Conflagration

by Shadow_Emrys

11 May 2016 510 readers Score 8.6 (16 votes) PDF Mobi ePub Txt


This is a complete work of fiction, based on real life events and people. Names have been changed to protect those involved. I do not condone underage drinking or the use of drugs as recreation. Enjoy.


Three

I woke up, and everything was wrong. Everything hurt. There was no one in the room, and the machine reading my heartbeat sped up as I started to hyperventilate. I started sobbing, hot, fat tears falling from my eyes onto my emancipated body. I couldn't feel a lot of my body, it was numb, and some of it felt like a thousand pointy needles stabbing into my skin. 

Several doctors came in, and I guess I kind of watched from a corner of the room, and then I realized I was out of my body. My heart had been weakened immensely from the crash, and waking up after a dream that felt so real caused me to go into cardiac arrest. That's when I heard the first whisper. 

Jason… You know what you are, and you're important in the events that are unfurling between the pantheons… Hold tight to yourself… Do not die…” 

I sat bolt upright, hacking out a lung. I suddenly understood what the dream was, who I was, and what I had to do. and then, just as suddenly, it started fading, being erased from my mind by a force more powerful than any I had encountered before, and one I couldn't compete with my body still so fragile. I remembered enough to do one last thing: I snatched a soul. 

People think that souls are who you are, every bit of experience you've held in your life. They're partially right. Your soul is a reflection of your faith, and I don't mean in a god or goddess. You believe in science, and your soul reflects that belief. You believe in the flying spaghetti monster, and your soul reflects that too. 

Snatching a soul is like how the druids borrowed power from the earth. It let's you borrow someone else's faith to protect your own. I'm actually doing a really horrible job explaining this, it will become more clear with time. 

I locked the remnants of my memory in the only safe space I could afford. The darkness in my own soul, all the hatred and it's derivatives. The power erasing my mind recoiled in shock, and snapped back to its owner too fast for my own mind to follow. 

You see, I am a spirit elemental. There are five total, fire, water, wind, earth, and of course, spirit. Imagine a pentacle, a star with one of the five elements at each point. Every person falls somewhere in the circle, but a few, a very special few, are born on one of the points. 

Every great civilization had a particular elemental affinity besides spirit, which every civilization had. The Egyptians were water, the Greeks and Romans were wind. Babylon had an affinity for fire, and the Druidic Celts were of the earth. 

Knowing what I do now, it's hard for me to understand why I didn't just destroy the other with a flick of my mind. I had enough strength to get the nurse to get me my stuff. Spirit elementals have powers over the mind and soul as well as the other four elements. It's what makes them so powerful… And dangerous. 

I was surprised that my phone had survived the wreck. The rest of my stuff hadn't. The first thing I did was call Logan. I needed to hear his voice. Even if my dream wasn't real, I was determined to make it so.

Ring… Ring… Click!

“What the fuck Jason. Where are you?”

He was furious, I could hear it in the calm of his voice. “First, I just wanted to say sorry. What I did was inexcusable.” He didn't make a sound, so I continued. “I'm in the hospital. I got into a really bad wreck. I can't feel my legs.”

There was more silence while he digested this information. “Your mom is gonna kill me when she finds out. I was supposed to…” He shuts up quick. “Uh… You weren't supposed to hear that.” 

I laughed at him. “Don't worry Li’inrosh. I know. Haet’ma can’t keep it from me any longer. Ive been Touched.”

There was a sharp, sudden exhalation of breath, like someone had just punched him in the gut. “So you know now Xie’mnaer.” 

A shiver ran down my spine. Ren are special names known only to those who have Awakened or have been Touched by a god or goddess. It's an Egyptian name for the true name of your soul. 

“Yes. I know. And someone else does too, but I don't know who they are. They erased my mind. Everything I learned from being Touched is gone except fragments. I locked up those fragments and stuck them in the sheut.”

Another, sharper exhalation. “You did what?!”

“I stuck them in my sheut. If you’re worried, don't. I can pull them out.” I tentatively brought out the memories, keeping a line attached to my sheut just in case the other came back. A few foggy memories surfaced. Riddles wrapped in enigmas that would have made sense before, but didn’t now. Something about the Others, people born outside the circle with no elemental affinity. Voids of elemental power. 

