IRIS HATED BOATS. He had never been on one, and so didn't know what to expect, but he hated them. The rocking of the boat turned his stomach in a way he had never experienced, and he vomited frequently, which was repaid generously from the Embers by burning some skin off his left pinkie. Then, there was the waterfall. Unknown to Iris, this 'river' they were on was in fact artificial, created to serve as the transport route between Oke, his home-town, and Arin, the merchant city. The fall started in the blink of an eye, and Iris' stomach was lodged in his throat as they plummeted down towards the harbor lake. As they collided with the surface of the water, the entire boat shuddered and Iris had to cling on to the mast his ankles were loosely tied to to avoid getting flung out of the boat, while the air was knocked out of his lungs. After barely regaining his strength, he was forced to walk bare-footed on the hot sand, and down to the Ember Furnace, one of Arin's many police stations.
"You guys have terrible customer service! Worse than me!", Iris yelled as he was thrown into a dark and damp jail cell. He would have yelled more, but he collapsed and slept off, his trying experience with marine transport having drained all his energy.
+ + + + + +
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! A rod banged against the iron bars of the cell, rousing Iris awake. An Ember signaled for him to get up.
"So you're just gonna keep mute?", Iris said.
No response. Just the same signal. Iris sluggishly got up, much to the annoyance to the Ember. As he was about to leave the cell, the Ember held Iris' arm and yanked him out while the Ember's free hand tied him up in seven swift loops. Iris was led through a dimly lit corridor to a large auditorium illuminated by a glowing ball of flame high up, with a gold-plated balcony protruding from one of the auditorium's walls. Ushered onto the stage, and knelt down, Iris only then noticed the numerous people all around the auditorium; some seated at its different levels, and others comfortable in the gold-plated balcony except for the seat in the middle, which remained vacant. Plus, everywhere was deathly quiet, almost like making a sound would lead to a serious punishment. Who was so important that even in their absence, no one would dare speak?
"Arghh. Another criminal? Tomorrow's my anniversary and I haven't even gotten her a present!", A voice boomed from within the protruding balcony.
A figure - a man, to be precise - dressed in only trousers and flip-flops with his chest bare, the same owl mask resting on his pecs appeared. This answered Iris' question. Now, what was going to happen to him?
"Oh well, let's make this quick. Erm, Ares? That's your name, right? You're sentenced to death-"
Iris felt his temperature drop.
"-for killing some inferi- Ahem, citizens of the Ina Empire in the city of Oke. I will now carry out execution.", the man said promptly, before he raised his hands and they erupted in flames.
From what he'd seen on the boat, this was normal, as everyone down here had fire abilities and whatnot. Wait, his owl symbol's eyes were circles instead of crosses? What did that mean? But all that didn't matter right now. Previously, Iris had accepted his fate - a nobody like him didn't really deserve life, and his was so hard already that is was easier to let go. But now, in the face of death, whether he deserved it or not, Iris wanted - no, needed to live. He had already loosened off his bonds, but there was nowhere to run… Iris looked up at the floating ball of flame and wished it would disappear as he closed his eyes to accept his fate, tears rolling down his face. He waited for the man's flames to engulf him, and then… nothing happened. Iris' eyes remained closed, even when he tried to open them. That's when he realized - everywhere was dark.
"How?", he heard the Ember beside him whisper, "The flame hasn't blown out for decades, so how?"
That, however, was none of Iris' concern. He took to his heels. Used to being in the dark, his eyes quickly adjusted and could easily locate the corridor where he came from. He darted down it like a madman, zipping past his cell. As he was halfway, though, everyone, shocked by the impossible feat that had just occurred, were getting back to their senses, judging from the increasingly loud murmurs, which meant Iris was running out of time. He knew his way in, so it was rather easy finding his way out of the building. He soon reached the exit… It was locked. Iris tried to push the handles, but the door remained shut firm. So he started ramming it with his own body. The echoes of the shouts of the audience and Embers hunting down their convict were getting louder. Iris rammed at the door even harder. Finally they shuddered open. Almost falling on dog turds, Iris stumbled out of the Ember Furnace and ran into the night, becoming the first underage boy to escape from the hands of the Embers.
