PANACEA-Book One-By Hell or High Water

13. Dancing Around the Obvious Truth

Burning the cellar door went better than expected.

    It definitely made my heart leap when the two heavy boulders fell down through the smoldering wood. I assumed they must have been on either door along with the plank that weaved between the handles. Together we couldn’t make the doors budge. They were obviously very heavy rocks too, because when they hit the hard stone floor, it cracked.

    I quickly walked over to the now open ceiling to see the sky, dark and framed by flames.

    It was just big enough for us to fit through, without the fire in the way. I looked back at Hero, who was carrying the small flask over to try and splash the fire out. I doubted it would help much, but I stepped out of his way nonetheless. Surprisingly, the flames didn’t flicker away with the flask’s contents dumped on them. Rather, they  kept licking at the ceiling.

    “We don’t have anything bigger to fill with water,” Edmund said. He looked around the room. “I’d say we could fan them out, but there isn’t really anything.”

    He was right. Blowing the fire to put it out wasn’t exactly an option either. The fire began to crawl over the ladder.

    “Maybe if we filled all three flasks at once and--” I stopped myself. Hero was stepping back from me, looking above my head. It took me a moment. Once I was aware of it though, the white light cast from around me was difficult to ignore.

    I could see small stars whizzing around my head. My ears were ringing and popping. Slowly, the tips of feathers became visible. White and glittering, with a transparency that caught the orange glow of the flames. They were thin and long, in neat rows. These feathers were part of a set of wings, spreading from out of my back.

    I couldn’t tell you who looked more surprised in that moment between Edmund and Hero. That isn’t entirely true, actually. I must have won by a long shot.

    A breeze began to pick up, that soon turned into a fierce wind. Edmund and Hero moved out of the way without being asked, making way for strong, powerful bursts of air. The fire on the ladder was instantly snuffed out, and it fell over, smoke curling up from it like a burned out candlewick. Any fire slithering along the ceiling was blown away.

    As the smell of burning wood filled the chilled night air, I felt my wings stop flapping. They slowed to a stop, and faded away. The popping in my ears subsided, and I was left in the dark with Edmund and Hero.

    Hero was the first to speak for a very long time. “That was helpful. Thank you.” He stood the ladder up and started to climb.

    I was baffled by his lack of questions, but didn’t press him for them. At this point, I myself was beginning to get accustomed to the strange things I did. Maybe I didn’t understand, but it was becoming much easier to accept them.

    I followed Edmund up the ladder, leaving the cellar behind. Despite having been able to see it from below, the sky was nice to see after I touched my feet on the grass. I also found comfort in the dew that collected beneath me. Obviously the rain had carried on for a long time while we were below. Puddles covered the ground. I took a moment as Edmund and Hero went ahead to stare into one.

    Once again, I lost the sense of being where I was. The puddle provided a clear, sharp image. Pink stone, and thick, green vines. The polished stone was on top of the stocky vine, like the entire building was balanced on a large branch. I don’t know why, but I believed it had to be a man made structure. Carved with a single room. I couldn’t see that physically, but it felt right.

    Little green buds and flowers grew from the vine, dotting it with lighter hues. Suddenly, I saw a flash of dark hair and pale skin beneath water, and blue eyes that looked capable of moving worlds.