Burning Flame

Chapter Twenty

Serenity galloped towards the cave, her heart beating wildly in her chest.
I have to let Blaze know. He needs to know where I'll be.
Her parents told her yesterday that she'd be going into training at a nearby camp to hone her magic and fighting skills. She thought it would be great, but she still wanted to see Blaze. He was her one and only true friend.
She raced into the cave, her hooves clunking loudly against the hard stone.
"Blaze? Are you here?" she whispered. Two fiery eyes appeared before her and she grinned. He'd always had a certain knack for stealth.
"I have something to tell you," he said.
"Me too."
He took a breath and lowered his eyes.
"My parents are sending me away to a training camp."
She stared at him for a moment.
Why are we so different, yet exactly the same?
"I'm being sent to a training camp, too," she said.
His head snapped up and his eyes narrowed.
"Really?"
She nodded.
"We need to figure out how to find each other, then," he murmured thoughtfully.
They both thought for a moment, but neither of them could find a solution. Then Serenity was hit with a stroke of brilliance.
"My parents like to share images of their past with me, even when they're far away. Perhaps we could figure out how to share images of where our training camps are. That way we can visit each other at night, when no one else is watching."
He eyes widened and his frills came out from the side of his head.
"That's brilliant!" he cried.
He paused for a moment.
"But you'll have to teach me how."
Serenity smirked and pushed him playfully with her hoof.
"Don't I always?"
Blaze grinned, pushing her back lightly with his taloned hand.
"Hey, I taught you how to climb and fly! Don't be ungrateful now," he teased.
She let out a whinny of laughter as she batted at him with one of her feathered wings. He spread his wings and fanned them back at her, both of them laughing the entire time.
When things finally started to die down, Serenity locked eyes with Blaze.
"We need to be able to find each other. I can't imagine living without you... you're my best friend."
He grinned.
"You're my best friend, too. Now teach me how to reach you, Master Serenity."
They giggled and Serenity smacked him playfully with her wing.
"Quiet! Lessons are in session now! I demand order!"
Blaze puffed out his chest.
"Yes m'am!"
"Alright then. So at first I want you to close your eyes. Good. Now feel the energy that you have, that is your entire self. You feel it? Okay."
He heard her shift to the side, but he didn't open his eyes.
"I want you to still be aware of yourself, but I'm going to reach out to you now. Try to connect our energy so that I can share my thoughts with you."
Gradually he felt a sensation of a pressure on his mind, on his very thoughts themselves. He grasped at it mentally.
Suddenly a bright image of blue sky filled his mind's eye, and he saw his own form soaring through the sky. He realized with a jolt that he was looking at Serenity's memory of her first flight lesson with him. He even thought he could feel the wind, the anxiety of learning something new...
The connection stopped abruptly and he opened his eyes to stare in awe at his friend.
"How did you do that? How did you open that up to me?" he asked.
She shrugged her wings.
"I thought of an image or memory that I could share with you, and once our minds interconnected with magic I could show it through your mind's eye. I can only do short memories and limited images right now. If I keep practicing, one day I could talk to you through our connection," she said.
"Really? Would we have to be close?"
She shook her head.
"Masters can talk to others from entirely different dimensions, but few creatures ever gain that much power."
"Wow," he murmured.
"Yeah. Cool, right?"
He gave a quick nod.
"Hey, maybe I should try it this time to make sure that I know how to reach you?" he offered.
She grinned.
"Good idea. Go ahead, give it a shot," she said.
Blaze closed his eyes and focused. He thought of Serenity standing in front of him now, so that the image locked into his head. He held it, but then he realized that he wasn't able to connect their minds.
"How do I find you?" he asked, his eyes still closed.
"Try to feel my energy. Everyone's mind and energy are different. You'll get used to mine soon enough. Just imagine that you're reaching out to me mentally. Imagine physically pushing your image forward towards my energy."
Blaze worked his jaw as he tried to focus. The image burned bright behind his eyelids as he struggled to find Serenity. Then he felt something with his mind. It was a soft, timid energy that glowed faintly nearby. He reached out to the energy and suddenly he became one with it as they connected. He felt his image being shared with her, and when he opened his eyes he saw her gentle eyes glittering with joy.
"We can find each other now. Just look for my energy, since you know what it's like now. It will be harder when we're farther away, but I think we can do it," she said.
He nodded once and walked forward to be closer to her. Suddenly she put her head against his so that their foreheads touched and they were eye to eye.
"Promise you'll reach out to me. Promise that we'll still see each other, no matter what happens."
He felt the heat from the fur on her face and she felt the smooth hardness of his scales. They stared into each other's eyes, and in that moment they weren't young, timid creatures from different species. They were friends with an unspoken, unbreakable bond.
"I'll never leave you, Serenity. I promise."