Flames in the Dark

PROLOGUE: Visions of Water and Flame

When the spring rains began, Soren River was still full of snow melt. It didn’t take long for the river to pass its banks, and the rains did not stop. Every day, Ivy and Hayden Wilde would check the levels in the rain barrels and Ivy would voice her concern about the old dam at Pryor’s Ridge. Then the dreams started.

Lightning split the sky and the thunder was instant, so loud that the walls of the house shook. Fear was a knot in her throat as Ivy stepped to the front window. The green curtains billowed in the wind from the broken crystal window.  The flare of the lightning made the crystal sculptures in the front room glitter, casting dark and gruesome shadows on the walls. She pushed the curtains aside and looked out. A wall of water swept towards her. In it, she saw uprooted trees, pieces of farmhouses, and the faces of her friends and neighbors. Even the signboard from the village green rolled through the water, proclaiming “Malia, home of the Artist’s Festival”.

The water and debris roared past, missing her house just a step from the door. She began to tremble and clung to the windowsill to remain upright. When she thought the worst of the horror was over, two small bodies bobbed to the surface of the dark water and, defying all logic, stopped before her window. They turned in the water to face her and Ivy screamed.

She awoke to her husband, Hayden shaking her, “Ivy love, wake up!” With a cry of anguish, she threw herself into his arms, sobbing.

“The children,” she gasped.

“They’re sleeping, safe in their beds.” He murmured, stroking her hair. Still she sobbed.

“Why?” she moaned. “Why would the gods have given me such visions of fire and grace when they were small only to threaten to take them with such horrors now? They have so much yet to do. The gods cannot be finished with them yet. The fire hasn’t even sparked in them.”

“I don’t know,” he said, “But we’ll figure out how to stop this, as we have the others.”

“This is so much bigger,” she murmured. “Nothing I’ve ever seen has been so terrible. The valley will be gone… everyone we know… gone.” Her voice was small and fearful.

“Then we will warn them,” Hayden said. “We’ll go to Master Dillon in the morning and tell him we’re concerned about the dam breaking.”

“We’ve no proof,” Ivy said.

“All we can do is try.” Hayden said. “Rest now, morning is still far away.”

“I’ll just check on the children,” Ivy said. She pushed away from him, threw off the quilts and climbed out of bed. She walked out and to the next room. There, tucked into bed, were two small children. A boy and a girl, cheeks pink with sleep, and red curls tousled on their pillows. She walked to the bedside, her bare feet padding softly on the smooth hardwood. She sat carefully on the edge of the bed they shared and lay her hands on their heads, gently stroking those curls. She still trembled, and tears slipped from her eyes unnoticed, but she smiled at the peace exuded by the children, safe and sleeping.

Something sparkled beside their heads and she reached for it, dread creeping cold fingers back into her heart. The small peace she’d gained fled as she picked up two crystal hearts, each one etched with a name. Beside the girl’s head, Edana, beside the boy’s, Brand. Shaking, she brought the crystals back to her bed where Hayden waited.

“It’s done,” she said. “Their names are written.” Grief made her cold. Slowly he took the hearts from her. He looked down at them and closed his eyes a moment. Taking a deep breath, he turned and opened a small trunk beside the bed. Inside, other crystals could be seen, sparkling in the moonlight. He placed the two hearts in with the others and latched the box closed again. Then he opened his arms to his wife. Ivy fell into them, weeping once more.

“Shhh… shhhh…” he murmured, holding her close. He kissed the top of her head. “They’ve too much to do for this to come to pass. We will change it.”

Ivy wept until the sun rose.

A week later the river had risen enough that it reached into Aria Dell’s living room. She had to move her five children in with her sister. Ivy and Hayden went to see the Mayor for the third time. He led them in to the parlor and gestured to a small table with three chairs. It was already laid with a full spread for tea. There was a crystal pot and cups that Ivy had crafted herself and sold to him at the festival the year before. Before his daughter could pour, Ivy began pleading. “The rain is still falling,” she said, grimly. “Surely you can see that it’s not safe here.”

“My dear Mrs. Wilde, I told you last time, and the time before that. The dam at Pryor’s Ridge has stood for two lifetimes. The men who tend it know their jobs. We’ve received no word from them that Iskiel Lake has changed any more than it usually does in the spring. This village has been in the Valley for longer than anyone can remember.” He sighed, folding his hands and putting them on the table. “I know the rain makes it harder for you to work in your forge, and I’m sure Hayden’s fire sculptures don’t take kindly to all this water either.” He smiled at her.

“Sir, if you would just hear us out,” Hayden tried.

