Marc Arden and the Siphilon Academy

- Fire and Smoke (Part 1)

Marc woke up to find all the air knocked out of his lungs. He gasped desperately, trying to bully his lungs into responding. He found himself covered in; dirt, dust, bits of twigs in his hair, and blades of grass covering his clothes. Steadying his breath, he sat up groggily and hastily brushed the dirt and grass off his clothes. He looked around wildly and saw Conflagre and Paderon trotting away far off in the distance, Dom was nowhere to be seen. He squinted past the horses and spotted a large frontier.

Cartrile, he thought.

He raced after the horses, calling out to them when all of a sudden, Arcane descended in front of Marc and flicked his tail. Marc grabbed onto it and tugged. Arcane pulled Marc ahead of the horses and behind a large bush.

There, Marc let go of Arcane and ruffled his feathers, thanking him for the boost.

Marc instructed Arcane to stay out of sight for a while, then hurried back to the approaching horses. He grabbed Conflagre's reins and gave a once-over for all the packs, nothing missing.

How did Marc fall off his horse and where was Dom?

Marc peered ahead of him and saw the entire town of Cartrile in all its modesty. The gates looked unimpressive, and as Dom had guessed, Marc observed a group of traders enter the main gates.

Suddenly a hand clamped down on Marc's shoulder, causing his palms to spark in alarm.

"Woah, Woah. You've got to learn to control your fire, no sudden outbursts. We can't have anything like that happening to anyone else."

Marc turned and found Dom smiling down at his expression. Marc brushed his hand off and whispered urgently,

"Where were you? I woke up on the ground, covered in dirt, with all the horses gone, and you were nowhere to be seen."

"Hold it! There's nothing to worry about, I just sent the horses ahead with you on Conflagre. You must've fallen. There were some peacekeepers from Acanon that I recognized. Said they were conducting an inquiry at Cartrile. I was just having a little talk with them. The disturbing thing is that they wouldn't tell me what the inquiry was about. I'll rest easy once we leave Cartrile. Change of plans, we won't be spending much time at Cartrile."

Marc exhaled in relief, then nodded at Dom in affirmation.

Dom gathered up his Paderon's reins in one arm and started walking towards Cartrile, steering Paderon. Marc hesitated, looking back at the pack of peacekeepers camping far behind, before following Dom.

They had an easier time entering Cartrile than Marc had expected. All Dom had to do was speak a few words with the peacekeepers in charge and they were good to go. Their weaponry was ignored.

Once Marc and Dom reached the main square of Cartrile, Dom gave Marc an address to follow. Then Dom briskly headed towards the market, getting into his professional demeanor.

Marc made sure all their inventory was safely packed onto both horses before leading them down into an alley by the side of the main square.

He paced around, trying to figure out the address location in the middle of a sea of buildings.

At last, he stood before a house with a stable that looked bigger than the house itself. He tied the horses around a fence in the stables and approached the front door. He touched the door knocker when all of a sudden, liquid fire spewed out of his fingertips and melted the brass.

Marc froze in terror, glancing at his fingertips. No sign of lava anywhere. But a strange feeling stood out in Marc's consciousness, overriding the rest of his senses.

He felt a strange tingle at his fingertips. He sensed a sea of energy in the air, uncontrolled and chaotic, ancient...

He approached the door for a second time and steeled himself before rapping his knuckles on it. A few moments later, a very old woman answered the door.

She looked very sweet and very much like Dom, so Marc felt guilty when he abruptly started explaining who he was and where Dom had gone, leaving her no chance to interrupt him. After a few pleasantries exchanged between Marc and the woman, Marc followed Dom's mother into the entrance corridor, successfully diverting the latter's attention away from the melted door knocker.

After being instructed on where to store their inventory, Marc rushed back and forth from the stables, depositing all their stuff on the floor of a small, dusty storage room. After a quick contemplation, Marc unbelted his sheath and dropped it beside their bags. Soon after that, Marc informed Dom's mother of his departure and left the house.

