A Discussion about Fire

"The Captain said to inform you that tomorrow he doesn't expect to cover much ground. The scouts patrolling ahead reported we will arrive near the old bridge. The road passes through a patch of woodlands, so it would take them some time to properly search for trails.

He also wants to stock up on firewood supplies, since we have two or three days' journey ahead of us."

Ming reported. He brushed the falling snow from his shoulders before entering the wagon. Closing the door, he traded his black cloak for a thick warm quilt while huddling over a lamp. Chu sat next to him skimming over a map.

Miki handed over a cup of hot water infused with medicinal roots. Jim had taught her how to forage for them in the grasslands. Her finger pointed at the map.

"I remember the old stone bridge, we included it on the map as a landmark. The river was wide in some places and about five to six feet deep. Didn't we bathe near the bridge? You showed us how to dive and hold our breath underwater, remember? We also encountered our first batch of highwaymen in the woods before it."

"I remember it. Soon we will reach Karst and see if we can gather information about the village and the others. We have around ten or more halfstones remaining, but they're all left-eyed ones. Continue the scouting while you concentrate on igniting your star field. Dyna, show us again."

Chu replied and turned to the smallest of his companions. The girl brushed a strand of shoulder-length red hair from her face as she reluctantly left her warm, quilted cocoon. Holding up the index finger of her right hand, a red, flickering flame about an inch high appeared.

She closed her fingers into a fist and then opened her palm as a ball of fire the size of a golf ball appeared. The suspended flame had a thin, reddish outer layer with a crackling bluish inner heart.

After a few seconds, it disappeared while she wiped the beads of perspiration on her forehead. She replied to the concerned looks.

"I'm fine, it's just that this drains all the mana I have. My ocean is dry."

"How many stars have you ignited?"

"Sixty-eight of them. I have one flask of potion remaining, which I am keeping for another constellation."

The young girl answered him with pride. She swelled on the looks of admiration, especially liking the trounced face of the eldest boy.

Ming twisted his mouth readying a reply.

Chu coughed to attract all the eyes onto himself. He already spotted the makings of another petty feud between the two most vindictive pairs in his camp. If he didn't nip this in the bud, his future would be lined with another series of unwanted headaches.

"Dyna created an excellent method of igniting the star field. It's best if you follow her way since the results speak for themselves. The process maximizes the use of the potion. I suspect that when we acquire around sixty stars, we can also attempt the fire spell. It can at least help us in draining our mana ocean."

Chu said as he shot a prideful look at the redhead. As usual, he allowed them to investigate and arrive at their own conclusion. He never suspected that Dyna would be the one to find such a method to rapidly ignite her star field.

He himself secretly followed the same process but only managed to ignite around thirty stars.

This shocking speed of igniting a star field would cause an uproar in the academy. The staggering expenses might even kill some of the old codgers.

"But why can you cast the spell so quickly and without a chant? And why is your flame blue and crackling at the center?"

Lucy inquired while looking at Dyna with a face full of curiosity. The months at the academy had increased their knowledge, especially the basic understanding of magic and its casters.

A simple light spell, used by the apprentices to wow the ladies in the book workshop, required about five minutes of chanting and concentration.

Dyna merely flicked her finger and turned her hand to create fire. This demonstration approached the realm of madness at the academy.

"Chu said fire needed oxygen and heat to form. At first, I imagined forming my mana into grindstones which rubbed against each other. Ming once boasted he created shapes within his mana ocean so I did the same. When I focus on my finger I recall the rough grindstones and imagine the stuff called oxygen. My mana sparks and lights like firewood."

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Dyna paused to gather her thoughts before continuing.

"Chanting helped me at first to concentrate my mana while generating it into fire. When I learned from Chu about his description of fire, I began thinking about how to make it. Do I shape my mana above my ocean into two sticks rubbing together? Stones which create sparks? By gathering some mana from the ocean, I then molded it into what I wanted. If you can create the image inside your head which produces what you want, then spells become simple."

"But fire burns red. Why does yours crackle so loud? Even a fireball cast during demonstration doesn't make half the noise of your small flame."

Lucy pressed with a face filled with curiosity.

"Remember I said at first I used the grindstone in my mind? I asked Chu about the trapped lightning in the box from the halfstones. He said lightning is like a concentrated fire, full of heat and explosive power. I tried for a week to picture and form a stroke of lightning from my mana ocean and finally succeeded. Instead of grindstones, I think I found a true fire. When I think fire, it happens instantaneously."