“I have heard you,” Master Dillon said, losing his smile. “I sent word to the dam and asked them about it. They said everything is fine. So that’s the end of it. I hope you won’t be spreading panic through the village. The people have begun to get ready for the festival that is the heart of this town. And your life’s work. It was you who brought the King’s attention here five years ago and put us on the map.”

“Yes, I know,” Ivy said. “But the water is coming and we’re all in terrible danger!” Panic edged into her voice. Hayden put a hand on her arm.

“Thank you for seeing us sir,” Hayden said. “Please keep the situation in mind, for the safety of the villagers.” He stood, pulling Ivy up with him.

“You’re always welcome here,” Master Dillon said, his voice was tight and his smile was forced as he stood to show them out. Before they were to the door, his back was turned. They had been dismissed.  

With heavy hearts, they returned home, walking in the rain. At home, Brand and Edana had a warm dinner of slightly burnt bread and vegetable stew waiting for them. Ivy didn’t speak much over dinner and soon excused herself to the forge behind the house where she created her glass sculptures. Moments later, the children and Hayden heard the fires roar to life.

“Is Mama alright?” Edana asked.

“She’ll be okay. Just getting some work done.” Hayden said with a smile. “Thank you both for dinner. That was very helpful.” The twins had only six summers, but they worked together well, and often did things beyond their years. “How about a bedtime story?”

        A short time later the twins were settled in a pile of blankets on the floor before the hearth. A fire was already there, and their cloaks were draped before it to dry, though they still dripped rain on the floor. “What shall it be tonight? Princess Alona and her Magic bucket? Silvertail and the summer’s end?”

        “Something new,” Brand said.

        “Yes, a new story please!” Edana said.

        “Very well,” Hayden said. He raised his hands and held them poised in the air, as if holding an invisible paintbrush. The children turned rapt attention to the fire in the grate. “Once upon a time…” He began a tale of adventure and as he spoke, he painted moving pictures into the flames. A horse running, a witch’s castle built of flame and shadow. The children watched and listened to their father’s story without interruption. Hayden smiled as he spoke. The innocence of children made the hardships of the recent days, and the fear that rode his shoulders fade, if only for now.

        When the story was done, he made a sweeping motion with his hand and the flames crackled and flared, erasing the pictures. “Time for bed!” he said gently. Two pairs of sleepy golden eyes blinked at him.

        “But what happened to Rhyden when he got to the Cliffs?” Brand asked. He yawned even as he got to his feet.

        “And what about Silvertail? He wasn’t supposed to be in the maze at all and now he’s stuck!” Edana said. She rubbed her eyes.

        “Tomorrow,” Hayden said. “You’ll want to be more awake for that part.” He teased.

        “I’m aw---“ Brand yawned, “—ake.”

        “Of course, but I need to check on your mother. Into bed, both of you.” Hayden said.

        Without further protest, they went to their room. Hayden banked the fire, and then checked on them. The twins were already snuggled into the bed they shared. He smiled at them. “Goodnight my little loves,” he murmured. Then he picked up his cloak from before the fire and went out into the rain to check on his wife.

        A moment later, Brand opened his eyes. “You sleepin’?”

        “I s’pose not,” Edana mumbled.

        “We gotta do something to help Mama,” Brand said.

        “They didn’t tell us what’s wrong. How can we help?” Edana asked, rolling over to look at him in the dim light.

        “It something to do with that box by her bed,” Brand said. “She’s worried about it.”

        “It’s got some of her small pieces in it,” Edana said. “She doesn’t want them to break.”

        “Then why does the rain make her cry?” Brand asked.

        Edana scrubbed her hands across her face. “I dunno. Maybe the river’s gonna come in like it did to Derry’s house.”

        Brand’s eyes grew wide. “We have to do something!”

        “What can we do against the river?”

        “Put the box somewhere high up… like in a tree.”

        “You think that’s a good idea?”

        “It’s better than leaving them where they are and watching mama cry.”

        “What tree? And how would we get it up there?”

        They thought for a moment, listening to the continuous patter of the rain on the roof. “The old apple tree on the hill maybe,” Brand said. “If we get it up in the branches, it’s sure to be safe from anything the water gets to.”

        “When should we do it?” Edana asked.

        “Why not now?”

        “It’s dark, and it’s storming!” Edana protested.

        “It’s always dark and storming,” Brand said. “We have to do it before whatever it is that is scaring Mama starts to happen.”

