Hiraeth: Bonding (III)

Chapter Eleven

Absolute.

Unendurable.

Agony.

I got the flu as a child, when I was six, and I remember my head being so hot I asked my mother to encase it in ice.

Lying on that hard, hot rock surrounded by flowing death... Only a Wondrynian blizzard could ease the pain I was in.

But at least I knew what was coming next.

Derek had seen some sort of civilization from his perch on top of the volcano. It was South, and not far. The main concern was waiting out the sea of magma that continued to surround us even as Night began to fall.

No one could rest. Especially Serenity, even though the level had been decreasing for the past hour.

"Please, sit down," Roxie begged her.

"It might come back," was all she whispered, eyes blank. "... might come back."

"This is a cursed land," Miles said bleakly. "Nothing grows but the island itself, and nothing can stay."

"Nothing except dragons," Vincent corrected.

"Yes, but are they nice dragons?"

Mallory punched a fist into her hand. "They'd better be."

Liana rolled her eyes and patted the redhead's shoulder. "You will not threaten them."

"That's what you think."

"Hey, Mallory?" Derek cut in.

"Yeah?"

"I just realized, I've never seen your fireworks."

Mallory blushed. "Well, ya see I..."

Everyone's eyes were on her.

"... I mean, I couldn't. Not at a time like this."

"Oh, but I think it's the perfect time!" July insisted.

"C'mon," Damien begged.

"Fine!" Mallory laughed, standing up from her seat. "Fine."

My friend stepped into the middle of the island slowly, popping her knuckles and cracking her neck.

"Try not to let the noise bother you. Fireworks can be loud."

Mallory spread her arms out towards the stars, smiling like a child. As her eyes blinked and changed to rainbow bursts of color, so, too, did they fill the sky.

It was as if she were only throwing sand. But up a hand would go, and out would shoot a brilliant display of light.

Fireworks.

They burst high above us, fleeting flowers blooming and dying in seconds. Booms sounded with each tiny explosion, each spark ripple. The colors were so vibrant they lingered in my vision for seconds after they had left.

And only from all of this did I learn that Mallory's favorite color was pink.

"It's brilliant," Roxie sighed beside me.

I watched the rainbow through her dark chocolate eyes. They nearly brought tears to my own, and so I whispered, "So are you."

Serenity's trance had finally been broken, and in that moment of joy her voice filled the air with soft rhythmic humming. Liana joined in; her palms drumming against the igneous.

Miraculously, Derek and Kira stood up and started to dance.

Vincent shot up like a sprout, legs straight as he held out a hand and bowed low to Miles.