Seekers of Fire

Chapter 4 - Seekers

Drake knocked on the door and waited. He felt nervous about the whole situation and wondered how his parents would respond. He was not worried about bringing a girl home – he had invited Amelia over a few times and both his parents knew her and her father quite well. Rather, he was worried about bringing another Seeker of Fire home, even if she was his best friend.

His mother opened the door and smiled when she saw them. "Hello, Amelia. This is a surprise!" she exclaimed and wrapped her in a hug.

"Hey, Mrs Lee." Amelia was looking at him, expecting him to explain for her being here.

"Uh, mum... we need to discuss something important with you about—"

"It's getting dark, you two better head inside. I've got dinner cooking," Mrs Lee interrupted as she hurried them inside.

On his way to the dining table, Drake glanced at his father's study and saw no one there. "Mum, where's Dad?"

"He's working late tonight. Boss wanted him to stay back," Mrs Lee answered. Drake could hear the sadness in her voice and he felt his own mood drop. Dad had been working late these days and it had affected the whole family. He barely saw him these days, as Dad would sometimes arrive home after he was asleep and leave the house for work before he woke up.

"Drake." His mother's tone had changed to a more serious one. "Do ask your friend if she would like anything to drink."

"No thanks, Mrs Lee. I'm not thirsty." Amelia had sat herself down at the kitchen table and was playing with the ends of her red hair. Her eyes were still on his, pleading for him to speak.

"Would you like to stay for dinner then? If that's okay with your Dad I mean. I'm nearly done with the cooking and we're having chicken casserole tonight.

"I'll text Dad soon but I'm pretty sure he'll be fine with it. Thanks."

Drake sat beside his friend and cleared his throat. "Mum, we need to talk. It's about our powers. We got attacked by a fire elemental today."

Mrs Lee stopped what she was doing and looked up at them. "What was that?"

Drake explained everything to his mother. He talked about the mysterious earthquake and the sudden urge that led them to Crimson Park and the fire elemental. He also told her about Amelia's fire powers. When he had finished, Mrs Lee swore in Japanese and had a grave look on her face.

"Well, that explains why Amelia has holes in her blazer. I thought it was the result of a chemical experiment gone wrong in school at first, but if the fire elementals are attacking the town..."

"Wait, fire elementals? Seekers of Fire? What's going on here?" asked Amelia.

Drake could relate to his friend's confusion. He remembered when he had first developed his powers and the fear that had come with it. Fortunately for him, his parents were a bigger help to him at explaining his powers rather than... the other phase that every young teenager would start to go through.

His mother walked to the table and sat opposite them. Her kind deep brown eyes made contact with Amelia's. "You've never heard of those terms before? Has your father ever talked to you about anything related?"

Amelia was staring at the texture of the table. "I've never actually told my Dad about it. I didn't want to freak him out. And to be honest, I'm still freaked out myself." Her voice had turned soft.

"It's okay Amelia, I'll explain." Mrs Lee extended her arm, and a small flame danced above the palm of her hand. "Basically, Seekers of Fire are manipulators of the fire element. With practice, we can create and bend fire to our will. Sometimes, the offspring of a Seeker of Fire will inherit similar abilities. My husband and I are both Seekers of Fire, so it wasn't any surprise when Drake started developing his powers."