could be seriously injured or even killed. Afterwards, they would want to hang or burn me and my mother as demons. We'd both have to flee. No, it was best I go now, before things got worse.
Things did get worse. And in the way I most feared.
CHAPTER 4
Shortly after leaving Sedah, I met a small group of travelers heading north. They were suspicious of me at first, but when they saw how young I was and that I was alone, they allowed me to travel with them. They were a nice family, heading north to look for work. They wanted to know more about me, why I traveled by myself, and where I was going. I didn't tell them anything except where I was from and that I headed north for part of the way. I wasn't sure if they would want to travel with someone who could shoot fire out of his body.
“Still not telling us where you're going?” Mara, Kenneth's wife said, while we finished up our evening meal by the campfire.
“I should only be with you for another day or two,” I said. “Then I'm heading west.”
“Can't believe that before we picked you up, you were traveling by yourself,” Kenneth said in his deep voice.
I shrugged. “It's not that bad.”
“That's because you're young. Ah, you'll learn. I traveled a lot in my youth, and I learned it's always best to have someone who'll watch your back, and if worst comes to worst, make for another target. Young and alone, you'll be easy prey. When you get older, you had better be handy with a blade.” He patted the dagger lying on the ground next to him. He looked at my waist, eyes narrowed. “I see no blade on you, Hellsfire.” I kept my mother’s dagger hidden.
“Kenneth!” Mara said, glaring at her husband. “Stop scaring him. You make it sound like you traveled where there were nothing but bandits. I'm going to put the children to bed.”
Kenneth put out the campfire and said, “I may have exaggerated a little, but you should still be careful when you leave us. You've got first watch tonight. Wake me in a few hours.”
I nodded. “I will. And Kenneth—thanks for letting me travel with you.”
I took up a position against a strong oak tree, where I would be able to see everything around us. For the last two days, I had been getting used to taking a watch, but it still bored me. Only the sounds of the crickets and the occasional owl kept me company. There was nothing to watch but the stars and animals that hunted in the night.
While I liked Kenneth's family, being with them didn't allow me to practice my gift—or my curse, depending on what you wanted to call it. Before I met up with them, I had been practicing when I could, though it drained me. I needed not just to be able to access the fire, but to control it. While I still didn't have complete control, I was beginning to understand some of what I could and couldn't do. But I would have to make much more progress before I reached the White Mountain. I needed the fire to battle the cold.
Tonight's watch gave me the first opportunity to practice in days. I had chosen to take my watch in a spot that was partially screened from where Kenneth and his family were sleeping. Between the underbrush and the partially clouded moon, they shouldn't notice me as long I didn't try anything too big.
I moved behind a nearby bush and held my hands out, letting go of the pent-up heat inside of me. It coursed through my body, and I concentrated on directing it to my hands. In my earlier practices, my hands had glowed and felt warm, as if I were holding them in front of a fire. Sometimes I had spurted a few flames. But tonight was completely different.
The fire spewed out of my hands, setting the bush on fire. I tried to stop it. I couldn’t. The fire wouldn't obey me. I was afraid to close my hands, in case that made it spread out in all directions.
The fire seemed to have a life of its own. I watched in horror, fighting it while it hopped from bush to scrub to grass, until everything burned. The deadly and relentless
Things did get worse. And in the way I most feared.
CHAPTER 4
Shortly after leaving Sedah, I met a small group of travelers heading north. They were suspicious of me at first, but when they saw how young I was and that I was alone, they allowed me to travel with them. They were a nice family, heading north to look for work. They wanted to know more about me, why I traveled by myself, and where I was going. I didn't tell them anything except where I was from and that I headed north for part of the way. I wasn't sure if they would want to travel with someone who could shoot fire out of his body.
“Still not telling us where you're going?” Mara, Kenneth's wife said, while we finished up our evening meal by the campfire.
“I should only be with you for another day or two,” I said. “Then I'm heading west.”
“Can't believe that before we picked you up, you were traveling by yourself,” Kenneth said in his deep voice.
I shrugged. “It's not that bad.”
“That's because you're young. Ah, you'll learn. I traveled a lot in my youth, and I learned it's always best to have someone who'll watch your back, and if worst comes to worst, make for another target. Young and alone, you'll be easy prey. When you get older, you had better be handy with a blade.” He patted the dagger lying on the ground next to him. He looked at my waist, eyes narrowed. “I see no blade on you, Hellsfire.” I kept my mother’s dagger hidden.
“Kenneth!” Mara said, glaring at her husband. “Stop scaring him. You make it sound like you traveled where there were nothing but bandits. I'm going to put the children to bed.”
Kenneth put out the campfire and said, “I may have exaggerated a little, but you should still be careful when you leave us. You've got first watch tonight. Wake me in a few hours.”
I nodded. “I will. And Kenneth—thanks for letting me travel with you.”
I took up a position against a strong oak tree, where I would be able to see everything around us. For the last two days, I had been getting used to taking a watch, but it still bored me. Only the sounds of the crickets and the occasional owl kept me company. There was nothing to watch but the stars and animals that hunted in the night.
While I liked Kenneth's family, being with them didn't allow me to practice my gift—or my curse, depending on what you wanted to call it. Before I met up with them, I had been practicing when I could, though it drained me. I needed not just to be able to access the fire, but to control it. While I still didn't have complete control, I was beginning to understand some of what I could and couldn't do. But I would have to make much more progress before I reached the White Mountain. I needed the fire to battle the cold.
Tonight's watch gave me the first opportunity to practice in days. I had chosen to take my watch in a spot that was partially screened from where Kenneth and his family were sleeping. Between the underbrush and the partially clouded moon, they shouldn't notice me as long I didn't try anything too big.
I moved behind a nearby bush and held my hands out, letting go of the pent-up heat inside of me. It coursed through my body, and I concentrated on directing it to my hands. In my earlier practices, my hands had glowed and felt warm, as if I were holding them in front of a fire. Sometimes I had spurted a few flames. But tonight was completely different.
The fire spewed out of my hands, setting the bush on fire. I tried to stop it. I couldn’t. The fire wouldn't obey me. I was afraid to close my hands, in case that made it spread out in all directions.
The fire seemed to have a life of its own. I watched in horror, fighting it while it hopped from bush to scrub to grass, until everything burned. The deadly and relentless
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