With this chapter, I hit 65,000 words on this story. That's incredible and it's thanks to you guys for keeping me going.


Ry took a deep breath and stood to attention.

"Hands out. Go through the form again, slower. Careful and smooth. Focus on your movements."

He slid into the stance, paying close attention to the position of his feet. It was one he'd been going through for weeks, but he could only do the first half with any proficiency. He kept his steps light and stances solid, blasting fire from his limbs with each punch or kick.

"Ry! Stop!"

He groaned and returned to attention. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Are you aware of how much fire you're blasting out each time?"

"No. I'm not."

"You've almost hit someone several times. You blasted fire straight at my face the last time."

"Is there anything I can do to stop it?"

"Concentrate. Pay attention." Aunt Marella pulled him through the motions. "Little bursts of fire. Size of your head, no bigger."

"Okay." Ry tried again, feeling the size of the ball and keeping it from flying out of control.

"Much better, kiddo. Try the form again, carefully. Keep the blasts small. Your control is incredible, but your ability to sense the fire needs work."

"It's kind of hard to sense something you can't see." he said, slowly becoming fed up with his inability to perform the set correctly.

Aunt Marella turned him to face the correct way. "This way. Try again. You don't need to see to sense it."

Ry slid through the stance again, focusing on keeping the blasts all the same size. He finished the form and turned to face his aunt. "Did I do it right?"

"You did the form just fine. I just don't know how to continue teaching you. The blasts were all the same size, but they were different intensities. Can you make them all the same?"

"No. I can't see them." He plopped down on the ground, crossing his arms. "I have no idea what I'm doing! I can tell the difference between a low-heat area and a high-heat area. But that is useless here! I don't know how to measure intensity or size! I just know it's hot! I can't actually see anything! I'm blind." His lip trembled and voice broke. "I'm disabled.

Someone, he assumed it was Aunt Marella, sat down next to him. "Put out your hands, Ry."

He obeyed, stretching out his fingers tentatively.

Something cold and metal met his palm. "What does that feel like to you?"

Ry was confused. He set it in his lap and ran his hands over it. The main section was a little longer. than his hands together, and it tapered gently. On the slightly larger end was a hinge and something that felt like a cup. On the slightly thinner end was...something weird.

"Is this shaped like a hand? That's what it feels like."

"Yes it is. It's a prosthetic arm."

"But the fingers are really pointy and sharp, and none of you have one." Ry said, then he realized the smooth metal was the exact same size as his aunt's arm. "Right?"

She took his hand and placed it on her arm. He felt down and his fingers met a stump and air.

"What happened to your arm?"

"Arms." Aunt Marella corrected. "It was an accident during a raid. I lost form and hold on my fire and couldn't shield myself from the fire coming at me. The burns to my arms and hands caused irreparable damage, and since it was out in the wilds, by the time we got back to a skilled healer, infection had set too deep in the wounds and both my arms had to be amputated at the elbow. I had to relearn absolutely everything, once your uncle Dex made me these prosthetic arms. I use a special formula of elixirs and illusions to make them look like flesh and bone. But they're really metal and wires."

"You have pointy fingers." Ry traced the fingers on the prosthetic. "Can you stab people with them?"

She chuckled. "Yes, child, I can stab people with my fingers. Not as well as Biana and Dex could, but yes I can. My point is, you can still learn firebending, even if you're blind. I had to learn it with metal forearms. I can't feel anything below my elbow. I've learned to pay close attention to my environment so I can respond correctly when people touch my forearm or hand, but did you ever notice that your aunts, uncles and parents never touched my arm below the elbow? This is why."

Ry handed the prosthetic arm back to his aunt and stood. "I'm ready to try again."

"Okay." He heard the sound of a flame igniting and glanced over.

"This is the size of blast I want you to make with each strike. Can you do that?"

"I can try. Like this?" Ry studied the intensity and size of the heat and made an identical one hover over his hand.

"Exactly like that."

Ry let her guide him to the middle of the space and slid into the starting stance.

"Begin."

He took a deep breath and centered the fire he held in his body. Crossing his arms in front of his, he broke the X, shooting two blasts of fire in opposite directions. He moved forward quickly, aiming four punches in quick succession, as if routing an invisible enemy. With the increased focus, he could see exactly how large and intense each blast was. Careful to balance his weight over his centre of balance, he tucked his leg to his chest. Inhale. He had to bend over nearly parallel to the floor to aim the blast of fire from his kick correctly. Exhale.

