The early morning found Cale with a frown on his face. Pat, pat, pat. A total of six paws weighed him down.
These little punks.
Brow furrowed, Cale cracked his eyes open. The sky outside his window was painted in dark-blue hues. In the midst of winter, the sun wouldn’t rise for a few more hours. Red fur consumed Cale’s vision.
“Today’s the day,” Hong said, resolute.
“Yeah, it’s happening tonight.”
“Time for fireworks!”
At these words from Ohn and Raon, respectively calm and exuberant, Cale sat up in frustration. Right then, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
The door creaked open to reveal Choi Han and Archie. Whereas Choi Han was visibly energetic, the killer whale behind him wore a complicated expression.
“I take it your morning ‘training session’ went well?” Cale said.
“Sure did, Mr. Cale. I feel refreshed.”
Remaining outside the room, Choi Han had a wholesome smile on his face as he brushed the dirt from his hands. Archie shook his head at the sight. In reality, Choi Han had just buried the liquid catalyst for the pillar of fire in the dry lake.
“Nothing beats a good workout.” Cale’s favorite exercise was breathing, but he played along with Choi Han, welcoming the new day.
The last day of the festival—the day they planned to set off the fireworks—would begin with a bright and sunny morning.
✦ ✦ ✦
Cale’s group split up at daybreak. They would reconvene in the plaza at sunset.
“I’ll be at the library. I’m curious about northern magic.”
“I’m going to go get a sword, Mr. Cale.”
Rosalyn went to the library and Choi Han to a weapons shop. The two whales disappeared into the crowd to complete their own tasks, fulfilling Cale’s orders along the way. In the end, Cale was left with the three children.
“Can I really eat more, human?” Raon asked, peering at Cale’s kindly smile.
“You certainly can,” Cale said gently. He placed a steak he’d ordered—a northern specialty—in front of Raon before wiping sauce from the dragon’s mouth. Raon’s eyes flashed with suspicion, but he opted to chow down for now.
They were in a VIP room on the fifth floor of a restaurant in the main plaza. Cale handed a piece of cake to Hong and a plate of rosé pasta to Ohn. While Hong wasted no time biting into his cake with gusto, Ohn tilted her head in confusion.
“This is weird. You’re pretending to be nice.”
Cale flinched at Ohn’s observation, then pasted on a bright smile. “Pretending? Not at all. You need to eat plenty to grow up strong.”
Ohn slurped down a pasta noodle, observing Cale all the while. Hong and Raon were too busy gorging themselves to notice anything. Ultimately, the children were elated. Here they were, eating their fill while watching the plaza without having to turn invisible or pretend they couldn’t talk.
“Human, this is great!” Raon gushed. “Let’s play all day, then set the fireworks off with a bang!”
Nodding, Cale replied nonchalantly, “Sure. Let’s throw in a fiery thunderbolt as a bonus.”
Raon’s round eyes blinked a few times. “Fiery thunderbolt?”
The fork in his front paw clattered to the floor. Clang! His lips curved down in a frown.
“You’re going to use the fiery thunderbolt, human?”
“I won’t faint.”
“But we can use magic!”
“No, we can’t.”
“Why not?!”
“They’ll recognize magic.”
The swordmaster Clope and the mages of Faern needed to believe the Empire was responsible for today’s incident while also experiencing the power of nature.
Seeing that Cale had already made up his mind, Raon wrinkled his nose before pushing the plate of steak across the table. “You eat it, then!”
“I’m full.”
“Why is your stomach so tiny? Is it because you’re weak?”
You’re the one who can put away ten steaks. Aren’t you the anomaly here?
Cale had no idea what Raon considered a “tiny” stomach, but he didn’t expend more brainpower on the matter. Instead, he proceeded with what he needed to say. “I’ll only use a little one today. I won’t pass out.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I just need enough to make a flash.”
Raon continued to pout, but Cale’s confidence quelled his protests. The kittens resumed scarfing down their food, apparently also accepting Cale’s assurances.
With a sigh, Cale stewed in self-pity for a moment. Why did he need permission from these kids—less than nine, on average—to use his own powers? He wouldn’t have hesitated in front of the whales or the tigers. How had it come to this? He even found himself thinking that he might’ve had it easier when he was living as an utter lout.
