Burnt - Part 2
The burnt forest, often called The Patch, was hauntingly beautiful during the mornings and afternoons. The white and charcoal colored trees tightly nestled together in between the town and the hills was picturesque to be sure. Many times a painter from far away would make their way to the forest to capture, as they often said, the essence of the area.
Whatever this supposed essence was, the locals would have none of it come nightfall. The light shining upon the blackened bark was worthy of a short hike or a peek, but never worth a full exploration. Something lurked in that ancient, petrified forest. The townsfolk knew not what it was, but they felt it all the same.
Those mighty, and self-proclaimed famous, artists would rarely heed the warnings of Yeleyna’s town to be back before the sun set and to not wander beyond the Ridge, a small lump of soil about 20 meters into the forest. The foolish and prideful would march onwards into The Patch, usually feeling confident and letting their egos push them beyond the limits of the rural folk, only to come screaming back into town without their supplies once the moon had risen.
Yeleyna was not afraid of the darkness of the forest. She could always create light of her own if needed and knew the forest housed very little in terms of wildlife. That said, she felt a growing uneasiness as Officer Jen and her approached the trail they had found weeks before. It was far from the normal entrance to the woods, secluded amongst fallen boulders and overgrown weeds. It was away from the lanterns of the town and the air felt stale, even during the day.
“This is the spot, right?” Jen inquired, motioning with her flashlight upon the slightly disturbed grass.
“Looks like it,” replied Yeleyna, taking in the fresh tracks left from some traveler, “Your fellow officers ever travel down this way?”
“No, it’s technically out of our jurisdiction. Besides, who would be crazy enough to enter this cursed place?” Jen replied back.
“Judging by the grass, I’d wager at least a few people,” Yeleyna stated, shining her light upon the grassy trail.
Jen bent down to take a closer look at the clues, humming to herself as she did. Yeleyna was growing anxious with each passing second. She kept glancing into the woods, hoping that her sister would be just within them, maybe just stumbled over drunk with her classmates.
“This is weird,” Jen suddenly piped up, “Lots of different shoe prints, but they almost all fall on top of each other.”
“Like they walked single-file?” Yeleyna asked.
“More than single-file. They were taking the exact same steps,” Jen said, rising to her feet. Her confident face was beginning to falter as the strangeness of the situation began to creep into her mind. She pulled out a small hand radio, whispered something into it and waited for a reply back.
“Boss gave us the okay to head in, but we need to be careful. If he doesn’t hear from us in an hour he’s sending out others. Can’t risk losing the whole town to the woods, but they’ve got people on alert looking around town,” Jen said.
Yeleyna gave a nod before the two started their walk into the dark, petrified forest. Silent prayers being said by both, hoping Niki would turn up soon.
Just as many a traveler before them, the duo found themselves at The Ridge. It was an incredibly long mound of earth that wrapped around the insides of the forest. Just barely over a step in height and a good jump across, The Ridge was what most of Tochia agreed of as where the normalcy of the land ended, and the strange began. Most of the academics agreed that it was made naturally by volcanic activity, but some argued that it was unnatural and was most likely man-made. Either way, the trail led further into the woods. Over the small fence that the land housed. Down deeper in the darkness.
The two said not a word and stepped over their barrier, following the trail that snaked through the dirt. The forest was silent and the shadows from the branches made the trail more difficult to follow as they marched with purpose.
“Should we try calling out for Niki?” Yeleyna asked after what seemed like an eternity.
“I don’t see a reason to,” Jen quietly and nervously replied, “There hasn’t been a single sign of deviation from the trail.”
Not a sound besides their steps could be heard around them. Yeleyna, feeling increasingly unnerved, created a halo of light above her head to help them see. She had hoped that this light could also guide a lost soul to them. Instead, all it did was add to the anxiety. Both stopped in their tracks after a few more meters of silence.
“You can feel that, right?” Jen inquired, never turning back to face Yeleyna.
“Oh yeah,” Yeleyna whispered back.
The duo felt the presence of eyes upon them. Peering out from the black voids hidden beyond their sight. Something was watching them intently. Despite the feeling, both did not feel malice or aggression from their unknown viewer. It was merely observing.
“Cut the light,” Jen ordered.
Yeleyna released her spell and clicked off the flashlight as did Jen. Standing in stifling calm, the two saw it. A faint glow off in the distance, moving up and down slightly before disappearing below the earth.
