Chapter One

Near the center of a universe, on the outer tendril of a spiral galaxy sits a yellow star circled by five planets , two gas giants on the outer reaches and two small fast-moving boiling planets close to the star. Between these four planets sits a planet with sprawling forests, towering mountains, spiraling rivers, and deep oceans. On one of the less towering mountains there is a dark cave, inside that cave sits five short bipedal mammals, among a them a large male squats over a bundle of dry sticks with two stones in his hand. He brings these two stones together with a loud clack. Each time he does this a spark is made, each time this spark is made the sticks get hotter, and soon they begin to burn with small embers and smoke rises, the man drops the stones and begins to blow onto the embers. After a few good breaths a fire grows into existence. The five grin with the teeth of predators and laugh primal laughs and huddle around the small fire and speak in a crude tongue. Unknown to them they have just helped create what would one day become a god.

In a sea of black a spark glows like a billion stars, then another, then another. Each spark forming together to create a single point of light. Before long the sparks become embers, then a flame that grows ever larger until the black that once was all there was,is replaced with a roaring flame, pulsing with power and heat. The flame whips around the darkness till it finds fuel for its flame in the form of wood, it eats through till the wood is chard black and holds little for it to consume. Luckily, as if created from the flame’s need for more, a larger piece of wood appears inside the flame, then another. The flame begins to devour this new source of fuel, but a slower pace, when will it get more?

“….”

Did the flame just ask a question? Another! Who is it asking? Another question! Who is it? An again another question! It should really start finding answers to these questions before asking more. But how? CRAP! It did it again. Think, think, think, because apparently that is something it can do now. First question, did the flame just ask a question? Yes, many. One down. Who is it asking? Itself , that’s the only one here, right? The flame sighs add it to the list. Question three, who is it? The flame, duh. That one was easy. How to find answers? Already figured that one out. The flame thought it was really smart. Just to clarify, it was as far as newly sentient flames go. Okay, last question. Is it the only one here? The flame searched the only place it new to look, itself. It searches every corner of itself before turning its attention towards the wood that it was feasting on. Hello? Mister Wood, Misses Wood, … Wood? Are you there? …. Just when the flame was about to give up on the whole idea, a laugh hisses from the wood. Causing the flame to jump and shrink in size.

“ Ha ha ha, took you long enough to ask!” The wood yells with a dry whisper of a voice, “ I’ve been sitting here while you sat there eating me and talking to yourself.”

After a getting over its shock the flame finds the courage to speak up.

“ Should I? stop?”, the flame asked, rolling around the word , I , and finding it like it. Then quickly adding, “ Eating you that is.”

The wood sat in silence for a few moments before letting out another hissing laugh, “ Oh no, its fine, well maybe not fine, but there is more than this so its quite alright.”

The flame sighs in relief, “ That’s good, I don’t think I can stop eating you without…. not being?”

The wood nods, well more like rolls a little as it is just a log of wood and there for has no mean of nodding.

“ The word you are searching for is dying, death.” ,the wood informs the flame.

The flame ponders these words, before feeling it gets the general idea. Another question strikes the flame. How does the wood know so much? But, before the flame can ask the wood speaks up.

“So, while I don’t mind being eaten away, but it feels a little weird. Could we take this somewhere else?” , the wood asks.

This surprises the flame. Somewhere else there is somewhere else?

“ Before you ask, yes. There is more than just here. Give me a little time and I’ll show you and explain somethings to you.” The wood tells the flame, before its presence disappears. At first the flame was shocked where did the wood go. It felt around for the wood and it found what it had been eating, but not the voice it had come to known as wood. Had the flame eaten the wood, was it all gone? It looked at the wood and there was still a good amount, so that could not have been it. Where did my friend go? The flame thought to itself. Friend? Was that what the wood was to me? It is the only one other … being , I have ever known. So, yes, we are friends, were friends? This thinking thing is really hard.

Suddenly, the flame felt itself being moved, how it knew this, it had no idea, but it knew. The flame and the wood that wasn’t its friend were picked up and taken … somewhere. After, what felt like a long time to the flame, longer than all other time that it had experienced until now. Where am I going? Where is wood? What is moving me? These are the questions that the flame asked itself , but unlike the last time it could not find the answers itself and there was no one to ask this time. I miss wood. This train of thought went along for quite some time, constant wondering where it was going, and where its friend went, until the wood it was feeding upon became little more than charcoal. The flame smaller then it had been since it’s birth, clinging to the wood, that last reminder of its friend and the last of its food. The flame flickered and began to sputter out of existence. My existence was short, or long, I am not quite sure, but it was something, once again not sure. Thought what it thought to be its last, when suddenly it found itself surrounded by more wood than it had ever seen. It jumped toward it bringing the remains of its friend with it. It began feasting on this new source of food , wrapping its way around it till it held it all inside itself. After it got itself comfortable, slowly eating away at its new home and food sources, it felt its old friend wood return.

“ WOOD! Is that you? Oh, how I’ve missed you!” the flame exclaimed with joy and relief.

Wood laughed, its dry hiss of laughter, “ Ha ha, did you think I left you my friend?”

The flame jumped with joy when it heard wood call it friend, they were friends after all, and then it felt shame for not trusting its friend wood.

“ Well, kind of, I was afraid I had eaten you away.”, the flame said sheepishly.

“Ha ha , not quite, I just had to leave in order to move you to a place with more me, for both our sakes before you did.”, wood tells the flame.

There is more of wood? Yes, wood did tell me this. But where is here? The flame thought to itself , but before it could ask any questions out loud wood chimed in.

