Imagine #1: A Dream...

Chapter 18: Fire

AIDEN KANG

Friday, June 26, 2020 - 2080 RC

I was happy that I could leave NatureVilla, at least for a while. Don't get me wrong, I love my planet. But the truth of it was, I had no life left on it, at least not for a little while, after the fire and all. And these new people seemed nice, better than most of the people I had known in my sixteen years of life.

We were walking towards the portal, but it was going to take a while, since the hill the portal was on was part of a range that overlooked the city below. Nothing was wrong, everyone was talking, but suddenly I felt a pit open up in my stomach. We were in danger. We needed to get off the planet as fast as we could.

Hazel, who was talking to me, comparing Forestical to NatureVilla, noticed almost immediately. "Your eyes glowed." She told me. "What does that mean exactly? Did you feel something?"

My newfound powers weren't exactly new. I had been able to figure things out like this pretty much my entire life, but I had never realized that magic, Celestial magic, no less, was the cause of them. My parents had never said anything about glowing eyes, although my dad hated my powers and thought they made me strange and different, so I didn't ask them about it either.

But the glowing eyes were definitely related to the feeling of danger. "I think something bad is about to happen here." I told the group urgently. "We need to leave the planet as fast as we can. We're in danger."

The Royals looked alarmed, and told the guards we needed to move faster. We all sped up our walking to a jog, not wanting to take chances. Wow. I can't believe that people are actually listening to me. As soon as I said it, they believed me, I thought. I guess that when your 'feelings' now come from magic, they tend to listen.

Diana paused. "Wait. What if it's the Darkness? Shouldn't we stay here and fight it?" She interjected.

"We'll do better when the portal is close enough to leave and get reinforcements if necessary. You've seen how Dane's magic can be blocked," The King reminded.

"What?" I said. "What kind of magic does Dane have? And how would you fight the Darkness, I've been meaning to ask."

"We'll explain later, back at the Dream Center." Queen Allora said, hurrying us to keep moving.

I was walking, but I couldn't focus. Something was definitely wrong, and it bothered me that I couldn't tell what it was. I wasn't someone who could ignore it if I didn't know something. I needed to figure it out. Since there was no immediate threat, I turned my senses outwards, trying to see if I could feel anything off. Years of being mostly an afterthought does teach you to observe and learn on your own, since there isn't really anyone willing to answer your questions.

Only a moment later, I smelled the scent that hadn't left me since it had first appeared. Smoke. NatureVilla was on fire, again. I was starting to panic. If the protesters had set another fire, then people could die again, and I wasn't about to leave the planet and let the problem fix itself. Ignoring problems only made them worse.

"There's a fire!" I said quickly to the group. "Somebody set another one, and we need to go help the people get out of the area."

I wasn't sure if anyone was going to listen to me, but they looked ready to help. "But how are we going to evacuate the entire city? Where's the fire right now? Will it spread?" Sylvia questioned.

I nodded, thinking. They were valid questions, but I think I had a way to solve them. "Energy shields CAN block flames, but if you can't sustain them, it puts you in a dangerous spot. We need people best trained in the shields to find the borders of the fire and block it from traveling farther."