Born In Flames (6 page)

The barn doors were wide open, inviting the sultry breeze to flow through, perfuming the air with the scent of hay.
Once inside, I instantly fell in love with the horse closest to me. The sun’s rays filtered through the barred windows, accenting the floating dust that shimmered like stars around the ivory horse. The nameplate on the stall door read Snow Lily.
A perfect name
, I thought as I hesitantly rubbed her velvety soft nose.
“Is that the one you want to ride?” Fenn asked. I nodded as I heard the creaking of a stall door opening. Fenn led his caramel-colored horse out and tied it off. I moved out of the way so he could get Snow out of the stall. I was of no use so I walked over to the other horse and waited, rubbing the suede-like fur.
I watched as he placed the saddle with ease on his horse. It looked simple enough so I decided to give it a try with Snow. As soon as I picked up Snow’s saddle, my arms started aching against the strain, and a bubble of embarrassing laughter popped out. Maybe I should have tried harder in Physical Education.
“Weakling,” Fenn teased as he grabbed the saddle and placed it on Snow’s back for me. I watched him feed the leather strap under the horse and tighten the girth.
“Psh, weak, as if. I’m not weak, I just wanted my man servant to do it for me.” I reached up for the saddle harness but he grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“You sure you want to try getting on her alone? It’s not as easy as it looks, especially for a shorty like you.”
I shoved him back and out of my way. “I’ll show you,” I said, reaching again for the saddle horn. I stuck my foot into the stirrup, testing its sturdiness. A smile crossed my face with my ever-growing confidence. I braced my foot in the stirrup and pulled with all my might, surprised to find myself actually moving upward.
“Eat your words,” I said presumptuously. But just as I went to throw my leg over, my hand slipped on the saddle horn as the horse shifted.
In the flash of me falling, Fenn was there, holding me in his arms as if I was as light as a feather. He seemed to know what was about to happen before it even happened. “Guess you weren’t lying about your strength,” I commented weakly.
The corner of his mouth turned up as his amused eyes only made those nervous butterflies twirl like a twister.
He set me on the ground, gripping my waist, the heat of his gaze piercing my resolve.
“Is that a blush I see Aurora Jay?” he asked softly as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
I gulped.
“Let’s try this again, together,” he instructed lightly. I had to tame the thoughts that instantly flooded my mind. “Ready?”
I reached for the saddle horn again, holding onto it securely as I put my foot in the stirrup. Fenn’s hand was there to hold it in place. “Now pull yourself up. Don’t worry, I got you,” he added as I felt his hand move from my foot up my leg, settling on my inner thigh, bracing me as I pulled my body up to throw my leg over the horse’s back.
A broad smile rested on my face. I was on a horse.
With a knowing nod, Fenn cocked his head up at me and winked before he turned to his horse. “Ready for this?” he asked as we took off at a walking pace. The clip-clop of the horse’s hooves was curiously comfortable. It felt easy being on top of the horse, unlike the mounting. That was not easy.
“Actually I think I am,” I replied grabbing the reins from Fenn’s grip. I lightly kicked Snow in the flanks as he had instructed me to do earlier. It seemed to do the trick. She took off at a fast clip. “Whoa,” I yelped, gripping her with my thighs and praying that I wouldn’t bounce off my precarious perch. After all, it was a long way down with no Fenn to catch me.
After a few moments of bouncing around, the ride grew effortless. I let my body ease into the horse’s gait as the wind flew through my hair. This was better than I could have ever imagined. Fenn was right in thinking that this would be something that I would absolutely enjoy. Then again, he was my best friend.
We rode through the sunny afternoon, changing pace here and there, talking and bantering back and forth. The temperature was perfect. Everything felt right. There were no worries to clog our afternoon, just me, him, and the beautiful, lush world.
I led the way taking paths that had us winding up through the hills and into the forest. We were close to the botanical gardens, the so-called Eden that I had always been so eager to see.
Somehow, I managed to worm our way into an area just beyond the entrance to the forest that was full of beautiful flowers collected from different parts of the world. A sacred garden. I wasn’t sure if we were allowed here, but I wanted to see it and it seemed like we were the only two people around.
