Flames [Slow Updates]

Chapter Four

A while later, I finally broke down, taking deep breathes and filling my lungs with as much air as they could hold, leaning against an unidentifiable tree. I'd left the forest behind me a while ago and now saw trees shooting up sparsely here and there, giving welcome relief to my eyes from the glaringly bright sand. Now as I relaxed against the tree, I became aware of my parched throat. I had no idea about how long exactly I'd been running, but it was a long time, because I couldn’t spot the forest behind me. The ocean waves washed the sand smooth in front of me. No doubt I was on the other side of the island, the side that was uninhabited. Then the pounding headache ensued and I clutched at my head.

 "Think, think, think," I muttered to myself, trying to do that. The headache was probably due to dehydration. What did I need for that? "Water." And there was the sea, right in front of me. Problem solved. I began to stumble towards it, and then I forced myself to stop and slapped myself. "Sea equals salt water equals vomit." I said as loud as I could, stopping myself. I looked back at the sea, thinking about stuff I learned in school. Mrs. Faltner, the principal, would be horrified to hear that schooling didn't help in some stuff. Like finding water. I leaned my head against my hands, lying down on the sand, and thought some more. "All rivers lead to the sea, right?" I bounced up and began to run along the edge of the shore, searching. Almost fifteen minutes later, I was rewarded. A tiny stream trickled into view. Barely pausing to consider its safety, I gulped down mouthfuls of warm water then washed my face in it, reveling in its ability to get rid of the dust. When my vision cleared, I looked up again.

"Now to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do." Carefully standing up, I stared out at the sea for inspiration. Okay, so I ran. But now I was at the limit of the place I could run, and had no idea what to do next. My first idea would be to run, to get away from here, but it wasn't possible, not on my own without any help. So I sat, and stared up at the sky. Tiny pinpricks of light twinkled. The two moons slid into view, after a while. I began to swish the water through my fingers, creating tiny splashes. And finally, an idea crossed my mind.

Inferno had to have trading relations, right?

In five minutes, everything was set up. Except, of course, the main bit. I had dragged a few branches over to the spot next to the stream, and set them up in a way so that they'd were all touching, and had been planning to set it on fire, so that it'd be like a beacon to all the ships out at sea. Someone would notice it, and they'd send a boat in, and I would board it and be saved. Simple. And then I realized there was no fire. "Stupid!"

I stared at the wood, hoping for a brilliant idea to hit me on the head and save me. "Fire, fire, fire..." I grabbed the bits of wood and squeezed them tight, trying very hard to think. In a few moments, I opened my eyes again to be surprised.

Tongues of emerald green fire licked at the wood, and my hands.

With a scream, I released the wood, but the fire didn't die out. It climbed higher and higher and grew to be almost 10 feet tall. I had to tilt my head back to see it properly. There it was, my green beacon of hope.

I turned to the sea, and looked out across the water. I wasn't disappointed. In less than a minute, and answering light, this one a warm buttery yellow, blazed up. As I did a victory dance on the sand, the light came closer and closer. Slowly, it revealed the outline of a small boat, coming steadily towards me. I ran down to the edge of the waves to meet it.

"Finally!" I shrieked, as the boat finally stopped, a few feet away from me.

“Finally what?" asked a cranky voice from inside the boat.

"Someone's finally come! You have no idea what I've gone through in the last, what, twenty-four hours? With all this stuff about princesses and prophecies and stuff! I mean, I have all these superpowers and will help destroy the world or something! And everyone wants to kill me, apparently! And all I-"