Tisis

Sea of Fire (S)

The days and weeks pass.
We go hunting and bring back seeds of plants that have proven to be edible.
The garden is really starting to look the part, although the bounty of the vegetables we are growing has started to attract unwanted attention.

Some of the winged critters, I think Nym called them 'birds', have decided to plunder the garden and pull out the seeds we only just planted into the soil.
A most regrettable mistake on their part, because Nym likes to use them for target practice with that bow of hers during the day.
She actually improved a lot, but she really started improving her aim, after attaching some of the feathers we gathered to those arrows of her.

Just like I promised, I check on the cocoon I feel Zero's presence in every day.
When I started, I brought Zero's helping of the prey, but after finding the spoiled remainders for three days in a row, I stopped.
Especially because I don't want to guide some winged predator to where Zero sleeps.

I also talk to him every day.
Of course he doesn't answer, but I just know that he can hear me...and whatever he is going through, I don't want him to feel all alone with it.
I know that Nym is thinking me crazy and if I look at the situation rationally, it really does look like I've lost my mind.
But the tiny voice in the back of my head keeps telling me that I'm doing the right thing.

I don't know if it's just my gut feeling talking to me or whether I've really finally gone bonkers, but if it's the latter, I can certainly imagine worse things it could be telling me.

It also gets hotter each and every day, so much that it become pretty much unbearable.

One morning however, after one of those hot and humid nights which make you feel like your skin is about to peel off your bones, something feels off.

The air feels stale and it's strangely quiet.
Usually I can hear those birds songs echo through the early darkness, but today they remain silent.
At first I shake it off as 'my nerves playing tricks on me', but the strangness continues.

As I check the garden, all the plants did not open up like the usually do with the rays of the morning sun.
Instead they are closed tightly, as if they were hiding from the sunlight.

And it's not just the plants in the garden, everything and everyone seems to be seeking out the shadows.

"...Nym, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Just a moment Sirus, I need to figure out what's wrong with Sera..."

I look up at the Zolemna, who stands in its 'stable', as Nym called it, which is really little more than a small cavern with some dried grass piled up inside.
Nym keeps pulling at the bridles we made for her, telling her to move, but she refuses to budge.

Eventually Nym's grip slips and she falls on her butt and starts shouting, "What is wrong with you today, Sera?!"
"Yeah, about that...it's not just her."

Now I finally have Nym's attention, as she asks, "What do you mean, 'not just her'?"
I tell her about the peculiar things I've seen since this morning and this heavy gut feeling that something terrible is about to happen.

"...hmm...I did read, that animals can sense impending catastrophes...but that gut feeling of yours didn't happen to tell you what it is, right?"
"Afraid not...but I think it would be a bad idea for us to go out today."
"Oh? And what makes you think that?"

Just then, the sound of something falling makes us turn our heads and only seconds later, a small ball of fire crashes in the middle of our meadow, splattering upon impact and covering a wide area in flames.

"What in the...!" Nym starts, as multiple other small fireballs come raining down, each behaving the same way.

"To the ledge! Quickly!" I shout, but Nym just stands there, completely paralyzed.
"Oh for the love of..." I shout, pick her up, throw her over my shoulder and run towards our small ledge as more and more fireballs come falling down, turning the meadow into a sea of flames.

Just before making it to the slope, a fireball crashes down right in front of me, cutting off my way and the smell of burning flesh wafts to the air.
I draw in a sharp breath, as the pain from my leg orders me to stop, but I can't stop, otherwise we'll burn to a crisp.

I take a deep breath and with three big leaps through the fire, each one setting off a firework of pain in my legs, I somehow manage to reach the solid ground leading up to the small plateau.

I limp up, getting as far away from the fire as I can and only once I feel the cool stone of the wall behind me, I sink to the ground, dropping Nym next to me.

She keeps staring at the fiery display in front of us, while I examine the burns on my legs.

"Hey Nym, could you fetch me those bandages from the shelf?" I ask her, but get no response.
She just keeps on staring, an expression of pure terror on her face.
As if she was caught in a nightmare she cannot wake up from.

I sigh, shake my head and basically crawl over to the shelf, where we prepared a number of remedies we found.
Fortunately, the bandages made from leaves are on a pretty low level, so I don't have trouble reaching them.

I squeeze some of the berries we collected on two of the larger leaves we picked up and wrap them around the burn.
The immediate jolt of pain makes me inhale sharply once more, but I know it's going to get better in a little bit.

After about a minute, I feel the numbing effect of the berries kicking in and the pain slowly subsides.
But boy, I'm still going to feel that in the morning. Big time.

I'll have to have a long talk with Nym what got into her though.
Because freezing like that might well get us killed next time.

God knows, it almost got us killed today.

I look over the sea of flames, as more and more of what looks like a rain of fire comes falling from the skies and then over into the direction of where Zero is sleeping.

"Please be safe, little guy..." I mutter, before I return my gaze to the flickering death bathing our home in a bizarre landscape of doom.

And from the depths of my mind, a memory starts surfacing.

A memory of a sea of fire I only just barely managed to escape from.