“That’s where the trail goes, isn’t it?” Yeleyna asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes,” Jen replied, knowing she didn’t have to. The two turned their lights on low and quickened their pace along the trail.
The trail led them to the remains of an old building. It was not a particularly large shelter, if you could call a charred husk of a home that. The roof had collapsed ages ago, crushed under a fallen tree. The door frame leading into a dark and unwelcoming abyss.
“So who goes first?” Yeleyna asked, giving Jen a quick glance.
“We go together,” Jen answered, firmly grasping Yeleyna’s arm. She was just as afraid of the abyss as Yeleyna, but was hoping that she hid it.
The two women flashed their lights in, seeing nothing. No sign of life or even disturbance amongst the dust and soot. They split up and searched the small cabin. Nothing stood out to either of them. As far as their flashlights and eyes could see, nothing had ever been in this burnt bunkard since it was consumed by the fires ages ago.
“There has to be something here!” Jen exclaimed suddenly, banging on the floors and walls, “Niki! Are you here?!”
Yeleyna was shocked by her friend’s sudden outburst. That was abnormal behavior for Jen, especially given her profession. Though the shock temporarily halted Yeleyna’s search, she too began to feel the panic and anxiety reclaim her.
“Niki!” Yeleyna yelled, joining her companion in trying to stir up any sign of life. There was nothing though. Just silence answered the two searchers.
“Dammit!” Jen said, exasperated. She took out her communicator and started to ring up her boss. Only static answered back first, which wasn’t surprising to any of them given how far back into the woods they went. It could take a few tries, but the two believed they would hear something back soon.
Nothing came though.
Jen tried again, this time sending various clicks hoping to receive a bit back. Yeleyna watched in silence, staring at her friend, the darkness, and the house in general. The whole situation was already weird, but the silence and lack of anything really started to bother her. Yeleyna took a step onto another part of the wooden floor. She had walked it before, but something was eating away at her psyche. She gave the floor a quick flick of her foot and watched the dust settle.
That was when reality hit her.
She grabbed Jen’s hand before she could start another set of clicks, startling her friend. Without saying a word, Yeleyna pulled herself and the stammering Jen out of the house.
“What’s up?” Jen managed to finally ask before Yeleyna set her down. The two had left the house and walked a ways away from it’s shambled interior.
“It’s not real,” Yeleyna muttered, glaring around the area. “It’s an illusion.”
“What?”
“It’s not real!” Yeleyna yelled. Her hands and forearms lighting up in the darkness. Combining heatwaves, light, and her anger together into roaring flames that lapped at the air. An orb of fire emanated from her hands towards the house creating an explosion that echoed in the forest.
A glimmer of runes flashed on the trees surrounding the mirage. Jen’s radio kicked back on with frantic calls asking if they were okay, where were they, can you hear us, etc. Amongst the now smoldering fire and light, they saw it. There was a door on the ground where the trick once resided.
“Dang…,” Jen muttered, though she quickly regained her composure. She stood up and informed her boss of the situation and requested back up when possible. She turned to face Yeleyna who was already at the door.
With a quick shove the door flipped open revealing stairs going down into a dimly lit hallway. Yeleyna was certain that this was where her sister was. Something, or someone, had taken her and others away. She placed her boot onto the steel stairs and began her journey into the darkness.
“Wait for me!” Jen yelled, unholstering her pistol and following Yeleyna into the abyss. “We’re going in. Bring back up,” she ordered into her device and placed it on mute before clearing the first step down into the mysterious shelter.
The tunnel was modern era with lanterns running along the ceiling. It was carved out of the earth and was well crafted. Support beams, pipes for ventilation, the lights… all of it reeking of modern operations.
The two took note of a further light source down the tunnel. Jen moved in front of Yeleyna, pistol drawn and safety off. She could not use magic like Yeleyna, but she was pretty handy with a gun and won many a bar fight with her fists alone. If there were any dangers before them, she wanted to be ready and to protect her friend. Though remembering that Yeleyna just created a fiery explosion, Jen turned and offered to cover Yeleyna’s back lest she end up barbequed if anything reared its ugly head.
The hallway went down a ways ahead before opening up to a large store room. It appeared empty save for a few large crates and something large hidden beneath a dirty, cloth sheet. Yeleyna began wrapping a few yarns of fire around her hands and wrists, readying herself for whatever may lie waiting. Jen gripped her pistol tightly, glancing around the ceiling and visible walls.
