Fire's Grace (Being Edited)

Chapter 22

I hear something, and I look down at Cal again. Is the arrow farther out? Cal's hand rests on the arrow. It moves again, slowly. It is Cal, but how? There is no way that he could still be alive, is there? I look away wiping away the tears that stain my face, so that my vision clears. I sniffle, and watch as the arrow moves for the third time. It is quicker this time, I almost missed it.

He pulled it all the way out this time. I blink, and then the big wound is gone, although the blood remains. I resist the urge to hug him, I do not want to alert the guards that he lives, for I do not believe it myself yet.

He opens one of his eyes to look at me. A small smile tugs at his lips. I know what I am seeing is real. I cry tears of joy. The only question that remains, is how? I have never known something like that to happen before, even to somebody like me and can wield fire.

"Cal?" I whisper. "We should get going, I think that the guards might have realized..." I drift off, as I notice that we are surrounded by guards on all sides. Cal grips his sword and stands to his feet.

I join him. Some of the guards gasp, disbelieving. Cal immediately starts to fight, whirling around like I saw him earlier. I try to burn my fire, and it works. I launch fire animals at the guards. When I stop, I see charred body's falling limp to the ground. Other soldiers take their place. We are surrounded by more than I first thought. Nine in front fighting us, with at least two other groups following closely behind.

As I see this, I realize that we are trapped. I will probably have the same destiny as Ben. Lying in some forgotten cell, or worse. Dead.

The guards stop fighting Cal. Confused, I turn and look behind me. The guards are making a path. I see the Captain walking towards Cal and me. He draws his weapon.

"Fight me!" He yells "Win and you can go free with your brother. Lose? All three of you become my prisoners."

"Fine." Cal says.

The Captain grins, delighted that he has gotten us where he wants us. "Let the fight begin!"

Cal makes the first move. The Captain dodges easily. The Captain strikes at Cal. Cal dodges, but with more difficulty. I draw on my fire and send animals towards the captain. Everytime he touches one with his sword, they vanish. None of my fire touches him. We continue fighting like that. I start sweating and grow tired. Soon after me, I see Cal is getting tired. We keep fighting. Soon I collapse in exhaustion. I hurry to get out of the way of the fight. The Captain grows tired soon after. I can tell in the way he stands and moves. Cal is more tired though.

"Surrender!" The Captain yells at Cal.

"No!" Cal yells back, the fight continues.

I watch from the sides. Soon my strength is restored. I go to stand but one of the guards moves forward and pushes me back down. The guard kneels next to me. His hand on my shoulder is heavy and it doesn't help that he is gripping my shoulder tightly. I can't move. I can only sit and watch. Soon Cal falls to the ground. The Captain points his sword towards Cal's heart.

"I win." The Captain smiles. It is a smile of pure evil. One of the guards around the circle hits Cal on the back of the head with the hilt of their sword. He falls backwards to the ground. He doesn't move.

"Cal!" I yell. The hand holding me down is removed. I rush towards Cal hoping to get there before the same happens to me. I don't make it. There is pain on the back of my head before the now familiar darkness envelops my vision.

"Ow." I moan when I wake up. I open my eyes. Cal is laying on the ground looking at me.

"Emma! You're awake!"

"Yeah? When did you wake up?"

"About an hour ago I would say. Look across the hallway."

I do. It takes me awhile to get up though. The pain in my head throbs. I look through the bars of mine and Cal's cell. Across the hallway from us sits Ben. He is staring right at me. Though it seems he is staring through me. The only way I know he sees me is a small, pained smile.

"Ben!" I yell. I start looking for a way to him, but quickly give up. I sit down and bow my head in defeat. Cal moves over to me.

"Emma, we have company." He whispers in my ear.

I look up and see the Captain standing outside the bars, just out of range from our fists. I start to boil with rage. He broke his promise! He put Cal, my brother and me in a prison. The only thing that keeps me from standing up is Cal's hand, holding me down. He knows what I want to do almost as well as I do.

"What do you want?" Cal asks his uncle.

"What do I want? You are my prisoners now. That is all that I wanted. Now I can complete the task that was assigned to me."

He twirls away, stalking over to the door. He has another key, and with this, he opens the door leading out. The hinges clatter when he slams the door shut. We hear the click of the lock sliding in place.

The first thing I do is rattle my hands against the door. I want to punch the Captain so badly. I have a feeling if I tried though, the result would not be good. I try the lock, grasping it through the bars.

"It's no use" Ben says. "I have been trying for days. The only way out is with that key. I've tried everything that I can think of, and nothing works. It is more complicated than most locks I've seen."

"What if Emma tried using her fire?" Cal said.

"That could be worth a shot, but make sure to stay away from the door. At the very least it means the Captain can't take us out to kill us."

"Ok, I am going to try my fire in three, two... one!" Cal and I step back from the door, as flames burst from my fingertips. Ben watches from the other cell, as my fire latches onto the door. After about a minute I stop. Nothing has changed. I feel the bars after a bit. They are ice cold, as if they never heated up in the first place.

I slump against the wall in defeat. There is no way out, I am trapped behind iron bars.

Two emotions clash with the feeling of defeat, rage and defiance. I will not go down like this. There is no way I will let myself be defeated so easily. I have to get out of this prison. I have to keep my brother and new friend safe. I have to get them out of harm's way. Even if I get hurt.