In the Heart of the Fire (a KOTLC fanfic)

XIV

When we arrive at the wood buildings, I'm immediately shocked. Zeke's house was one thing, but even our peasants don't live in wood. It's always jewels.

There's something about this place, though. It feels homey. It feels...right. The emotions of the others are calm, tasting of Youth in a Bottle.

Zeke steps forward and greets the one who appears to be the diplomat. Zeke explains our situation and I gently reach out to feel the warlock's emotions. The man looks in my direction and shatters the connection I was trying to reach him with.

I fall to my knees, feeling like I've been struck in my chest with an icy knife. I shiver uncontrollably and press my hands to my chest, gasping for air.

"Do not do that again." The man's voice is rough, but melodic. "Your powers are not in control here. We do not take kindly to outsiders who abuse the powers of the world. You will be fine in a few minutes."

"Elves, this is Evan, a member of this coven of witches. You are under the coven's command while you are here. You will do as they say. If you give them trouble, they have permission to send you back to the Lost Cities, where you will face something much worse than their wrath. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Keefe locks his jaw and gently picks my still incapacitated body up. His warmth is nice and comforting.

"This is where I leave you." With that, Zeke walks back the way we came, to his cabin and his life.

"I have things I must attend to. Therefore, I will let my son and apprentice show you around." Evan calls a child over, then leaves us.

I say child, but the warlock is about our age. He has high cheekbones, shaggy honey-blonde hair and kind brown eyes the color of the soil we stand on. He's tall and thin, built to run through the forest. If I had to guess, I'd say he hunts. He reminds me of the human depiction of elves. And yes, he's handsome.

"I'm Amari." His voice is the opposite of his father's. It's thin and whispy, but not unpleasant. It suits him. "Come." He walks, not toward the buildings, but farther out into the woods. "I will first show you our stream. It is sacred. We take only what we need from it. Starting tomorrow, it will be your job to gather water. We shall start off easy."

I smile to myself. I hope he knows we have not worked a day in our life. There is no easy here. Except for Linh. She should do well at this, being a hydrokinetic and all.

"You're name is pretty." Linh comments. "What's it mean?"

"Eternal." Amari answers. "Like the stars in the sky and our coven, if the fates allow."

"What kind of magic do you practice?" Linh is always full of questions, but I like the way it fills the silence.

"We do mostly natural magic because it's easiest when you live immersed in it. Earth and air magic are popular among us as well. Water magic is only practiced once a month so that we don't use up our only water supply. Fire magic is hard because it's the most difficult to control and we live surrounded by kindling. We don't practice it but once a year. We do candle magic on occasion. Dark magic, some crystal magic and black candle magic are not ones we practice."

"Well, now you can practice fire magic more." I speak up. My voice trembles a bit, still suffering from whatever the elder warlock did.

Amari laughs. "How?"

I nudge Keefe with my hand and he puts me down. "Don't-" He begins, but I cut him off.

I reach out toward Amari. He steps back. Smart one not to trust me. I gently let fire blossom in my hand, let it go through the colors of the spectrum. He watches, transfixed. I close my hand and the flame disappears.

Amari looks around to make sure the trees are fine and not burning to the ground.

I laugh. "I'm a Pyrokinetic. I can control fire. Maybe you all can practice it more because I can keep it from burning everything."

Amari smiles a little. "I'm sure that would make the others happy."

My smile mirrors his. I'm glad to be accepted here. I hold out my lit hand again. "This is my family legacy. This is who I am. I'm not evil just as much as any other person. I'm just different."

"Trust me, we understand." Amari nods. "Most covens exist because we are outcasts. The world hates us for no reason. So, while we do live here to be drowned in nature, it is also to avoid society. We are sustainable here and on occasion Zeke brings us things we need that we cannot make or grow."

"Amazing." I marvel. "If I go back to the Lost Cities, I'll get imprisoned."

"Ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials?"

"No. Do tell."

Amari recounts the sad tale as we reach the stream. It's sad but shows, once again, how humans cannot exist with others. Every time I start believing in the good of humans, they prove me otherwise. I just don't get it.

Amari looks at the river. "I forgot to bring buckets."

Oh sweet blitzenberry muffins. It's fine. Linh's here.

"I got it!" Linh smiles and holds up her hands. The water rises with it, a beautiful bubble of H2O.

Amari gawks in delight like a little kid. "That's amazing!"

I can't help but laugh. Elven abilities are so developed. I take that for granted too often.

The trek back to the coven is filled with Amari gushing over witchcraft and basically retelling his life story. The similarities between his and our lives is striking. Persecution and staying in one place is mandatory to our survival. Amari also tells of the people. Lucky thirteen witches in this coven. All of them have their own stories. It's a rich culture and the history dates back just as far as the Ancient elves.

The village is beautiful in the waning light. I was so distracted by Amari that I didn't notice the sun setting. I lift my hand and light the way for us.

Evan meets our group and guides Linh to a well they have set up. It's funny. They have a well, but fill it with water from the stream. Tam also insists on going with them. He really will protect his twin until he dies.

Unfortunately, that left me, Keefe and Amari to awkwardly stare at each other.

"So...do you want to go see where you will sleep?" Amari asks.

"Sure!" I would like to go to sleep now, honestly. I need to recover from all the light leaping.

Amari leads us to one of the cozy cabins, the one on the far right. "You four will be with us children."

The cabin is sparse. Many bunk beds line the walls.

"Um." Amari starts. "We only have so many beds, so you may have to share."

Keefe and my eyes snap to each other's. Oh sweet curse words.

*****

Author's Note: First of all, if you are a participant in witchcraft or anything like it, and you are offended by this post, I am sorry. That is not my intention. It just seems like the natural progression of my story and I hoped to gain more exposure for people in the practice. I consulted with a close friend of mine who is a witch to make it more factually correct.

That aside, this part is dedicated to my diploma seal friends. We did amazing work today! I'm so proud of us!

As for the story, I hope you enjoyed! Happy reading, book buds! Love you all!💙