        Edana stared at him for a moment, then in unison they both got up and re-dressed, stepping into their boots. They moved quietly, completely sure they were not allowed to do what they were doing. Their parents were still out at the forge, but they were still careful. Brand peeked through the window and saw the light of the fires in the windows of the workshop. Then they crept into their parent’s room and made for the box. It wasn’t large, but it was full of crystal pieces, so it was heavy.

        “We’ll need a rope,” Edana said, “so we can tie it up into the tree.”

        Brand went to his father’s workbench and found a coil of rope, and Edana got their cloaks. Working together they moved the box to the front door.

        “Should we leave a note?” Brand asked.

        “We’ll be back before they have a chance to worry,” Edana said. “We’re only going up the hill.” He nodded and picked up his side of the box with the handle. A few moments later they headed out into the rain.

        A short time later, Hayden brought Ivy into the house. She was sooty, but no longer weeping. “I’m going to clean up before bed.” She said softly. She went to the wash basin by the back door. Hayden went to check on the children. At first, he thought all was well. Then he opened the door wider. As the lantern light fell on the bed he saw rumpled blankets, but no red curls on the pillows. He swallowed the fear that choked him and went to see if they had moved into his bedroom. It was also empty. With a pounding heart, he went to Ivy.

        “The children,” he started, his voice shaking.

        She looked up from the water, wiping her face. She took in his expression without reaction. “They’re gone,” she said. He could only nod. She took a deep breath and nodded once. “Then we’d better find them.”

        “Where would they go?” Hayden asked her.

        “I don’t know. So we’ll need some help.” She said. Her voice was steadier than it had been in days. Now that the worst had begun, and there was something she could do, it was better. “I’ll start searching in the south field. You take Coal on into town and ring the bell. Some brave souls should come out to help.”

        Hayden studied her face. He’d been the strong one for weeks, when the danger was merely a threat. Now, their children were missing, and the dam could fall at any moment tripling the already swollen Soren River. Here was his wife, no longer in the grip of fear from her visions. Calm, capable, her green eyes red-rimmed but dry. He grabbed her hurriedly and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I love you,” he said. “See you soon.” Then he turned and was gone to the barn to get Coal, their old grey gelding.

        It felt like days before he rode into town, jumping off the horse in front of the Mayor’s house, and grabbing for the rope of the bell. It was a huge bell, the true work of an artist smith. The bell was rung in dire emergency, or in celebration. The sound would peal through the valley and could be heard almost anywhere. He pulled the rope for all he was worth. A moment later, the loud ‘Dong’ sounded again and again as he pulled strongly at the rope.

        Within moments, lanterns lit in windows and men stumbled from their homes. “What is it? What’s wrong?” many voices called to him.

        “My children are missing, and the water’s rising!” he called back.

        Master Dillon stepped out behind him. “Wilde, if this is something to do with your wife’s preoccupation with the dam…”

        “No sir!” Hayden said. “My children are lost in the dark, and you know the River’s overflowing its bounds as it is.”

        “Where could they have gone?” asked the potter.

        “I don’t know! That’s why I need everyone’s help.” Hayden said.

        And so the search began. Rain still poured down, but men and women began to spread out from the town, lanterns swinging, calling for the children.

***

        The rain poured down but they kept moving. “We’ve got to get to the apple tree!” Brand yelled to be heard above the wind. The storm was much stronger than they had expected it to be. And the mud was deeper. They’d gotten turned around in the darkness twice.

“I don’t know if I can hold it much longer!” Edana yelled back. Even as she spoke, the trunk slipped from her fingers and her end splashed into the mud.

“We’re almost there!” Brand yelled.

A flash of lightning made the pink blossoms of the apple tree ahead flare white in the night and they hurried towards it as fast as they could in the sucking mud. They took a moment to rest in the relative shelter of the big apple tree. Then Brand took one end of the rope and tried to throw it over a branch. Edana tied the other end to the trunk and checked the latch to make sure it wouldn’t come open when they lifted it.

Once that was done, Brand jumped up to grab the end that looped over the branch. Together they pulled, using the flashes of the lightning to measure how far they’d lifted it. When they got the box almost to the branch, lightning struck the ground right behind them. Edana screamed and dropped the rope. The trunk started to fall and the rope ran through Brand’s fingers. He cried out as it tore at his skin. Edana grabbed for it again, just as the trunk caught on a secondary branch and stopped falling.

Edana looked back at Brand, smiling in relief. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock. The rope still in Brand’s hands was on fire. He was smiling as well, but followed her gaze and let the rope go with a yell. The fire sped up the rope and into the tree. Edana was staring at that fire when Brand yelped again.  She turned back again to see flames dancing on his palms, but he wasn’t screaming, merely staring.

“What…. How are you…” Edana stuttered.

