Out of the Cinders

Chapter One: Hellfire Girl

    As Idele stepped out of the Snowy Heart Inn, the smell of burning wood overwhelmed her senses. Her nostrils burned, and she scrunched her nose up in a look of disgust. At first, she thought that the stench might be coming from the firepit she'd seen in the plaza, but she soon spotted the smoke billowing into the air from somewhere down the street. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

    Idele hastily made her way down the cobblestone pathway. A chorus of sobs and screams rang out. A shiver ran up her spine. Something was on fire; someone was burning. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach when she rounded the corner. A small wooden house had gone up in flames, illuminating the night sky like an enormous candle. The heat burned Idele's eyes as they widened in shock. A girl with hair as red as the fire knelt down in front of the burning building. Her shoulders were shaking with sobs, and she held her hands out in front of her. She was covered in ash and soot, but not a single burn.

    Idele couldn't bring herself to move. Her legs were frozen. In her many years of travelling with her family and now on her own, she'd never witnessed such destruction. As townsfolk gathered, the girl's shaking was clearly worsening. It didn't make any sense. How could anyone, let alone a young girl, cause an explosion like this?

    Just as Idele began backing away, planning to run to the inn and bring the guards to extinguish the fire somehow, there was an abrupt woosh as the red light blinded her. A wave of heat and wind rushed out from in front of her, and she covered her face with her arm, gasping. The screams were deafening.

    Heart pounding, she lowered her arm. The fire had spread everywhere. Citizens clothed in flame ran past her. Idele lifted her gaze to the burning house, then clasped a hand over her mouth as her breath caught in her throat.

    The girl with the fiery hair stood amidst the flames, untouched. How? How did she do that? She was visibly horrified. Her face was contorted by fear and grief. Slowly, she stepped out of the flames and toward Idele. "Please help."

    Instincts she didn't know she had took over. Idele reached forward, grabbing the girl by the shoulders and pulling her close. "Stay close to me, and don't let go." The scarf in her bag would do a good enough job of concealing the Hellfire Girl while they escaped. Idele wrapped it around the girl's head, grabbed her hand, and started down the path to the city gates.

    No one seemed to notice them. The city was in a panic over the two explosions and the burning citizens, as they should've been. They were too occupied to see the two girls heading for the gates. Even the guards who should've been posted in front of the enormous oak doors were elsewhere, worrying over the injured. With a heavy tug, Idele cracked the doors open just enough for them to slip through.

    The two guards posted on the other side of the gate turned, drawing their weapons. Hellfire Girl's hand heated up immediately. Idele tried to mask her panic as she squeezed the girl's hand, ignoring the burning heat, and it slowly cooled down. "Guards!" she exclaimed in a terrified, shaky voice. "Fire! So much fire! Everyone's burning... We ran while we could. Please help them!" Her attempt at getting rid of them succeeded; they hurried into the city without a second thought.

    Idele turned to the girl, kneeling down. She was suddenly aware of how short the girl was, under five feet for sure. Idele practically towered over her at 5'10", her height something she inherited from her mother.  "Are you hurt?" she asked quietly. The girl shook her head. Idele pursed her lips. "Can you tell me how old you are?"

    The girl sniffled. "I-I'm thirteen. And a half." A girl this young is this powerful? Idele thought to herself, then nodded and asked for her name. "Kiri," she replied. Her soft face was sickly pale, her eyes reddened and teary. The innocence that should belong to a girl her age was nowhere in sight.

    Idele nodded. Although none of this made sense, she believed that Kiri was innocent; that she hadn't done any of this intentionally; and that she was afraid and alone. "All right, Kiri, let's get away from here." She took the girl's hand, grasping tightly, and hurried down the road. The Hartfell Stables were just outside of the city of Hartfell itself, which they had just left. The guards would soon figure out that Kiri was responsible once the chaos died down. They needed to get far away, and fast. Going on foot wasn't going to work. "Stay quiet," she whispered to Kiri as they approached the stablehand.

    Idele grinned widely. "Good afternoon, sir. I'd like to purchase one of your steeds."

    The old man cleared his throat, wiping sweat from his forehead with a dirty handkerchief. "'Course, m'lady. Which one'll it be?" She turned her gaze to the three horses available. Each of their coats was solid black. Did it really matter which one?

    Suddenly, the horse in the middle began to press its nose against the gate withholding it. It stomped its feet, neighing loudly. "Whoa, whoa!" exclaimed the stablehand, approaching the horse cautiously, arms raised. "Whoa there, girl, calm down! She's never done this before!"

    The splintering of wood filled Idele's ears as the horse broke through the gate in one swift push, charging toward Kiri. "No!" Idele exclaimed, attempting to throw the girl out of the way.

    But Kiri stood her ground, and her hand shot out in front of her. As soon as her arm was outstretched, the horse froze.

    No, she didn't just stop, she didn't screech to a halt—

    The horse froze. She wasn't even breathing or blinking. The stablehand simply stared in awe. His mouth moved but no words came out. Kiri stepped toward him, ignoring the horse altogether, and spoke with an eerie calmness. "We'll take the other one. That first one, please."

    Idele couldn't take her eyes off of the horse. It looked as if time itself had frozen, only for the poor creature. Why had she attacked them? The stablehand had said that she had never acted out like this before.

    The stablehand shakily offered the reins of the other horse, a stallion, to Kiri, who quickly took them. "Thank you." She turned to Idele. "Help me up."

    Idele blinked, torn from her daze, and moved to hoist the girl up onto the horse's back before swinging herself on in front. The stallion was certainly large enough to fit them both, fortunately. She then dug in her bag for her coin purse, pouring out enough to amount to a thousand gold and offering it to the stablehand. "I'm very sorry about the mare."

    With Kiri's hands on her waist, Idele led the stallion to the road and left the frozen horse and burning plaza behind them.