Flamethroat (6 page)

I woke before Jack. I woke even before the sun had completely risen. One of Hawthorne
’
s enormous wings had fallen across my body and the weight had caused me to stir. Once I was awake, falling back to sleep was hopeless. The noises of the forest were loud at this early hour. Crickets chirped, birds sang and Jack snored at a ridiculous volume. It was no use; I was wide-awake.

The fire from the previous night was now a
smouldering
pile of blackened wood. I kicked the charcoal with my shoes and scattered it across the ground. The sound seemed to wake Jack, for he stirred and sat up, his eyes red and puffy.

‘
Good morning,
’
I said with a small smile.

‘
Morning,
’
Jack mumbled, disentangling himself from the blanket and standing up. He walked into the nearby trees where I heard him
peeing
.

‘
Can
’
t you go further into the trees?
’
I asked when he returned.

Jack shrugged and I rolled my eyes.

‘
What
’
s for breakfast?
’
he asked, sitting on the grass next to me, which was slightly damp with morning dew.

‘
Leftover pheasant,
’
I said, handing it to him.

Hawthorne rolled around in the grass behind us, stretching his large body.

‘
After we have eaten we will pack up our camp and walk for a few miles.
’
I told Jack.

‘
Do you think you would get there quicker without me?
’
Jack asked.

I frowned.
‘
What do you mean?
’

He shrugged.
‘
I feel as though I
’
m holding you back. If I wasn
’
t here you could fly to Concord City within a day or two.
’

I considered this for a moment and tried to imagine myself
travelling
over one hundred miles without Jack.
‘
You
’
re not sick of me, are you?
’

Jack allowed himself a smile.
‘
Immensely
,’ he said.
He nudged me playfully.

‘
I
’
d rather you were with me,
’
I said.

Jack accepted this and remained silent while we repacked our belongings.

~

We stopped for lunch in a town called Athol Hills. As usual, Hawthorne hid somewhere out of sight of the village and we took the path into town. At first, the town appeared to be quite pretty. It was built on a hillside, with many houses built right into the grassy slopes. It was this first impression that made me think that Athol Hills must have been a peaceful place to live, however when we ventured through the town I noticed a large amount of destruction on every street. Doors hung off their hinges, lawns
smouldered
and many freestanding buildings looked as though a struggle had taken place inside. As we walked, Jack and I watched the townspeople busy themselves as they tried to rebuild their destroyed homes. One man was up on his roof, repairing an enormous hole that seemed to have been blasted through the ceiling. His wife watched from the front lawn apprehensively.

‘
What happened here?
’
I said under my breath to Jack.

The wife of the man on the roof turned and spotted us passing.

‘
Excuse me!
’
she called, waving at Jack.
‘
Can you help?
’

Jack being
Jack
could not refuse to help anyone.

‘
What
’
s wrong?
’
he asked, approaching the gate of their home.

‘
It
’
s my son,
’
the woman said, pointing towards the house.
‘
He has a nasty burn on his leg. Might you heal it? I
’
ll pay you, of course.
’

‘
I
–
well
–
yes, of course,
’
said Jack, shocked.
‘
But
–
how did you know I-
’

The woman waved her hand dismissively.
‘
I can see Power. Please, won
’
t you help?
’
She said.
‘
I
’
ve been keeping an eye out for a Healer for days.
’

‘
Of course
’

The woman opened the gate and allowed Jack through. I went to follow, but she held up a hand to stop me.

‘
No, I
’
m sorry. I shan
’
t allow a Fire-Mage into my home.
’

I stopped and stared.
‘
Why?
’
I asked, looking imploringly at Jack for support.
‘
I am perfectly safe.
’

‘
She is.
’
Jack added,
‘
She is harmless, really.
’

‘
I
’
m sorry.
’
The woman said again, shaking her head,
‘
It is a matter of principal. How do you think my son got his burn?
’

‘
A Fire-Mage did it?
’
I asked, stunned. I had never met a Fire-Mage that I wasn
’
t related to.

