Chapter 12

The Fyre Chronicles

Chapter 12

A bit later in the day, Santuric and I prepared to leave. I didn’t really have any possessions here, so it didn’t take long for us to be ready. We went out of the hut and turned towards each other. “Here we go” Santuric said, and laid his hand on my shoulder. Soon Fyre enveloped us both and again all I could see was flames. When I could, I was on rough and bumpy ground and the heat hit me square in the face. I looked around and was surprised to see a huge volcano to the left of us with crevasses filled with magma showing up all over the ground. In front of us was a big black-smoked wooden door. Santuric started to walk towards the door, and I hurried to follow.

The handle on the door was black metal, and from the looks of it, it was very hot. Nevertheless Santuric nudged me to open it, and I carefully grabbed the handle. I didn’t get burned surprisingly. I heard Santuric behind me “I does not burn people aligned with Fyre, thus keeping trespassers out. In fact, the whole location of this place is to help defend against Yce.” We now walked down a snaking hallway with doors on either side every few meters. “The hallway is shaped like a giant S for the symbolism of a flame, and to make ambushing intruders easier. We only saw few people in the hall, all looking like they had a purpose even though none of the doors were marked. We then reached the end of the hall and stood in front of a carved wooden door. Santuric opened it and a red light streamed out from the crack.

We entered a medium sized room, and the first thing I saw was the source of the red light. It emitted from a fist sized red orb sitting on a thin column. I could feel heat coming from it, but also a rejuvenating energy. On the ground in front of it sat two old men and an old woman, the woman with thin white hair and a wrinkly face on the left, a man completely bald and with a scar under his right eye on the right and a man with long grey hair and beard in the middle. They all wore red robes and had kind faces but undoubtedly with much wisdom behind. I saw Santuric bow his head in a nod and say “Greetings council.”



We sat on two pillows on front of them, and I had a second to look around. Two windows on either side of the room showed the barren landscape outside. Except for the column with the orb and the piles of pillows on the floor, the room was empty. Although on the wall, signs I didn’t know the meaning or purpose of was painted on with red paint. “So, you must be the chosen” said the bald man, and looked at me. “I am Shaw, and this is Zentharim” he pointed at the woman. “And this is Firr” he nodded to the man in the middle. “How is he coming along Santuric?” Zentharim asked. “He is doing very well. He passed the test on his first try.” He said. “Well, obviously! He’s the chosen!” Shaw blurted out. “Well, he may be chosen but he still needs training! And I suspect Santuric to have done a good job!” Zentharim replied. They continued to bicker for a minute, but Firr didn’t say anything and just looked quietly at me. His eyes was grey but with a deep fire burning behind. This was both fascinating and terrifying.

When I finally tore myself from his gaze, I interrupted Zentharims and Shaws argument. “Excuse me?” I said. They quieted and looked at me. “What does it mean to be chosen? And why am I it?” Zentharim leaned forward and caught my gaze. “You see. Every few thousand years, the best of the Fyre aligned offers some of their power to have an individual chosen. This individual has no boundaries when it comes to power. Normal humans can only channel so much, but the chosen has unlimited potential. This has happened twice before, once on every side of the contrast.”

I didn’t really understand this, maybe because it was so unnerving I couldn’t quite believe it. “But even a chosen must still have training” Shaw said “So we are taking over from now on!” I hadn’t expected this, what about Santuric? As hard as it had been with him, I had still formed a bond with him. “We have a special request for you Santuric” Zentharim said. “Which we need to do alone” she said and looked at me. “If you continue down the hall, take the 7th door on your left. There you will find a dorm for you to stay in.” I rose and but hesitated a split-second. “You should prepare” Shaw said. “You training begin tomorrow, and that won’t be something you can prepare for.” I looked back to try and catch Santurics gaze, but he didn’t look at me, only Firr did. I walked out of the room and closed the large carved door behind me.

I walked down the now empty hallway. I found the 7th door on my left and opened. It led into a long room with beds stacked all the way down. Some people were already asleep; we’d probably had a time zone change when we went here. Others were still up though, sitting on their beds meditating or reading a book. No one really noticed me, except for one guy who rose and walked smiling towards me. “Hey, I’m Sates” he said. He had brown hair and a slim face, and he was about 1.85 tall, around the same as me. “So I guess you’re the new guy we’ve been hearing about. Come, you can bunk next to me, there’s an empty bed.” We walked over to the beds, and sat down. “So you’re….. The chosen?” he started. “Yeah, apparently” I answered “But I still don’t understand much very well.” He looked at me for a second and said “It’ll all come in time, but if you think time with old Santuric was tough, you’re in for something much, much worse. But I guess even chosen must train too.” I hear a bell sound from somewhere outside. “Oh, it’s lights-out now. You should try to get some sleep. Keep to me in the morning and you’ll get off your feet well enough.”

I lay back on the rugged pillow and pulled the thin blanket over me, but soon had to throw it off because of the heat. This was probably part of the training, living on top of a volcano.

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Original post: http://www.fyreball.com/d/As0SgI

So here's the chapter of the week.

Enjoy

- Ting