Breathe. That was the key to Pyrokinesis.

He finished the form perfectly in tune with the heat in the air around him. As the fire from his last blasts dissipated, he could see nearly perfectly the heat outlines of the ogres in front of him. He pivoted on his heel to face his aunt and bowed from the waist.

"That was as close to perfect you're going to get without sight. You did wonderfully. Your blast size could use some adjusting, but that is negligible. I am going to teach you how to call Everblaze."

"Okay." Ry walked over to her, finally able to tell the difference between her and the ogres.

She knelt next to him. "Summoning it is easy. Anyone with the smallest connection to fire can summon it. But I am the only elf who has been able to keep control once they summon it. The trick is actually lack of control."

"Why the lack?"

"Everblaze likes freedom, but it is not naturally destructive. If you attempt to contain it, it will rebel and burn everything in its path. If you give it freedom, it will stay small and obey your will." She whispered three words under her breath and bright yellow flame curled around her wrist. It took the form of a snake, curling around her arm and raising its 'head' to look at her.

Ry's eyes widened and he quickly looked around the room. Where before he had seen heat signatures, he could now see the outlines of bodies. He knew where the walls were, and the door. Turning to look back at his aunt, his mouth fell open. Rather than a tall pillar of heat, he knew she was kneeling next to him. He knew there were scars on her face, and her eyes were a pretty colour.

"Aunt Marella, what's the name of the colour your eyes are?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "They're blue. Why?"

"I like the colour blue. It's pretty."

"How do you know…" She looked at the flame. "Ry can you see me?"

"I don't know. I've never been able to see. I don't know what it is."

She lifted her hand, holding it open. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Five."

"Do you know where the door is?"

Ry glanced around and pointed, knowing for once, he was right. "It's right there, in between those ogres."

Aunt Marella stared at him in shock. "Ry, you can see."

"I-I can see."

"Wait, before you get all excited, I want to test something." She closed her hand, making the Everblaze disappear. Everything around him vanished, leaving only the heat signatures where his aunt and the ogres were.

"Everything's gone. I can't see anymore."

She hissed under her breath again and the Everblaze sprang back and with it his sight.

"I can see again!"

Aunt Marella gasped. "In the presence of Everblaze, you can see. This, this is incredible."

"I can see." Ry breathed. "This is what sight is. Everything is all different colours. What colour is the wall? It looks like it's all the same, but they're so different!"

"The walls are brown and grey. Lots of different shades of brown and grey, but just those two.

"Wow. There's so many different ones! Are there names for all of them? And the fire looks so different! It has a shape now! Does fire always look like that?"

"No. Everblaze is bright yellow. Normal fire has a different colour, but it's pretty close."

"Wow. You're really pretty."

Aunt Marella smiled and Ry grinned. He knew what a smile looked like now! "Aww, thank you!"

"I want to go find Aunt Ro! And King Dimitar! I want to see what they look like!" He grabbed his aunt's hand and pulled her toward the door, for the first time confident he wouldn't run into the wall.

"Wait! Let me stand up, kiddo!" Aunt Marella laughed, pulling herself up from where she was sprawled on the floor. "You can't yank me like that when I'm sitting down! And I don't want to drop this."

"Sorry." Ry waited for her to stand before he grabbed her hand again.

He knew the way through the halls of Ravagog by heart, since he had to memorize them for when there was no one to help him navigate. They looked completely different. Instead of cold and dark, with spots of heat where the lights were, he could see the arching ceiling about him and the flat floor and where the walls were. There were so many colours. He had no idea so many colours even existed.

"This is incredible!" He stopped when he came to a crossroads he didn't know. "Uh, which way to the throne room?"

Aunt Marella smiled. "Give me just a moment." She spun the Everblaze into the shape of a snake, but without any of the tongues of flames around it. "I don't want to frighten them."

She led him into the room. He knew the throne room, he'd been there before when Aunt Ro was worried about him not being safe. But it looked completely different now that he could see.

"Aunt Ro! Aunt Ro!" Ry knew he was interrupting her, since he could actually see her speaking. Who knew that you could actually see that? "Aunt Ro, I can see!"

She stopped talking and turned to look at him. He knew her hair was three colours, but he didn't know what colours they were. Her eyes were a light grey, but a different grey from the colour at the roots of her hair. "Ry, what happened to your eyes?" Aunt Ro walked over to him and knelt in front of him. "The cloudiness is gone."

Ry grinned. "When there's Everblaze around, I can see! What colours are your hair? I think they're pretty on you, but I don't know what they're called."