‘
Yes, a little girl, no older than eleven.
’
The woman turned to Jack.
‘
Shall we?
’

‘
Uh,
’
Jack paused, looking at me for direction.

‘
It
’
s fine,
’
I said waving a hand.
‘
I
’
ll wait here.
’

Jack allowed himself to be steered inside the woman
’
s home. I waited nervously on the pathway, looking around and disliking being alone. I watched the man on the roof as he hammered nails into the wooden planks being used to cover the gaping hole. It took me a few moments to notice that there was no ladder leading up to the roof. How would he get down? This question was answered almost immediately as the man jumped from the roof and landed as light as a feather on his toes.

‘
That looks fun,
’
I said to him.

‘
Weight-Shifter
’
he said pointing to his chest.

‘
Weight-Shifter?
’
I repeated.
‘
I have never heard of that before.
’

He shrugged.
‘
I can manipulate my weight. I can be lighter than air or heavier than twenty men put together, without my physical size changing.
’

I frowned.
‘
Is that useful?
’
I didn
’
t mean to be rude, I was just curious. The man obviously didn
’
t find it rude and simply laughed.

‘
Sometimes, when I
’
m happy I just float into the air, like a bubble.
’

I grinned.
‘
You can fly?
’

He shook his head.
‘
Hardly, it
’
s more like being carried on the wind. I can
’
t really control where I go.
’

‘
It sounds nice though,
’
I said, thinking about floating through the clouds peacefully.

‘
But when I get mad,
’
He gave a little shudder,
‘
the floor will warp beneath my weight.
’

‘
I suppose you can
’
t get into
too many
arguments with your wife then?
’
I smirked.

He looked towards his front door to make sure his wife wasn
’
t listening.
‘
The floor throughout our entire house is ruined,
’
he said cheekily in an undertone.

I laughed and he allowed himself a smile.

‘
So what do you do?
’
he asked.

I wondered whether it was a wise idea to reveal my Power, considering this man
’
s son was suffering from burns, however, his wife was already aware, so what was the harm?

‘
I
’
m a Fire-Mage,
’
I said, then quickly added,
‘
but don
’
t worry, I
’
m not related to the Mage that burned your son.
’

He eyed my suspiciously.
‘
How do you know?
’

I crossed my arms over my chest.
‘
I just know. Why did she attack your son anyway?
’

The man pursed his lips.
‘
The girl that burned my son was from
T
he Realm,
’
he said, crossing his arms over his chest too.
‘
She was with a group of officials, all in red cloaks.
’

‘
The Realm?
’
I repeated.
‘
Why did
they
attack your son?
’

He scoffed.
‘
Haven
’
t you seen the town? They destroyed half of our homes. Looking for Humans I think. They hurt anyone who refused to answer their questions. They took the entire family next door.
’

‘
Why?
’

‘
Their little boy hadn
’
t shown any Powers yet,
’
he said as he glanced next door,
‘
but he was only eight… there was still time for his Power to appear.
’

‘
But your wife can see Power, can
’
t she?
’
I asked.
‘
Couldn
’
t she tell them that his Power had not arrived yet?
’

The man looked suddenly uncomfortable at these words.
‘
Well, she tried, but the kid didn
’
t have a trace of Power in him, according to her.
’

‘
You mean he was Human?
’
I asked.
‘
But he was of a Mage bloodline, right?
’

He nodded.
‘
I mean, as far as we know. Funny isn
’
t it? I had never heard of a Human being born to Mage parents.
’

I frowned,
‘
No … me either.
’
I lied.

‘
Maybe he was adopted,
’
the man said thoughtfully.

So, another family had been taken away by
T
he Realm of Mages for having a Human child. Was
T
he Realm scouring the cities, searching for the Powerless?

As my head swirled with this new information, Jack emerged from the house, accompanied by the man
’
s wife.

‘
Thank you,
’
she was saying.
‘
You did wonderfully.
’