Burnt (Book One in the Elementals Saga)

Chapter Four

"Well," Blaze says, a grin spread across his face, "For a few seconds I thought I had got the wrong dude, but now that you burned the whole fucking forest, well, I know I got the right dude."

I block out Blaze's words, my eyes transfixed on the flames that seem to be everywhere. The barks of the tree, the highest branches, the flowers, the bushes, everything. Did I really do this? This couldn't be me. It had to be some kid of trick. I can't do this.

I didn't kill my family.

"Sorry for being an ass." Blaze continues. He seems totally at ease, acting as if the forest wasn't consumed in a fiery inferno. "Also, sorry for being kinda stalker-ish. But I needed to know it was you, ya know? Can't get the wrong dude. The fate of the world sorta depends on us."

I snap out of my trance. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Blaze laughs, apparently amused by my lack of understanding. When he notices I'm not laughing along with him, he stops abruptly.

"Oh shit..." Blaze whispers. "You actually have no clue what I'm talking about. This is a major setback." He taps his chin thoughtfully, eyes scanning the forest.

"Here," he says, standing up and walking over to a burning tree. "Let me show you."

He places his hand on the bark, and I watch as flames disappear from that single area, as if they are making room for his hand.

His eyes closed, eyebrows knitted together in concentration. The flames stop spreading, and stand still, waiting for a command.

A command? From who?

The answer strikes me a little too late.

My mouth falls open in awe as the flames all leap to one side, acting as if a large gust of wind has blown them that way, and seem to fade. Mesmerized, I watch as the fire simply melts  away to nothing and all that's left is the burnt forest.

"H-how.." I stammer, staring at Blaze blankly. He gives me a wink.

"Are you ready to listen to me?"

I nod.

"Good boy."

Blaze seats himself, legs crossed, adjacent to my position. Blaze scratches his head, as if he's trying to think. The wind rustles the leaves and a serene silence fills the forest. The fire has been totally forgotten, and the flames have been replaced by a wonderland full of beauty. Everything has a heavenly glow, and the charcoal ashes, remains of thousands of leaves, flutter unto my nose like snowflakes.

"Alright!" Blaze yells, disrupted the peaceful forest. "Now listen to Professor Blaze. As we all know, three demons attacked our world centuries ago. They ripped down our borders and our laws and slaughtered anyone who stood in their way. Anyway, you know the story. People died, blah, blah, blah.

"But, as the demons were about to take total control, they fell. Just fell. Boom. Or of obsofuckinglutly nowhere. Defeated the world said. But by who?-" I open my mouth to answer but Blaze holds up his hand to silence me-"Actually don't answer that cuz I'll lose my train of thought. Anyways, so why did the demons fall? Because people fought back. Certain people. People with powers.

"But after defeating the demons, they knew they didn't actually defeat them. Only temporally stopped them. So they did some weird voodoo magic-" Blaze makes random Hans gestures at this-"to make sure that their descendants also got their powers to defeat the future demons that would certainly come."

He gives me a big smile as if he actually told me something.

"Okay, what?" I ask, cometely confused.

"Are you serious!?" Blaze shrieks, clearly annoyed. "You didn't get any of that!?"

"Nope."

"Screw you."

"Okay," Blaze says, flapping his arms up and down, looking as if he's trying to fly. "So, once the original owners of the powers activated something, their next born descendants would be born with their powers."

"Activate what?"

"How the hell am I suppose to know?"

I sigh. "So, what does this have to do with us?"

"We are those descendants." Blaze answers, unfazed by the boldness of his statement.

"Are you sure?" I ask, not convinced. It was a bold statement. Sure I set the forest on fire but that doesn't mean anything!

"Well, yeah." He looks annoyed. "If I wasn't certain, I wouldn't have come looking for you."

"But," I sigh. " I'm a nobody. It can't be me."

"Oh yeah," Blaze says, rolling his eyes. "You're right. You are a nobody. I'm just gonna find another dude with demon-killing powers because you are a nobody and I can't work with you."

"We're in this together, mate." Blaze offers me his hand. "You've got to trust me. Or else, we'll be responsible for millions of deaths because you feel like you can't do it. Do you wanna keep being a nobody? Keep stealing rich girl's extra change to get by in a daily basis?-" I raise my eyebrows, slightly scared and impressed that he knew about that-"or do you wanna save the whole fucking planet?"

Blaze shakes his outstretched hand.

This time I take it.