To her credit, Ro took the news in stride, barely giving the flame curled around Marella's forearm a second glance. "It's two different shades of blue, dark blue at the bottom and light blue in the middle here. When it grows out enough, I'll add teal to it."

"It's pretty."

"Thanks, kid."

Ry looked over her shoulder. "I can see five ogres, but which one is Dimitar? I want to see what he looks like before Aunt Marella has to make the fire go away."

She stood and pointed to an ogre sitting down. "That's him."

"He looks strong. And he has a really big sword. Ogres are smaller than I thought. But I'm small and I couldn't see how much space there was between the ground and me when I was being carried."

King Dimitar stood up and walked over to them. He crossed his arms and looked down at Ry. "You interrupted an important war meeting, young man."

"I know I did and I'm sorry. But I know Everblaze is dangerous and I wanted to see what you looked like before Aunt Marella has to put it away."

Dimitar smiled. "I understand. I have to finish this war meeting and then if your aunt is willing to hold on to the Everblaze that long, I'll be available."

"Okay!" Ry waved at the other ogres and ran out of the room again. As soon as he stepped out of the room, his sight vanished, replaced again by the heat sensing. He flinched, reaching up to cover his eyes. "A-Aunt Marella, where'd you go?"

"I'm right here, kiddo." He heard footsteps walking up behind him and then his sight returned. "It looks like you can't get too far away from it without losing your sight. Is there anything else you want to do before I have to let go of it?"

Ry bit his lip. There were so many places and things and people he wanted to see, but he knew that Everblaze could be hard to hold sometimes and he didn't want her to lose control.

"I want to see my parents. But especially my mother."

She took his hand with her free one. "I have some pictures I can show you."

"Okay." He followed her to her room. Every time they turned a new corner or someone walked by them, Ry couldn't keep the grin off his face. It was a marvel to him that every person looked different. Before, it had all been the same roughly shaped blotch of heat.

Aunt Marella opened a small chest of papers and pulled out a teal notebook with the delicate embroidery of a moonlark on it. It was worn at the edges and some of the pages were creased and stained. Ry closed his eyes and felt the cover of the book. "Oh I remember this book! Mama had it on her nightstand. She said it was her memory log."

Aunt Marella waited for him to open his eyes before she opened the book to a few specific pages. "There isn't one of your parents individually, but there's plenty in here."

Ry couldn't keep the huge smile off his face. He had no idea who these people were, but he knew they were family. Aunt Marella stopped him from turning a page. "That's your mom there."

He stared at the blonde woman on the page. She was smiling back at him, brown eyes bright and shimmering in the sunlight. Ry trailed his finger down the edge of the skirt of her dress, a deep orangish burgundy, with gold leafy vines curling around the neckline, lending the gold in her deep, soulful eyes a playful tone.

Aunt Marella pointed to the dark haired man standing next to his mother. "That's your father."

Ry could hear the phantom mirth the scene contained. His father had been caught mid-laugh, teal eyes sparkling and crinkled at the corners. He had an arm around his wife's waist and his dark blue tunic went well with her dress.

"Wow." Ry whispered. "These are my parents?"

"Yeah." Marella answered.

"They look happy." He traced the outline of his mama's face. "I don't remember a lot of happiness in our house. Mama and Dad were upset a lot of the time and they would fight more than normal, Jolie said. But the fights more were Mama getting upset over something small and Papa trying to calm her down and mostly letting her shout until she felt a little better and then they went to bed early. I think they were worried about us, especially Jo-Jo."

"I'm sorry about that. Around the time you were two years old, we started finding evidence that the Neverseen were gathering strength again. Sophie was often extremely stressed and tired. We all were. I, unfortunately, have to leave. I've got some previous obligations. Sorry kiddo."

"It's okay. I'll see you later."

Aunt Marella hugged him with one arm and left. Ry sighed as his world dissolved into the slight glow from everything that produced heat. He was able to put the book he was still holding away, but everything seemed so dull now that he had experienced the world of colour that every other elf inhabited. It was a truly beautiful thing and he was beginning to understand why the Neverseen were going to such great lengths. If that world was one he saw every single second of his life, he would want to protect it with everything he had too.


Only six more chapters of this thing! It's mind blowing! When I'd originally published the first chapter, I had no idea how long it would be!

Don't forget to review before you go! Reviewers will get teasers for the next chapter. (Let me know if you don't want one.)

Shine brightly!

Ruby