FireSweet

Inferno

            I don’t know how long I slept for, but I know that when I did wake up the first thing I was aware of was how exhausted I still was, and then I heard the screams.  The forest was ablaze around me, from what little was left of the scorched underbrush to the highest branches of the trees.  The inferno moved slowly, almost methodically, seeking out anything consumable.  The scream sounded again, followed almost immediately with a second scream, this one within my head.

            GITTORAN!

            I pressed my hands over my ears, flinching from the sudden volume.  It was Briamy screaming, of course it was Briamy.  Who else would walk willingly into a fire this size?  I closed my eyes and tried to focus on her, struggling not to panic as I tried to remember how to send her my thoughts.

            Briamy? I thought tentatively.

            Gittoran! She replied instantly, her thoughts frantic and rushed.  You need to help me.  I came in here looking for you, and the fire came so fast!  I don’t know which way is out anymore!

            Calm down, I thought.  I’m coming.  Tell me where you are.

            I don’t know! 

            Then can you sense where I am?  Do your powers work like that?

            I… I think so, she thought softly.  But it won’t be perfect, more like a hot or cold concept.  And you have to hurry; this will use a lot of energy.

            I nodded, looking around in a vain attempt to remember which way I had arrived from.  The fire roared around me, drowning out my steps as my bare feet crumbled the burned material.  After taking ten steps, Briamy spoke. 

            That’s the wrong way, you’re farther away.

            I turned around and started jogging slowly in the other direction, encouraged by her silence.  I picked my way through the burning terrain, listening for the groan of a tree giving out before it falls.  Even though the fire wasn’t affecting me in the slightest, a falling tree would cause a major injury, probably killing me in the process.

            That’s far enough, I heard Briamy instruct faintly.  You’re beginning to move farther away again.  Turn.

            I nodded, going right and continuing my search, my concern for Briamy growing steadily.  Her thoughts were getting quieter as she used her split her energy between talking to me and trying to keep herself alive in the fire.  She would be lucky if I could find her alive in here, even more so if she lived through the smoke and fire damage her body was currently being dealt.

            I on the other hand was physically unharmed.  The fire lapped against my bare feet like waves at the beach, flowing past me gently in its search for more fuel.  It was warm to my skin, in a way that was more comforting than painful, even the smoke only tickled the inside of my throat instead of making me fight for oxygen. 

            Yet I was tired, my muscles ached from when I had ran before I slept.  My mind too felt, drained, as if all of the clarity had poured from my ears while I slumbered thoughtlessly. 

            Gittoran, Briamy whispered in my mind.  Close…. Me…. Soon… Please….longer…

            My heart pounded in fear, the realization that her powers were fading in and out forcing adrenaline through my system.  I whirled around in place, desperately trying to look though the blaze and cloud of smoke to see her.  But I couldn’t see past the nearest trees.