Young Flame

“The idiot didn’t stick to the plan. Jav jumped to try and free Remus the moment he thought we were alone with them.”

“Were they expecting you? How did you get out?” I ask.

“I don’t think they were, but they camouflage themselves when they’re resting. Jav succeeded in nothing but getting himself caught. They didn’t even need to put in much effort. I stayed out of it. Maybe I should have helped, but there was nothing I could have done.”

A groan escapes my throat. I knew Jav was wound up, but I never thought he would do something so stupid. We already had a plan.

“Why would they capture? Why not kill them?” When the Henosis imprisoned me, it was for a very specific purpose. But the mermineae didn’t even know we were down here with them until we dropped on top of their camp. What could they want from them?

“Information, I’d guess,” Grímr hisses. “With how close the merminea encampments are to the nations of the pact, they would be after any source of info they can find. But this is concerning; what are their intentions on this side of the Alps?”

We remain quiet for a time, mulling over the loss of another member of our team. It’s just the two of us now. It’s almost funny how it’s the ones who betrayed my trust and thrust me down here in the first place are the ones who have been trapped themselves. Like the world itself is punishing them.

Without Jav, the chance of us freeing our team is slim. As small as he was, he was still our strongest fighter. At least, while Grímr is stuck in this body. Even if we were to find a stronger creature now, my flames could do nothing but destroy the body we intend to use. At least Jav could have cut their tendons without making the creature unusable.

No point thinking about what might have happened had Jav not been a fool.

“What do we do now?” I’m not about to make the same mistake as Jav and throw what freedom I have away. I’d only been able to consider the thought because we might have actually stood a chance of freeing them if we were smart.

Only if we were smart.

There was no way we could have fought the merminea. If we had Jav with us, escaping to the large cavern was possible. It’s not like we needed to fight the merminea to free Remus and Bunny. A decent enough distraction would have been good enough.

“I don’t know,” Grímr starts. “I can keep following them. This creature’s stealth works well enough, but there’s not much we can do to help them.”

I should just leave them down here.

The twist in my desires decides to show itself again. As much as I’d love to leave Jav to the fate his own impatience brought, I don’t want to abandon them.

I still need a way out. There’s no way for me to free them, but if we follow the merminea captors, they’ll eventually lead us out of this labyrinth of caves and tunnels back into the open air.

My argument appeases the knot of my psyche. Despite how it can twist my thoughts in ways that disgust me, I prefer this so much more over the uncontrollable fear that used to be in its place. With its cold logic, I can actually argue my point.

I’ll just need to see whether it remains tied to my surface thoughts after I escape, or recedes like the phobia did. It’ll be nice if I can actually enter buildings now.

Still, I’m not looking forward to the time it doesn’t agree with my arguments. I can only imagine it’s as cooperative as it is because I do not know any other way. Would it force me to abandon Grímr if the opportunity presents itself? I can’t help but worry about the possibility.

I glance up at the wall of flame burning above. The flow of glow-bugs suiciding into my waiting stomach has slowed, but many still chase the sweet taste out of their reach.

I joined this team to get strong; to grow my power. Even if it’s not the way they expected, nor the way I wanted, they’ve brought me to the perfect place to achieve that promise.

“Do you think you could follow them and guide me along the cavern above?” I ask, not turning from the crackling bugs above. “I might as well make use of the time we’re stuck down here.”

“I can, sure. But is there even any point? I doubt the two of us could do much to help.”

“Not as we are, no. The merminea are travelling to the other side of the alps, right? That will not be a short trip. What’s to say things won’t change by the time we reach the other side?” I know he can’t see me, but I give him an earnest stare. What I’m going to do may or may not be entirely intelligent, but it’s the best option I have.

“What are you thinking?”

“We never got around to doing the ritual on them, but did you know those glow-bugs give an insane amount of energy?” A slight chuckle escapes my lips. “I’m going to be detonating every bug trap I can find.”

❖❖❖

It took a while to convince Grímr that my idea wasn’t actually suicidal. Apparently, the last two explosions had left their marks on him. Not only because of the giant arachnids with their terrifying screeching, but the explosion itself shook him, even protected as he was.

I appreciate the concern he shows, but compared to some creatures I would have to face to get an equivalent amount of energy, this is far easier. Facing that dahu alone would be nothing short of impossible.

I’ve gotten away better off in both of the other explosions, so I know I just need to crawl into the tunnel before detonating. That way, I can avoid the arachnid when it comes to investigate. It should be safe if I wait for a good thirty minutes after each blast. If I do that, I should be able to go through a few every day.

After Grímr reluctantly agrees to head down after our team and their captors, I leave for the fungi tunnel I last visited.

I keep the ball of boom jam under an arm as I move. It has lost its purpose now that we’re not planning to engage with the merminea, but it will still be useful to have by my side for an emergency defence. Though I have to be careful when I use it, as it is almost certain to attract one of the arachnid monstrosities.

I get the same feeling from those things as I did from Hund. Even able to deform into intangible flames, the thing would have no trouble killing me, regardless.

