Fire-Born: Part Four

      Fyora flew to a different part of the castle, and Vineti the Chocolate Aisha turned to the guard Aaron.

      “Right this way, miss,” he said, walking in front of her. She followed him down a long hallway with many doors, finally stopping in front of a gilded set of double doors, smaller than those in the main hall but still impressive. He opened one of them for her. “These are the guest quarters. I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”

      “Thank you.” Vineti stepped inside and Aaron closed the door behind her.

      The guest quarters had a small sitting room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Since it was still dark outside, Vineti went to the bed and laid down on it. It was a canopy bed, like her own bed at home, but even though it was the middle of the night, she wasn’t tired.

      Had she wondered about her life before she came to live with Lina? Sure. But it also hadn’t mattered. Vineti was fine with not knowing what had happened before; it didn’t bother her, as she knew it sometimes bothered her adopted sister, Kata. But now she did wonder: what had happened in her past? Who had carried her away from danger, and what had become of her Christmas Yooyu?

      It was no use trying to fall asleep. Vineti slipped out of bed and decided to take a bath instead; perhaps that would soothe her nerves. She turned on the tap and rose-scented water started streaming into the marble tub.

      She waited until the tub was two-thirds of the way full before switching the tap off and stepping into the water; it felt good to have warm water on her skin. Sighing, she let her head rest against the wall of the tub. There were small containers of shampoo and conditioner on a shelf, as well as a clean bar of white soap. Vineti opened and sniffed the two containers: they both smelled like lilac. She couldn’t place the smell of the soap, but thought it might have been lavender.

      Fyora must like to smell like flowers, Vineti thought. She set everything back on the shelf. A slight chocolate scent also filled the air now, but Vineti knew this to be emanating from her own skin. She wasn’t worried, however; chocolate pets did not melt like real chocolate did.

      She wished she had something to read; she had looked around briefly while the water had been running, but while the rooms were comfy, they were devoid of books. She thought of the book that Lina had bought her. She would have to get a new copy if she was ever going to find out what happened to Rosetta.

      Vineti’s brow furrowed as she thought about the book. Something about it stood out in her mind, as if it was important. She thought that it might be connected to the intruders, Mo and Tommy, who had tried to kidnap her.

      In the small bathroom window, Vineti could see that the sky was beginning to slowly lighten; whereas before it had been pitch black, now it was a dark navy. The water had relaxed her; she felt her eyelids beginning to droop. Sighing again, she let herself drift off into sleep.

      She kept on reliving that earliest memory, the face of the person carrying her remaining dark and indecisive, although one time it turned into Lina, who was carrying her out of a snowstorm. Vineti carried a Christmas Yooyu, but Lina was running too fast, and the Yooyu fell out of Vineti’s arms. Vineti watched as it hit the floor with a CRASH.

      Vineti’s eyes opened instantly. She was sure that noise had not been a part of her dream. Her ears strained, and she heard the entrance door open.

      “Miss? Are you--“ Aaron began, but then there was another, slightly muffled bang.

      The sky was clear-blue outside now. Vineti stepped out of the warm water and onto the bathmat; drips of water darkened the mat, but thankfully they were silent. She wasn’t sure that they would still be silent if she moved onto the tiled floor.

      Footsteps creaked outside the bathroom door. Vineti lowered herself and prepared to run.

      The door opened with a bang, but Vineti didn’t waste any time. She flung herself past the Quiggle in the doorway; he grabbed at her but she evaded him easily. The door to her quarters was still open; Aaron lay unconscious on the ground. Vineti started to sprint towards him, but someone caught hold of her long Aisha ears; Vineti gasped in pain as she was pulled back. She came face to face with a Fire Faerie.

      “Oh, this is her, all right. Finally caught yah, you filthy brat,” Eithne said. She turned to look at the Quiggle. “Lock the guard in the bathroom. We don’t want anyone finding him and raising a riot. And tie him up, in case he wakes up.”

      The Quiggle hurried to oblige and Eithne turned her attention back to Vineti. “Don’t try anything funny. A little fire isn’t going to intimidate me.”

      “What?” Vineti gasped; she was standing on her tip toes to try and take some of the strain off of her ears, but her feet barely touched the floor.

      “Just cooperate and I’ll let you go when we’re all said and done. It’ll be that much easier for both of us. Are you finished with that?” She hissed at Tommy.

