Flare

n i n e

***

Goodbyes and thank yous had come and gone, and Flare was sitting on a log in the thinning forest watching the sky darken. She was tempted to break into the small stash of food that Eon had offered her, and despite knowing she had to conserve it, she unwrapped a small hunk of cheese and bit into it slowly to make it last as long as possible. Hearing a meow from Abby, she tossed her a small piece as well. As Flare ate, she inspected the map. Based off of it, she should be nearing the chronomancer kingdom within a few hours. If she kept going, she knew she would make it there soon, however, the night was approaching quickly. She would have to risk travelling through who knows what with the added danger of darkness, and every other time she had travelled at night, it hadn't turned out very well. Suddenly, as if the cat was making the decision for her, Abby popped up and started trotting away from her into the cluster of trees.
"Abby!" Flare called, running after her. The cat paid no attention to Flare's calls, continuing to run through the forest. With an exasperated sigh, Flare wove her way through the trees in an attempt to catch up to her.
About an hour later, Abby had finally slowed down, leaving Flare overcome with physical and mental exhaustion. She wanted nothing more than to lie down and rest, so badly, in fact, that even the cold ground or a hard log seemed enticing. That was until she saw the castle.
Inviting light poured out from every crevice, dripping down the sides of the timeworn stone rough with moss. The majestic castle stretched so far into the sky that Flare had to crane her neck to see the very top of it, and behind the outline of the castle, stars shine above in a glorious display. As she got closer, she saw some more houses and buildings, although none as breathtaking as the palace. A short stone wall surrounded the kingdom, one that Flare could easily hop over, but she decided to be polite. Before she could completely approach the gate, a guard called out to her.
"Hey!" he shouted, and Flare instinctively desired to run back into the forest where she came from. Realizing the harsh tone of his voice, he changed his expression. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. What do you need?"
"I-" Flare began, then realized she hadn't thought it through. She sighed deeply. "I've been traveling forever, I just need somewhere to stay."
"Oh, of course. We have an inn with accommodations where you can stay for free. I'll show you," he offered, and Flare smiled with relief. She scooped up Abby and followed the guard through winding trails, past stone houses protected by the long arms of old oak trees, past lanterns hanging over their heads on posts like guardian angels whose purpose was to guide them.
"This is it. It's not too crowded right now, but you can stay here until you have to begin traveling again. There's no official curfew, but we recommend everyone is in their homes after the sun goes down. You're not a chronomancer, are you?" he asked.
"Pyro," she replied.
"Okay, well, usually the rule is no chronomancy unless permitted specifically by the king, but I guess in your case it's no pyromancy. That's pretty much all you need to know, besides the obvious."
"Obvious?"
"No theft, no murder, et cetera?" he prompted Flare.
"Oh, yeah," she nodded.
"Alright, goodnight," he said, turning away to walk back to his post.
"Thank you!" Flare called softly after him, then crept up to the door of the inn. Unsure if she should knock, she slowly opened the creaky wooden door to see two rows of beds on opposing walls, a kitchen, and a bathroom with, curiously, only a curtain, not a door. In one bed sat a tall girl with a blond bob, writing in an old-looking journal. In the bed next to her, a boy with messy black hair leaned against the headboard with crossed arms. They both looked to be similar in age to Flare.
Flare made eye contact with the boy for a fleeting second before choosing a bed across from them and plopping her backpack down. Abby leapt out of her arms and curled up on Flare's temporary bed.
"Everest, someone's here!" the girl gasped, prying herself away from her notebook and looking up at Flare.
"Great observation, Glacia," Everest said, flicking his eyes towards Flare with a seemingly judgmental glance.
"Sorry for his rude behavior," Glacia rolled her eyes. "I'm Glacia, and this is Everest. Cryomancers."
"I'm Flare. Pyromancer," Flare introduced herself with a smile, then kicked off her shoes and began sifting through her backpack aimlessly.