"Ah, so that's why the center is all noisy and blue. The source of fire for you is lightning."

Miki said while returning with a kettle of hot water from the tent outside.

"Yes, I have a bolt of small lightning, flashing on one end above my mana ocean. Once I think it, my ocean mana passes through it before exiting my body. If I want light, then I think about creating a small sun above my ocean. Light comes from the sun, so by flowing my mana through it, I create a small orb of light."

"Magic, it seems, is dependent on philosophical thinkers. Great observation Dyna, in discovering this key point because without it we would be struggling even more than the Mages from the Tower. This step actually bridges a large gap which would have required the chanting spells."

Chu said. This was the benefit of having open-minded and curious companions. Ever since he made the decision in the slums to recruit children as his first companions, he never regretted it. Dyna proved she had the capabilities of learning on her own.

Miki squeezed in between Chu and Ming, sipping her cup of water as her eyes fell on the map. Ignoring the mumblings from Ming who got bumped out of the circle, she frowned. She tapped the markings for the woods and the town of Karst.

"How long does it take for a falcon to deliver a written message between Karst and Limerock?"

"I say about two days in this weather. The cavalry has one but they are keeping it for emergencies. That's why the Captain prefers to send his report by messengers on horseback."

Ming answered. Among them, he interacted the most with the cavalry members.

"Then by now, the garrison in Karst should have received information that the cavalry is on its way right?"

Chu nodded in agreement at the sound statement.

"Then why haven't we seen any patrols coming up from Karst to meet us? The road is supposed to hold as a starting point for the Military to push northwards. Estimating our time on the journey, a patrol should have long met up with us from Karst to confirm this boundary holds and that the Bitzers have not traveled further south."

She looked at Chu while narrowing her eyes. Her finger shifted to the doodles of trees on the map.

"What better place to keep ambushing a patrol in a wide open grassland. Even though the falcons may be delivering messages above, no one knows the true status of the road. I highly doubt the patrols from a town would ride around with an expensive and highly trained falcon. You should warn the Captain to be extra careful tomorrow..."

***

A pair of horses clopped onto the sheet of snow, fresh from last night's downfall. The sky remained overcast as it fueled the bleak and somber atmosphere. The outline of a pair of wide stone balcony topped with about a foot of snow loomed into view. At the same time, the gurgling of a leisurely river reached their ears.

"Can you believe the nerve of that apprentice? He hasn't even grown a tuft of hair but he wanted to advise the Captain. You might think the brat felt he already turned a mage, the way he spoke."

"The only reason the Captain listened to him was that he held the position as an apprentice. His words did seem sound since we really should have met a patrol from Karst by now."

The two scouts chatted while pulling the white cloaks tightly around their leather armor. They halted on the arched stone bridge, wide enough for one wagon to pass across comfortably.

On the opposite bank, the road wound its way across the grassland for about a hundred feet before disappearing into a dismal looking wood.

"The snowfall from last night will make finding trails difficult. It will take us the entire morning to scour the woods."

"How about we stick to the road. We can see if we find any tracks crossing it inside the woods before returning. Besides, we both know that Bitzers wouldn't use the woods as a place to spring an ambush. They excel on open ground. Under the trees, we can just climb up and pick them off from above."

"Makes sense. When the cavalry appears, even a pack of Bitzers would think twice."

The two men fixed their swords and checked their crossbows and quiver before hanging them on their backs. They scanned the banks of the river for signs of wildlife or any tracks leading to the edge of the river.

Entering the woods, they dismounted from time to time to search for tracks or the remnants of a trail.

"Sig, I am sure we have covered the road inside more than half of these woods. I suspect the Bitzers have avoided this forest altogether. Let's return to the cavalry and hand in the ok. I could use a cup of hot water about now. The faster we reach Karst the better. I feel the chill of a large snowstorm approaching."

The scout next to him gazed on the untouched snow covering the road ahead and nodded. If they wasted too much time the Captain would be pissed. Both of them reined their horses and turned towards the bridge, returning with positive news.

A hundred feet ahead from where they made the fateful decision, the white snow blanketed the earth, filled with the stench of stained blood. Within the woodland floor, buried under snow, lay ripped pieces of leather and iron, scattered along with larger bones from horses which had been gnawed until the color of snow.