After all the time I’ve spent in the cavern, I’ve learnt they don’t react to sound. I can make as much of a racket as I want and yet they never drop to look. Still, they are up there, somewhere, so I’m always nervous they might drop unexpectedly at any point.

When I reach the fungi tunnel, I drop the ball and don’t hesitate to dive in. I get the goop all over me, but it hardly matters when it’ll explode in a few moments. I wriggle down as far as I can go before the substance slows my movement.

As soon as I let my body relax, the tunnel explodes around me. A thrum of power blasts through me and I relish in the heat that results. So much hotter than anything I can yet make. Hopefully, that changes soon.

I’m already far stronger than I should be for my age. My flames are already moving on from orange into a yellow; the same colour most of the adults in my tribe can manage. If this works out the way I hope it does, I wonder how hot I’ll get? Maybe my flame will reach the same blue that only Elder Cyrus could manage.

I wonder how other áed would react to me? The binding I have isn’t something any but the most dedicated achieve, but I was able to raise it in an incredibly roundabout way. The heat of my flame is far greater than should be possible for my age. I’ve consumed many a strong creature, but the wasteland isn’t exactly empty of its own nourishing beasts.

Isn’t it too strange that I’ve grown as I have from so few creatures and people? Chameleons and colossal-worms wouldn’t be short of energy and while we avoided them in most circumstances, there have been occasions where one would be taken down. Why were there so many of the adults who could only manage a yellow flame and nothing more with those creatures around?

At the growth rate I’ve experienced in the past months, there should have been more with greater flames. Is it just easier to reach the golden flame than it is anything higher? Do the creatures out along the Titan Alps just give more energy than those back in the wasteland? Or has the Void Fog changed more than my mind and binding?

I’m snapped out of my thoughts by the loud pounding of the arachnid above. It seems this one is determined to dig out the source of the flame still burning through the tunnel.

The ground quakes and loose rock falls from above. I pull back on the remaining flames, snuffing the light from the tunnel. The monstrosity continues to tear through the ground after me. Nervous that it’ll get close soon, I drop further down the shaft.

Despite how similar it feels, I’m glad this thing isn’t actually a Titan. It can’t devastate the earth with its sheer presence like the truly incomprehensible being did.

I shake my head at the thought. Why am I comparing the capabilities of monsters? It’s a bit like putting a dingo and a chameleon next to each other while I’m a jerboa. Either would squish me.

The arachnid eventually loses interest and the sounds of its heavy limbs tapping against the ground fade. I count out the next ten minutes before I risk climbing up.

I say it’s nothing similar to a Titan, but it’s hard to think that when looking at the damage it leaves in the wake of its attempt to dig me out. A good one hundred metre deep crater is all that’s left of the mushroom ring. Although, it’s hard to prove whether the monstrosity or my explosion destroyed it.

No sign of the arachnid, thankfully. If I can replicate this as many times as possible on the chase after my team, I might even stand side by side with them in a fight.

Well, one can hope.

I’ll need to see if even a small flame will attract those arachnids. If I can switch forms and fly around as a bird, I could reach many more fungi traps than only walking would allow. It might be harder for Grímr to find me, but I can always make regular trips back to see if he’s looking for me.

Well, no time like the present. I move back down the crater until I feel safe enough, then send out some of my inner flame in the shape and size of my falcon form. It flies away from my hiding spot as quickly as I can manage. My control is what lets it fly, not the wings, but I still make it flap to at least give it the appearance of a living creature.

Far from what I expect, nothing drops from above. Instead, in bare moments of flying above the swarm of glow-bugs, something absolutely massive rockets through my bird. My flames scatter over the creature’s exoskeleton and the picture it paints does nothing to reassure me.

A centipede. But somehow far larger than the ones we’d seen in the higher cavern and on the surface. No, this is bigger. Ten times larger, at the very least.

It doesn’t make a sound after decimating my flames. Something that big should shake the earth when it falls to the ground again. But no, there isn’t so much as a whisper.

Even disregarding its silence, there’s no way that thing should have been able to hide. None of the shadows I’ve seen would be large enough to hold it. There’s not a chance it could hide under the swarm of lights; its massive size wouldn’t allow it.

Has that thing been there the entire time I’ve been moving through this cavern? Where has it been hiding?

I’m suddenly overcome with a feeling of nervousness and hesitance to move forward with my plan. What else might wait to crush me in a lapse of awareness?

The feeling doesn’t last long. My psyche’s knot of desire quickly suppresses the tightness in my chest. I let out a calming breath. It doesn’t matter what else is invisible to me; this is the only plan I have. I can’t give up on it just because there is another creature I have to add to my list. I’ll get nowhere if I hesitate at every obstacle. Especially when the obstacles are likely to punish me for that hesitation.

Still, it’s probably better I wait down in this hole of mine for a bit.

Too bad flying is out of the question. That would have sped up my growth an immense amount. I shouldn’t be surprised the world doesn’t want to make my life easy. It hasn’t so far, why would it now?