"Come over here, Flare, make yourself at home," Glacia offered. Her bed was pushed up against the wall, so she leaned against it and patted the space next to her. Although Flare had to find Eternos as quickly as possible, she didn't want to be rude, so she hopped up on Glacia's bed with her. Surprisingly, Everest got up and took a seat on Glacia's bed, facing the two girls. His ruffled black hair fell over his face, camouflaging against his brown skin as he crossed his legs and stared down at his lap, not acknowledging Flare.
"So what brings you here?" Glacia asked.
"Travel," Flare responded, purposefully trying to be vague. Glacia laughed in response, a warm, syrupy laugh bursting with happiness.
"Of course, silly, but why?" she said, staring at Flare with slightly wild blue eyes. After seeing that Flare was perplexed by her question, she sighed, seeming almost disappointed.
"Why were you traveling?" Glacia clarified.
"I'm trying to find a necromancer," Flare said. "What about you?"
"In search of something more," Glacia smiled. "Something bigger than me, something bigger than my life. I had read such amazing stories about the cultures of the aquamancers, the ways of the phytomancers, there were so many beautiful things waiting to be seen by me if only I could go out there and see them. So once I turned 18, I hightailed it out of there in search of better things. I've been traveling for about a year and it's been... so amazing. I don't even have words for it," Glacia said.
"Are you two traveling together?" Flare asked.
"I met Everest a few months ago, and we were in search of the same things, so we stuck together. We didn't plan to, but we've been traveling together since. I guess you may be wondering how we get along, what with our personalities being so different," Glacia said with a grin.
"Yeah," Flare laughed.
"Glacia always does this," Everest grumbled.
"I guess it's just because I'm the only person that Everest trusts and/or loves," she proclaimed with confidence, ignoring Everest.
"I don't love or trust you. You just latched onto me and I can't get rid of you," Everest replied, although the smile on his face that he tried to camouflage gave him away. Realizing he couldn't hide it, he let his contained smile turn into a grin, displaying blindingly white teeth.
"Say it, Everest. I'm your best friend," Glacia teased.
"You're my only friend," Everest rolled his eyes.
"Fair enough. So, Flare, why are you trying to find a necromancer?" Glacia asked suddenly.
"For my brother," Flare replied softly.
"So why are you in a chronomancer kingdom?" Everest wrinkled his nose in confusion.
"I actually need to talk to someone here that can help me find one. It's complicated," she said, hoping to close the conversation so that Glacia and Everest would fall asleep and she could sneak out to the castle.
"We can help!" Glacia squealed.
"Glacia, we've got to sleep. Early start tomorrow. Can't overstay our welcome," Everest reminded her.
"Loser," Glacia joked. "C'mon, Flare, let us help you! I have nothing to do anyways."
"It can wait until tomorrow," Flare said with a gentle smile, trying to let her down easy.
"Fine," Glacia said, seeming defeated.
"Tell me about some of your travels," Flare blurted out in an attempt to lighten her mood, although she knew they probably had a lot of stories to tell, meaning Flare wouldn't have another escape opportunity for a while.
Flare's prediction was right. Glacia and Everest talked forever about their adventures, warm candlelight making their faces glow as Glacia made wide gestures and Everest chimed in with a laugh. Flare slowly got absorbed into her stories, and felt like she was living in every one of them, experiencing and feeling the same things. She admired the way with which Glacia strung together her words, lacing them together in a beautiful melody that was entrancing to listen to. What she said made Flare think that maybe she shouldn't always have the end result in mind, maybe she should linger in the moments a little bit more. Perhaps if she had stayed in the other towns a little bit longer, like she had in the chronomancers, she would have witnessed something equivalent to the chronomancer funeral. There were treasures waiting to be discovered, if only she would linger, appreciate, a little bit longer.
Hours later, Everest and Glacia had dozed off, and Flare was minutes away from sleep. Her eyelids grew heavy and her movements felt slow. The fatigue from before had entered back into her bones, and Flare desperately tried to shake it off, although it didn't seem to be leaving. However, pure determination drove her forward as she tiptoed over to her backpack and pulled out the map she had gotten from Eon's house. After a second of contemplation, she grabbed the map Adarar had given her before walking out the door. Just in case.