Starlight

Chapter 17: Tom

"So you said Marack sent you home?" He asked.

I had given up on my run and was sitting on the trunk of a fallen oak tree. I nodded sheepishly. And apparently he had kept it to just the few who had met me since Tom appeared to not know who I was.

"I didn't realize he was sending away the help."

"Exactly!" I growled. "Seth and Ash one minute are telling me how dire it is that we band together to defeat Mu and the next moment I'm being told I'm not needed and it's not my fight!"

Tom raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I mean, is that normal? To throw away people who want to help?"

Tom shook his head. "You didn't attack and almost get his people killed by trying to help did you?" He winked at me and I gave him a dirty look.

"No... if anything, I was helpful. I helped get the boy away from the fire demon."

He paused. "About a month ago?"

I nodded.

"Interesting," He remarked.

"If he had just given me a chance..." It had been the only thing I had been able to think about over the last weeks. That I had done something that had made him think I would be a hinderance. But even as I wracked my brain... the only thing I could think of was that Christine didn't like me.

Tom took a seat beside me.

"Well, he doesn't have to know."

I looked at him, confused for a moment. His warm eyes held me.

"What do you mean?"

Tom shrugged and put his hands in the air. "We'll show him what he threw away."

He gave me a small smile that I was unable to not return.

"I'll train you."

"To do what?" I asked tenatively.

"Whatever. Fight? We'll figure out what your strengths are, what power you have. And the next time you see Marack, maybe he'll take you a little more seriously."

I eyed him. "Won't he be furious with you?"

Tom threw his head back and laughed. "Marack is always pissed at me. Plus this will be highly entertaining."

He stood and pulled me to my feet. "Take a deep breath and close your eyes."

I closed my eyes and then opened one, glaring at him as a thought popped into my head.

"You aren't going to try anything funny are you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Close them."

I sighed and trusted him. I closed my eye and took in another deep breath.

"Alright now," he said in an almost hypnotic voice. "I want you to focus on what you are feeling. Is there anything that feels intense, strong, maybe a pulling feeling?"

I thought about the orbs and the feeling I had felt deep within my core when energy began to spike. What had led me to the mall. What had led me here.

I nodded.

"Good. Just become aware of it. Focus only on it. Become familiar." His voice trailed off.

I focused again on that something that seemed to be part of my core. The sound of the forest was starting to fade away and if Tom was still talking to me, I didn't hear it. A soft buzzing was getting louder like a wave of something inside me. Like being close to a live wire. It was getting stronger now, a warmth flowing through me like my core was that of the Earth, fluid and magma, always moving, building. It splashed up and around as it crested, desperate to be free. A feeling of foreboding touched me, and I felt fear... and old fear. A fear that told me that once I took the next step I wouldn't be able to go back. And even though it ignited that fear inside me, another part of me sang with purpose. It was my duty. The power inside me flicked up, as if celebrating my acceptance. I didn't feel the cold anymore on my skin. Didn't feel anything but the blaze of energy inside. It started deep in my belly and rose through my chest, flowing down my arms and pooled into my hands.

I opened my eyes.

Flames danced along my hands, whirling with reds and oranges, ever changing and ever moving. It was incredible and terrifying. I lifted my hand in front of my face and watched the flames lick across the skin on my fingers, but I felt no pain. No burning sensation. My skin was it's normal creamy white under the flames. I looked up at Tom whose eyes were not on the fire in my hands. They were on my face, tentatively watching me as if he was trying to discern my secrets. Why was he staring at me like that? As if he recognized something...

Surprise suddenly lighted in his eyes, like the proverbial light bulb going off.

"I can't believe it," He whispered.

"Me either," though I wasn't sure if he was talking about the dancing flames or something else.

He shook his head and cleared his throat, regaining his calm demeanor. "You are a

natural. Such a shame that Marack didn't see that."

And he was right. It was a shame.

"How do I stop it?"

"Sever the line."

I looked up at him as he edged closer to me.

"What?"

He smiled and made a snipping gesture with his hand.

"Stop feeding the magic."

I nodded and shook it off, trying to ignore the waves of power inside me. But as I tried to sooth them back into dormancy, they flared up, pushing back as if they wanted freedom. They did want freedom. They didn't want to be locked inside now that they had been released. Panic began to grow as the flames on my hands began to shoot up along my arms.

"I ... I can't!" I said, my voice trembling as the flames threatened to take over me. The flame was starting to grow in height, and I knew it wanted to combust. The wild energy wanted to be released, to explode, to sear, and burn.

I hadn't realized how much control I was losing. The fire was spreading down my body and though there it didn't hurt, I knew it was only a matter of time. A matter of time before it engulfed me... engulfed the entire forest. It would consume me and then consume everything it touched.

I dropped down, my knees bent, my body squatting over my feet as I tried to pull the fire back. But it wouldn't listen.

I couldn't control it.