Born Within Flames
Kaidyn's P.O.V.
I woke up shivering in heated, cold sweats, which dripped down my forehead as memories of a bygone age flickered past my eyes.
“Father! Please don’t go back inside!” My father silenced me with gentle, soft words before bolting back into the burning house, hoping to retrieve his missing wife from the blaze...
I lost both my parents.
I swung my heavy legs over the side of the bed to mentally prepare myself for the day ahead. I walk to my closet, dress in brown pants and a shirt, then don my Iridecadent Armor. It was imbued with magic.
It is much lighter and more durable than any other armor that doesn’t contain Iridecadence. It is the first of its kind, given to me by Quincy, the maker and producer of Molten Iridecadence.
“Wow, this stuff is, like Quincy said, very light." He mentioned that the left-hand gauntlet has a built-in shield.
Using the mana from the armor, I manifest the shield on my left forearm. It is light blue with an almost ethereal appearance.
Today is finally here; I’m forming my party.
Leaving my house, my stomach churns with unease at the chance of a first mission. I walk through the kingdom of Irreverence, and a big, towering castle sits on top of the highest point in the walls of our grand city.
Heading to the Wonderer's Order. I’m supposed to meet up with the rest of my newly assigned party members. Entering the Guild’s building, the lobby was relatively barren except for an orc, an elf, and a varanum, a dragon-like race with ties to old magic. They were chatting amongst themselves.
I walked over to the roster pinned on the furthest wall from me to see who my new party member would be.
“Raheim, Skyze, and Spire?” Turning around, I saw that the three of them, the Orc, Elf, and Varanum, were gazing at me from their seats in the lounge.
“I’ll be your new Party leader; it’s nice to meet you all now. The first mission we have today would be.” I looked at the roster paper in my hand again; my new party was to clear out a cave near the kingdom’s borders.
“To clear out a bandit camp that’s been disturbing the exportation of the Iridecadence, the travel time will take about three days. Should we search for supplies individually before we leave today or search as a group? Also, what weapons do you use, and what is your affinity?”
The orc, Raheim, spoke up first; small in stature and lithe in build, his voice was rough and deep. He stood up from the couch, making his way over to me, and reached a hand out.
“I’m good with daggers, knives, rapiers, short swords, bayonets, and my favorite,” he said, unstrapping the hatchet on his hip and giving it a whirl. “This little beauty is a hell of a stinger but also sneaky.” He smirked, the blade of the axe glinting in his hand.
He put it back on his hip and shrugged.
“Also, my affinity with magic is null. I have no access to magic naturally.” I shake his hand and smile down at him.
“Me, too! I can’t use magic either. I use this bad boy as my lifeline.” I slap the sword on my hip.
“At least there are two of us.” He chuckles warmly and gazes at the elf who speaks up, her voice soft and meek, waving from her seat.
She was slight in build, taller than Raheim, about a head shorter than me, and a bit stockier in build.
“I’m Skyze; although, most people call me Sky.” She fiddles with the edge of the shirt, her voice now picking up an air of worried determination.
“I’d hope you’d recognize me. W-we graduated together at the Irreverence Academy; I-I’m a healing mage, and my affinity is the harmonization of plants." She was either nervous or just afraid of confrontation.
To defend herself, she pulled out a small gardening scythe.
“T-This is my weapon. I only use it when necessary. I want to focus more on healing.” She sheathed the weapon on her belt loop.
That’s right, I did graduate with her from the Academy; she was very quiet. I walk over to her and shake her hand as well.
“Yeah, I thought I recognized you! How have you been?”I asked.
A blush crawls onto her cheeks, making a small smirk perk on my face as she answers meekly.
“I’m okay, it’s nice to meet you officially, all of you.” She slicks her gaze around the party.
I turned to gaze at the final party member, the mysterious Varanum; not many of them are seen nowadays. Her voice was gruff and sounded like it had been through some things. Her stature was taller than mine by a good head and a half. She was built for battle and definitely had the scales for defense, as well.
“I’m Spire; I use a bow and have an opposing affinity for crystallization.” That’s all she said.
My thoughts were a buzz with all the new information. My hand messed with the hem of my chest plate, a nervous tic I had developed over the years.
“It’s nice to meet you all!” I go to shake her hand.
“We should all shop together.” Sky said.
Raheim the rogue, Spire the archer, and Skyze the mage. These were my new teammates and party members. Raheim is very forward with his words, a good contrast to what he can do as a rogue. Spire was very short and straightforward. No explanation was needed. I like that about her. Skyze seems sweet and cute; I want to get to know her.
