Phoenix

Angus Fenwick Lesson

Standing in the centre of the room, Ash peered up at the rope ladder leading through the jagged crack in the limestone ceiling. She wiped her sweaty palms on her robe, made sure Gunner's dagger was safely tied to her ponytail as she'd taken to stowing it lately, and gripped the rope. She was nervous. Today was going to be her first proper training session with fire, and she didn't know if she was going to be able to control it.

She followed Apple, Ollie and Jacob up the wobbly ladder and, as she'd done yesterday, emerged amongst a rocky outcrop overlooking a desert-dry field the colour of a hardened clay pot. The blackened stumps of lightning-decapitated trees stood out like naked scarecrows and smoke seeped from between cracks in the earth, forming a sooty layer of cloud over their heads. She breathed deeply the smell of dirt, resin and warmth and felt her nerves settle.

"The smoke is from a slow burning coal-seam underground," Ollie explained.

"There's lots of it today," Apple said.

Jacob hung back a few meters so that Ash almost forgot he was there until he said, "It's bad luck when it hangs low like this."

Ollie frowned. "Didn't know you were superstitious."

Just then, Gus arrived, hair wet, smelling of the ocean. It seemed he'd been awake for some time and the twinkle in his eye and his far-reaching grin caught Ash's groggy mind off-guard. He assessed them one-by-one, rubbing his hands together. Using the underside of his bare foot, he made four X's in the dust. "Right," He said. "Stand on your marks. I'm going to try something."

They did as they were told, weight forward, anticipating their next instruction. Gus placed a ball of dry tinder in each of their hands and said, "I want to see how connected you are with your force. On the count of three, draw a flame forward and ignite the tinder as quickly as possible. Like this—" He picked up a dry ball of tumbleweed from the ground, blew on it gently to spark it to life.

Ollie grinned. "Easy."

Gus stepped out of their way. "On the count of three," he said. "One... two... "

Before he could finish, Ollie's tinder was already in flames. A moment later, Apple's tinder burst into flames too. Jacob's smoked idly, before going cold again. Ash looked down at the unburnt tinder in her hands and felt them begin to shake. She hadn't attempted to set it alight, though she knew she could've if she'd wanted to. The fire was pushing against her fingers, requiring all her concentration to keep it from bursting forth. But if she let it go, she was sure she wouldn't be able to control it.

Gus, oblivious to Ash's struggle, spoke to each of them in turn. "Nice work, Apple. But I think you could've done it quicker," he said. "Ollie, wait for my count next time. And I want you to control the dispersion of your flames." He turned to Jacob. "Jakey, you're holding back. We'll have to work on that." Finally, he turned to Ash. "Very few students can make flames on command first try. You'll get the hang of it."

Ash dropped her tinder and clasped her hands together to disguise their shaking.

The lesson continued with Gus setting up an obstacle course for Ollie and Apple which required small feats of skill in order to progress. Among other tasks, the first obstacle required them to brand their names into a flat piece of bark and then ignite a small matchstick, sustaining the flame for four laps of the dusty field.

Once Ollie and Apple were set up, Gus turned to Jacob. "What's holding you back?" he said. "I know for a fact you're one of the smartest kids on this island. You'rethinkingtoo much when you should be feeling instead. What do you think about when you connect with your flame?"

Jacob shrugged, head down, refusing to make eye contact.

Gus studied him for a moment, lips pursed, before he said, "Fire is the embodiment of passion. Sometimes it helps to think of a memory that sparks a strong emotion in you. Do you have a memory like that?"