Red Snow (The Shadows bk.3)

Chapter 9: Fire

Spending time with her dragons gave Sairene the opportunity to clear her head. She was able to regain control over the emotions she had accidentally let slip.

In an effort to gain a firmer grip, Sairene set her mind on teaching herself to control the harsh element of fire; she was with creatures that could create it after all. She knew that it was not going to be easy and that it was going to take a good deal of patience. If she was being brutally honest with herself, she had absolutely no idea how to start.

Upon waking, the young Queen had promptly noticed the absence of her horse. If she were anyone else, Sairene would have cursed black and blue for the journey back to the palace was a lengthy one. She was, however, in no rush to return to the palace just yet. The absence of her horse provided her with the perfect excuse to stay away for a little while longer. Sairene decided, then and there that she would not return unless the mastery of fire was her's.

~ Meanwhile at the Palace ~

The sight of the Queen's horse galloping into the courtyard without her on it's back alarmed the guards, who immediately went in search of Einarr.

"Sir!" Einarr was pulled out of the mountain of paperwork by the guard's urgent tone. Rubbing his eyes, the young man stood up and stretched; he had been at this since morning and it was now almost midday. He honestly did not know how the Queen pulled it off and still managed to appear coherent. Striding over to the doors, he pulled one open and came face to face with a concerned-looking guard. "What is it?" Instead of giving a verbal answer, the guard jerked his head in the direction of the main entrance. Only taking half his meaning, Einarr followed the guard to the main courtyard. At a glance, the sight of the Queen's horse was nothing unusual. It was only when Einarr noticed the absence of it's rider that he felt worry spread through him. Sure, the Queen had often left without explanation but she had always come back on her horse; this development disturbed the Queen's advisor more than he would ever admit. Worry for his monarch began to overrule every other thought in Einarr's mind. He knew better than anyone that the Queen was more than capable of looking after herself but something still nagged at the back of his mind, something was off and he would make it his mission to find out what.

~ At the Cave ~

Hours had passed, it was now midday and Sairene was no closer to her goal than she had been that morning.

She had sensed the dragons watching her and try as she might, she could not ignore the feel of their eyes on her. If they were somehow aware of what she was attempting to do, they gave no sign. Sairene tried the same method Êlon had taught her with the blue flame but strangely, it did not seem to work; her low supply of patience was running severely thin.

Sairene was standing with her back to the cave when she saw something glint in the weak winter sun. The shape moved and became the Amethyst dragon. Sairene smiled and went back to her practicing. "Fire is a natural element," whipping her head in the direction of the voice, Sairene saw no one and believed she had imagined it. "It is raw and wild," looking around, Sairene blinked to see if she had missed something. "Think back to how you summoned the lightning My Queen." It was only then that the young royal realised that the voice was inside her head. Never having heard the voice before, Sairene still sensed a certain familiarity in it. Narrowing her eyes, she looked up at the towering dragon before her and cocked her head to the side, could it be? Or was she just imagining things? "Was that you?" Sairene felt like a fool, talking to a creature that couldn't possibly talk back. "Yes My Queen," the dragon nodded it's great head and the Queen felt her eyes widen and her jaw drop. "But how? Why have I never heard you before?" The dragon stepped closer and lowered it's head, "because you did not need to."

Moving closer, Sairene reached out and gently stroked the dragon's snout, "can you help me?" She felt the beast nod and the feeling of relief flooded through her.

~ At the Palace ~

Descending the palace steps, Einarr moved towards the Queen's horse and slowly extended his hand. Upon feeling the animal come closer, he leaned in and spoke softy, "where is she? Where is your Mistress?" He knew horses couldn't talk, but asking those questions made the situation a little easier to handle.

Upon closer inspection of the horse, Einarr noticed small twigs to be tangled in the animal's pure white mane. Gently extracting them, he looked them over but did not find anything unusual about them. Throwing them to the side, he raked his fingers through his hair in a worried manner; normally the Queen's unexpected absence would not so much as bother him but this was different. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, Einarr turned on his heels and returned to the palace and headed to the throne room.

~ At the Cave ~

"Focus My Queen,"  the low rumble of the dragon's voice filled Sairene's mind. "Fire is a natural element. It is wild and few have ever tamed it. For you to control it, you must first feel unafraid in it's presence, for if you are, it will sense it."  Sairene nodded absentmindedly to the dragon's words and briefly wandered what would happen next. It was then that she felt a small amount of heat at her back. Opening her eyes, she looked up at the dragon, as though for permission. Receiving a nod, the young Queen turned and found a small fire to be burning by the entrance of the cave. "Approach the flames, but do be a afraid, do not let the fire sense it."  Taking a deep breath, Sairene lifted her chin and walked over to the small fire. "Stretch out your hand to the flames, let them know you mean no harm." A little alarmed by the instruction, Sairene did her best to stop her hand from shaking as she extended it to the dancing flames. Biting back a short cry, Sairene waited for the next instruction. "Let them dance over you and gain knowledge of who you are. It will only hurt if you fear them."

To her astonishment, the young monarch found the dragon to be right! At first it stung and a hiss escaped her. Closing her eyes, Sairene made an effort to appear calm and to remember as to why she was doing this; little by the little the pain faded. Soon the flames were dancing harmlessly along her arm and were moving towards her shoulder, her neck until she was all but covered in flickering flame. Looking briefly over to her scaly instructor, Sairene believed she saw a faint smile. "Very good My Queen,"  there was a note of pride in the dragon's voice. "Now that you have gained it's trust, reduce the flames to your palms. Focus on moving the flames to that area." Doing as she was told, Sairene felt the slight heat move across her skin and gather in the palm of her right hand. "Open your eyes My Queen," looking down, Sairene almost laughed at the sight that met her eyes. There in her right palm danced what seemed to be a ball of flame. "But how will I summon it? If there is no fire near?" If she managed to learn how to summon fire from nothing, Sairene knew that she would be almost close to unstoppable. "That is a good question My Queen and fortunately, I am able to answer," once again, relief flooded her system. "What you have learnt today will serve you in the future. If there is no fire near, you must remember what it felt like to be one with it and to have it cover you."  Nodding eagerly, Sairene could not stop a smile from forming. With these instructions in mind, Sairene stepped out of the shelter of the cave, it was time to return.

Briefly closing her eyes, Sairene remembered that her horse had run off. Then, an idea struck her like a bolt of lightning. Turning to the Amethyst dragon, Sairene smiled slyly, "I do believe it is time for me to return but my horse has left me and I do not fancy the idea of such a long walk, especially near sundown. Will you take me back?" Stepping close to her, the great beast nodded its head which sparkled in the light of the late afternoon sun.