Yeleyna entered first. Giving a few quick steps and turns to make sure she wasn’t waltzing directly into a booby trap. She did not forget that an illusion was already set up outside and that one was most likely in here, but she knew she couldn’t just open fire in case there were any innocent people around.
Jen followed suit and quickly tapped on the crates and walls. She noted that they felt solid, but also understood that they were dealing with some powerful magecraft.
“Niki, are you here?” Yelyna asked, still moving around in a circular motion. She fixed her gaze upon the large object hidden beneath the tarp. She motioned for Jen to cover her and made her way towards the mysterious shape.
Yeleyna noticed that the shape appeared to be moving, undulating even. With a gulp, she firmly grasped the tarp and threw it off to the side. She let out a gasp, before crying aloud, “Niki!”
Underneath the tarp were several, blankly staring individuals from the town. They were all rhythmically breathing and gazing ahead, completely unaware of their surroundings. Niki, a local paper boy, one of the town drunks, a housewife from the other side of town, and a traveling merchant that Yeleyna recognized from Draibar. What happened to all of them?
“My my my my… If’n I knew I was having extra guests over, I’d’ve prepared a more entertaining welcome party,” a voice rumbled from behind the two.
Turning around, Yeleyna and Jen witnessed the walls around the door change shape, dispelling the illusion. Dropping to the floor was a scaly, reptilian humanoid. It’s arms were covered in spines and it had an almost human face. On the creature’s left arm was a glowing blue rune as well as a long tail slithering behind it’s legs. The creature eyed them with a disconcerting smirk on its lips. It stood up, blocking the door with it’s long, slender frame and swayed back and forth in an almost playful manner.
“Welcome, Unchosen… Though perhaps the better word would be, ‘goodbye,’” the voice hissed. The creature made a crude attempt at a bow.
Jen opened fire on the creature. Flashes of light and the sound of metal colliding with flesh echoed in the room along with the sounds of annoyed grunts. The creature clearly didn’t find the bullets all that impressive.
“Oh deary me! That wasn’t all that nice…” the snake creature hissed, annoyed at Jen’s actions, “Let me show you how to hurt someone!”
The monster flexed its arms and let loose a volley of spines at Jen. Several of them missed, but, unfortunately, a few did hit their mark and pierced into Jen’s torso and legs. She crumpled to the ground crying out in pain and uttering a few choice words.
Yeleyna lashed out with a few bolts of flame of her own towards the creature’s head. The creature ducked to avoid the sparks, but was met on the ground with a wave of fire Yeleyna kicked up. It jumped back and latched onto the wall, readying to launch another batch of body bolts. As it’s arm reached up, there was a loud bang followed up by a cry of agony from the creature before it collapsed to the floor, rolling around in pain.
Jen had managed to get one more shot off and struck the creature in the eye. She was huffing and having trouble catching her breath, but she was not out of this fight. There was sudden movement from behind Yeleyna as the captives stood up and began rushing towards her and Jen.
“Get them!” the creature shouted, motioning with its arm. The blue rune was glowing even more brightly now, controlling the hostages. They quickly pounced upon Yeleyna and Jen. They began punching, kicking, biting, doing everything they could to harm their would be saviors.
Yeleyna was unable to fight back against her assailants, knowing that they were all innocent. They were friends, neighbors, and most importantly, her family. Niki was the one hitting Yeleyna the hardest, both physically and emotionally. They hadn’t had a fight since they were little children. They had been the best of friends since they could remember. That was not the case now though. There was not a shred of Niki to be seen in those hate-filled, glowing blue eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Niki,” Yeleyna cried, feeling the energy begin to form around her hands. With one swift motion, Yeleyna struck her sister’s arm. The flames licked and lapped at her flesh as the clothes burned away. There was a swift scream and then realization flashed into Niki’s eyes.
“Yeleyna?” she asked, clearly confused by the commotion happening around her.
Yeleyna caught this and began to scorch the others. Each one shouting in agony before coming back to their senses. Each one visibly confused and in pain from their newly acquired marks.
“Get Jen and the others out of here! Go up the stairs and follow the trail. Jen knows the way!” Yeleyna ordered Niki, “Now!”
Niki and the others picked up Jen and began to move towards the hallway before a voice hissed out at them, “No you don’t!” The snake-man regained his composure and began casting a spell, weaving around his arms. A bolt of blue energy hurled from his hands at the hostages.