Marc had found it easier to keep his Fire at bay, breaking the connection with Fire and bringing it back up to the surface. He strode into the main square, and made his way to the market, hoping to catch up with Dom.

He made his way past a crowded aisle of traders and customers, hurriedly shouldering through them when he suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking straight ahead.

There was a battalion of peacekeepers Marc recognized from Acanon. The nasty ones who he usually keeps away from. Frowning, he recalled Dom's troubled thoughts of the way the peacekeepers were behaving.

Marc ducked away from them and into a second aisle when his shoulder bumped into a person's chin. He scowled and rubbed his shoulder, turning around to come face to face with a girl, glaring straight at him. For a second time, he stopped in his tracks. The girl did not look happy at all.

She had bright blue eyes – the opposite end to Marc's eyes – and fiery scarlet hair. With fair complexion and features on her face that wasn't at all fit for scowling. Her lips were small, which looked deadly when she was angry. She was pretty enough for Marc's heart to race.

"Watch where you're going! Day-dreamer…" The girl shouted at him. She rubbed her chin angrily. She looked to be the same age as Marc.

"Excuse me, but there are peacekeepers in the other aisle, blocking the way, so I guess many people will be using this passage, so you better not block th-"

"Who are you to lecture me like that? I very well know how to think for myself, and whoever makes their way here better not bump into me, if they know what's good for them."

Marc stared at the girl, unbelieving the nerve of the girl.

"Well, alright your Highness! I'd better let everyone know, we don't want you fighting them all like a ten-year-old."

Marc turned away from the girl when he experienced the tingling again. Suddenly, a rush of wind engulfed him and thrashed him onto the floor, everyone around him got pushed back and ended up tumbling onto each other and falling too.

Marc struggled to stand up, looking back at the girl. She was the only one unaffected by the gust of wind. Marc felt his Fire stream up to the surface.

He stumbled in panic, trying to hold Fire in whilst walking quickly. He ended up pushing past the girl, who was laughing at him. The girl fell to the ground, unable to hold her footing against Marc's strong frame. Marc felt a wave of nausea and staggered. He forced himself to run behind the store and leaned against the wall on his combined forearms, struggling against the compressed Fire pushing against his will.

He vaguely sensed the girl behind him, furiously shaking his shoulders and shouting.

"…I'll teach you a lesson for messing with me..."

The girl threw a sweeping kick that forced Marc to the ground, but Marc sensed something more.

Winds from around, combined into a small tempest and billowed, pinning him effectively to the ground.

Marc shouted through the airstream at the girl, his words slurring with exhaustion. "Can't you see it? They're dangerous...you need to get out of here!"

All he got was a smirk. He grew angry at the girl's stubbornness. Things were getting way out of hand, and very dangerous. He had to do something to get her to safety before the tempest exhausts him beyond being able to control Fire. It could kill the girl.

But he realized soon enough that he couldn't do a thing. The winds were unnaturally strong and controlled, and without his Fire, Marc couldn't fight back without destructing the entire market.

The girl had walked out of his vision a few moments ago, but now she kneeled beside him, her face looming above him, peering at his face. Her face fell slightly, worried.

Marc tried to shout again, but his voice disappeared in the wind.

He could feel himself heating up, Fire brewing inside him, at the brink of breaking free.

Marc sensed the points of intersection between the winds, braced his palms against them, and pushed back. The wind was extremely hard to fight against. Marc realized he couldn't fight the wind without losing control. And if he did, he could hurt the girl.

He struggled in desperation, and one of his foot broke free, striking the girl's arm.

Just as Marc laid contact with the girl, she started screaming in pain and backing off, the wind tempest dissipated. Confused, Marc looked down and froze in horror. He was consumed with Fire as it spiraled out of control. He willed as strong as he could to propel the fire back, but his Fire was fuelled by the strong energy in the air and was too powerful for Marc's exhausted willpower to even dent it.

