Three

Brianna stood frozen in place trying to make sense out of the calling she heard. How could she call for fire and place it within a person? She had never experienced a call from something outside the raw elements and was ultimately confused by it.

She knew the elements like childhood friends and although they sometimes played tricks on humans, she’d never seen them go straight for the kill like that. Placing fire within that man would kill him, wouldn’t it? She backed away from the sleeping figure to think and decided to go by her day. He wasn’t going anywhere in that state, so she had time to think about it while performing her daily tasks.

By the time she finished up, the sun was setting, giving off a nice pinkish tone to the sky around her. She went upstairs to her bedroom and was as clueless about what to do as she was when she left. She sat beside him and touched his chest again, feeling the same call.

Without knowing what to do, she laid down besides him and kept her hand there. He was cool to the touch, which couldn’t have been good, but she had already covered him with her blankets as best she could. Without reasoning, she fell asleep on her own bed, close to a stranger that called for fire.

Three days passed without any change and Bree was beginning to desperate. He should have woken up by now, considering he had no physical injuries of any kind and if it was resting his mind needed, he got plenty. Everyday she would clean him up with a warm wet cloth and every night she fell asleep feeling the calling but afraid to do it.

On the third night, she made up her mind. If that’s what he’s calling for, then that’s what shall come to him. If he died, he died. The nature had a way of keeping that it wanted and disposing of what it didn’t regardless of her own desires, and it was not as if she hadn’t seen death before.

That night, she called for fire and he came. She felt the warm embrace of an old friend that came to visit.

One would think the fire was the wildest of the four, but he was not. She always took a liking towards him, perhaps because the humans didn’t. He knew if he ran wild, he could cause damage beyond repair and it took a long time to convince him that she could handle his ferocity if it came to it.

When she instructed on the task to follow, the fire did not falter. It was strange, but beautiful to see. The flames concentrated in her hand and she came close to his chest. She thought it would burn, but the fire started to flow towards him like it was being sucked by a vortex. When it stopped flowing, she knew that was enough. She bit the fire farewell and looked back to the laying figure by her side.

She had barely processed the beautiful act the fire had done, when out of nowhere the flow of air to her lungs stopped and a massive weight pressed her against the bed, crushing her throat and hips. It didn’t take long to figure she wouldn’t be leaving the position by force, so there was no point in trying to wiggle or squirm. She was not strong, but she was powerful.

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Nathaniel felt the caring hands that tended to his body during his absence. He knew someone was spending long periods besides him due to the soft hands placed above his heart. He didn’t feel danger, only power, but he knew he was not at full mental capacity to identify it. His only plan was to wait for the fire pump that would bring him back and assess the danger then.

One day he felt the air shifting with a sense of resolution that was not there before. He knew something would happen and he had to be prepared. When the fire came, he was ready and as soon as the first burning sensation started to flow from his chest to the rest of his body, he gathered his strength to attack. With a swift move of his body weight, he projected his whole strength to immobilize the figure besides him. He expected resistance but received nothing back.

When he looked down, he noticed a petite figure with big green eyes that seemed scared, but fierce. Her auburn hair was darker than his but reminded him of flames just as much. If he was not wired to assess and dispose of threats, he would have taken his time to admire her further. He moved to better his grip on her, in case she tried to wiggle her way out, but again she stood still.

She had woken him by fire, so he expected her to try to use it against him. Not that it would work, but she didn’t even try. He was confused because she was not moving or calling for fire, but her expression was fierce. Usually, when his prey noticed he wouldn’t budge, they would adopt an expression of fearful resignation. She was afraid, but she was definitely not resigned.

A crackling sound began, and Nathaniel felt something grip him and pull him away from her. He was already completely off her and suspended when he noticed it was a tree branch that held him up high, squeezing his whole body.

He tried to set it on fire, but when the branch started to smoke, the woman stood up and held her hands before her, gathering water out of thin air. Her expression had a warning, and he knew better than to defy it in his current position.

Brianna began to feel tired from drawing energy from an unwilling forest. When the elements called for her it was easy and invigorating, but when she summoned them for her own purpose the toll was massive, and she could only do so much before passing out from exhaustion. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice the small bead of sweat that started to form on her temple.