Chapter 5: Flame of the Forest

"I am Jarod."

The name still echoed in my head. Jarod... it seemed familiar, but not in any way I could recognize. I cursed my amnesia under my breath, just as I had done many times. I continued along the pathway, following the black and red fox ahead of me. After we met, he had told me to follow him. He had led me out of the city without saying a word. At a brisk pace, I followed him still, as we passed into large amounts of undergrowth and forest. His large stature and red fur looked out of place, and there would be very little possibility that he could hide anywhere here. The birds in the trees fell silent as he passed by, as if to feel sorrowful for his presence. As we passed them, I could hear them restart their normal chatter behind us. Jarod looked straight forward, ignoring them. He seemed to be focused entirely on where he was headed, and not on anything else. I looked down at my feet, wondering where he could be taking me and what he planned to do. As I looked down, I also noticed that we were no longer on the dirt path from before. No longer knowing where we were or why we had gone off the path, I could only follow Jarod further into the undergrowth.

When it seemed as If we had been walking for hours without speaking, Jarod suddenly stopped at the foot of a great Tree. The tree was one of the biggest in the forest, with roots that spread throughout the entire area around it. Branches from the trunk stuck out into the sky above, protruding into the heavens. Jarod had stopped directly in front of this great tree, and in one of the patches of bark, there was a very curious-looking rune. It was of no great length or width, but seemed to be something increasingly important. It seemed to picture a tongue of flame being lifted by great wings that merged to its sides.

Jarod stopped in front of this symbol, and kneeled in front of it. He closed his eyes, and placed his hands together, and stayed in that position, breathing calmly. I watched him keep this position for many minutes, and yet, he held it.

"Jarod..." I asked, meekly.

"Ssssshhh!" came a voice from behind me. "Do not disturb him, for he is in prayer."

I spun around to see a girl standing behind me, her hands on her hips. She seemed to be a dog of some breed, but it was hard to tell which, because she had many of the same features that Jarod had, only a bit milder. Her fur color was a dark brown, and had some smaller black streaks, but only on her wrists. Her ears were floppy, but retained the same serious attitude that the rest of her showed.

"Who are you?" I asked, confused as to what someone like her was doing in the forest.

"My name is Nicole, and I'm Jarods Sister." She looked up and down at me. "Well, he's going to be there for a while longer, and he obviously already determined you worthy, so let me take you to the village. Follow me."

She turned, and started to walk in another direction, and I followed. Behind some of the ferns and other plants, she revealed to me what seemed to be a small clearing. Inside, there were three buildings. The three were made of stone, and looked to be ages old. They were large, and there were a few animals like us walking around. They all bore the same markings that Nicole bore on her wrists, and all had the same dark fur, but none like Jarod. Something made me think that Jarod was important and separate from these people, though they were very alike.

Nicole led me into the first structure, and I found the inside to be quite bleak. The stones of the walls were mossy on the inside, and nobody had cleaned it in years. There were two beds by one of the walls, but they were the only features in the ancient room. Nicole sat on one of the beds, and told me to sit on the other. I obeyed.

"So, now that you have been brought here, we must wait for Jarod. In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can teach you the basics about our society."

I nodded, many questions forming in my head that I would like to ask.

"Why do you live here in the forest?"

The girl smiled as she answered, "We live here because our ancestors lived here. It is our safe haven from the outside world."

More questions forming, I asked, "Why do you need to be away from the rest of the world?"

"Because of our abilities." was the answer. Nicole raised one of her arms up above her head, and clenched a fist. To my great surprise and wonder, a great blast of fire issued forth from her upraised arm, sliding along the ceiling before dying out.

"We, the ones who serve the flame, are given control over fire." she explained. "The Flame grants us this ability, and changes our appearance so that we are separate from our brethren. In this way, the Flame can recognize itself."

Deliberately trying to avoid asking anything to make me seem stupid, I asked, "Why are there so few of you?"