      “Just about, Boss.” He checked Aaron’s bonds one last time. The Korbat was just beginning to stir as Tommy closed and locked the door.

      Eithne turned towards the window, which Vineti now saw was broken. The Fire Faerie started to flutter her wings. Tommy yelled “Wait for me!” and caught hold of Eithne’s free hand just as the Faerie took off.

      “What about Mo?” Tommy called over the wind.

      “I got what I wanted,” Eithne hissed back.

      Vineti had reached up and grabbed hold of Eithne’s wrist. She didn’t dare try and wrestle her way out of her grip. This far up, Vineti wasn’t sure she’d survive the fall. But at least by putting her weight on her arms, the pain on her ears had lessened.

      Faerieland soon went out of sight and a large ocean loomed before them. Vineti remembered what Fyora had said about Eithne, and hoped that the Faerie Queen would be waiting for them on Mystery Island.

      They flew for what seemed to be hours. Eithne seemed to be struggling from the effort of keeping herself, plus two pets, aloft, and Vineti wondered what would happen if they fell into the water. Would she be able to swim to land? But finally, Mystery Island came into sight. They put on speed as Eithne went into a dive, pulling up at the last minute and throwing Tommy on the sand. She kept a firm grip on Vineti, however.

      “Press the button in the Tiki Head’s nose,” she ordered Tommy.

      The Sketch Quiggle looked at the giant stone head. “It's… nose?”

      “Just do it!”

      Tommy jumped and hurried to the Tiki Head, pressing a secret button concealed in one nostril. The back of the Tiki Head opened up into a tunnel and Eithne pushed Vineti in front of her into it. Tommy hurried in just as the door slid back closed.

      It was too dark to see, and Vineti kept on stumbling on the staircase. Her mind raced, trying to figure out how she could overpower a Fire Faerie and a Quiggle. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a flash of fire; Eithne had lit a series of torches along the wall, revealing a cluttered stone room.

      A set of manacles hung on one part of the wall, next to giant cauldron. A clear liquid was in the cauldron, but Vineti didn’t think it was water. Eithne thrusted both of her wrists into the manacles and then hurried to a chest.

      “Do you have any idea how troublesome it was, keeping the potion fresh for two whole years? It had to be ready the moment I caught you, and it goes bad every two weeks!” She rummaged about the chest, throwing a wooden box and several scrolls aside. “I had to keep picking fresh aquaberries. It seems like every other day I had to find more of those stupid aquaberries.”

      “What do you want?” Vineti shouted; she wasn’t sure what Eithne was doing, but she had to stall her, at least until Fyora could find her.

      “What do you think I want? Why do you think my stupid little sister tried so desperately to hide you?”

      “Your sister?” Vineti repeated. “What’s going on?”

      “You don’t know?” Eithne paused in her searching to throw a mirthless laugh in Vineti’s direction. “She suppressed your powers, didn’t she? Knew that it’d make you a whole lot harder to find. It was a futile effort, though. Ah, here it is.” Eithne took two long, brown sticks from the chest. “Genuine Star Tree wood.” She enclosed one end of one stick in her hand; with a burst of light, it erupted in fire. Little flames spurted out from between the fingers of her still-closed fist.

      “Now you,” Eithne said, holding the other stick out to Vineti.

      “What?” Vineti stared at the stick, more confused than she could ever remember feeling. “What am I supposed to do?”

      “Light it, of course!”

      “Light...? I can’t light it! I’m not a Fire Faerie!”

      “No kidding! Now, stop playing stupid; I’m getting impatient.”

      Vineti stared helplessly at Eithne. Where was Fyora? Would she even be able to find her?

      “Oh, for goodness sake. Here,” she thrust the burning stick at Tommy, who yelped and quickly caught hold of the non-burning end. “The Quiggle told me how you burned the Peophin. Even if your powers have been suppressed, even if you’re untrained, you won’t be able to help it if you feel threatened, will you? I could feel you trying to burn me while we were flying here.”

      “What? I didn’t…” but even as she said it, something clicked in Vineti’s mind. The book had disintegrated into ash, the flash of light, someone shouting that Vineti had burned them. And other things, too, things she didn’t realize until now: her fever, and how the bathwater had still been warm even when she had been asleep for hours…

      Was it true? Did she really have fire powers?

      To be continued…