Light the Fire

5

When we were out at sea, we made love for the first time, and I’d never felt so happy before. I was certain he was going to ask for my hand, but then we were attacked by a water elemental. Here, in the Fire Realm, of all places.

The elemental covered my face with water and nearly drowned me, but Roth stepped in to defend me with a torch he’d lit. He managed to save my life and defeat the elemental, but the boat was set on fire in the process. While trying to put out the flames the left side of his body was badly burned, including his face. We were forced to abandon the boat, and I was so weak from nearly drowning he had to pull me back to shore, where he then passed out from the pain.

After that, he hid himself from the world—and from me.

I took a step closer to Roth. “I wish we could be friends again, at least. You know I don’t blame you for what happened. If anything, I see you as a hero. You saved us both and—”

“I nearly got you killed and I destroyed my family’s boat at the same time.” He gestured at his face. “Not to mention, I got a nice reminder of my failure, which I have to see every time I look in a mirror.” He turned to leave, but said over his shoulder, “Trust me, Calla. You’re better off without me in your life. And now I must go.”

“No one’s leaving yet,” Blane said, with a devious grin. Falon and Derel stood behind him, watching Roth with interest. “Not until I show you something.”

Roth cast him a skeptical look. “What is it?”

“Come with me and you’ll see. I promise it’s worth your time.”

Derel snorted. “Last time you said that we got so drunk we spent the next day vomiting.”

Blane offered me his hand. “Fine, I’ll take Calla by myself. We can have a romantic moment together while you three stay here with the crowd.”

“Where are we going?” I asked, intrigued despite myself. Blane was always getting us into trouble, but we all secretly liked it. There wasn’t much to do in a small village like this, but Blane always managed to keep things interesting.

“To the beach.”

Falon sighed. “Well, now we have to go to make sure Blane doesn’t get Calla in trouble.”

“True,” Derel said. “Or we could arrest him now and save ourselves the trouble.”

Blane rolled his eyes. “You already arrested me once this week. And you let me off, too.”

“I’m starting to regret that decision,” Fallon said.

Together we all walked over to the docks at the end of town, where I saw Loka dart off with another girl, both of them holding hands and giggling. I smiled, hoping she’d find some happiness tonight.

Blane carried a torch and led us to the beach, where the dark waves were slowly lapping at the shore. I held up my skirt as we stepped into the sand, but then arms swept me off my feet from behind. I found myself in Falon’s strong arms and let out a gasp.

“Didn’t want you to ruin that pretty gown you’d worked so hard on,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you.” First the dance, and now this. I wasn’t sure Falon had touched me so much in my life before this night. Not that I was complaining.

Blane kept walking through the sand until he reached a cluster of rocks, well away from the lights, sounds, and smells of the festival. He bent down to remove a hidden sack and opened it up to reveal a dozen long tubes with pointed ends. Fireworks.

“Where did you get these?” I asked.

“In Flamedale on my last trip.” Blane was the only one of us who had ever left the village. His mother died in childbirth, and his father died ten years later after years of being an alcoholic. After that Blane took whatever jobs he could get in order to keep food in his stomach and a roof over his head. He was the best fighter in the village and often worked as a mercenary for traveling merchants or whatever else was required of him. Rumor had it he had joined up with some bandits at one point too. But he always came back to Sparkport.

“Did you steal these?” Falon asked, as he picked up one of the fireworks.

“It doesn’t matter how I got them,” Blane said.

Derel crossed his arms. “Do you even know how to use them?”

Blane shrugged. “You light this end with fire and aim it at the sky. How hard can it be?”

“You’re going to get us all killed,” Roth muttered.

“Then Calla had better kiss us first, just in case,” Blane said.

My jaw fell open. “All of you?”

Blane grinned. “Why not?”

I was speechless as I glanced between them, though I couldn’t help but imagine it. I knew how good it felt to kiss Blane and Roth, and I’d just been in Derel and Falon’s arms while we’d danced. I pictured moving from one man to the other, or all of them surrounding me, their hands and mouths sliding across my skin…

The five of us had once been best friends and practically inseparable. When you grew up in a small village it was natural to form close bonds with the other people your age, and for me it was the four of them. But when we got older my feelings for each of them shifted and grew into more. We began spending less time together, especially as we all became busy learning our trades, though I wondered if there was more to it than that. Sometimes I wondered if it was because of me.