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Chapter 4

I sat on the gold, increasing and decreasing the size of the fire dancing on my hand. Wondering if I could experiment, I found an old pice of tattered cloth and set it a ways away. Taking a deep breath, I concentrated, and the fire on my fingertips leapt out and swirled through the air, landing on and burning the cloth.

I smiled delightedly and then began drawing lines of fire through the air, drawing pictures and waving the fire away into smoke.

The talent to do things were coming to me almost instinctively, and I was having fun testing out and sharpening my new skills.

I stuck out my lip and studied my Father. "Is there a reason that you stare, child of mine?" I ignored him and began drawing with fire. The shape of a flying dragon took shape and I laughed merrily, leaping up to chase the beating wings that carried it away.

As I touched it, it faded into puffed smoke, and I plopped down next to the nose of Smaug contentedly. I patted the smooth scales of his nose wonderingly. They looked smooth and polished, but felt soft and velvety. It felt good.

I tilted my head and breathed a small plume of fire on the gold. I slapped my hand over my mouth, gingerly lifting my hand and breathing the fire again, to my chagrin.

There was the sound of an amused chuckle. "Breathing fire is not all that awful, is it, little flame?" I glared at the eye that languidly lingered on me.

"It is." I huffed. "It makes me feel strange."

I rolled my eyes at his incredulous stare and stood up again, creating a wall of fire and peering out from behind it. Taking a blue-feathered arrow, I threw it at the wall and watched it fall to the ground and burn.

"Father?"

"What?"

"It has a head, it has a tail, but it has no body. What is it?"

He lifted his head and stared. "What?"

I peeked out from behind the wall of fire childishly, eyes dancing.

"It's a riddle."

He huffed impatiently. "Why do you want me to answer your riddle, then, insufferable child?" He growled, laying his head back down and narrowing his eyes at me.

I stuck out my tongue at him as I answered. "Because it's fun! You can ask me a riddle too."

He shook his head at me reprovingly. "Don't you know that I am the master of riddles?"

I nodded. "But I have a few good ones. Besides, I think I can stump you." I retorted, extinguishing the wall of fire and prancing around.

"Insolent imp. It's a coin, of course." He added haughtily. I pouted.

He hummed in thought. "What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than trees, up, up it goes, and yet never grows?" He studied me through half-closed lids.

I flopped back down and frowned in thought. My eyes suddenly lit up. "A mountain!" I crowed triumphantly, nodding at him smugly.

He just chuckled. I threw out my next one. "No man has seen it, but all men know it. Lighter then air, sharper then any sword. Comes from nothing, but will fell the strongest of armies. Of what do I speak?"

"Ah, know it, sharper, nothing, army... Hunger." I sighed and pouted as he gave the next one.

"Echoes from the shadow realm, whispers of things yet to come. Strange sister of thought dwells in night, is swept away by dawning light."

I poked out my lip, then crossed my eyes. "Sister of thought... Thought... Dreams!"

I exclaimed with a laugh.

"You are smart, my Narylfiel."

I tossed my head and racked my brains, nodding and throwing out: "It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life, kills laughter."

He mumbled to himself. I tugged my hair impatiently. "Come on, Father!"

"Give me a moment, fire of mine. Ahhhh, yessss. The dark."

I groaned and threw myself down on the gold.

"This thing all things devours: birds, beasts, trees, flowers; gnaws iron, bites steel;

grinds hard stones to meal; slays king, ruins town, and beats high mountain down."

I tossed and turned, muttering it over to myself. After two minutes, I sat up. "Time!" I said with a saucy grin at him.

"Okay, Father, here's my last and hardest one! Fed by greed it lifeless grows:

The breathless howler, the man devourer! Struck by men spared the gallows,

open veins bleed bloodless power. Heart sundered, it's hoard plundered; the endless taker, the widow maker!"

He huffed in thought and then grumbled. I waited. And waited. "A mine!" He roared triumphantly.

I pouted and glared at him. He chuckled. "Be appeased, young one. It was a clever riddle." I smiled, mollified by his compliment, and giggled happily as I tripped over to my pile of cloths.

I began sowing the cloth in the way I wanted. I was trying my best to make two pairs of clothes in particular. One of them was a dress, made of white silk and red swirls. The other was a shirt and pants, the shirt ice blue and the pants a deep, almost midnight blue purple.

I finished the shirt and pants after a while, then yawned.

"Have you found out anything about me yet, Father?"

He stirred himself and spoke. "I have indeed, my daughter. A legend that I think that you are."

He recited the lines to me. I frowned in thought and then walked over to the chest of parchments, grabbing one and a quill. I wrote down the prophecy and sighed.

"So I am supposedly this- legend?"

"You could be, Narylfiel."

I thought it over as his head dropped back down among the gold. I scooted over to his neck and laid there, thinking. Maybe that's why the wizard had said that they needed me. If I was called, then it would make sense that he would have said "it worked." Couldn't it? Tired of thinking, I closed my eyes.

"Good night, Father." I murmured sleepily. All I heard was a snort and I smiled before falling asleep again, thinking about the wizard and wondering if I would dream of him again.