Burning Sky

Chapter 22

Sora raced up the stairs to her grandfather's room, taking two steps at a time. When she reached the door, she saw he was once again lying in bed, for a second, she thought he had fallen back asleep, but then he opened his eyes and called for her.

His voice sounded weak and weary. Sora hoped that her grandmother hadn't left for the shrine. She didn't want him to be alone.

"Come in," he said. "What is all this noise?" Sora knew he was talking about all the people jostling around in the kitchen below, waiting for them. She moved to her grandfather's side, taking a deep breath in order to gather her thoughts.

"There is a problem, and I think we might need your help. Can you come downstairs?"

He nodded and told her he'd be there in a minute. She left him and headed downstairs to her friends. When she entered, she saw Ben, Mo, Katie and Drake sitting around the big table. Kiba was also inside, resting his head on top of Katie's feet.

"So your grandfather is a member of the Order," Drake stated and nodded approvingly. "I've never met an Order member before."

"I think that's the whole point," she said taking the empty seat next to him. "He said that my mother, who was also a Dragoncaller, was left to his care after her parents were killed."

"Dragoncallers," Ben muttered under his breath, but everyone heard him anyway and turned to stare at him. "You've been talking about that for a while now. What is it?" he said not hiding his annoyance once he had everyone's attention.

"Dragoncallers are humans that have the power to control dragons, and they can also channel a dragon's powers," explained Drake, and he seemed to be annoyed as well.

"And she's one?" Ben pointed at Sora, a look of mild disgust on his face.

Sora favored him in response with a slow, dramatic eye roll. "Get over it."

He's face suddenly lit up as his eyebrows shot up with understanding. "Wait a minute," he said, and he was once again stabbing a finger at her. "You are the one that stopped me when I was about to fry this guy," he said motioning toward Drake.

"For the record, you weren't about to fry me," said Drake, but Ben ignored him and rattled on.

"I could hear a voice in my head telling me, no, ordering me to stop, and then it was like I had no control over my own body. You're telling me that was you?" He was now standing up and staring down at Sora accusingly.

I guess he really hates being bossed around, she thought and shrugged in response to his question. Wait until he finds out about the school fire. She couldn't help but smile at the thought.

Ben looked like he was on the verge of losing it, he moved toward Sora menacingly, but at that moment, her grandfather entered the crowded kitchen. Everyone immediately straightened up in their seats, giving the old man their full attention. The little Japanese man appeared tired and weak, but he still had an air of power and wisdom that made them all stare waiting anxiously for him to speak. He demanded and got their full attention just by walking into the room.

"What happened?" he asked no one in particular and took the empty seat at the head of the table.

Sora turned towards Drake who gave her a reassuring nod and a brief smile. She smiled back but her smile was halfhearted, not reaching her eyes. She diverted her attention to her grandfather and told him everything, starting from the school fire almost three months earlier.

During her recollection, Ben squeaked out a few noises of shock mixed with anger and annoyance, but he held his tongue before actually saying something, which Sora knew was very hard for him.