Nevertheless, Cale periodically dabbed the sauce from Raon’s mouth. The three children exchanged wary glances with one another.
The dragon’s stern gaze all but said, If he passes out, we’ll obliterate everything!
Hong nodded at Raon, but Ohn shook her head, conveying a different message: What if we just protect him instead of destroying things? If any strong people get too close, we’ll use our poisonous mist. Everybody falls in the end if they get poisoned, whether they’re a lion or a swordmaster.
Oh! Good idea!
Oblivious to this vicious exchange, Cale nibbled on a cookie. He didn’t notice the surreptitious glances the children snuck at him from time to time.
The fiery thunderbolt… Cale gazed out the window, lost in thought. He’d lost consciousness last time after using the thunderbolt at its maximum power.
In that case, I’ll only use half. If activated at night, even a bolt at half power would make a significant flash. I shouldn’t faint if I halve the output, right?
Cale grimaced as his heart beat faster.
Is that thing going completely bonkers now?
He shook his head at the voice that had been reverberating in his skull since the early morning, like an alarm he couldn’t turn off.
“Are you planning to destroy it?” It was the stone guardian.
Cale couldn’t fathom why the Scary Stone’s owner was acting this way. Is this because I decided to use the fiery thunderbolt?
“Is there no mute setting on this thing…?” he mumbled.
The children went stiff, their silent conference ceasing. Cale didn’t so much as spare them a glance. This stone guardian sure is useless.
Perhaps prompted by Cale’s thought, the Scary Stone’s owner said something different this time. “Do you seek to eradicate all traces of the fire’s eternal rival?”
What now? Whose eternal rival? The Fire of Destruction’s?
Cale knew what he meant to destroy: the lake tied to the legend of the god’s tears. But what was this about a rival? His eyes narrowed.
Curious as to what had grabbed Cale’s attention, Raon turned—and froze. In the direction Cale was looking, he spied a street vendor selling apple pies. When Cale remained still as a statue, Raon slowly pulled out his piggy bank and plucked one silver coin from inside. Ohn and Hong each took out a single coin as well.
Naturally, Cale wasn’t looking at anything in particular; a new topic had jumbled his thoughts. The fire’s eternal rival… Huh. Well, there’s no way the Scary Stone’s owner would lie. That being the case, the ancient’s words gave Cale an idea.
Did the legend’s protagonist possess an Ancient Power?
No matter how unhinged the Fire of Destruction’s owner might’ve been, Cale doubted he would’ve picked a fight with a god. The most obvious conclusion was that someone with a water-aligned Ancient Power was the fire’s rival.
Cale recalled a myth he’d heard about from Taylor Sten in the past.
The stone guardian.
The guardian had protected the northeastern region in ancient times. According to the story, that guardian was the defender of the Land of Boulders. Cale found it odd that the old tale had popped into his head unbidden.
Why did I think of that old story out of the blue?
Cale heaved a sigh and stood, making up his mind. It’s none of my business.
The Scary Stone’s owner didn’t recite its usual line about sacrificing himself, so surely Cale had nothing to worry about. There was no reason to rack his brain over this.
Raon zoomed through the air toward him. “Human! Human! Are you gonna get apple pie?”
Apple pie?
Cale studied Raon, wondering what in the world he was talking about. The dragon and both kittens stood before him with their chests puffed up, as if awaiting his answer.
He shook his head. “No.”
Raon chuckled with conspiratorial flair. “Oh, I get it, human! I know you picked this restaurant for us! Look forward to your apple pie!”
“We have lots of money now!”
“We’ve gotta repay the favor.”
What the…?
Since Cale couldn’t comprehend what the three children were babbling about, he chose to ignore their comments. “Let’s just finish eating.”
The children hurried to polish off the pile of food on the table. Seeing their excitement, Cale figured he didn’t need to worry and let his mind wander.
A short while later, Raon took his leave. “Okay, human! I’m gonna go see Choi Han for a while!”
Cale was too absorbed in his thoughts to even notice.