The sun shined through, illuminating the field to sparkle and taunt us, urging us to take a break from riding. Every flower seemed to dance beneath the rays, enchanting the moment, while the moss-laden trees hugged around us, hiding this spot from prying eyes. I could see the comparison to Eden.
I hopped off Snow and took a moment to steady myself. Although it was amazingly fun to ride, my legs weren’t so keen. I could feel the tension building up into my thighs. It felt like my body was stuck in the riding position, my legs wouldn’t straighten themselves out. Fenn chuckled at me so I stuck my tongue out at him. I tried to walk around for a few minutes and eventually found a semi-normal walk that worked for the time being.
“This place is amazing,” Fenn surveyed in awe. A little stream gently rushed over jagged rocks not too far from where we stood, melodically nourishing the supple earth. A picture-perfect moment.
I waddled over to Fenn’s horse, my muscles still protesting, and rummaged through his bookbag to see if he had packed a camera. He had, thank God.
“Smile,” I said, catching him off guard and getting a great picture in return. His stunned face gleamed in the sunlight as the water ran behind him. “My turn,” I said, tossing the camera to him. I walked over to where he stood and posed, hands on my hips, cheesing as hard as possible. He laughed and shook his head before snapping the picture. Then he jogged over to me and took one of both of us, poking me in the side right as our images were captured.
I took random pictures of various exotic plants as he tied both our horses by the stream. Then he pulled out a pack of sandwiches from the saddlebag of his horse.
“Wow, you really thought this through, didn’t you, Bear Grylls?”
He paused and placed both hands on his hips, looking like Peter Pan as he said, “Now I’m going to show you how to survive the wild Botanical Garden.”
“You’re such a goof,” I replied, brushing him off with laughter.
He bent over to continue setting up our picnic. Laying the sheet in the very middle of the field where the sun shone the brightest, he gestured for me to rest. So I sat down while he gave each of the horses an apple. A moment later he sat next to me, his smile laced with satisfaction.
He handed me a sandwich and then cleared his throat. “I wanted to give you a normal day. This is your perfect day, Aurora Jay, all joking aside.”
My face flushed once again, my blushes beginning to blend together.
“It is perfect,” I said softly, avoiding his gaze. I could feel his eyes searching the side of my face, waiting for something.
“Normal’s not so bad, is it?” he continued.
“I suppose not.”
“So you admit that I was right then?” he said confidently.
I could hear the smile in his voice. I turned sharply towards him. “Absolutely not!” I answered, disbelief coloring my tone.
He chuckled. “I’m just messing with you,” he mused.
I nudged him playfully, glad that the mood had shifted. He took another bite from his sandwich and then leaned back onto his elbows.
I looked down at his adorable face and giggled. His puzzled expression, particularly with mustard staining the corner of his mouth, made me laugh even harder.
“What?” he asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him.
“Nothing,” I answered, touching the corner of my mouth. He caught the hint, quickly wiping the mustard away and turned his head to the sky.
We sat there for a while, looking around at the flowers and then back at each other, delight lingering in the air. He started humming a tune he often played on his guitar absent-mindedly. I wriggled my toes to the beat, a feeling of bliss bubbling up inside me. I watched him as he hummed merrily, admiring the features of his face. His smile held such peace as he took another bite from his sandwich.
He finished the last bite of his sandwich and then dusted his hands off. I don’t think the day could’ve been any better. He had to have felt the same. That is, until things suddenly took a turn for the worst.
He looked up and then all of a sudden his face paled to a ghostly white. My eyes followed his stare and then my stomach twisted in terror. The sun’s rays began to disappear upon the horizon and our new special spot turned grayish and shadowed. A dark cloud was forming above us.
Oh my god.
“It’s not supposed to rain today,” he said, suddenly worried. His eyes grew in horror, pleading for it to be untrue. I felt a drop of water land on top of my head and then another on my forearm so I quickly put my half-eaten sandwich back into its baggie and signaled for Fenn to get off the sheet.
Mr. Creepy’s words replayed, “And when she’s harmed by your ignorance…” I shouldn’t have listened to Fenn. I should have followed my gut and chased Mr. Creepy down. The fear of the unknown was like a crushing weight.
“We need to hurry before the rain breaks,” I rushed, trying to steady my trembling hands as I threw everything back into his pack. Thunder barreled off the hillsides in the distance.