"Get away from me! Now! I think I'm going to explode!" Marc screamed.

The girl hadn't moved an inch. He looked at the girl in disbelief as she looked at him in horror.

"You-You're another one!" The girl squealed loudly.

"I'm sorry, what? Don't you understand? Get the hell away from me or you're going to be burnt to ashes!" Marc retorted furiously.

Marc felt something tug inside him, and the Fire receded into him for a fraction of a second, then burst out like a volcano, the fire converting into lava as it gained distance. In seconds, the shop behind him caught fire.

Marc looked for the girl, but she was nowhere to be seen amidst the opaque shine of lava. Marc started to shake in terror. His Fire reserves depleted, so he decided to run. He headed straight into a wall of lava when he bumped into someone.

Suddenly, he was sucked into a cocoon of wind. The girl was inside, huffing as she attempted to repel all the lava. Marc knew better than to leave her this way. Soon she'll run out of energy too.

"That's the final time you're going to bump into me! You get me?" She gasped.

Marc smiled apologetically at her.

"We need to get you out of here, you won't hold strong against my Fire. Even I couldn't, I lost control to something weirdly powerful."

"You mean the ancient energy floating around in the air?"

Marc nodded.

"Then how the hell can we get out of this without burning down? I have no energy to create wind tunnels for us to have a nice long walk!"

Marc realized that she had started panicking in her own way and it wasn't making anything easier.

"I'm immune to fire so-"

"Ha ha, very funny Mr. Volcano."

" It's Marc Arden. And I'm being serious, I can transport you across the lava without you touching it and we'll be fine!"

"And how exactly do you suggest you transport me? Float me through the air? Even I can't control the winds like that!"

"Uhhh I wasn't talking about magic, I can easily carry you, we both have enough energy to do physical movements, but both of our minds are exhausted from bending elements."

The girl froze, looking at me icily, after a few moments she unfroze.

"Absolutely not. I'm in no way being carried by you, Volcano!"

"There's no other way, unless you'd like to stay here until your strength runs out."

Marc sighed and turned to leave the wind shell.

"No wait! B-But… Urgh… Okay you can carry me, but it's going to be so awkward."

Marc felt himself go red as the lava around. She had the natural habit of pointing out the extremely obvious, and it very well wasn't making everything easier.

He decided to keep this as less intimate as possible.

She backed against him, still controlling her winds, waiting for Marc's signal. Marc lifted her up with one arm. She was very light.

"Now!"

Scarlett allowed her Wind shell to speed into the air, and immediately the lava fell in on Marc.

The girl exhaled sharply and shivered.

"For a moment there I thought you'd die."

"Yeah because fire immunity has no effect whatsoever against fire."

Marc received a sharp slap on his head.

"Ow! What was that for!"

"That was for kidding and messing with me and bumping onto me three times in one day!"

"I could always drop you into the lava."

"You could but you won't."

She stuck out her tongue at him.

Marc thought he'd have less of a trouble if he dumped her right then and there, into the lava.

They reached solid ground at the entrance of the market. No one seemed to be around. A wide circle of surrounding shops was blazing with fire.

Marc dropped the girl down, and she wobbled a bit under her weight. Marc steadied her.

"You alright?"

"I used too much energy on the winds, I must have been more exhausted than I thought…"

She seemed to want to say something more but stayed quiet.

Marc heard some urgent shouts in the distance, just when something caught his nose. The smoke from the fire had started to rise and the fire was spreading onto the houses around the market.

People on the opposite side were approaching with huge amounts of water, But Marc knew that with that much fire, half of Cartrile would be gone.

"We need to go. Too many questions will be asked if we linger, the good thing is that we're both alive." Marc said.

"Thanks." She replied.

"For what? Thank you for what?" Marc asked as they walked along the pavement of the path exiting the market square.

She shrugged and said,

"For saving my life."

"Yeah well, you could have saved your life on your own If you listened to me and went away."

"I didn't know you had uncontrollable fire brewing inside of you."