Yeleyna jumped in front and countered with her own flames. The two orbs of energy collided and created a minor explosion. Her hands danced with flames to face head on the scaled mage. He hissed and hurled more spells, each one being met by an equal blast from Yeleyna. The party of captives hurried down the hall taking their orders from Jen.
Yeleyna made a move towards the door, but was knocked back by a blast destroying her escape route. The serpent was pissed.
“You little bitch! Do you have any idea how long it took to collect those sacrifices?!” the snake mage growled. He hurled spines and magic that pelted the already tired Yeleyna into the wall.
Yeleyna was spent. Her vision was fading in and out as she tried her best to dodge and stop the rain of magic toppling down onto her.
“This is it,” Yeleyna thought, “This is how I die.” The young fire mage could only feel anger and sadness towards this situation. Only anger and sadness at her own demise. Only anger and sadness at not being good enough.
The reptilian mage began to move towards the toppled exit, clearly intent on following the others. It was satisfied with Yeleyna, knowing full well she would likely expire from her wounds soon.
Yeleyna couldn’t let this thing get away. She had to keep everyone safe! She mustered the last of her strength, the last of her pain, the last of her rage and pulled the flames towards herself. She wanted to fire at the man, but could not find the strength to lift her arms.
Go! Go get him! Bite Him! Burn Him! Stop him! Her thoughts rang in her head. Please.
The room grew warmer. Much, much warmer. The captor stopped what he was doing and turned to face another lizard. This one, however, was much different from himself. It was made of pure fire. It walked from Yeleyna towards the lizardman. Both of them were equally stunned by what they were seeing. The four legged beast of molten rage took another step forward before letting out a roar.
The scaled one wasted no time in launching spells and spines at his new opponent. The flame beast easily dodged or absorbed the attacks without slowing down. It leapt upon the mage and began to bite and lash out at him. Screams of agony echoed in the chamber as Yeleyna could only watch in blurred vision as the flame beast rose and screeched in victory.
The creature then pounced onto the crates and consumed them into its own growing mass. It repeated the same action with the tarp as well before sniffing at the air. It eyed the passage that led from the room and bounded down and out through the wreckage that blocked the door.
Yeleyna, strangely enough, was feeling better. Her strength seemed to be returning and felt her bruised body recovering. She wasn’t just feeling better, she was feeling great! Great except for a new sensation growing in her: hunger.
Yeleyna ran after the beast and out into the woods and saw a glowing trail of steps bounding through the darkness. Bounding, rushing, unstoppably towards her town. Tree husks were knocked down and several bore the markings of being recently charred, or re-charred in their case. The beast needed fuel and it was not able to find such in the already burned forest.
Yeleyna followed as fast as she could. She could feel pangs of hunger then satisfaction then more hunger. Whatever this creature was, it needed to grow and consume and Yeleyna felt it in her core.
“Was this thing really created by me?” she wondered. She hoped that she could catch it and stop it before it reached her town. There was no telling how much destruction it could bring if it got to the houses and people.
The beast’s trail led perfectly to the town, cutting the shortest path possible from the hidden lair to the edge of the town’s walls. Yeleyna caught a glimpse of the now large beast feasting upon the trash, the yews, and the admittedly flammable walls of her home. Cries of panic rang out in the night as shouts of police tried to get people to safety.
“Stop!” Yeleyna shouted to the creature. The creature, however, did not listen and instead chose to continue munching and growing with the added mass of the wall.
“Yeleyna!” Niki shouted, rushing towards her sister. Yeleyna could see that Jen and the others were being helped by medics across the way.
There was a sudden jolt of pain that overtook Yeleyna followed by a loud howl from the flame beast. Jets of water and rain began to hail upon the beast from the local mages and firemen. The beast began flailing about as Yeleyna crumbled to the ground in agony. The unrelenting barrage of water finally smothering the last embers of the monster as Yeleyna passed out.
The next day, Yeleyna was awoken by Niki in the hospital. Yeleyna felt exhausted and hungry, but could not help but smile at seeing her sister again. Niki informed Yeleyna about how she was walking home from school when she saw a blue light off in the distance. She didn’t remember anything after that until Yeleyna had scorched her arm. Yeleyna glanced down to see Niki’s arm heavily bandaged.
“I’m so sorry, Niki,” Yeleyna began.
“For what? Saving us? Nothing to be sorry about,” Niki smiled, “Besides, it’s like a badge of honor. I survived being burned by the greatest fire mage around!”
Yeleyna offered her a weak smile, but was clearly not happy about scarring her sister.
