The Fount of Dragon Fire

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Ash's eyes on her made Camry nervous. She shifted her weight on her bottom as she looked away from him. The movement didn't go unnoticed and he raised a curious eyebrow.

"What's wrong? It's not like I haven't already seen it."

"Yeah, I know. But..."

"But what?"

"It's just kind of... weird to do it like this."

"Come on, Camry." He grinned, leaning forward. "Please? I want to see."

She took in a deep breath and held it. She had to force back her embarrassment. Then, with a slow exhale, she blew a long plume of golden fire into her hands. It caught against her skin, feeding off of the very oils of her body, and continued to create rainbows in the air around her in the dark basement.

Ash leaned in as close as the heat would allow him. Dragon fire was considerably hotter than a standard campfire, and, usually, he was trying to put it out before it caused too much damage. He had never had the opportunity to just get close to the golden flames and examine them before. So, this morning, he had asked for the favor.

Though Camry hadn't been trying to hide her powers from him any longer, she was always quick to use and absorb the fire. A habit, he was sure, born out of the desire to make sure that no one ever caught her playing with it.

"Does it feel hot to you?" He asked, tilting his head as her fingers moved in the flames.

"I guess." She frowned. "I don't think I feel heat the way normal people do. It's really nice. Comfortable. Like laying in a really soft bed. Or, taking a cream bath. It's soothing."

"I see." Ash watched as she passed it to her other hand, letting it burn up her forearm on the left. She didn't allow the same on the right to spare her bandages.

"Erm, Ash?"

"Hm?"

"What does heat feel like to you? To normal people, I guess." She grimaced sheepishly when he turned his eyes to her and stared for a second. "Sorry. I've always been curious and I've never been able to ask anyone before. Was that weird?"

"No, no. It's fine." He smiled. "I've just never had to explain what heat is to someone. I honestly couldn't think of anything. Heat is... Well, heat is..." Ash faltered, struggling to come up with a definition to something that never needed explaining. Heat was a concept that was easily understood because everyone could tell the difference between hot and cold.

"Er, what does cold feel like to you?" He asked after a moment, eyeing her bandages. "It burns you, doesn't it?"

"Just cold water." Camry held her hands together, letting the fire burn on them. "Cold air isn't comfortable. It kind of feels a bit prickly, but it's not terrible. Most other things can do some damage, but it's pretty superficial. Only really cold water burns me like this."

"So, is it a burning sensation?" He frowned. "That's a dumb question, isn't it? You don't know what burns feel like."

"I know what the cold feels like. I remember that."

"Really?"

Camry stared deep into her fire, eyes far away from him. "I told you, Bunny saved me from the frozen lake. I fell off the cliff and down into the water. It collapsed over me and hit me like a mallet to the chest. I remember all of my muscles locking together as it froze my mind and stole my warmth. I know I could swim, but the cold took that from me. It was suffocating and shocking, like electricity, but it felt like blades on my bare skin."