Young Flame

Leal hardly expected much from what was essentially the capital of the áed, but she was very glad to have been proven wrong.

No wonder a culture that revolved around a nomadic lifestyle chose to settle. Who wouldn’t with such an incredible place available? Each massive pillar of glass rose from the clear ground and towered far above. The paths between each spire are narrow, but still leave enough space for Grímr to spread his wings.

“How was this place made?” Leal can’t help but ponder as her gaze follows each glass spike to the darkening sky above.

“Eldest Ember,” Odqan replied. “She formed our agglomerate a long time ago.”

It was surprising that one of the grand elders, the leaders of the áed, guided and answered her questions personally. None of the eastern races would ever operate this way. Not her own, and not any other.

“The same one that burns the moon each night?” Leal didn’t believe it was anything but a celestial phenomenon, but she knew Solvei thought the moon lit with fire each night. The girl had spoken of it many times.

“Yes. Eldest Ember ascended before any of the current elders came into being.”

The grand elder answered her questions without reservation, but his unenthusiastic, almost bored attitude stifles Leal’s desire to ask further. There were so many things she wanted to ask about the áed, that Solvei herself didn’t know, and the temptation to ask what might be rude questions was warring with the hesitance inflicted by Odqan’s posture.

She held herself back long enough for Grímr to speak. “This is incredible. I’m surprised many of your kind remain nomadic when you have such a place to return to. Do you stay long?”

Odqan clanked the shaft of his glaive on the glass ground as he gazed at Grímr, measuring how much he should say. “Most tribes will return every decade or two and stay for a year. Some grand elders stay here permanently, while others travel with tribes. A rare few travel alone.”

Leal was not at all surprised by the reluctance to give any specific details. She and Grímr were outsiders. He wouldn’t want to give any discrete information that might be used against them. It was honestly shocking he was being this welcoming, but with the constant thirst that tugged at her throat, Leal could understand why they felt confidant in their position against attacks.

If she ignored the growing heat as they wove around the towering glass pillars, then it was actually becoming easier to handle the drain on her water. Not easy — not by a long shot — but the further she walked, the less the strain was. More evidence that it was the sand draining her reserves and not the temperature itself.

Odqan led them past a dozen unattended wagons and around the last corner of glass toward the first áed gathering. Leal didn’t know why she assumed they would all sit together in one massive blaze, or at least around a bunch of campfires, but she did. Besides a few áed igniting their hair for light and a few flaming bursts from a pair sparring to the side, there was actually less fire than most small towns would use.

She really shouldn’t have made such assumptions, considering Solvei never exactly sat in her own flames when resting, but the young áed was an anomaly anyway, so Leal had subconsciously placed her in her own category. Separate from even her own race.

This town built between three mighty glass towers was just that, a town. It’s not a city, nor was it some strange otherworldly inferno, as she expected, but a simple village. Well, not exactly simple, as many of the permanent structures were glass and built into the pillars, but there were only a few dozen in what was supposed to be a major gathering.

The small town within the massive space of the Agglomerate pointed to a rather diminutive total population of áed. Though, if the tribes only returned every decade as Grand Elder Odqan said, then determining the number of áed in the wasteland might be impossible by their population here.

A few of the large round tents were set up on the edge of the gathering, but beyond that, there were no large structures that weren’t made of glass. Did the áed not care about privacy? Anyone who looks could see into your resting areas without reservation. As strange as it was, the transparent structures gave Leal a perfect view of the lives of those here.

Many worked away at materials, likely etching those strange áed inscriptions into clothing or other important equipment, while others were off playing strange games or sparring with weapons. What attracted her eye the most were the ones seated in a circle around each other. Eyes closed and breathing like they were sleeping, these groups somehow both remained unmoving, while appearing like they were. Only by staring hard enough that she was worried she might be called out, did she notice that their skin was rippling like an intense flame, yet remained mostly hidden and unilluminated.

Maybe that was some form of training they did? Leal’s analytical marking didn’t work through the glass, so she could only guess.

While áed and fire mages could accomplish much of the same things, the way they went about their control vastly differed. Leal knew how accomplished most of the things they did — discounting the more secretive and advanced techniques — as they were rather similar to her own markings, but despite being around Solvei for as long as she has, the áed’s methods remained esoteric.

Leal had originally not wanted to follow Solvei into the wasteland. Her thoughts and emotions in too much flux to be comfortable. But she was glad she had. She was glad her dad had pushed her. Now that she was here, amongst all these áed, she had an incredible opportunity to learn. Even if the way they manipulate their element is impossible for her, observing how they interact with their hyle — and how it differs from Solvei’s control — could help her understanding immensely.

She was also curious about the áed’s version of inscriptions, but more for what she might learn about any fundamental hyle interaction not yet seen than to use them herself. Inscriptions were definitely interesting, but her focus remained on markings.

With Grímr’s heavy footsteps tapping along the glass, many eyes turned their way. Unlike the tribe in that volcano a few days ago, the áed here show far less concern about their presence, but the curiosity is the same. Between her and the large metal bird beside her, Leal knew they made an odd sight to these people who never left the dry wasteland.

The portian unnerved her. Leal was sure she’d hidden her reservations — disgust? Fear? She wasn’t sure — from Solvei’s friend, but travelling with one of the race that could snatch her body away was not something that she could be totally comfortable with. Grímr meant well. She believed that, but it was still hard to trust such a race.

It raised the question of how Solvei felt comfortable around her, knowing how dangerous water remained for her.

The glass beneath her feet was hot, and the air warm. It was bearable, but she really hoped it cooled down some throughout the night. A place favoured by a race of fire people likely wouldn’t be nice to her in the day. She might need to return to the desert when the sun returned.