“It tickles,” he said, awestruck.

They both stared at the dancing flames until the increasing light around them made them look up. Their mother’s chest was lodged in two forking branches, but the rope was burning, and the branches had caught fire as well. “It’s going to fall!” Edana said. Brand took a step toward the tree, but stopped, looking at the fire on his hands again. He shook them like he’d seen his father do to put out his fire writing tools. Sparks flew through the air, hissing as they met the mud. Where they struck the tree, they grew into small flames.

        “Stop that!” Edana said. “You’re making it worse.” She went to the tree and tried to pat out those flames with her sodden cloak. “We can’t let the tree burn.” The flames stopped spreading on the trunk of the tree, but the leaves and branches above still burned.

        “I can’t put them out…” Brand said, sounding less awed and more worried now. “They don’t hurt but… I’m on fire!”

        Edana looked from the tree back to her brother. “Just stop burning.” She said firmly. At her words, the flames in his hands went out. They both blinked, because the light hadn’t lessened. Looking up again, they saw that the whole tree seemed to be on fire.

        “Uh oh,” They said in unison. The fire seemed to have moved away from the branches where it had begun, leaving the chest intact. But the tree was burning. They watched, in stunned silence for a time, the heat of the fire warming their rain soaked skin. Unlike wood in their hearth, the tree did not seem to change shape. Even the few blossoms that fell were flowers made of flame, falling like something Father had sculpted to the ground. It was only the mud that quenched them, turning them back to barely singed apple blossoms.

        As they started to back away down the hill, there was a crashing sound from the direction of the river. The twins stopped and turned. Then a shape came out of the darkness. “You two had better have a good explanation for this,” a voice called out to them.

        “Mama?” Edana asked. Then they were running towards her.

        Ivy bent to hug and hold them close as they crashed into her. “Yes my babies. I’m here now.” After a moment, she stood up, staring at the burning tree. “What happened?”

        They both began talking at once. “There was lightning-“

        “The rope was on fire-“

        “but then I was on fire-“

        “And then the chest was gonna burn but now it won’t”

        “And then Edana made the fire stop”

        Ivy looked down at them. “So it’s begun then,” She kissed them each on the top of the head. “Let’s go back up there and you can show me what you mean.”

        The children showed her the chest up among the flames, still unharmed. They showed her the burning but not burning apple blossoms. Brand showed her his hands, but there was barely a mark to show that the rope had burned him. He tried to make the fire again, but only his eyes glowed gold in the darkness. Then there were more from the night.

        People began to come out of the trees, looking dazed and lost, staring at the burning tree. “Mistress Wilde! You found them.” Said the Baker’s wife.

        “Yes, I found the children. Why are you here?” Ivy asked.

        “I… your husband got the town to come out searching, and I… the rain was so heavy and I then I saw the light of this beautiful tree…” She trailed off, staring at it. “Did you start this fire to guide us in the night?”

        “It was lightning,” Ivy said. She patted the children on their shoulders. They glanced at her, but said nothing.

        “Well, why don’t we all head home?” Master Dillon said, sloshing up the hill out of breath. “The children have been found. We should get out of the rain and-“

        There was a loud cracking sound, and the water around them rose quickly. People slogged higher up the hill, closer to the tree. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ivy said. “It’s dark, and the water is coming up.” His eyes widened, and he moved closer to the tree himself.

        “Ivy!” came a yell from the darkness. Then Hayden was there. Soon enough the majority of the townspeople had joined them on the hill. All of the men and women who had gone out to search, and some of the families from the deep valley side of Main Street. Searchers had gone back to their homes as the storm worsened and the waters rose, only to find their families fighting to keep the water out, and failing. They’d spilled back out into the darkness, seen the light of the burning tree, and moved towards it.

        The flaming apple tree provided warmth and light where there had been none. Many marveled at the beauty, most assumed that Hayden had done something using his fire magic to make it hold its shape. The Wilde family did not tell them otherwise.

        When morning came, the fire faded as the sky above them lightened and cleared. Soren River was gone, replaced by a long narrow lake. All that could be seen of Main Street was the tops of houses. The Mayor couldn’t look at Ivy as he and some of the other men began to organize groups to find rafts or boats to take people to their homes, or to the Old Road so they can begin to move on. Ivy counted the faces as they departed. She was smiling like they hadn’t seen her do in months.

        “What is it?” Hayden asked. “You’d better be careful love. Some people just lost everything.”

        “They’re all here,” she answered. “Everyone whose death I saw… they’re all here. Alive. The children changed their fates.”

Next Chapter: Prophecy of Sparks