A/N: I promised some people this would be out yesterday, but it's here today because I possibly spilled juice on my Mac and had to clean it up and then forgot to write a chapter 'cause I thought I was going to be brutally murdered by my father. Oops?
Xoxo
Allie-O-Saurus
Chapter One
The tiny flame was the only thing I could focus on. Not the cold, not the wind, or the snow, but the flame. It took all of my focus to keep the tiny blue flame alight. I couldn't bear to think about the events that had unfolded in front of my six-year-old eyes. I had looked into the eyes of death that day, and death had a stare that was unwavering. How I had made it out with my pa, I would never know.
I looked across the tiny flame at my pa. His wrinkled, usually smiling face was blue with cold and tired. Those eyes, once sparkling, were red and puffy from smoke and tears. I, too, had cried. Cried for my father, my mother, my two sisters… I blinked away tears again. I felt so bad for my Pa, looking at him again. He wasn't a mage, and had no desire to be one, but he supported me and my mother. My tiny bluebell flame matched the ones she had been able to conjure, before she died. Once again, I pushed the thought of my mother out of my mind and I sighed. I was tired, but I could not sleep. If we lost the flame, we would freeze to death in the mountains. Pa was too weak to carry on, and I was too weak to support us both. My magical power was almost at its limit.
"Beth…" Pa rasped, "Beth, look at me…" His speech was slurred, and weak. "I want to see you eyes one last time… beautiful bluebell eyes. Your mother's eyes. My wife's eyes." I blinked back the tears that once again threatened to spill out of my eyes. "Your father's hair, such a wonderful shade of violet." Pa laughed, a weak and hollow sound. "Be great, Beth. Show the world what you're capable of. Don't lose your spark…" His shoulders slumped, his chin dropped down to his chest. The tears fell, then. All the tears I had been holding back fell. I let out a cry of anguish and rage, rage at the demon, rage at the cold that had taken my Pa, rage that I had been left alone. It was unfair, unfair, unfair. When I looked back at the ground, the bluebell flame was gone.
Rage quickly turned into desperation. With no source of heat, I would die. My pa had told me I needed to keep going, and I would. I had to spread the word about the demon. Quickly, I removed the thin coat from my Pa's shoulders. Once I found people, I would have him properly buried. Tearfully, I removed the family ring from his finger and placed it in my pocket. It was real gold, with the family motto. My only regret was that Pa hadn't had the family name engraved. I sighed sorrowfully and slipped the ring on my right middle finger. It sized itself to me, as most magical rings did, and I grinned. The spark burns on, and so shall we. I came from a long line of fire mages, with the exception of my Pa.
I placed one last kiss on his wrinkled forehead and crept away into the blizzard. Wind and snow pelted my face. Even the hood on the coat didn't do anything to stop my ears from becoming numb from the frigid air. My teeth began to chatter, more fiercely now. I shivered uncontrollably, and my legs became heavy and hard to move. Slowly, I pushed onward. I was too weary to cast another bluebell flame. Too weary to do anything but shiver and walk. My hands were turning blue, as I imagined my lips were. My slow descent lasted only metres until my legs gave out, and I fell.
I was ready to die. Then, all of a sudden, I landed. A pile of snow and ice had broken my fall. A ledge that I hadn't seen before, covered in snow, was what had saved me from a rather nasty fate. A hysterical chuckle escaped my throat. It was then that I realized, with much surprise, that I was not alone on the ledge.
Two boys, one dark haired and one light haired, stared at me blankly. They looked at each other, shrugged, and approached me.
"She looks pretty cold." Remarked the light haired one. The one with dark hair just sighed. Together, they lifted me from the frigid snowbank and looked at each other again. Before I could see what they intended to do next, everything faded into darkness. Peace, quiet and warmth were all that was on my mind as I fainted from exhaustion, cold and trauma.