+ + + + + +
Iris didn't know how long he had been running for, or how tired he was, before he entered a flat whose front door was graciously open. Stunned by the difference in temperature, all of his exhaustion hit him and his knees buckled in the middle of the main parlor. Still, he persevered, and he managed to reach the storage room before his legs gave out. Dropping on some bags of rice, Iris appreciated the makeshift cushion. Though the store was cold compared to the rest of the house, it was still much warmer than outside.
+ + + + + +
Iris woke up, feeling rather hungry, but mostly refreshed. Still hazy, he briefly pondered why he was on top of so much rice, but his memory came back to him quickly. He opened the store door quietly, and stuck one leg out, then the next, then looked around. No one seemed to be home, so Iris went for the main door.
"Hey you,", A deep voice from behind said, "Stop right there."
Iris turned back to see a man in his forties, with striking black hair graying at the sides, chiseled face, and a long coat to finish it off, hefting red hot tongs. Blood left Iris' face. The man began to stride towards him, his grip on the tongs seemingly firmer than ever. Iris could only watch as the man came closer, then bent down to his height.
"You must be one of the survivors of the burnt orphanage, right? Why are you leaving so soon? You can stay here with me."
Though deep, his voice was warm and friendly.
"Though, in exchange for lodging, you might need to help me with a thing or two. Could you help me manage the fire?", the man said, pointing to the furnace which crackled with logs, and offered the tongs.
"This is really nice of you.", Iris managed to mutter, before taking the tongs. Having a babyish face had its advantages.
"No problem.", he said, "By the way, what's your name?"
"Iris.", Iris replied.
"Well, Iris, I'm Jack. Nice to know you. Now, would you like some breakfast?"
Iris couldn't help crying. Later, after the fire was nicely burning, Iris, for the first time in his life, tried warm, crisp bacon and eggs. Nearly crying again from the taste, Iris had to excuse himself. The day went on peacefully, and in the night Jack had something to show Iris.
"I'm rather good at making fire.", he said, forming three balls of flame which began to levitate around him.
"I can also multiply them-", Jack announced at the balls turned to six. Iris was wowed.
"-and control each one separately."
The balls of fire scattered to different parts of the room, one coming to hover around Iris. The show was spectacular! That was, until, one one of the balls of fire collided with Iris' shirt, setting it ablaze.
"Oh, sorry!", Jack exclaimed.
"You can put it out, right?", Iris said naïvely.
"I can make fires; I can't put what it burns out!"
Iris' calm turned to fear. Jack rushed to get a towel, but the flames had already spread to the entire shirt, so he frantically rushed out to get a bucket of water. But for Iris, he was tired. Tired of always being at the mercy of fire. All this time, he had fought tooth and nail to provide of himself, then a murder he never committed was pinned on him, making his hard life ever more harder. He just wished all of this hardship, the infernos that consumed his happiness, could stop. The flames began to lick at his skin. He just wished all of this could stop! As Jack came running with the water, suddenly, all the fires in the house - the furnace, the lamps, the fire engulfing the strife-stricken Iris, rose and hovered in the air in spasms, before dissipating, a wave of heat cascading throughout the house. Iris was more than surprised - the same was for Jack, whose bucket of water was tilted to spillage. Yet, in the silence, they both knew what had happened. Iris just put out all the fires in Jack's house.
"Iris," Jake muttered, "how old are you?"
"14." Iris lied instinctively, hoping to still appear adoption-worthy. He heard Jack's jaw clench.
"An underage boy… did this… "Jake said, dazed.
"I can explain, sir. You see-", Iris began, for fear Jack would connect him to the missing criminal.
"No need. I know what you are.", Jack said. Iris tensed, preparing for the worst. The window was close enough to fly through…
"A prodigy! We better bring out that talent in you!", Jake announced, before he burst his hands into a gentle flame, illuminating the place, and proceeding towards an oil lamp. Iris, both surprised and grateful for Jack's assumption, played along. Hmm. A prodigy.