“What happened to Jen and the others?” Yeleyna inquired.
“All fine and dandy, well, mostly dandy. Jen will be off work for a while while she recovers,” Niki started to explain before there was a knock at the door followed by an officer and the headmaster of the academy stepping into the room.
“Afternoon ladies,” the officer began, “I’m here to question Yeleyna about her knowledge of the fire that ravaged our town.”
Yeleyna felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of the beast. She was sure to be blamed for the damage to the town and rightfully so.
“I’ve told you before, Rick, that a mage cannot create life out of elements,” the headmaster interrupted, “And, no offense, I’m a bit more familiar with the subject than you.”
Officer Rick gave a cold stare towards the headmaster. Clearly some bad blood was between the two.
“They animate the dead in Charleau, Randy, so I’m pretty sure that this little lady can control and make a beast of fire,” Rick retorted.
“Animate? Yes. Control? Yes. That was not what we witnessed yesterday. That being had intelligence and it was acting on instinct, not on the word of our neighborhood baker. Even as skilled as she is,” Randy remarked.
The two then shifted their attention to Yeleyna and inquired about her knowledge of the creature. Yeleyna answered that she asked for help when fighting the lizard-man that captured the others and that the beast appeared before her. She recounted how it fled from the shelter and how it ran towards the city.
“So you’re saying you created the beast? Settles that then. I’m afraid I’m going to have to book you for damages to our fine…” Rick started before being whacked by Randy.
“She called for help and something appeared. If she could craft such a creature, I would love to see her do it again,” Randy interjected, eyeing up Yeleyna, “As for her confession or proof, you have nothing but conjecture. We have a young woman who called for help and something answered. Then the creature got hungry and started munching on the outer wall. That’s all.”
“Why are you trying to stop this investigation?!” Rick shouted at Randy.
“I’m not. I’m keeping you from putting an innocent youth into jail for something she did not do, nor could she do. In all my years of magic academia, there has never been a case of creating a living, breathing, conscious thing out of nothing! We have an unusual creature, perhaps from the olden ages, and a group of people who were kidnapped in your town! Maybe, brother-in-law, you should focus on keeping the town safe from perverted hypnotists stealing our families and leave the magical endeavors to me!” Randy shouted back, both of them clearly forgetting about the two sisters in front of them.
Officer Rick took his leave at this and left the two sisters alone with a very stern looking headmaster. Satisfied his extended family had left, the headmaster cast a spell of silence around the room and calmly turned to the sisters.
“I don’t know what that creature was, but I am certain it was not 100% created by you, Yeleyna,” Randy began, “You have an amazing gift for fire, but even you are unable to craft life from it. Even if you did call forth the creature, it was not obeying you nor is it your fault that parts of the town were destroyed. So do not go looking sad, okay?”
Yeleyna and Niki were taken back by the softness of Headmaster Randy. He was a cold, stern proctor who spent his life studying and perfecting magic. He was also responsible for failing Yeleyna every time she took the tests to get into the Academy.
“If I may offer one last bit of advice,” Randy said, standing up to take his leave, “I’d recommend leaving town for a while. The papers will want to interview you and harass you all day. Trust me. Anytime magic is involved in something slightly above a lab catching fire the papers want to soak up and exploit every detail of it.”
At that he left the two sisters alone to await the green light from the medics that Yeleyna could go. Yeleyna’s mind was full of thoughts that would take a while to unpack.
A few weeks later and after several unwanted calls and knocks from journalists that swarmed the town, Yeleyna uncovered an advertisement that offered steady pay working at the new airstrip being built between Draibar, Festyae and the Lowlands. The town suffered pretty hefty damage from the fire and Yeleyna’s guilt never left her. The pay was decent and the living expenses were covered too. She had grown tired of people harassing her at any opportunity, including when she was sleeping, so this seemed like the perfect job for her. She could get away from the town, her guilt, and the photographers. She could try her hand at something new and funnel money back home into the community funds to rebuild the town.
“Who knows,” Yeleyna said to Niki, “Maybe I’ll even find something I can’t burn!”
“Doubtful,” Niki chuckled back.
Yeleyna said goodbye to her family and boarded the coach towards her new opportunity. She would make new friends in Ashe and Salom. She would make many enemies as well. She would also make history as her own legend unfolded in the year to come. The only thing she wouldn’t make was a perfect batch of cookies for one was always burnt.
Thanks for reading. Adopted from Krystal Klietz's character and backstory, "Yeleyna."
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