“My name is Kaidyn,” I said, nodding towards Raheim as he gave me a nod back. Before I continued, I sighed and looked around, getting a feel for the group’s slowly starting dynamic. “Now let’s go prepare for today’s journey.”
We all headed out of the Main lobby of the Wounders Order and into the streets of Irreverence, going to the marketplace to buy basic supplies, tents, and fire-making supplies. Then, as quickly as we bought the supplies, my new party was checking out of the kingdom of Irreverence’s main gate and staring down the main wagon trails with a map in hand.
I saw Raheim and Spire hitting it off in the back of the group while Skyze walked next to me. I leaned over and gently nudged her on the shoulder.
“Are you excited about this as I am? Working as a team and everything?” I asked and gave her a soft smile.
Skyze shuffled closer, a light blush on her dark cheeks, her black hair tied up in a tight ponytail, showing off her pointed ears in a faltering way.
“I-I’ve been good, just trying to get used to working with a team. I usually do small missions in the kingdom by myself, but this is my first time working on something big.” She continues in a smaller, uncertain voice. “I’ve never even really been that far outside of the kingdom.”
I gently nudge her again to bring her attention to my smiling face.
“Hey, it’ll be fine! We are going to have a good mission. Plus, I hear we have an amazing healer on our team.” I said and wink at her.
My winking brings a different kind of blush to her face, one that makes my heart flutter strangely.
“Stop that, you heathen.” She mumbles, clearly flustered. I resign myself to a sublet tease.
After a few hours of chatting, we discover a lovely little forest on the side of the wagon’s road.
“Alright, let’s take a break for the day, and we will set up camp here,” I say, gazing out at the setting sun over the mountain’s peak far off in the distance. We find a small clearing in the middle of the forest. I pull out my bag, and Raheim and I start to set up the tents.
I struggle with the strings of the tent. Sky comes over and holds down the tent.
“Here I always had trouble with these when my father and I went camping.” She said.
Smiling and tying the string down, she’s holding taunt for me, I’m moving onto the next one.
“He must be a very smart man; I should thank him for teaching you.” I said.
She gives me a sad smile that makes me freeze when I go to finish tying the third one.
“He was. Yea. Maybe one day I’ll take you to him.” She said.
The graveous tone in her voice and subtle shake of her head, paired with the dullness of the eyes I see in the mirror every morning after the nightmares, sobers me.
“I’m sor-” I said.
She bends down and finishes tying the third tent peg and smiles. Her pink, soft eyes reach my soul.
“Don’t be, he’s no longer suffering. But I’ll still take you if you want to thank him.” She said.
Her giggle and light graze of her hand on mine shut down my brain for longer than it should.
She stands and goes to tie the fourth peg, her face matching the glowing hue of her rose-like eyes. Those same eyes that linger on mine.
“I-” I stand and dust myself off, steadying myself with the feeling of my metal armor beneath my fingers. I close the gap and hug her, stunning her. “I’d still love to make that trip.”
“Kaidyn!” I step back briefly before she can hug back, being eternally grateful for Raheim calling me to pull some heavy-looking log with Spire arms crossed, laughing at his failed display of strength.
“Yeah! I got you!” I walk over and bend down, picking up the log and lifting it onto my shoulder before pausing and looking at them. “Wait, why?”
Raheim, baffled, sighs and defeatly points toward the steady creation of a fire pit and semi-circle of sitting logs.
“Oh!” I walk over and let the log drop into place, dispersing dirt in a cloud, causing me to have a coughing fit. “Oops.”
I look up, waving the dirt from the air to see Sky having a giggling fit, her hand covering her mouth, and a bright blush on her face.
A cold breeze swept through, darkening the forest, and we quickly huddled into pairs in the tents as well as with the blankets and pillows they packed. Raheim and Spire chose to sleep together, leaving Skyze alone. I gently grabbed her hand and pulled her to me now that we were alone.
“Hey, are you okay?” I said.
She shifted closer to me as she nodded and yanked on my hand, pulling me into the dark and warm embrace of the tent. We climbed into the small tent among the blankets and hastily scattered pillows. I groaned and sighed softly as I struggled to pull off my armor.
“Let me help you with that,” Her voice was soft.
I turned my back to her, letting her small, cold finger slip under my backplate and slip it over the top of my head. I toss it in the corner and leave it with the other armor pieces discarded until the morning. After a few minutes of rustling around in the concophany of blankets, I got comfortable lying there. I saw Skyze shivering from the cold.
“Sky... come here, you’re cold,” I said, my voice soft and concerned.
Skyze shifted close, close enough to bury her face into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close to me for my warmth to calm her shaking body. The sound of the relentlessly northern wind lulled us to sleep in each other’s arms.