“It’s going to be okay, Rory,” Fenn said, remorse shading his tone as he moved to help me up onto the horse. I waited for him to mount and then took off for the barn. Not even ten minutes into the ride, clouds opened up and let us have it. I looked back to see worry written all over his face. I don’t know if I was trying to assure her or myself, but I leaned into Snow, whispering to her that everything was okay.
We were racing time, trying to beat the inevitability of lightning that Mr. Creepy had predicted. If only we had just listened to him. Just as I glanced back for comfort, a lightning bolt landed about twenty feet in front of us, thunder echoing off the hillside, amplifying the horrifying sound.
Snow reared back, and it took everything in me to keep a hold of her reigns. The fear-filled neigh pierced my heart as Fenn cried, “Rory, hang on!”
“I’m trying,” I yelled back, doing everything in my power to regain control of her. I didn’t have time to panic. She was still jumping and weaving her head to and fro, my hand full of her mane. I whispered soothing sounds into her ear, trying to calm her and my frantic heart. With a jarring thud, her hooves slammed to the ground.
Snow skittered right to left in a dance of nervousness. It was as if she didn’t know which way to run. The rain fell harder, distant thunder still echoing through the darkened sky. I tried with all my might to hang on, but my grip was slipping from the rain. Then another lightning bolt sounded, cracking off to my left, lighting up the darkened sky in a brief burst. Flames shot out of the tree it struck like an inferno brought to life.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the fire as Snow screamed and reared again, this time throwing me onto my back and knocking the breath out of me as I slammed onto the ground. Massive hooves plunged towards me, and even though I tried to roll away in time, I got nicked in the forehead.
“Snow,” I moaned as stars danced in front of me. It did no good. She had taken off in her panic, racing away as fast as she could. Pain lanced my forehead, and I reached up to find a line of blood wetting my fingertips.
I heard an awful lot of hissing and popping behind me so I glanced back over to the fire and turned to it, enthralled by the orange familiar. The flames felt alive, burning through my core and I wanted more.
Forgotten was the horse that ran away, forgotten was the blood sliding down my face, and forgotten was Mr. Creepy’s warning.
I should have felt panicked because Fenn had dismounted his horse and was crouched down beside me, saying my name over and over and touching my head, apologizing incessantly. But panic didn’t set in. Instead something else stirred to life, waiting to seek its moment.
I wobbled forward and tried to sit up out of Fenn’s grasp. I wanted those flames. They roared again, as if acknowledging my desire, the burnt orange color lighting up around us.
Suddenly, as if my will became reality, the ground rippled in a wave, and as the wave rolled past me, Fenn was thrown backwards, away from my side.
The moment I felt the earth shudder beneath me, something changed. I stood as a line of flames raced towards me along the grass, breaking right before they touched me and looping around me in a large circle. The rain-drenched hair that was stuck to my face magically dried. All of me was dry, like it had never even rained to begin with.
I stood slowly, hearing Fenn’s footfalls as he yelled out my name, running to where the circle was still open. I needed to get back to him before things got out of control like before, before I blew something up. Something like me.
But I could control these flames. It was an irresistible urge, one that I didn’t want to ignore. As the realization sank in, the flames roared to life again, as if agreeing with me. They danced in a perfect circle, untouched by the falling rain.
A smile painted my lips as I reached out and brushed them with my fingertips. As soon as my fingers touched the flames, a pulsing energy awoke within me. My eyes closed in bliss as I tilted my head to the sky. Pure energy raced through my veins, sparking out of the palms of my hands. It was a rush unlike anything I had ever felt. When I finally opened my eyes, I imagined the flames growing higher and watched in awe as they did.
“Aurora!” Fenn shouted in desperation. He darted across the field towards the circle and skidded to a stop just as he neared the flames. His face was frightened. “Aurora, you have to jump!" He wanted to pull me away from the flames.
I couldn’t let this happen.
Blankly, I turned to face him, and as he tried to throw his arms around me my hand shot out. “No,” I commanded as flames swayed across the tips of my fingers.
Before he could make it into the circle, the force of the energy pulsing through me had Fenn flying backwards as the flames closed up around me. Their tall warmth now comfortably enshrouded me. I didn’t care to figure out how I was able to do any of it. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I wasn’t crazy, that what I could do was real.