Seekers of Fire

Chapter 7 - The Farm Boy

Those monsters can't be far off now! Amelia slowed down and took refuge under a shady tree to catch her breath. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, placed her school bag on the ground and peered inside. All she had was an untouched sandwich from school yesterday and half a bottle of water. She gulped down mouthfuls of water and adjusted her white Yankees cap on her head before continuing her journey.

There was a narrow road in front of her and on the other side stretched farmland as far as the eye could see. A small house and a few buildings stood in the middle of the field and when she concentrated, she could feel a familiar but slight magnetic pull towards it. Some called this pull the sixth sense, others called it plain curiosity. But she knew better because this pull led to those corrupt fire elementals and hopefully, to her father.

Amelia swung her bag around her shoulders, sprinted across the road and leapt over the poor excuse of a fence that was supposed to stop people or animals from entering or escaping the farmland. In fact, there were not many animals in the first place, and the few that she could see was far off in the distance near the farmhouse.

Usually, charging through someone else's private property was not something she would do on a late Saturday afternoon, but desperate times called for desperate measures. As she approached the farmhouse, her supernatural senses grew stronger and she knew those monsters were around here somewhere. But out of all the places in the world, why would they bring my father to a farm?

Cautiously, she walked up to the front door and knocked, but there was no sound coming from inside the farmhouse, nor was there the sound of rushing footsteps. "Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out.

That's when Amelia heard an engine start up from somewhere behind the house and she tiptoed to the back. As she turned around the corner, a barn came into view and she quickly hid behind the wall of the farmhouse when she saw two men in red robes standing near a truck.

Her heart began to race and she formed a fist with her right hand. Warmth spread from her chest to her enclosed fist before it engulfed in fire. Amelia considered charging towards them and fighting fire with fire, but decided to peek from behind the corner of the farmhouse first. This time, she noticed that there was a third man in the front seat of the truck. The other two men climbed into the trailer carrying a large brown bag that looked like a giant sack of potatoes.

Amelia also noticed a tall boy waving at them from the barn happily and the truck began to take off down the dirt path, pulling the large trailer with it. "Shoot!" she said with frustration when she realised that she could not chase the monsters on foot now. She turned her attention to where the boy was standing just moments ago, but he was nowhere in sight. He's probably inside the barn... and I bet that's where he's keeping my dad.

Careful not to make too much noise, Amelia walked towards the barn and tried to muster up her courage. She wondered if when she entered the barn, she would be ambushed by a group of fire elementals, but her senses told her otherwise. One... two... three! On three, she ran into the barn, spotted the boy beside some haystacks with his back turned and charged into him angrily.

"What in tarnation!" the boy managed to blurt out as he was tackled to the ground.

"Where's my father!" she demanded and kicked him when he tried to recover. "I said, where's my father?"

"Woah, I don't understand— oww! Stop kicking me!" He held out both hands in front of his face defensively.

Amelia stopped kicking but watched his every move. From the way he was dressed, he was a typical farm boy who looked about her age. Perhaps even a little older. He had messy dark brown hair and a bronze complexion. His startled green eyes stared into hers pleadingly, as if begging her not to beat the crap out of him.