Logan was just listening on the other end, and I could tell he was stupefied. “Stay where you are. I’m coming to get you. We need to talk.” Then he hung up. 

I was a little bit upset, but at least I was going to get to see him soon. Unfortunately, my clothes were destroyed, so I had to stay in my hospital attire. Not that I could have changed anyway, because I was paralyzed, but you know. It’s whatever. 

The dream had changed in me how I felt about Logan. I'd always had a crush on him, I mean, who wouldn’t? He's bloody gorgeous. I thought I was in love with him. And that scared me, especially after the Stefan/Xavier scenario. 

I waited for a few minutes before deciding to rest more. I had a feeling I wouldn't be getting much sleep after that. I passed out almost immediately. 


I was asleep for about 2 hours while Logan drove to Boise to get me. I woke up ravenous and requested something to eat from one of the nurses pass in by. She brought me my food 20 minutes later. 

Ten minutes after that, Logan walked in accompanied by the doctor who conducted surgery on my legs. It was Madison, the doctor from my dream, and the water elemental. “Li’inrosh, close the door. And soundproof it. I don't want anyone else listening to this conversation.” 

Her eyes widened marginally, surprised and confused about what was happening. The fact of the matter is, most people don't know they're elementals until they're Touched by a god, or Awakened by a spirit elemental. And spirit elementals are incredibly rare.

The doctor took my vitals, and as soon as she touched my skin, I knew who she was. It was just a matter of speaking her ren. 

“Jurin’osha…”

Immediately I saw her react like someone had punched her in the gut, and simultaneously filled her with water from the River of Fire in Tartarus. Every strand of hair stood up and waved as if she were flooring in a calm lake. Her powers came out in full force and she fell into a faint, right into Logan's arms. He carefully placed her in the chair in the corner of the room.

“Logan… I want to say…” 

He turned on me, anger, worry, and hatred in his eyes. “Don't you dare apologize. The things I did were because I trusted you completely. Why didn't you trust me?”

I turned my face away, already feeling the tears welling up. “Now isn't the time for that conversation, and you know it. We have the Others to deal with.” 

Logan nodded, and I saw the emotions fade into a kind of curious blankness. “I was scared you know. It's been days. Weeks. You left, you didn't text, you didn't call.” 

Him telling me all of that hurt me more that it should have. “I know I shouldn't have done it now… I was scared, I thought…” I took a deep breath before continuing. “I didn't think you were going to care after. I thought I was just another of your one nighters.” 

“You've never been just one nighter material. You have your entire life figured out, you know what you want.” He pauses for a moment before continuing. “I've looked up to you forever. You aren't scared of who you are. Look at how you're handling this, Xie’mnaer.”

I scoffed. “You know as well as I do that I was born for this. There's nothing to get used to because I've always had this power, I just know how to control it now.” 

Presently, Madison woke up. Her blue-green eyes were swimming with the power of water. “Woah… Jason. That's your name isn't it? How do I know that? What is this power?”

I roll my eyes and gesture for Logan to take over. I felt like it would be more appropriate for him to tell her. 

Spirit elementals come into full power whenever they are Touched it Awakened. For other elementals, it's harder. They're confused, some get scared. I was surprised she was taking it so well. Most new elementals lose control when they're first exposed. 

She got up, her hair more wavy than straight, and sandy blonde instead of the dark brunette it was before. She looked at her hands, which were formed precisely for her profession, and a thin sheet of flowing green water covered them. Immediately, she placed them on my lower back, and I sighted with relief and the clenched my teeth with the pain of bone, tendon, and nerve reconnecting with my legs. 

Healing magic always takes a toll. The healer can choose to take on some of the pain, or you can keep all of it. If the healer takes some, the tin it takes is less, but most don't willingly submit to that kind of self-torture. It's usually as a last ditch effort to save someone's life. 

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t expecting what happened next. All hell broke loose.


Once again, I'd like to thank you all for reading. You keep me focused and ready for the next chapter. I'd like to thank the people who've sent me emails, this story is for you.