The sun was high over the northern portion of the Aufarine Forest as a soldier poked around a burnt tree, laying on its side.

"Should we really be standing here?" The soldier asked. He was currently standing within a ring of trees, all fallen outwards in a giant circle, and all scorched.

Another soldier leaning on his spear nearby answered him, "Sure. Why not?" He said.

"Because, DURGH..." The first soldier said, indignantly. "... whatever caused this could happen again. Or WHO-ever caused it."

Durgh gave the soldier a flat look.

"No single mage could do this Pallind, you know that. And the only mages in this region of the kingdom are Arinn and his two pupils anyway. Oh and I guess his ex pupil too, that weird guy... wherever the hell he is. And none of them would have joined together to do something like this."

Pallind looked thoughtful. "True. But still, I wonder. What if, you know?"

"There is no what if." Durgh said. "This was some force of nature. Or maybe a baskilore."

"Oh so a single mage couldn't do something like this, but a baskilore could?" Pallind said, as if challenging Durgh's competency.

"Oh shut it Pallind. And quit touching things. And while you're at it quit thinking about things too."

A ways off stood a militant man, wearing glistening full plate armor. Currently he held his elaborately decorated helmet against his hip, showing his face. A warrior's face. It was rugged and tired, with eyes that pierced the veil of man as an arrow through cloth.

"What do you make of this, general?" The man asked. Another, smaller man stood off to his side.

"I couldn't begin to even speculate my lord." The second man, the general, said.

The warrior in plate armor scanned the surrounding view. No, he had no clue as to what had caused this either. He was a knight to the king of Freyondel; the only rank higher in the king's army than that of a general.

"We need to find out what did this. And we need to keep it quiet." The knight said, turning to the general. "Only tell the men what they need to know. I fear we may have stumbled onto something much greater than ourselves. No need to frighten them."

"Oh they're plenty scared already my lord." The general said. "Some of them are trying to hide it, but it's clear."

The knight turned towards the group of two hundred soldiers, spread out across the scorched area.

"Yes, I noticed that too. But it's better they fear while still believing that fear may be misplaced; for now at least. Once we have a better understanding of what we're dealing with, we'll let them know."

"Yes my lord." The general saluted, and turned, walking towards a group of soldiers.

"Yes..." The knight said to himself. "Something much greater indeed."

Meanwhile, along the Western edge of the Aufarine Forest, Devon was once again on fire.

"Ahhhhh! IT BURNS!" He shouted, as Lavernias came bursting out of the front door, carrying a bucket of water. Devon lay outside on the grass in front of the house. He was writhing around on the ground, squirming in pain. Lavernias could see, however, that only Devon's arms and legs were burning. Lavernias threw the water onto Devon. The fire raged on. Water seemed to have no effect on it.

"Dear gods." Lavernias said in shock.

He got down onto the ground next to Devon, making sure to keep away from the flames as Devon rolled around.

"Devon my boy!" He shouted. "You have to calm down! You have to concentrate! Imagine the fire subsiding!"

Devon didn't seem to hear him. But just then, Lavernias noticed the flames growing smaller.

"Yes, that's it! Keep going!" He said.

The flames slowly shrank, and Devon was no longer screaming. Soon his arms and legs weren't even smoking anymore. Devon let out a breath, eyes closed.

"Devon. Can you hear me?" Lavernias asked calmly, still on the ground next to him. Devon slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Lavernias.

"This sucks." He said, in a barely audible, raspy voice.

Lavernias looked him over, and couldn't see any signs of injury on Devon's body. He let out a sigh.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"This is much more complicated than I previously thought." He said. Yes, this conundrum was not as simple as it had seemed. Lavernias' had heard of people manifesting small magical abilities without ever studying or practicing magic. It seemed possible, though unlikely, that perhaps Devon was a similar case; just on a much, much larger scale. But this...

Lavernias knew that even fire created by magic could be put out with water, or at least dampened. But when he had thrown the water onto Devon, the flames didn't even waver. They seemed completely impervious to the liquid. Lavernias didn't know exactly what this meant. But he knew that something greater was at work.

"How do you feel my boy?" He asked Devon.

Devon sat up slowly. "I don't really feel anything right now. No pain, or anything else really. That... doesn't feel normal." Devon looked concerned.

"It's not entirely unheard of when dealing with..." He paused, deciding on whether or not to reveal to Devon what he knew about his abilities.

"Dealing with what?" Devon asked.

"Listen, Devon. The abilities you possess... they cannot be magical in nature."

Devon looked confused. "Not magical? What does that mean? I thought all abilities like that were magic."

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you right now." Lavernias said solemnly. "From what I understand about the world, it just doesn't make sense. Fire produced by magic reacts the same way as natural fire. For all intents and purposes, they are the same. That means they react to water the same. But when I threw the water on you just now, well, the flames didn't react to it at all. I may be wrong, but I believe that it cannot be considered magic. I don't know how, or why. And I don't know what it is then. This is something we'll have to figure out."

Devon looked concerned.

"So I posses non magical fire?"

"I believe so." Lavernias said.

Devon paused to think for a moment, then said. "This is all too much for me. I mean, I was a data analyst. What the fuck am I gunna do with fire abilities that burn me alive everytime I use them, and can't even be explained by a wizard?! Like, WHO THE HELL ELSE COULD HELP ME?!"

"Just calm down Devon. Relax your mind, please." Lavernias said.

Devon looked at him, noting the concerned look on his face. Then he looked down and noticed the smoke rising from his chest.

"So..." He said. "It's somehow linked to my emotions."

"To your mind." Lavernias corrected. "And your mind is strongly influenced by your emotions. You must learn to keep them under control. I know it must be hard given your situation. But you must try."

The smoke faded slowly.

Lavernias sighed. "Given how unstable these abilities are right now, more incidents may occur."

"Unstable." Devon said with a chuckle, lifting a hand to his head. "That seems like an understatement. I thought I was taking all of this really well, but when I finally had a proper moment to stop and think about everything... it just started to overwhelm me."

"Well I do believe that does make things a tad bit simpler." Lavernias said.

"Simpler?!" Devon said, looking up at him. "How is me losing my mind and bursting into flames simple?!"

Lavernias smiled. "Because my boy, abilities such as yours stem from the mind, that much I do know. And your mind is something you can control. It's just a matter of figuring out the best way to practice such control."

Devon looked around. He was in another world, with magic, and whatever the hell he had. He still had trouble believing everything. And he was sure that he was not done freaking out yet. But for now at least, he believed he could keep himself from bursting into flames again. He really hated that.

For the rest of the day, Devon meditated at Lavernias' request. He focused on calming his mind, and taking control of his thoughts. A few times his mind began to wander towards thoughts of home, which then lead to thoughts of how he might never get back. This made it hard to maintain control, but Devon pressed on. He would conquer this, and would not fall victim to it. Whatever it was.

The day passed slowly. Lavernias went to his books for answers. All day he read and took notes. Although he didn't find anything particularly useful that day, he did not waver in his resolve. He meant what he said to Devon before; the vow he took. He would do everything in his power to ensure that Devon could return home. And if that proved to be impossible, then he would make sure Devon could control his abilities, and that he would have a good life here on Vernia.