Fire Starter

  Fire Starter

  By

  Diane J Cornwell

  Copyright (c) 2010 by Diane J Cornwell

  www.dianejcornwell.wordpress.com

  Cover art by FreeFoto

  FreeFoto

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Diane J Cornwell.

  Fire Starter

  Nine year old Belden stared in disbelief at the puddle of melted wax on his desk.

  He heard an intake of breath from Verge. Another puddle of melted wax spread across Verge's desk. So, they both melted their candles. But Verge can't start fires, can he? How come both candles melted?

  Belden glanced around the classroom at the other students, finally noticing the stunned silence. Everyone stared at him, some glared, some frowned but two had a look of disbelief on their faces. "What happened," he whispered to Verge.

  "You don't know?" Verge whispered back, but Belden didn't hear because of the loud clicks of claws on marble tiles. The sound announced the arrival of four Jlaantei guards. They marched over to the teacher, stopped, turned and faced the students.

  "Everyone stand and move away from your desks," Gryta, the Jlaantei teacher, was drowned out be a scream.

  One girl hung on to her arm as she tried to stand. Her legs pushed her desk forward. The desk tipped over and hot wax splattered the back of the boy seated in front of her. He let out a yell before he jumped out of his seat, ripped his shirt off and dropped it on the floor. Then he tried to look over his shoulder at the burn he obviously felt.

  Spurred to action, the rest of the students pushed and shoved to leave the room.

  Belden looked at Verge. "I suppose we had better leave the room too."

  "Don't run, but move quickly out of the room." Gryta shouted over the noise of the students.

  Belden and Verge had just stepped away from their desks when Master Saadi, the human in charge of the school, suddenly appeared beside the teacher. His clothing hung from his tall thin frame and his white hair made him look ancient, but he still had a presence and Belden recognised he owned a powerful talent.

  "You, and you," Master Saadi pointed at Belden and Verge, "stay right there." He turned towards the door. "You students wait in the hallway. And stop shouting!"

  "Notice him walk into the room," Verge whispered to Belden.

  "No." Belden shook his head. He took a step closer to Verge. "I think he teleported."

  "That explains it then." For an eight year old, Verge sometimes sounded much older.

  "You," Master Saadi pointed at Belden. "Explain what just happened here."

  "I don't know," Belden answered.

  "What do you mean you don't know?" Master Saadi glared at Belden. "You set all the candles on fire and melted the wax. I felt the release of energy from my office."

  "I don't think so." Belden puzzled out what he had just heard. "We were all asked to light our candles, and I only lit mine, I think."

  "What about you?" Master Saadi bought his attention to Verge who tried to hide behind Belden.

  Verge remained silent. Belden realized the noise in the corridor had also died down. The four alien guards continued to stare but hadn't activated their flanges.

  "I am waiting for your answer."

  "I can't light candles," Verge whispered.

  Belden felt a slight breeze and Casi, the fourteen year old girl who took him and Verge away from their home, materialised beside him. "What is going on here?" Casi followed Verge's stare and looked towards the front of the room. "Master Saadi." Casi nodded towards the tall elderly human.

  "I believe one of those boys of yours melted all the candles, and a few of the students were burnt." Master Saadi had a slight smile on his face as he waited for Casi to talk.

  "Did you?" Casi asked Belden.

  She did not seem upset, in fact, she looked quite calm. "I didn't think so … I only tried to light my candle when they all burst into flame."

  "I want to go home," Verge added.

  "Boys," Casi lowered her voice, "you are both in this class to control your talents, so you can't leave after one little incident, now can you?'

  "I can." Verge nodded to add emphasis to his statement.

  "So can I," Belden told Casi. Home was a lot better than being surrounded by Jlaantei guards and home held the younger children and their gentle Chillmannu carers. Besides Verge, they were the only family he knew.

  "I will not tolerate uncontrolled talents. If you can't keep them under control I will order a brain wipe for both of them," Master Saadi glared at Casi.

  Casi turned to face Master Saadi. "You will not make that call, nor will I allow you to threaten children with brain wiping." She looked at Gryta, the same teacher Casi said she had when she attended the classes. "Do you have anything to add to clear up what happened?'

  "I do not know. One minute the class was concentrating on lighting candles, the next instant the hot wax was burning children. I do not know how it happened. It has never happened like that before."

  "I suggest you hold all fire training outdoors in future, so accidents like this won't happen." Casi turned back to the two boys. "Come with me to the hospice to see if you have any burns that need treating."

  #

  Belden glanced towards the door leading out of the hospice and confirmed that four Jlaantei guards still blocked the exit. They were not as fierce looking as the four in the classroom and didn't seem worried about Casi fixing Verge's burn. They even talked quietly among themselves. He couldn't understand one word of their language, Jlaa, but Casi must have, because she glanced over once or twice while she rubbed a gel onto Verge's hand. Verge waited patiently for Casi to finish covering his skin where wax had splattered him.

  "That should be fine," Casi told Verge. "You won't need a bandage on it, just remember to keep the gel on the blisters until the new skin grows beneath."

