Sar’s face twisted into a grimace as he began his tale. “I figure you have to own what you’ve done. What you are. And what you have to pay for.”

Sar took a deep drink. “You’ll have heard the stories. Pyromancer is not an easy class to get; none of the elemental specialties are. Up at the fancy schools, they teach the privileged little shits to meditate. They watch the fire, they try to understand it. But they don’t usually get the class. They don’t love the fire.”

Sar’s voice took on a bitter cast. “Your Captain Dannis, he met Pyromancers that could hold their shit together enough to stick in the army. Most aren’t like that. You meet another pyromancer, you run.”

Sar looked up acccusingly. "I know what you are thinking. I didn’t burn down my village or my house. I didn’t kill my family. But the stories are true just the same, and I was a sick and twisted little shit, sure enough. No reason for it, I just loved to stare into the fire. I could stare for hours. And when there was no fire, I wanted one. I loved the excitement of starting a fire, not knowing if I could control it. Oh, I loved my family too, especially my big sister Kaley, who always had time for me, never turned away from me despite my obsession. But it was the fire that filled my dreams.”

“The carnival came into town into town, but I wasn’t to go. Punishment for my latest transgression. Kaley wouldn’t have it. Figured the best way for me to be normal was to treat me normal. So we snuck off together. It was magical. For a time. I remember all of it, every moment. The candy. The magician. The Bearded Lady. And, of course, the jugglers tossing around their damned torches. Kaley must have tugged on my arm a hundred times, but I was a stout little shit even then. So she left me there. I guess she figured she knew where I’d be; that I’d be safe in the crowd. I don’t know how long they performed, I really don’t. But eventually they stopped, and I went to find Kaley.”

“I looked everywhere. I even forgot the fire, for a time. The carnival was winding down for the evening, and I was frantic. I found myself walking around the outside of the carnival. No reason for her to be there, but there I was. On the far side, away from the village, it was just the backs of the tents, the woods and I. Until it wasn’t. I heard screaming. Crying. It was Kaley, with one of the freaks on top of her.”

“I wasn’t brave. I wasn’t strong. I was 11. But those are excuses for a decision I don’t remember making. I was watching Kaley. And then I was back at the Carnival. I don’t remember taking Pyromancer. I don’t. But I remember the fire. I remember the screaming.”

“The people, they got out. Mostly. Not unscathed. Fire leaves its marks, changes you. Always.” Sar trailed off, staring into some distant horror.

Looks were exchanged amongst the rest of the party, but no one knew what to say. After a time, Sar resumed. “Kaley was home when I got there. She . . . she knew. Even after what she went though, somehow … somehow I was the one she was worried about. She had a bag packed for me. Told me I need to run. That was six years ago, far from here.”

“You want to know what I regret?” Sar’s voice took on a heavy ragged edge and he spoke slowly, with pain etched in every word. “I regret that good people burned. I regret that I failed my sister. That I haven’t had the courage to go back. But most of all, most of all, I regret that I didn’t burn the fucker who hurt Kaley.”

Sar drained his mug in one long swallow. “When we met, I told you that I wanted to get strong, to do some good in the world. And I do. And I will.” Sar’s voice trailed off, picking up in a whisper, “there are a lot of people that need to burn.”