As they walked past a larger, glass-made circular tent, half a dozen áed approached.

“Grand Elder Odqan, how long has it been since we last had guests?” the tallest amongst them asked, offering a friendly smile to the two of us. “Welcome to our home. I hope your stay isn’t too difficult; I understand neither our deserts nor the Agglomerate are comfortable for the eastern races.”

“Seventy years this time. There were a few that came close, but ultimately couldn’t handle the sands,” Odqan said.

“We appreciate the welcome.” Grímr lowered his massive beak in thanks. “This place is incredibly impressive. It’s hard to believe such a place exists.”

“What made you travel all the way out here?”

“One of our own that I’ve never met brought them here with her,” Odqan said. “Yalun took her up to her chambers.”

“Grand Elder Yalun?” a woman asks from behind the áed that welcomed them. “What did she find interesting about her?”

“Her binding is at a similar level to Yalun’s own.”

“You’re kidding! Where has she been hiding?” the woman pushed past the other áed.

Odqan turned his gaze toward Leal and Grímr, eyes narrowing. “I am rather interested as well.”

Leal had already heard enough about the taboo to know Solvei would be in trouble if they didn’t help her here. There would be no hiding the fact that she’d been outside the wasteland, not in a way they could explain their meeting. But now that Solvei had actually told her of the rough times she’d been through, Leal could say just enough that they wouldn’t blame the girl for leaving.

“After she escaped her kidnappers, she got stuck in our lands until the war ended.” Leal wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to tell them just how much Solvei contributed to the wars of the past few years, so she simply avoided mentioning that she fought. “Solvei asked us to join her as she travelled back.”

The female áed now stands stiff, but Grand Elder Odqan’s suspicious gaze become understanding and sympathetic. “These are the water mages that spent half a year along the southern coast? I’ll need to speak to her about what she experienced. Still, her name is Solvei, you say?” He turned to the woman. “Enya, you wouldn’t know any eagles with that name, would you?”

“None of the eagles have that name,” she said, rather stiffly. “None.”

Enya turns to Leal slowly, as if the motion is difficult. Her eyes shimmered, flames subtly becoming visible behind the albanic colouring. “This Solvei… how old is she?”

“Fourteen?” Grímr looked down at Leal, asking for confirmation.

She nodded. It was close enough, and the girl herself had never been confident about her age. The time she’d spent alone in the wasteland before finding Leal’s father did not have a definitive length of time in the girl’s mind.

“Cyrus!” Enya suddenly shouts, rushing back through the glass town as her body engulfed in flames. “Cyrus!”

Leal and Grímr stood there as the áed rushed off with every gathered eye following her. She made more commotion than even the two outsiders made upon arrival, snapping even those in their meditative states back to reality. One of those turning out to be the one she was running for. Inside the small glass dome, her animated talk could be seen but not heard.

“You better not be intentionally riling her up.” Odqan warned. “A fourteen-year-old eagle is impossible. I don’t care if this new eagle likes to take on a younger appearance, but playing with a mourner’s emotions will not be tolerated.”

“Er, no. I’m absolutely sure Solvei is about as old as she says.” Leal didn’t mean any harm, and she didn’t understand what it was she might have said, but she had known Solvei long before her massive… growth spurt.

Odqan stares at her doubtfully, but his head soon drops into his hand in thought. “That would be just like Yalun to hide such details. If an impossibility showed itself before her, of course she would take it in to analyse herself.” He hums for a moment before returning his sight to Enya, now leaving the glass ger with another áed in tow. “If this eagle — though I guess she’s not officially an eagle — is as old as you say, and she is who Enya thinks she is, then this is great news; at least the child of their tribe survived.”

Enya finally returns before them. Her body still engulfed in flames and arms half transformed into that of wings. It was incredible how slow her change was when compared to the near momentary transformation Solvei showed off regularly. Behind Enya, followed a tired man. His weary gaze showed no interest in what Enya was speaking of, but he followed nonetheless.

“Please tell him what you told me,” Enya says, pulling the other áed before her. “Tell us Solvei is alive.”

“Enya… you can’t keep doing this. She’s gone, just like everyone else.”

“No! This time I know it’s true. Grand Elder Yalun is meeting with Solvei right now, and I’m going to see her.” Despite being not yet halfway through her transformation, she ran off toward the central mountain of the Agglomerate.

“You can’t just rush into a Grand Elders’ chambers,” the áed called after Enya before sighing deeply and turning to Leal with hard eyes. “Don’t blame her. The past few years have not been kind.”

“Say…” Leal started, unsure if she was misunderstanding just who these two were. “You wouldn’t be from the Vatra tribe, would you?”

He raises an eyebrow at her. “Yes? Though it no longer exists.”

“Then I think Solvei would be happy to see you.” Solvei had helped Leal meet her father again; the least she could do was guide her tribe to their reunion.

He narrowed his eyes and turned to Odqan. “This ‘Solvei’ meeting with Yalun… what is so unique about her? Why has she taken an interest in her?”

“She has an incredibly high binding,” the grand elder said with a shrug.

“Then there’s no chance it’s the same child we knew.” He gazed toward the outline of the mountain, visible — though distorted — through the glass pillars. “Solvei’s growth was slow; there’s no world in which she could increase her binding this early.”

Despite his words of denial, his sight never left the tall mountain standing in the centre of the glass dome. Without another word, he walked away, following Enya with a far more reserved gait.

“Is that kid actually from the Vatra tribe?” Odqan asked as they watched him leave the last of the glass structures built into the side of a pillar.

“Yes. Solvei thought nobody but herself survived.”

Odqan hums. “Well, I hope it’s true, because those two are about to piss off Yalun.”