Mark of the Fool
Chapter 601: The Flame's Journey

“She did it,” Alex sat staring into the countryside. “She actually did it.” His tone was a mixture of awe and disbelief. “I don’t know if I want to applaud, high-five her, or scream.”

“She looks happy,” Theresa craned her neck, looking back at the villa.

An hour had passed since Alex watched his little sister bring a shaft of flame to life in the palm of her hand, and even now, he got goosebumps when he thought about it. It had been beautiful, yet terrifying.

The sight of the flame dancing in her hand…the power radiating from it…and the reflection of it sparkling in her eyes…all seemed like he was looking at someone else.

At that moment, his little sister was gone, replaced by the image of someone, who in the course of time, would become a fearsome archwizard, controlling flame like she would her own breath.

In her, he now saw the seeds of someone who could wield a power that would make other mages and enemies tremble. He’d always looked at Selina as just his baby sister, though she’d grown a little taller, and a little wise. Even as he taught her magic in the quiet of his lab, he’d merely seen her as his little sister who was safely taking in the lessons he was giving her while following his timeframe.

But today?

Today had shown him a prelude of what could be: a powerful woman destined to become a great wizard with devastating powers of flame.

And he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that.

“She looks really happy,” Theresa said. “Come on, look for yourself.”

Wincing, Alex turned to peer through a window looking into the villa’s study. Brilliant fire light flickered in the room, glowing red and orange. After Selina—in her first try—had mastered the Create Flame spell, Queen Ishtar had wanted to teach her first-tier Control Flame. Used together, the two spells would let her conjure fire, and command it like a forceball.

“But the spell requires great concentration,” the queen had said. “If you do notmind, I will teach Selina this spell alone. It is best if she has no distractions while she learns it, especially since her affinity is so strong.”

Alex had expected his sister to tell her that she wanted her family and friends to stay with her.

But, he was wrong.

She’d completely surprised him.

“It’s okay,” she’d said to everyone. “I don’t want to hurt any of you, so I should do this by myself. I need to be able to control my fire properly.”

“You don’t have to do this right now,” Alex had told her.

But she’d simply shaken her head.

“I do. And I really want to do it now. When I’m done, I’ll be able to make and control fire. And I have to be able to control it if I can create it,” she’d said.

And how could Alex not agree? She was right.

Watching her now, he knew it was the right choice; she looked delighted, standing there while she suspended a small ball of flame between her palms.

Queen Ishtar’s lips were moving, watching Selina closely as she made the ball of fire slowly drift back and forth between her hands.

“She really does look happy,” Alex sighed, watching her body language closely. Tension lay in her shoulders. “But…”

He let the word hang.

“But you’re not happy about that?” Theresa said, one of her hands falling on his.

“It’s not that I’m not happy, I’m just worried.”

“About what?” she asked softly.

“Well, is she really ready?” he said. “What if she was caught up in the moment…this whole thing came out of nowhere, Theresa. I had a plan for teaching her magic. It was safe…it was slow…it was perfect.”

“Maybe not for her?” Theresa pointed out. “Not perfect for her, I mean.”

“How do you mean?” He gave her a puzzled look. “Was I doing something wrong? Was she telling you that I was messing up her lessons or something?”

“No, nothing like that…” Theresa said, searching her thoughts. Her ebony hair glistened in the afternoon sun. “Listen, Alex. Do you remember what we talked about before we went into the Cave of the Traveller? Back when we first left Alric?”

“Which part? And what about it?”

“Remember you wanted to go into the cave by yourself, to protect Selina? And I told you that she would fight to get back to you? She wouldn’t just accept some excuse and go with me to the ships: she’d sneak off and try to find her brother, remember?” Theresa’s voice was filled with a fierce sort of pride. “And I still believe I was right. So, what did you do next? You gave her the choice of going into the Cave with you, me, and Brutus, or taking another route. And she chose the Cave, even knowing that there could’ve been silence-spiders in there. Alex, that was less than a day after one of them nearly killed her.”

“Yeah, she’s brave, I get it,” Alex said. “I always knew that, and I know she’s growing up, but—”

“I’m sorry, but you don’t really get it.” Theresa pressed her hands to his cheeks, turning his face toward her. “Listen to me, Alex, people might call us all brave—or crazy—for going into that cave, but think about it. I wasn’t a fraction of the warrior I am now, but I was still a warrior. We had Brutus, and he’d hunted bears before.”

At the sound of his name, the cerberus let out a low groan as he sunned himself on the villa’s wall behind them.

“Yes, you’re a very good and brave boy,” Theresa told him. “Then there was you. You were basically defenceless, and you went in—”

“Now hold on, don’t go calling me brave,” he interrupted her. “I was desperate, that’s what I was. I had to go in there if I wanted a chance at my own life outside of being Uldar’s stooge. That doesn’t make me that brave.”

“Doesn’t it?” Theresa asked. “You could have given up and hidden in the woods, but we’re not talking about you. We’re talking about Selina. She chose to go with you. She knew she could have left and gone to the ships with me, but—instead—she walked into a cave of silence-spiders and who knew what else, at the time, when she was only ten years old. Alex, that’s crazy brave. It’s strong and it’s decisive. She’s more ready than you think she is. She just needed to realise it herself.”

Alex paused, thinking for a moment.

“Yeah…when you put it that way, I get it. But still…it feels a bit, I dunno, lonely? Maybeeven more so if she is actuallyreadyfor this. So, okay, Theresa, just look at it this way for a moment.”

