The Hatchling

Morning Star

The stall door clacked as it shut behind me and closed me in. Flexing my talons against the ground, I waited impatiently for the buzzer. I wanted to try and do what Jericho had done in training. He had made his fire into an single jet. This was the only place where I couldn't set something on fire at the moment.

When the buzzer sounded, I tightened my lips into an O shape and released my flame, forcing it out as quickly as I could manage. Sure enough, the blue speared forward in a straight stream. My heart fluttered with pure delight at the sight. I was finally learning how to wield my chosen weapon.

The buzzer told me it was time to stop, and I shuffle backwards awkwardly out of the stall. When I turned and looked at the red numbers, my stomach fell through the floor.

"Something wrong?" A rich voice asked from behind me.

I whirled around and saw a young man, perhaps a year or two older than Beck, standing in the doorway to the room. Was he a soldier here?

Shifting down, I looked at the numbers, and then back at him. "Doesn't fire always stay the same heat?"

"Yes?" He chuckled at me. I must've sounded quite silly to him.

He was very tall, even for a shifter. Broad shoulders and a muscular body made him look like a giant.

Was he taller than Milo?

His toffee brown hair looked like many other soldiers hair. Short on the sides, longer on top, and pushed back. His eyes were the most astounding feature about him, despite his towering height.

The stranger had deep wine red eyes. You could only see the red when the light hit his irises directly. Otherwise they appeared just like any other dark eyes.

"Is it possible to breathe fire colder some times then?" I mumbled, unable to draw my attention away from his crimson spectacles.

"No." He glanced at the number on the wall and then at me. "You're Emira right? The first fight?" I nodded. "That was an impressive fight. Do you think you're fire has gotten hotter for some reason?"

I blushed, uncomfortable with having even brought it up to him. I probably looked stupid. "I think the machines broken," I snorted, trying to play it off and convince myself at the same time.

His eyes studied me for what seemed like the longest five seconds of my entire life. I felt like his ruby irises were burning a hole straight through skull. "Probably," he laughed, breaking the awkward staring. When he tilted his head back, I noticed a strange symbol tattooed on his neck. A circle with three half swirls coming out of it, sort of like a triangle altogether.

"Are you a soldier or a trainee?" I asked the man, already knowing the answer. I just wanted to put a name to his face. Something about him made my hair stand on end and my skin crawl with anxiety. It had to be the oddly colored eyes.

"Oh I'm sorry I never introduced myself! How rude of me. My name is Osiris. I'm a soldier here."

He put his hand out for me to shake it, and I saw the symbol on his wrist as well.

"Nice to meet you," I managed to say through a tight jaw.

"You seem tense. You should fly for a bit," Osiris suggested lightly, like he had genuine concern.

"They're still sparring."

Osiris grinned and even laughed some more. "I didn't mean in here. I meant on some real wind."

I chuckled nervously. "Oh no I don't leave here without my instructor or my squad's instructor."

His eyes glistened with sudden amusement. "You seem to have adopted Beck as your trainer easily. How's that been? I've heard some rumors about him not being that great."

I shrugged. "I've gotten stronger in just this short period of time is what the machines said."

"And the fire one?"

"I've got a pretty hot fire, but not that hot!" I laughed, thinking about the ridiculous reading.

"What'd it say?" He smiled.

"It said I was around four thousand or something, which is wildly impossible. I'm actually a little less than three thousand, closer to two thousand five hundred."

Osiris burst out laughing. "Four thousand! Wow! Yeah I'll make sure to tell someone about it. It happened around this time every year when it reads all funny because of how many trainers have come in here and used it, so don't worry. You're not some freak of nature or anything. I've only ever heard of one singular person having fire that hot."

"Who? How is that even possible?" I snorted. It was probably an old fairy tale.

Osiris walked past me and turned off the machine for me. "Some guy some spec ops encountered like fifteen years ago when we were just kids. A young guy himself, but he apparently had fire so hot it melted their nano diamond dusted armor instantaneously."

"That seems impossible," I mused. Nano diamonds had the highest melting point of any known material.

Osiris shrugged. "It's just a legend around here. They call him the morning star because his fire was so hot, it turned white and was blinding. They tell you to 'Look out for the morning star' whenever we get deployed for a mission. It's somewhat like saying to be safe or good luck." Osiris nugged my arm. "You should learn to utilize that flame more. It trumps all other skills anyways. If you have an awesome technique, nothing is stopping you. Just focus on that one thing and leave the other stuff be. No need forcing yourself to become strong or faster if it's not your thing."

I nodded slowly in agreement. "Yeah I guess you're right. Are you good with fire?"

He shrugged modestly, but I got a hunch he was. "A little above average I guess."

I was immediately drawn in. Beck hadn't worked with me on fire yet. He was too focused on increasing my stamina. "So you're good?"

Osiris eyed me with coy suspicion. "Why so interested?"

I flushed and looked down. "I'm very untrained and I was wondering who trained you. Beck's very focused on other stuff at the moment, which there's nothing wrong with that, but I'd like a supplement."

"I trained myself with fire actually. As you've probably noticed, this place doesn't exactly serve individual needs very well. Fire breathers aren't appreciated enough in my opinion."

I kept nodding in agreement. As he said it, I found I couldn't help but agree. I felt unappreciated, especially by my team. I had a true talent!

"I'd be happy to show you some stuff I know some time!" Osiris offered.

Internally I leaped for joy, but then I knew how Beck would feel with me asking to have someone else train me. Anger, hurt, sadness.

"I'm not sure how Beck would feel about that though now that I think about it," I trailed off, very unsure in myself at that moment.

"He doesn't have to know. I can meet you on the roof above the aerial field every other night and I'll work with you on your fire."

Guilt built up inside me at the idea of going behind Beck's back. Then I remembered the spar. Good fire could've really helped me. Being good at something would make people like Malachai take me make seriously. Aiden would even see I was serious, Ferren would see Beck's training was working, and I'd end up in special operations depending on how good I got.

The more I thought about it, the more tempting the offer became.

"Yeah, that sounds good. When do I start?"

Osiris smiled. "Then it's a deal. I'll see you tomorrow in the field at midnight. We'll only work for just a little bit."

"Thank you so much Osiris!" I half squealed with excitement as he began to exit the room.

"No, thank you Emira," he replied humbly, and slipped out of the room as if he'd never been there.