Flare

n i n e t e e n

"We're so close!" Flare said giddily, pulling a jar of jam from her bag. They had chosen to have lunch next to a small pond in a small oasis; the desert wasn't welcoming, but there were quite a few little oases that were gorgeous. Adorned with thick brush and lush bodies of water, they were nice places to stop on their journey through the scorched environment.
"I know," Thane grinned back. "I'm excited to visit your town. Anything I should know?"
"Yeah, that reminds me. They don't really know I'm coming back. They don't know I left in the first place."
"So should we go at night or something?"
"Yeah. Thanks for understanding," Flare said with relief, biting into her sandwich.
"That works. We have to wait until the star of Boakl is in the center of the sky anyway. It's the right time of the month for it to appear, but it only happens at a certain time each night, for a few minutes," Thane explained.
"Why is that?"
"It's how necromancers harness their power."
"Doesn't it translate to the star of death?"
"Yep," Thane said. "So, as for what you should expect."
"Don't tell me," Flare cut in. "I want to be surprised."
"Okay," Thane shrugged, wiping the jelly from his fingers on a nearby leaf. Flare smiled at him. Finally, just like the stars above were aligning to make things work, it felt like her life was falling into place.

***

"This town will probably be our last stop until yours," Thane said as they approached a pyromancer town that looked similar to Flare's, but wasn't quite it.
"Okay," Flare said, barely able to contain her excitement. One more stop. Thane knocked on the colorful door, the bright paint peeling from the wood.
"Hello?" A young woman answered, her red hair pinned up into a messy bun. She wore an apron splattered with paint stains.
"Hi, we're from a nearby pyromancer town and we're just passing through. Do you have any water or food we could have?" Flare smiled hopefully.
"I suppose. Come on in," she said, opening her door. Thane and Flare stepped inside, thanking her before she went to retrieve the goods.
"Be careful out there, you two. You don't want to end up like Quary."
"Who?" Flare asked, perplexed.
"Have you not heard?" the woman asked incredulously. "That geomancer who was killed by an aeromancer, Mistral. Tensions between them have been extremely high recently, for whatever reason. Also between the chronomancers and zomancers."
"Why?" Thane questioned.
"I'm not completely sure," the woman shrugged. Flare gulped. "Anyway, stay safe."