Celestial Storm: Golden Dawn

Chapter Three: Golden Dawn

Flame tied up the eight men that had captured me to the mast. He pulled something out of his bag and injected them with some sort of drug (or so I assumed). Fryn occasionally pestered the Air King in the hope of being allowed to steer the air ship again, but the Air King would shoo the creature away with a wave of his hand and a conjured gust of wind. This quickly became a game, and Fryn jumped at the Air King to provoke another gust of wind, which would send Fryn flying to the opposite end of the deck.

"Weeeeeeee!" Fryn cheered with each time a gust of wind repelled him from the Air King.

At that time I was standing at the bow of the air ship leaning on the railing, watching the night sky starting to turn into a light red. The sun was not yet above the horizon.

Flame was lying on the bow's deck four meters behind me. Judging by the snoring sounds that were behind me, Flame was asleep.

I wonder where Flame and Fryn are taking us, I thought. They are probably heading back to their guild. It is strange that we are headed in the same direction of the guild that I want to join.

"I wonder if they will accept me, I'm afraid that they won't," I thought aloud.

"You don't have to worry about that," I heard Flame say from behind me.

I looked behind me, and saw Flame was standing at my side. He was smiling at me with a gentle expression on his face. That was the first time I'd seen Flame like that.

"I thought that was the case," Flame continued. "There is no guild that I've heard of that turns down anyone that wants to join them."

"Flame, you really mean it?" I asked feeling my cheeks starting to warm up.

"Absolutely. Feeling fear of rejection is natural. That's what makes us human."

I gazed directly into his green eyes for the first time. I felt like I was staring into the eyes of a predator. His eyes at the moment were gentle but piercing, so I averted my gaze.

"There is particular guild that is special to me because thirty years ago, a person that is special to me was a member of that guild," I explained to him. "I made a promise to her that I would join that same guild, and continue the adventure which she couldn't finish due to special conditions."

"Hmm, that sounds good to me," Flame replied. "You made a promise, so go and join that guild and complete that adventure for her."

"But it's not that simple. If I'm not accepted into that guild, I cannot keep my promise."

Flame grabbed both of my shoulders and turned me so we faced each other directly, eye to eye. He then said, "It is as simple as it sounds; you only lack self confidence. If you keep avoiding that guild, you will never fulfill your promise!"

Those words hit me hard as though he actually slapped me. It took a moment for those words to sink in. The red sun just started to emerge from the horizon just then.

"Flame, thank you," I said feeling more confident with myself now. His grip loosened to the point that his hands were just resting on my shoulders.

The rising sun started to cast red light on the deck. Flame smiled again. My cheeks were warm but not from the dawn light alone.

"As I said before, there is no need to thank me," he replied. "So, what is the guild's name that you want to join?"

Before I could answer him, I heard just behind me Fryn squeal with delight.

"Fish!" Fryn squealed, "I want the fish, I want the fish!"