Varik awoke the next day hungry as always, but thanks to Nyssa’s family he wasn’t starving. He had gone to rest before telling his mother what had happened, or making a plan for figuring out what the warmth in his chest was. He resolved to talk it over with his mother and walked into their main cavern. Their section of the cave split one large room of the cave into four more or less separate spaces, divided by a massive stalagmite rising from the middle of the cave. Everyone’s sleep schedule varied since they slept when whatever work they needed to do was finished, so Varik, Dack and Salyn each had a corner with their sleeping furs. The last corner was where cooking and any other work was done, and at the moment held only a small stack of wood for making traps or cooking placed along the wall so it wouldn’t be easily lost in the darkness. The food from Nyssa’s family was placed on top of the wood. Baskets were difficult to craft in the darkness and were fairly rare in the tribe.

He walked along the wall around to their working area in order to tell Salyn, stomping his feet more than necessary as he arrived. They generally made an effort to make noise as they moved in order to avoid collisions.

However it was Dack’s voice that responded with a simple “I’m here. “ Dack was nine winters now, and although he would be old enough to take care of himself when they left the cave, children needed to be consistently kept busy to avoid accidents in the darkness. His mother had likely gone to sleep around the same time as Dack, but Dack had woken first.

“Oh and I’m sure you ate all the food huh?” Varik teased his brother.

“No, I always leave enough for you and Mom, why do you always tease me about it?” Dack answered.

“Just having some fun, Dack.” Varik had an idea. “Hey, you would never believe what happened when I went hunting yesterday.”

“You’re right I won’t believe you, your stories are always a bunch of nonsense.” Varik knew that in spite of what Dack said he very much wanted to hear the story. Since Dack wasn’t old enough to leave the cave yet, he loved hearing about outside. Yes, sometimes Varik liked to…embellish a little bit, but this particular one was fantastical enough as it is.

“I’ll have you know that I am an expert on nonsense, and as an expert, tell you that this story is simple facts. You see, I was on one of my regular trips to slay a monster so you could have dinner…” Varik imagined his brother’s eyes rolling like they did when he told a story by firelight. “And I saw the strangest tree. It was probably a hundred feet high, but the craziest part is that it was on fire, but not burned! A hundred burnt monster corpses surrounded it…”

“Why is everything always a hundred?” Dack interrupted.

“Because one hundred is one of nature’s laws obviously. Anyway, I touched the tree and was instantly transported to a magical land filled with blue mist! There was another tree…” Varik took great pleasure in stating; “with one hundred branches made of magic fire of all different colors. A little tree-man appeared, called me a great chief, and presented me with a fruit he called the greatest of all gifts. When I tasted it, it was so good I unfortunately couldn’t save any for you. After eating it, my soul was turned to fire! With a fiery soul I traveled back to the first tree and slew a hundred more beasts.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Uh-huh, and where’s all the food then?”

“Unfortunately I didn’t know my own strength and they were all burnt to ash. I was too humble I guess. Next time we hunt I’ll be more careful and we will have more meat than we can eat!”

“I wish.” Dack responded, less sarcastically now.

“I do too. But seriously, I am hopeful I can find more food now. Something weird really did happen with one of the enchanted plants.” Varik told his brother.

“I think you better tell me the whole story without any of the added drama.” Salyn’s voice rang out from the darkness. She must have joined them as he was telling the story.

“Dack go tell Jok that we plan to leave soon to look for food again. Ask if anyone else is leaving at the same time.” she instructed. Dack quickly ran off toward the exit of their cavern. “Don't run!” Salyn called, but he was already gone.

Varik, taking his cue, recounted the full story to his mother.

“Have you heard of anything like this happening? I still feel the warmth of the fruit in my chest. To be honest, it feels great in the cave.”

Salyn didn't respond for a moment. “I-I have no idea what happened. You are clearly connected with that tree somehow, but what does that mean? Has the…core done anything else?”

“No, but I've largely avoided thinking about it. Maybe I could try…interacting with it? Hey fruit in my chest… nah that's not going to work.” Varik paused. He could always feel the core, and it didn't feel like a separate entity that had taken up residence. It felt like a part of him. Like… another limb. Going on instinct, he tried to move the core a little. He doubled over as it superimposed itself over his heart suddenly.

“Are you all right?” His mother asked with a little panic in her voice. She hid it from her son but strange magic affecting him was the last thing she wanted.

“I'm fine, just a little surprised. It moved when I tried to move it. It's almost like a new limb that I've never had before. Like I'm a toddler waving his hands.” He responded.

“Try pushing it out of you.” His mother suggested. As much as she knew this could be their chance to push back and finally live in the light, she cared about her son exploding from fire in his chest more.

Varik concentrated. He tried to push it out of his mouth, the same way it had come in. But moving it was difficult, it jerked forward, then seemed to catch on something, or he lost his metaphorical grip.

After struggling for a minute, he finally got it into his mouth. Having particularly warm teeth was a strange experience. With a final push, he shoved it out. A massive gout of blue flame poured out of his open mouth lighting the entire cavern and crashing against the central stalagmite. In the flash of light he saw the flame was shaped like a roaring lion, and watched as it crashed into and devoured the wood and their remaining food. He fell backwards in shock. Neither he nor his mother spoke for a second. He spoke up.

“It's still in there, just massively reduced. I didn't notice while I was moving it around, but it seems like part of it stays no matter what. With…whatever that gone its easier to notice.”