Chasing Embers | 1

13 | E m b e r

—

I felt different. It honestly sounds ridiculous to say, but I could feel it. I could feel the threads of energy dangling around me. It was everywhere. I felt it in Dante as he showed me how to use the energy to form a flame. The process was complicated, I won't lie. He worked with me the entire day, remaining patient as I failed to produce more than sparks over and over again. But patience only goes so far. Dante had turned to a different tactic.
    
He held a rubber looking ball in front of him as we stood in the center of Ragan's home for the hundredth time that day.
    
"All I want you to do is catch the ball, Ember. You can catch right?" It was meant to be a joke, so I rolled my eyes and lifted my hands into position.
    
He nodded, shifting the ball in his hands. Where he got the thing, I'd never know, but I would later be in debt of the little exercise. "Follow through with your catch. Cradle it likes it's a baby."

Dante tossed the ball and I did as he said, catching it with soft hands. He nodded again. "Good, again."

We did that for a while. He'd throw, I'd catch. I'd throw back, he'd catch and so forth. It felt childish, just tossing a ball, but what he did next brought it all into place.
    
Dante set the ball down. "Now, listen carefully. What I throw at you next, you probably want to catch. Just remember: steady hands and follow through. Feel the energy."
    
And then he hurled a ball of fire towards my face. The action took me completely off guard. I sidestepped quickly, the flames flying past me and into the wall. They dissolved quickly, and I felt the building shaking around me from the impact.
    
I looked back at Dante with utter shock plastered on my face. "What was that for!" I yelled. To the side, Ragan and Hunter watched us with amused expressions.
    
He shrugged. "I did say you might want to catch it."
    
I crossed my arms. "That's a terrible excuse."
    
Dante laughed and reset. I took a deep breath and prepared myself to be roasted alive. When the next fireball came, I imagined it as the rubber ball. There was no difference, right? I tried not to focus on the negative and instead turned my attention to the energy around me, specifically the energy flying toward me. I pulled, finding the connection I needed. My hands forced themselves toward the fire, and I released the breath I'd been holding.
    
I might as well start on the bright side: I wasn't being roasted alive. That was always a highlight of my day. However, the goal of the exercise was to catch the fireball, not come out of it alive, and I failed to do that. Instead, the flames roared up my arms and spread all over me, transforming me into a bright inferno. That was when I panicked. V   I screamed. Flames covered my entire body. I couldn't breathe. I expected the searing pain of my skin burning, but it never came. I wiggled my fingers, the flames dancing on my knuckles. Realization hit that I was still alive. My breathing slowed, senses becoming more aware of my surroundings. Adrenaline pumped through my ears. I noticed something else: the fire wasn't hot. In fact, I couldn't feel it on my skin at all. My eyes found Dante. He was gaping at me in a sort of amused way. Then he smirked.
    
Crossing his arms, he spoke. "Well, that wasn't really what I was expecting, but it works."
    
I was too stunned to respond. Dante walked over to my statue-like figure and laid a heavy hand on my shoulder. As if it had never happened, the flames flickered out and moved into his fingertips. It was like his hand was a vacuum. Every flame was gone. My clothes were still intact. My hair remained on my head, untouched. I stared up at him in shock.
    
"Uh, thanks," I muttered. He waved me off and moved back to where he had previously been standing.
    
Dante lifted his hands and cupped them together. Pulling them apart slowly, he formed another fireball. Oh, great. "Let's try again, Ember. Just think of it as the ball we used earlier. Ready?"
    
I nodded. He released the fireball. When it came towards me this time, I was ready. I lifted my hands, palms facing away from me. All my energy and concentration was focused on the flaming ball of fire. When the flame hit, I expected myself to go up in flames again.