He began listing off points on his fingers. “Selina’s really smart, and she’s got a great head for geometry and architecture. That’s going to come in real handy for understanding spell arrays.” He listed his second point. “She’s also starting magic really early.” He listed a third point. “Her affinity is nuts. Like, she’s going to be picking up fire spells super fast. Honestly, I’m probably going to be spending most of our lessons teaching her restraint, judgement, and different forms of magic other than fire. She’s not going to need me to teach her how to channel flame magic beyond just introducing her to some of the basics.”

Alex shook his head. “She’s probably going to hit a wall because of the size of her mana pool and because she’s still a kid, but…by the time she enrols in the university, I bet you she’ll probably have learned fourth-tier fire spells. She’s going to be a monster.”

“Uhm…you mean…like the rest of us?” Theresa pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but…I don’t know…maybe she could just be a kid for a little longer?”

“Alex, you’re overthinking this. She’s still your sister and nothing’s going to change that: just because she learned some fire magic doesn’t mean she’s not going to need you anymore. If anything, she’ll need you more than ever now. I mean, sure, when I was fourteen I was running off into the woods all the time and I got into a lot of fights with mom and dad, but I stayed with them and I got along with some of my brothers. Mostly. She loves you, Alex. She always will.”

“I hope so,” Alex grumbled. “Remember that travellingskald that came to Alric four summers ago? Remember he told a story about how this jarl’s son became some super powerful sorcerer, then turned all arrogant and evil, and how it all ended with everyone dying?”

Theresa raised an eyebrow. “Alex, do you really think she’s going to ‘turn arrogant and evil’?”

“Well, no but—”

“So many ‘buts’,” she laughed. “Too many ‘buts’. Just relax. There’s going to be dark days ahead, and you shouldn’t be spending your happy ones worrying about things that probably won’t happen.”

He gave her a long look, before sighing. His shoulders slumped.

“You know, you’re probably ri—No, I know you’re right. You are. A lot,” he said, putting his arm around her and kissing her gently.

‘It’s one of the reasons why I wanna marry you,’ he thought.

“I know,” she said, holding him close. “And listen, if you want to prove to her that she still needs her big brother around? We’d better kick some ass in the Grand Battle.”

“Hah, that’s the plan,” he said.

“We’d better have a plan. I bet you a stack of coin that every team’s going to be coming for us.”

“No doubt, but I’ll have a surprise waiting for them.” Alex smiled. “I’ll show Selina that her big brother’s still got a few tricks up his sleeve.”

###

“I wanted to…tell you that I’m sorry,” Claygon said, his head and arms hanging low as though he was a marionette with his strings cut. “If you want…I won’t use my fire anymore.”

“What?” Selina cried, her large eyes blinking in shock.

It had taken over an hour of practise before Queen Ishtar was satisfied that the young girl had gained proper mastery over her two spells.

She’d made fire dance, snuffed it out and made it blaze brighter each time, doing it with ease, as if she’d learned the spells from the moment she could talk.

She’d hugged the queen like she didn’t want to let go when they were done, then rushed out of the room to find Alex and her friends.

Yet, it had been Claygon that she’d found first, standing just down the hall.

He’d called out to her and…

“Why are you apologising?” Selina demanded. “You didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I was using fire all this time…it was hurting and scaring you…wasn’t it?” Claygon asked.

“Claygon, it’s okay!” Selina went to the golem, wrapping her hands around one of his enormous, stone fingers. “It’s okay.”

“It is not…I am here to protect you…and father,” he said. “If I am hurting you…I am not fulfilling my purpose, Selina.”

“Claygon, you used your fire to protect us and you’re part of our family, you’re not just here to fulfil a purpose!” Selina cried. “And it’s okay, it was scary when I first saw them but…your fire is beautiful. It burns demons and monsters, and that’s a great thing. You don’t have to apologise!”

Claygon looked down at her in utter silence before speaking again. “Are you sure…?”

She wrapped her arms partly around his waist. “I’m sure. I’m really sure. Your fire is awesome. You’re awesome, and you don’t have to apologise to anyone for using it.”

“…okay…you are sure?”

“I’m sure! Your fire-gems are a part of you, like fire’s a part of me,” she insisted. “It’s okay. Now, come on, let’s go find Alex and the others, okay?”

“Okay…” Claygon said slowly.

Together, the young fire mage and the golem walked down the hall—and with Claygon’s finger clutched in Selina’s grip—they went searching for their loved ones.

###

As the pair turned the corner, Queen Ishtar stepped from the doorway of the study, listening to the golem’s thundering footsteps receding in the distance.

“She’ll be great, one day,” Ishtar whispered, remembering her early days of mastering fire. “She’ll be better than me…am I getting old? Maybe I should start practising again.”

The Queen of Tekezash shook her head. “Come now, Ishtar, you have no need to keep up with the young and talented. Let them have their time. That’s what father would say. It’s time for them to have their time.”

Smiling to herself, she slipped down the hallway.

###

“Welcome to the final and most spectacular event of The Games of Roal!” Gemini shouted. “The Grand Battle!”

The crowd screamed and whistled, a sea of bodies in the stands.

“This is the most prized event in all The Games!” The Watcher continued. “One that tests prowess and spell, teamwork and instinct: the culmination of every event in The Games, and the ultimate display of prowess!”

Suddenly, from a doorway in the middle of the stadium, brass constructs resembling cylinders with stick-thin arms floated, each held a unique banner. The constructs circled the teams on the field in a cluster, stopping, then separating and shooting toward an individual team, coming to rest beside it. Banners fluttered in the breeze. The flag waving beside Alex’s team was a deep orange with a black star in the centre.

“Here we go again,” Alex whispered, standing strong among his team.

The final event of the tournament had arrived.

The excitement in the arena was alive.

And at last, the Grand Battle was set to begin.

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