  "Thanks," Verge smiled. "Now what? Back to the classroom?'

  "No. How about some food?" Casi raised her eyebrows. "We can talk about what happened."

  Belden watched Casi and Verge walk out of the room before he stood. He followed the four guards down the corridor, which led to the food area. Well, what did happen? Was he better then he thought? Did he actually melt all the wax?

  Verge dropped back to walk with Belden. "What's wrong?'

  "I don't know." Belden puzzled over the accident. "How could I melt all those candles?'

  "It doesn't matter," Verge answered. "I am hungry. Worry later."

  The guards waited at the doorway for the boys to catch up.

  Casi waved them towards an empty table. "Come on, I have never known boys to not be hungry. Wait until you meet my brother. He can eat anything, any time of the day. And you do need food to keep up your energy levels if you practice a lot. Using your talents burns energy, you know."

  Belden sat opposite Casi and Verge settled beside him. Two of the guards sat with them, but the other two went to the display counter to collect plates of food. "Well? How did I do it?'

  "I don't know," Casi answered. "I remember when I first listened for Pearl crying, when I was looking for her, and I found all of you in that valley. Remember?" Casi waited for both of them to nod, so Belden did.

  "What has that got to do with me?" Belden took a breath to calm down.

  "I said then that Pearl bounced her crying off Verge, which made it easier for me to hear her mental cry. Now, I s
uspect," Casi took one of the plates of food from a guard who juggling three plates, and put it in front of Verge, "that Verge also bounced your mental focus on all the candles and not just the one in front of you."

  "I wasn't doing anything." Verge shook his head in denial.

  "Oh, I expect it's natural and you are not aware you even do it." Casi pushed another plate of food towards Belden and Verge. "Now, eat. We can work out the details later." She took a sweet pastry from the nearest plate and bit into it.

  Belden studied the four guards while they ate. Why does Casi have four guards, or are they here to watch Verge and him? He started eating and realized he was hungry. He concentrated on selecting the sweet fruit filled pastries.

  He kept eating until the plate only held crumbs. "Now what?" Belden brushed crumbs from his hands onto the table.

  "Now I want to watch how you start fires so I can learn how you do it and hopefully reverse it to put the fires out." Casi pushed the crumbs in front of her towards the middle of the table.

  "I don't know how I do it. I just concentrate on a particular item and the fire starts." Belden shrugged. What else could he say?

  "And don't look at me, I can't start fires. I can teleport if I know the place I want to go, and can push rain clouds away." Verge sighed. "Unless I learn something else during class that is all I can do."

  "I have a few hours free right now, so we can get started. Don't worry. I will have to concentrate to learn what you do. Then you two will just give me ideas to try so I can put out fires." Belden saw Casi glance at her guards, than back at the boys. "It should be fun."

  "I can't help you," Belden said. "And why all the guards? Are they coming with us? And where will we practice?'

  "The guards are to protect me. Didn't you know? And they will have to go wherever I go otherwise they can't protect me." She raised one eyebrow and smiled. "I suggest the back of the kitchen garden. Or even in the countryside outside the northern gate. I really don't know many other places where we can't do much damage if the fires get out of control."

  "Kitchen garden," one of her guards advised in Trade. Belden had already learnt it was the one language that the humans, the indigenous Chillmannu, the Jlaantei and the Elementals all spoke even though Casi said it was originally called English.

  Belden thought over Casi comment about her guards as he walked through the ground floor corridors towards the kitchen gardens. Four guards just for her? Why just for her? I think they are there to watch Verge and him. Why is she lying? Does she really want to learn how to put out fires, or is that a ruse so she can watch us? Well, he does not believe her, and he will not show her how to start fires. Either she can or she can't do it.

  #

  "This should do." Casi stood next to the back wall of the kitchen garden.

  Sunlight reflected off the grey hides of three Jlaantei males digging garden beds and four Jlaantei females picking green seed pods from bushes that swayed in the light breeze a foot or two above the female's heads, but they were far enough away not to hear or see anything she tried to learn.

  She watched her guards arrange themselves in a semi circle behind the two boys. Casi hoped it was not obvious but her guards were there to both protect Casi from the boys, and protect the boys and Casi from any other sort of attack. Not that she needed protecting. She could defend herself if it was required.

  "Come closer." Casi sank to the ground in a patch of shade.

  Verge sat beside Casi, and rested his elbows on his knees. "Where do we start?'

  Belden did not sit but he moved closer. "Easy. How do you put out a candle?'

  "I blow it out," Casi answered. "I want to learn how to smother a fire that is burning wood, not a string surrounded by wax."

  "A stronger wind." Verge nodded. "I learnt how to make a twister last year. Remember, Belden?" Verge didn't wait for an answer. "You can manipulate the weather. So, make a cone of air spin then push it the way you want it to go."

  "You had better show me." Casi smiled, to encourage Verge, but mostly to reassure Belden. He did not remove his frown but he listened to Verge explain.

  "You have to start small, or you will run out of energy before you are done." Verge held his hands palm out in front of his chest.

