Wet Fire

Broken (E7)

Petronel

She was not sure how many days had passed. The sun and moons had come and gone again and again in a seemingly endless cycle. Petra felt nothing, she only could see the heavens.

Eventually, the dust clouds that were the trademark of the Southern Volcanic Flats began to drift back into Petra's line of sight. Soon, neither the sun nor the two red moons could be seen beneath the dark grey veil. Stars that once brightly twinkled in the sky vanished and were replaced by billows of smoke.

The clouds whirled and twisted into amazing shapes forming familiar images. Petronel thought of her encounter with Jelen back in his tent. Little did I know that I would be lying here, dying. What did I see before? She thought hard. A man, an arrow, and a shrub. Petra wondered what would would have become of her is she had let Jelen tag along. Would he be dead? Would they both be dead? Would they both be alive and unharmed? She would never know, but right now she wished she had his company. He told me that he loved me.

She lifted her left arm to find her sleeve soaked with blood, and the knife wound smoking. When she flexed her fingers, the pain intensified and made her wince. Her fall into the Caldera had only made the cut burn more. If she was back in the encampment, her father would have taken her to Mu, the healer, and she would have recovered. Out here, the only thing Petra could do was wait for the wound to become infected, or for her to loose enough blood to pass out. All of her energy had been spent fighting the monstrous arsi, she knew that she was done.

Keiko might never even know that the arsi was dead, this is what haunted Petra the most. She wished that somehow she could let her know what had happened. If she had enough energy, Petra would have sent Princella back to camp with a note tied around its back, but right now, Petra could not move, she felt feverish and every bone ached. Her vision was blurred, and she knew that the end would come soon. She thought of what Keiko had said: Wet fire only consumes.

Petra remembered the arsi, and the way she had looked into its bright eyes. It was larger that she had thought it would be, and much more beautiful. She remembered its iridescent scales and the look of its blood like fire. It might not have even been the same arsi that killed Vynce, and in fact, it probably was not. There were thousands of arsii in the Flats, and the chances of coming across the same beast was extremely slim.

Then there was the Caldera--Petra had never seen something life that before either. The whole plain was clear of smoke. She had seen the stars and the moons and the sun. She had breathed in cold clear air for the first time. How wonderful would it be to breathe like that for the entirety of my life?

The hours passed, and the atmosphere darkened, signifying the fall of night, and Petra succumbed to her sleepiness, lulled by the monotonous humming of the smoke-wasps. Her dream that night was strangely vivid, and seemed almost more real than the reality of the Southern Volcanic Flats. She remembered seeing the clear sky above her, and then suddenly she was flying.

...

The wind picked up, and Petra beat her wings. Above a ruined city she soared, gliding between columns of thick smoke that rose from mounds of charred rubble below. The night air was alight with flames. So much fire.

There were screams too. She could see the people emerging from the places that had once been their homes, blackened from soot, and distraught. Some ran, glancing towards the sky, while others sank onto their knees. Children wandered aimlessly, sobbing and calling for their mothers. Wild animals roamed the alleys, scavenging off of the newly dead.

Petra glanced further south, and could at last see the extent of the damage. This place had once been a great city, with large towers, gates, and gardens. Now, the fountains had dried up, and the shops and keeps were turned into ash. She flew towards a place that looked like it could have once been a port and, beyond that, a black sea was motionless. The air reeked of death.