ash shouted.

"Can you make the flames smaller in your mind Ash?" Euan asked.

"No. I just tried that. I can feel it. It wants to consume whatever it can to grow. It wants to live."

Euan looked around the camp site, Selene was a safe distance away, as was the hope chest that contained the heart of the dragon. They had chosen a clear spot, and the trees above were quite thin towards the ground floor. But, they would become thinner still if Ash didn't get this under control.

"Ash you can't let the essence of the fire influence your mind. It is fire, and fire consumes. It also illuminates the dark places. Remember the story you told me earlier, of the girl whose eyes drew you in the night before you face the dragon? You said the flames, the way they danced and mixed with the blue in her eyes made them look like caramel. I know there was more to that story. I could see it in your eyes. There was a calmness when you spoke of her. Can you find that place again in your mind?"

Ash thought of Farrah. He thought about that night they spent together before he went to face the dragon.

"Aye, I can." Ash replied.

He thought about how they had both felt alone, like most people only understood a small part of them, but never them as a whole. How could they though, he thought, no one else had kings for fathers. He felt at home with her. He felt a calmness begin to sweep over him. He remembered her smile and the soft blue eyes, big as the sky itself.

He needed to see her again. And, he would, in only a few more days. But only if he could get a handle on this ball of spitting and writhing in front of him. How sad would it be to defeat a dragon and then die learning to cast a fire spell, he though to himself, I must...I must save my people...I must...Fa-

"Keep it up Ash." The ball of fire slowly simmered off into a tiny flame. "Now close your hand to extinguish it," Euan said.

Ash closed his hand. The fire was out. Ash collapsed panting.

"Magic requires energy Ash. No magic for you until you learn to master your mind. Great potential for magic you have, not many can do what you just did. At least, not without a great deal of training. I will teach you to use your breathe to focus your thoughts. That is all I can do for now. Perhaps in the future...Well let us not speak of that just yet." Euan said to Ash as he lifted himself off the dirt floor of their campsite.

"I'll give you the choice. Sleep now or take the first step toward learning to focus your mind?" Euan said.

Ash looked at the bedding laid out in the tent. His body was tingling with exhaustion. He stumbled as he stood.

"Teach me. I need to be better." Ash said exasperated.

"You grow less and less the fool with each passing moment," Euan said with a smile.