Fire Proof

Chapter Twenty-Four

I let the flames on my skin die down until they go out before I do anything. When they're gone, I realize Kenneth has made a run for it and is nowhere to be seen, and the crowd has mostly dispersed around The Ring. Turning to Cirtron, I give him a nod. "I'm sorry, for the burns. I didn't know a Fire could burn other Fires."

He shrugs, though the motion seems to pain him. "Potens es, I must say."

I duck my head, "thanks, I guess."

"Don't be so modest," he chuckles lightly, but his accent is heavy. Sometimes I forget most of the dragons prefer Latin over English. "May I ask why you decided to fight for your own hand? Do you really not want us to be your mate, or are you just trying to spite your sister?"

I sigh. "Both. She needs to know not everything is about her. But I also kind of already have a mate."

"Oh! I hadn't known. Well, congratulations, Azari, est felix guido." I barely have time to tell him thank you before he's limping away. I watch him shift into his bright orange and red dragon when he reaches the edge of the bowl. Using his wings — slightly injured from the fight — and claws, he scrambles up over the rim and disappears from view.

Alone now, I stretch my hands out in front of me. It's going to be hard getting over the fact that I just did that. I stood up for myself, and I broke from a mind hold, something I've never heard possible! I stare at my fingertips, I really am a powerful one, aren't I?

🔥 🔥 🔥

The next couple days go by, and it's strange. The dragons that pass me in the hall duck their heads as they scurry away. It's almost as if they're fearful of me now.

I can live with that.

As for what I'm actually doing every day, is pretty much nothing. I take care of Jupiter, when he's with me — which is almost never. Often, he's with the other kids his age. I leave my room to eat, to check on my brother, and if Aislee calls for me. I feel like a caged animal the rest of the time.

Nothing exciting happens until the fifth sunrise after the fight. We're in the dining area, and I'm situated at the front on the left of Aislee. Tai sits on her right. The rest of the weyr are eating their dinner and mingling amongst each other at tables stretching the lengths of the room. As am I.

Mid-way through my bite of lamb, a more unsettling commotion erupts from the middle of Table C. I snap my head to the left when someone bangs their fist on the surface.

"No!" A dragon shouts, but it's a voice I don't think I've met. "Please don't!"

Aislee stands with a growl, "don't what?" An Earth scurries from Table C, up and around the leading table, stopping at Aislee's right. The girl whispers something I can't make out fully into my sister's ear.

"What, now you're going to tattle on us?" A different voice pipes up. This time I can pinpoint it, matching it to a Water. He glances at the dragons near him, their fear evident.

By this time, the Earth is retreating and Aislee looks as if she's about to bury someone six feet under. I watch her with wide eyes as she screeches her chair back, gaining the attention of the rest of the room. "Thank you, Fern," she grumbled out, "for making me aware that we have traitors among us!"

The dining hall collectively gasps, but I think most of them are just afraid of Aislee and what she'll do if they don't agree with her.

"I won't repeat what they have said, but it was against me, and my leadership. Which might I remind you is hereditary and I have every right to be in charge here!"

I swallow, unsure how this is going to end. Aislee is showing more of her true self to me every day, and this right here adds to it. I'm not sure what happened, but she's not the sister I grew up with anymore.

"Ripley, Zekaya, Audra, and Emberly please stand up." A group from Table C rises cautiously, the dragons around us staring hard at them.

"Aislee!" I hiss, "nolite nocere eis!"

She doesn't hear me, or she pretends not to. "The four dragons in front of us shall be exiled at once! They have no place here and if any of them sets foot in this territory again, I will not hesitate to end their lives."

The four dragons glance at each other in fear as they step away from the table, dragging their feet as they make their way to the door.

"Nihil!" Someone shouts. "Quaeso, ne expelleret!" It takes me a second to realize it's the woman who brought us breakfast the first day here. "Zekaya!" She calls and the Earth in the group turns around.

"Mater!" She calls back. "Non! Vos mos adepto occidit ipsum!" 

"Too late," Aislee says and raises her hand, gesturing to the Earth's at the door. "You, get the traitors out of here! And you, take care of Zeph for me."

"No!" I whisper under my breath, too scared for my own life to speak up. Zeph was going to die today, all because she spoke up for her daughter's exile. This confirms my fear: Aislee is not the leader she was taught to be. She is ruthless and cruel, and if Mother and Father were here, they would not be happy.

The next few meals in the dining area are quiet, no one wanting to talk in fear of getting the same fate as that group of kids. I scoop a spoonful of mashed vegetables into my mouth and peek at my sister under my lashes. She's not looking at me, thank heavens, but instead seems to be deep in thought, heavily concentrated as she eats her meal. I don't even want to begin to guess what scheme she's dreaming up.

A day or two ago, I stood on a ledge and stared at the world in front of me. Mostly it consisted of rocky terrain spotted with dry brush, but beyond that was the forest that stretched for miles and miles. The moon shone high above — full and in all its glory — creating beams of silvery light cascading into the leaves and giving the stone ground a blue color.

At first, I just soaked in the beauty of it, but then I remembered stories from when I was a child of wolves who turned under the moon. I was taught we were better, almost more entitled I suppose, than the dogs all because we could control our shift. I used to agree with the tales, running around the room as my parents told them, feeling as powerful as the stories claimed.

But as I stood there on that cliff, sheltered away behind the boulders, I had let my mind wander to Bryce and the pack. After getting to know them and how they lived, I realized the majority of those stories were false. I doubted the moon even had anything to do with their wolves. But even still, I was grateful for them only for the fact they brought my mind to think of him. And the longer I stared at the trees, the more the ache in my heart grew. What was he doing now? Was he worried? Was he looking for me?

As I sit here sneaking peeks at Aislee, I know the longer I'm here the worse I'm going to feel. This isn't my home anymore, and coming back was a huge mistake.