Wildfire

Wildfire

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“Oh, come on, you stupid spell. Work!”

Wildfire cursed as she brought up her claws for what felt like the hundredth time, cupping them in front of her and turning all of her focus on the empty space between them. For a moment, nothing happened, and then the tiniest spark of fire began to dance between her claws like a firefly lazily drifting across a field of grass.

“Come on,” she muttered to the spark, her tongue poking out a little bit between her teeth in concentration. “Come on!”

The spark trembled, juttered, jerked. As she began to slowly pull her claws apart, the spark suddenly swelled in size, growing rapidly into the widening space, until it was as big as an acorn - then an apple - then a Pearlcatcher’s Pearl.

Wildfire stared at the glowing sphere of fire, a look of elation spreading across her face. Her neck crest flared up in excitement, and she let out a loud whoop.

“Yes! I did it! I - ”

She was cut off when her fire spell suddenly burst like a soap bubble, sending sparks flying every which way. She yelped in surprise as she was dazzled by the brightness, and began furiously rubbing at her eyes. When they were cleared, she looked back around herself only to find a few lazy cinders twirling above her head, the rest of the remains of her spell a pile of ashes drifting along the riverbank at her feet.

“Are you kidding me?! I finally had it that time!” She kicked furiously at the ashes, scattering them, before turning and stomping back towards the supplies she’d left resting against a nearby log.

She sat down upon the log with a huff, angrily digging her lunch out of her satchel. As she munched on her shrimp skewers, she glared towards the spot by the river where she’d been practicing her magic all morning. All she had to show for her efforts were a few singed blades of grass and a whole bunch of ashes. Hardly the work of a powerful fire mage. And yet, she was supposed to be representing her homeland in the powerful Warrior of Aegis Clan! She might have been able to hold her own in a one-on-one fight if need be - she was no slouch when it came to physical fighting - but she felt woefully inadequate compared to some of the other Flight Representatives that stayed with the clan.

She thought of the dazzling ice spells she’d seen Glacier produce, and the way Pandemic could infect even the strongest foes with just one swipe of her claws. She wished so badly that she could be as strong as them. But for all her practicing, and all of her struggles, she could barely produce one fire spell. Some protector she’d turned out to be!

As she finished up her lunch, a scuffling sound nearby caught her attention. She looked up in curiosity, and then blinked in surprise as what looked like the dirtiest little mirror hatchling she’d ever seen crawled out of a nearby bush, their eyes all focused on the last shrimp skewer in her claws.

The little mirror raised a paw to rub at their snout, theoretically to rub off some of the dirt clinging there, but they only succeeded in smearing it some more. They inched closer, their tongue darting out to lick at their chops.

“Uh, hi?” the mirror squeaked. “Are you going to finish that?”

Wildfire stared at the mirror hatchling, and then glanced down at her skewer. She looked back up at the hatchling, taking in the visible ribs along their sides and the dull sheen to their scales.

“Actually, I’m kind of full,” she told them, holding out the skewer. “Would you like it?”

The mirror hatchling didn’t hesitate for a second. Almost before Wildfire could blink, they darted over to Wildfire’s side, snatched up the skewer, and gobbled up the shrimp in one bite.

“Careful!” Wildfire chided them, even as she watched with wide eyes as the shrimp vanished in seconds. “You’ll choke!”

The mirror simply finished eating, before looking up at her with a hopeful expression. “Would you…would you happen to have any more?” they asked, ducking their head shyly.

“I’m sorry, I don’t,” Wildfire told them sadly. She winced as the mirror drooped, but then suddenly she remembered the nearby stream. “But I can probably catch you something else! You like fish, right?”

The effect was immediate. The hatchling brightened up like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. “Yes! I do!”

“Perfect,” she said. “Here, come with me. I’ll show you how to do it, so you can learn to fish for yourself.” And so you can have a bath, she tactfully didn’t add.

The two of them had a blast with the fishing lesson. The hatchling, who was apparently a male named Pebble, wasn’t much of a fisher, but he tried his best to mimic the way Wildfire carefully tracked the fish in the river, poising herself above them before lashing out with her claws as soon as they drifted too close and skewering them. She caught him several fish, and even managed to get him cleaned off by playfully dunking him in the water a few times. Under all the dirt and dust, he was a lovely green colour that reminded her of fresh leaves in the spring.

Once they had enough fish to make a decent meal, Wildfire guided Pebble out of the river and over to the banks. He started to grab for the nearest fish, but she smacked his claw away with her tail.

“It’s better for you if it’s cooked,” she told him sternly.

“Are we going to build a fire?” he asked, head tilted to the side in curiosity.

Wildfire just smiled mischievously at him. “I’ve got a better idea. Want to see a trick?”

Of course he did.

She picked up the first fish, and held it between her claws. She concentrated for a moment, willing the heat and the fire to come. After a few seconds, Pebble let out a shout of delighted surprise as the fish started cooking between her claws as if sandwiched between two metal plates. Casting a massive fireball spell might have been outside of her abilities, but simply heating up something she was holding? Easy-peasy.

The little mirror was practically drooling as she quickly finished her spell, and all but tore into the fish when she handed it over. Chuckling, she let him eat while she worked on cooking the next fish.

By the time they were done, Pebble’s belly was visibly bloated, and the hatchling was practically asleep on his feet after what looked like his first good meal in a while.

“That was awesome,” he told her sleepily. “Thank you.”

Wildfire chuckled, sweeping the leftover fishbones into a pile with her tail. “You’re welcome. Say.” She suddenly frowned as something occurred to her. “Where are your parents?”

Pebble went still, and looked up at her nervously. “I, uh. Don’t have any,” he admitted. But then he quickly added, “But that’s okay! I’ve got a big brother who takes good care of me!”

Given his half-starved and dirty state when she’d first met him, she seriously doubted that, but Pebble looked seconds from bolting, so she held her tongue. For now.

“Well, if you and your brother ever need help, you should come to the Warriors of Aegis Clan,” she told him. “We offer protection to anyone who needs it, and we’d be happy to take care of you.”

“That…might be nice,” Pebble said slowly, mulling it over. And then he looked up at her hopefully. “And you’d be there too?”

“Yes,” she said with a gentle smile.

“And you could cook me more fish?”

She laughed. “Absolutely!”

Pebble grinned up at her. “I think I’ll ask my brother then!”

He scampered off shortly after, promising to talk to his brother about visiting the clan. Wildfire followed at a discreet distance until she saw Pebble catch up to a frazzled-looking fae who was barely bigger than Pebble himself. Oh yes, Wildfire was definitely going to have to come back tomorrow and see if she could talk this older brother into coming back to the clan.

As she flew back to the clan’s lair, she realized that she was tired, but feeling far more accomplished than she usually did after a day of magic training. It slowly dawned on her that she might not need to be the best fighter to uphold her clan’s values of helping and protecting others. She was perfectly capable of helping out, powerful fire magic or not.

For the first time, she felt like she could do the Warriors of Aegis, and Crystal, proud, just the way she was. She couldn’t shake the grin from her face.

Lore by CupcakeNova

Bio Template by TrickyLai

Art by 6969