  Casi caught a glimpse of Kensell from the corner of her eye as he stepped back and gently closed his beak, but the other guards listened carefully. She fought her own need to smile while she listened.

  "I used my finger like so, to stir up the dust." Verge rotated the tip of his index finger in a small circle and made the dust swirl before it collected in a column turning counter-clockwise. "Then still turning the air, I raise the cone." He moved his finger higher until his right hand hovered above his head.

  Casi studied Verge. She felt him gently release a trickle of energy towards the column of dust. The small cone of spinning air and dust turned faster and faster and grew taller.

  "You want it to move, you thin the air in that direction. To turn it, just thicken the air in front and thin the air at the side. See?" Verge waved his left hand sideways and the column of dust started to move.

  "How do you stop it," Casi asked.

  "I just let it go. I never needed to stop it. It is not big and after a while it loses its energy and sinks back to the ground." Verge dropped his arms back to his knees. "Your turn."

  "Lear," Casi called to her guard, "could you find four or five sticks and stand them up in a line over there?" She pointed towards the corner of the high wall where they should be protected from the weather and away from any Jlaantei or human that might stroll by.

  Lear went to collect sticks while Casi tried to start a twister. She turned her index finger like Verge demonstrated and watched the ground. Slowly she released a trickle of her own energy towards the ground. Nothing happened. She tried again with a little more energy, and finally, the dust started to rise and turned counter-clockwise. Without taking her eyes away from the tiny twister, she raised her arm above her head, willing the column of air and dust to build larger, which it did.

  When it was four feet tall, she concentrated on thinning the air in front of the twister. Off it went. "Ha, I did it. Kensell, did you see that?" Casi took her eyes of the twister to look at her guard.

  "Yes, Casi, I am watching. You should watch it too."

  Casi turned back to watch her twister sink to the ground. "Oh," she mumbled.

  "It was pretty good for your first go," eight year old Verge told Casi. "Next time guide it towards a fire and see if it can blow the fire out."

  "If you can control the weather, why don't you just build a storm? Either the wind or the rain should put out a fire." Belden walked back towards the wing of the palace that housed the classrooms.

  "Wait, Belden," Casi stood and gave a hand signal to her guards to wait. Then she ran to catch up to him. "What is the matter with you? Verge is happy to teach me, but you act so high and mighty. You don't want to lower yourself to help anyone. Why?'

  "I see right through you," Belden snapped back. He continued towards the entry.

  Casi knew she sounded exasperated. "What do you see?'

  Belden turned to face to Casi. "You are using this as an excuse to watch me in case I start another fire."

  "You idiot!" Casi grabbed his arm and teleported to the hospice corridor, where they just missed a healer who hurried around them.

  "You are coming with me. You may not believe me, but you will see."

  She dragged Belden through a door and across the room to stand beside a bed. She watched Belden while he studied the patient. She knew all he would see were eyes and mouth. The rest of the patient's body was covered in bandages, protecting the skin that had burnt and was only now generating new growth.

  She calmed enough to speak. "Mara, I bought Belden meet you. Mara is ten but you can't tell that," she explained to Belden. "Her neighbours in her village burnt her and her brother. That is Christen in the other bed. He is seven and only has burns on his arms." Casi watched Belden
's face, waiting for his anger to disappear. "I rescued these two when I heard Mara mentally call for help." Casi stepped closer to Belden, ignoring the smell of burnt flesh, antiseptic cream and other bodily smells clogging the room.

  Belden panted. "What did they do wrong to get the villagers riled up?'

  She knew his panting wouldn't stop the smells. "Wrong?" Casi pointed a finger at him. "What could possibly cause a village of humans to burn children?" Casi poked her finger into Belden's shoulder. "Think on that, while you remember your sheltered childhood."

  "You don't have to speak for me," Mara said into the silence. "It was nothing we did that caused the fire. It is our potential, which we have no control over. Remember we did lose our parents when we got burnt."

  "Mara," Casi turned back to the bed, "I am sorry. It is just that I want so much to learn how to put out fires, and Belden here has the ability to start a fire any time he wants. All I need is to understand how he starts fires and then I should be able to reverse it to put out fires, but he doesn't believe me."

  "That should be easy," Christen entered the conversation. "Read his mind then send him away. He is projecting anger right now."

  "I know, and I am sorry I bought him here. I will visit later after I get rid of Belden." Casi grabbed Belden's arm again, and teleported to the external entry to the classroom wing of the palace.

  Her guards still waited near the wall, and Verge hadn't moved from the shade.

  "Go," Casi ordered Belden. "Be selfish and arrogant. Don't help me learn to put out fires. Believe what you want." Casi turned her back in disgust and walked back to Verge and her guards.

  #

  "You finally gave her the slip," Belden said when Verge entered the boys sleeping area.

  Verge fell backwards onto his bed, placed his dirty feet on the footboard, and put his hands behind his head. "I didn't give her the slip," Verge answered. "We finished practicing and had a large meal, before she had to leave for a meeting."

  "And who is she meeting?'

  "Belden, I don't know what is wrong with you. Casi is nice. She only wants help to learn how to put out fires. What is your problem?'