For the first time, Nicole frowned. She seemed to be containing her anger as she answered, "...There are few who listen to the call of the Flame. It calls out to everyone and everything, but there are many who don't hear the call. They believe in their god, and selfishly refuse to acknowledge that which others believe in. They call us vermin, and servants of evil. They refuse to listen to us, and therefore, there are very few who are worthy of the Flame's gift."

Finally, I found myself stuck. There was one question that I wanted to ask, and I could not avoid it by asking another.

"What is the Flame?"

Nicole smiled, and was about to answer, but another voice did so faster.

"The flame is power."

I looked at the entrance to see Jarod entering the room. As he said the word "power", he clenched his right fist, and instantly, his hand was on fire.

"The flame is might."

At this, Jarod took his other fist, and placed it alongside the one ablaze, and it, too, caught on fire.

"But most of all..."

As Jarod pulled his fists back, dousing the flame, he held up one finger in front of his face.

"The flame is light."

A small flame burned from Jarods upraised finger, but it was not ordinary. It shone like a torch, illuminating the entire room with its brilliance. The rocky walls sparkled in the dancing light, and even Jarods face gained color.

As the light flickered away, Jarod walked to a corner of the room. Lifting a stone from the wall, he revealed a large hole, from which he retrieved a piece of parchment.

"Read this." he said, handing it to me.

The text on the parchment seemed to be as ancient as the room it was contained in. I blew a large amount of dust off the writing and began reading.

"The great lord of hell, Satan, was a cold and hard ruler. He was once a mortal, and was forsaken by many. His visions of power and revenge upon those who beat him and swore at him were seemingly never to come true. However, His heart of gold was turned pure black from his torment, and with his dark desire, he found power. God gave him a gift from heaven, meant to smite the wicked and bring justice to the world. Satan was given this power because of his past. God knew that he would not use it for greed. With the great gift, he rose up, and with wings of power, he did as god had intended. He drove away evil spirits, purged the world of uncleanliness, and brought down justice from heaven above. Man, under his rule, became a peaceful race, and crime, murder, and death was very much forgotten for a time.

Satan ruled well until his time of death. When it came time, he was cast by god into the world of hell and heaven, as the spirit of justice. He was given the rule of the hellish afterlife of villains, so that he could continue his ways of punishing the wicked. Once a spirit in hell became strong enough in will and truly wished no evil upon the world, Satan would send him up the stairway to heaven, and they would, having repent for their crimes, live on with the great god in heaven.

Satan's gift, having served its purpose, was returned to God. He needed no more power, for it is worth nothing to a spirit. Now, as times go on, and our society once again discriminates the people of the Earth, and blood covers the ground, God waits. His gift to Satan still awaits on earth, waiting for another who would lead the forces of good to bring justice to the people."

I looked up from the writing when I had finished reading.

"So... the Flame is the gift God gave to Satan, and the power of the underworld."

Jarod smiled at me. "You are very much correct."

This realization hit me hard. I understood now what Nicole was talking about. I they worshipped Satan, of course they would be prejudiced by everyone else. The best solution for them IS for them to hide, away from society. Still, one thing nagged at my mind, anxiously waiting for me to ask them.

"If that is true, then why are you so different from the others?"

Jarod frowned, and looked at Nicole. She looked back at him, and at the same time, they nodded. Jarod exited the cave, indicating that I was to follow him. He led me out of the small village, and back into the undergrowth. I followed him as he led me up a small, uphill path. It curved very slightly, and I was still wondering where he was taking me. I could do nothing at the moment, however, but follow him to wherever he was going.

Soon, we reached our destination, and I marveled. We had reached a large outlooking cliff, on top of a hill that protruded above the layers of trees. In the distance, the city loomed, a gray shape in the distance, devoid of color when compared to the forest of trees below us. Further away, on the horizon, the sun was setting, spreading a red light across the clouds and sky. Magnificent colors spread across all of the view, and it was absolutely breathtaking. An old dry log lay near the edge of the cliff, and Jarod sat down on it, as if it were a bench. I sat next to him, staring off into the horizon. I looked at Jarod, who was staring out into space.

"As you wished, I will tell you of my past. This is my story..."