Dancing with the flames..the latest from Valkyrie ll: Darkness Rising.. :P

Dancing with Fire.....

“What do you see in the flames?” Lithia asked as she sat down next to Tisiphone and wrapped her dark cloak about her shoulders. “Flames!” Tisiphone replied with a yawn, scanning the small encampment. Khor was sound asleep, nestled against a log, and Markhon had slipped inside his silver sleeping-bag and was facing away from them. She had to wonder what had been said before Lithia came to sit with her, and how much of a mood he’d be in when he woke in a few hours. The Vampire was easily annoyed and bruising his ego was as bad as drawing blood. “Do they dance for you?” Lithia asked and Tisiphone watched as she lifted a cup of shimmer wine before her, whispering over it before bringing it to her lips. “Uh, you could call it dancing, but there is no music.” Her eyes returned to the fire. “The flames sing their own song.” Lithia laughed. “Listen carefully.” She paused a moment, eyeing the flames herself. “Do you hear it?” Tisiphone leaned in and listened for the song, but what she heard was nothing more than the snapping of wood as it broke beneath the mighty heat. Then came the sizzle, when the sweet, sticky sap escaped from within, filling their little camp with an intoxicating scent. “I hear wood, burning.” She sighed, rubbing at her eyes. “Relax, and listen, closer!” Lithia urged her on. “It is quite safe, I assure you.” Tisiphone closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, which she held as long as she could. Releasing it slowly, she opened her eyes and gazed at the flames, determined to see the fire dance and hear its song. Once more, there was a snap, followed by the sizzle as more sap boiled away, but this time it echoed through her mind as another snapped and sizzled, then another. There was a short pause, then a whistle as the bark peeled back and a nugget of red-hot wood flew from the flames, landing only a few inches from her blanket. It hissed at her, the embers pulsing with an eerie glow as it consumed the nutrients needed to sustain itself. More of those tiny nuggets lay hidden in the ash and as the calm wind blew in and rustled the leaves nearby, those embers grew brighter and the melody began again. It wasn’t a single flame, or branch, but the combination of them all crackling before her that allowed her to hear the symphony the flames danced to. It was rather hypnotic, sending shivers down her spine. The tendrils sway back and forth, bending and flowing with one another like a pair of lovers locked in a sinful embrace; and for a moment, she swore she could see their faces. A male and his female, one arm about her waist and the other guiding their steps as they traipsed across the fiery dancefloor. A few paces, then a dip, the oranges, yellows and reds of the two figures, blending to become a single dancer who spun in circles on the tips of her toes. Tisiphone gasped as the female in the flames leapt into the air, the flames themselves rising higher to accommodate her; and for her grand finale, a show of sparks as another burning nugget sprung from within. Tisiphone swore that nugget had been the female dancing, her soul set free as the rhythm carried her away… “You have quite the mind, Tisiphone!” Lithia grinned, though never took her eyes off the flames. “What else, do you see?” Tisiphone looked harder, though the sudden sound of howling in the distance threw her off. “It’s no use.” She sighed and rubbed at her eyes again. “You did well for your first encounter. I have known many, burned by the madness within the flames.” “That didn’t look like madness.” Tisiphone pointed out, “That, was beautiful.” She laughed, then let out a yawn. “The fire sings, the flames speak, but the mind must interpret the words. Your mind is strong, Tisiphone, but it is also young. It has yet to learn the true nature of the beast.” “I am learning, it’s why…” She yawned again. “…I’m here!” She finished, nestling in close to her pack and pulling her cloak up to her chin. “Perhaps, you could show me more, tomorrow?” “Perhaps!” Lithia chuckled, rising to her feet. If Tisiphone had to learn it on her own, she would, whether it took ten days or ten-thousand years. She preferred days, but determination would see her through the years if need be. She wasn’t about to give up. “Goodnight, Tisiphone!” Lithia called to her as set herself down to watch over Khor. “Night!” She mumbled, already entranced by the flames again. What she wouldn’t give to be able to control them, like the fire-mage in the story. Gods, it had been so long since she’d last watched her stories in the mirror, she forgotten the female’s name. How would she ever find out what happened at Ghost Mountain? Her mind began to fill with images of past scenes. The trek to Almaren, the Queen and Princess in the courtyard, helping to heal all the wounded, the Dragon...