Here Be Dragons: The Protector

Chapter seven: Revelations

The cave was shallow – more of an alcove, really – but the gloom within it was thick; it took some time before their eyes could pierce it. When they finally managed, and the image of a young red-haired girl came into view, they all had very different reactions. Lukas was devastated. Since his induction, he had been a firm believer that your power existed physically within you, so the larger you were, the more you could contain. He had actually seen himself as strong evidence to that end. And yet, the figure before him – one of the three most powerful sparks ever detected – was so tiny. If she stood to her tallest, she wouldn't even be able to reach his chest, and she was slight – Lukas was certain the width of her shoulders was less than that of his thigh. It completely shattered his belief. The woman, tears streaming helplessly down her face, knelt beside the still figure. She cupped the girl's cheek, kissed her forehead, and whispered down at her, "Please, Vayle... Just tell me what you need..." Jenna, however, was entirely business. She regarded the girl first with her eyes, then with her mind, and then swept her gaze around the cave.

Addressing their host's back, she asked, "Raychel Hart, I presume? We were told to expect three children – that they were travelling together. Can you tell me when you split up, please?"
Mrs. Hart just shook her head. "No, we were never in a group – when those people attacked us, I carried my daughter onto the wagon and set off. There was no-one else."
Jenna frowned at that. "But then who made the fire? Vayle here obviously didn't—"
"She did. Vaylerie made the fire." Mrs. Hart turned to face her, it was her turn to frown.
"But that's... that's not possible..." Jenna spluttered, completely dumbfounded. "She has Air within her, I can feel it."
Lukas, hearing the confusion developing, tried to clear his daze. He shook his head clear and turned his mind within. Stifling his groan, he tried to sense the girl. Using sensing, a Rider can find energy of their element within certain objects or people. However, as Air and Earth opposing elements, their energy was like different directions on the same scale. Sensing the rock beneath her, Lukas felt a strong connection – as if the Earth energy within it drew at his mind. Shifting his focus to the girl, however, his consciousness was repelled, wicking off her skin like a stone on a lake; exactly what he had been looking for. Withdrawing back into himself with his newfound knowledge, Lukas announced, "Jenna's right. This girl has Air energy."
Mrs. Hart still looked dubious, "I'm sorry, but you must be mistaken; I know what I saw last night. She was standing right above me when a giant white cone of fire burst out of her hand. I've also seen the tree she incinerated the night before – not to mention her clothes!" She faltered, then. "Look at me, arguing about something I didn't believe in until last night..."
"Okay, are there any other inexplicable things she's done recently?" Lukas requested, taking a different tact.
"Actually, yes." She replied instantly. She bared her daughter's left shoulder and proclaimed, "Two nights ago, this was a bloodied mess. A wound like that should take a long time to heal, but the next morning it was gone."
"Was there a fire in the room?" Seeing the confusion in her expression, he explained, "When we're injured, we can absorb energy from our surroundings to speed the healing process along. We can only absorb energy that matches ours, however. If she healed faster near a flame, she'd be a Fire spark. If she were an Air spark, she'd only need the wound open to the air."

She frowned down at the ground, motionless. Lukas was certain this would convince her – after all, if there had been a flame, she would simply have said so. Their team had succeeded at tracking down their spark, it was time to pack up and head back to the mountains; he would've liked to find more information about the other sparks to pass onto the other teams, but the Fire spark seemed to have assisted from a distance, and the Light spark was yet to reveal themselves. He told Jenna as much. She was about to reply when Mrs. Hart broke out of her reverie and interrupted her. "There was no flame in her room, but you said 'open to the air'. It wasn't. I bandaged it quite securely – she is my daughter after all." She stared at him, defiant. "Tell me what else could have healed her, and I'll say which of them were present."
Jenna cut in, then, clearly frustrated, "Let's forget for a second that we know she's an Air spark to humour you. Basically, if she was touching the essence of any element, and that healed her, she would be that spark – Air, Earth, and Water need to get right into the wound, but Fire, Darkness, and Light can just be shining on her."
"Light. I left the drapes open so Hed could watch over her... the light was all around her – like it was attracted to her."
"So, just to get this straight: your daughter is a spark for all of Fire, Air, and Light?" Jenna snorted, turning to Lukas to share the joke, "I've never heard that one before, have you?"

Lukas found it far less amusing than his companion, for one simple reason. He had. He may have enjoyed Academic Studies just as little as she had, but he had still paid attention, striving to retain the information he found interesting or useful. One such piece of information was that in each of the element pairs, one was considered good and the other evil. It was thought that a powerful rider could embody all three good elements, or all three evil. He looked solemnly at the girl solemnly, for – if they were right, she had the powers of the three good elements. She was destined to be the White Rider.

'May The Dragon have mercy on you, Vaylerie.'