“ Before you begin asking questions, which I am sure you have, first I have some questions of my own, it that alright?”, wood asked with a patient, but stern voice. The flame had never heard wood use that voice before this must be serious it thought. Wood is friend and lets me eat it to live, the very least I could do is answer it questions. I am quite good at that, if I do say so myself. And I do.

With the confidence befitting something quite older and wiser than it, spoke up,” For you my friend, I’ll answer all your questions.”

Chuckling wood says, “ Thank you, oh wise flame. Question one, do you know what you are?”

The flame was surprised, the flame is a flame. Flame said as such, “ I am a flame.”

The wood waited a moment before speaking, “ Yes , this is true, but also wrong. You are what is called a wisp. You are a young being that has just come into existence and you could go on this way for as long has you can fuel your hunger, but once you run out of things to eat you will die.”

Die! Die! I’m going to die, but life has just begun. Oh no, I got to eat slower. Oh, I don’t want to die. The flame’s thoughts filled with panic and worry.

“Snap out of it, your eating faster!”, wood yells at the flame. The flame looks around and sees that it has been eating more of the wood, and it was down to half of what was there at the beginning. It quickly stopped doing this and begin to nibble instead.

“ Better, now listen. Are you listening?”, the wood asked. When the flame didn’t interrupt the wood took this as a sign that the flame was in fact listening. “ Okay, first you are not going to die. At least not right away if I can help it.”

The flame nodded, as much as he could as a personified fire.

The wood continued, “ Second of all, there is a way you can become stronger and there for not have to eat constantly to survive.”

The flame perked up at this, it liked eaten and all, it was one of the few things it actually understood, but if it could find a way to not die if it ran out of wood, then it’d be worth it.

“ Okay, first things first, I need you to focus at the center of your being, can you do that?”, the wood asked sounding as if it was further away. The flame focused with all its might looking for its center, it seemed hopeless at first, then as if by accident, it found it. A small glowing light no larger then the head of a needle, not that the flame knew what a needle was. It pulsed with an orange and red glow. The flame latched on to it afraid it may disappear.

“Okay, wood I have found it, I think.” , the flame said with a voice that portrayed anything but confidence, “ Now what?”.

“ Good, good.”, the wood said in a soothing voice that sounded like leaves rustling, “ Now you need to try and pull your whole being into it.”

What did that mean thought the flame, pull in its whole being, how? And why? But the flame trusted the wood and if the wood said it need to do this it would try. The flame focused on the pulsing light of red and orange, imagining itself being pulled into the light. And to its amazement and fright, it felt it happening. The light began to grow in intensity and size, while the flame felt itself growing smaller and smaller. Before the flame could ask the wood for help or even cry out in alarm the light had engulfed the flame. The flame couldn’t feel anything, it was dark and cold, but for only a moment. Suddenly there was a bright explosion and pushing sensation and when the flame opened its eyes, it had eyes. That’s not all it had, it had a body, a small one, but a body. The size of an apple, with arms, legs, and a head. Skin made of flickering flame and eyes of warm orange. The flame smiled and looked up and saw for the first time the world and the true form of its friend the wood. The flame found itself floating in the center of a huge room, to it at least, a room made of living trees and vines that were on fire. And next to one of the trees ,swatting at the fire, was a creature that seemed to be made of wood, long spindly arms and legs that splintered at the joints, skin of bark, and a head with a cracks for eyes and a mouth and leaves on top like hair.

“ AHHH! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!”, the creature yelled in panic with the hollow voice of the flames friend wood. Wait a minute was that the flame’s friend wood.

“ Wood? Is that you?”, the flame asked with a voice like sparks.

“YES! NOW PUT OUT THE FIRE, PLEAASSE!”, the wood screamed waving a hand around that had caught on fire. The flame didn’t want its friend to be upset, but the flame did not know how, but it would try to help. It flew over to its friend and began swatting at the flame like it saw wood do. This only made things worse and resulted in wood screaming more and to begin running around waving its arms around. So not that then. Maybe it could suck in the fire like it did when it was pulled into its center. Flame decided to practice on one of the trees, not wishing to cause its friend more harm. Flying over to one of the fires it placed its hand out in front of it and focused on pulling the fire into it. And to its excitement it worked, and it felt amazing like it felt when it ate wood. Quickly it flew around the room and began absorbing the fires, before finally rushing to its friend who by now had both arms on fire and was rolling on the leave ridden dirt floor, which only caused the fire to grow around the wood. Once again, the flame held out its hands and focused. The fire that was consuming the wood and the leaves flew from them and into the flame. When all was said and done, the little flame let out a belch, that tasted and smelt like BBQ, to someone who knew what that was, the flame didn’t but it liked it all the same.

Pulling itself off the floor the creature the flame knew as wood, dusted itself off and turn to the little floating flame and laughed its hissing hollow laugh, “ Ha! Ha! Well that was fun, I knew you’d be worth a little excitement!”, the wood smiled, “ Congratulations! You are now a sprite!”

The flame looked at wood for a few moments blinking, before asking, “ What’s a sprite?”.

The wood laughed and was about to answer when a high-pitched voice called from outside the room, “ Yasevl, my lord. Is everything alright? We heard screams and saw fire. Do you require our assistants” , the voice was filled with worry and respect. The wood stood up and walked to the door, before turning back to the newly minted sprite, “ I will be, but a moment.”, and walked through the door into the night. The flame could here voices, including its friends hollow voice and its hissing laugh. Soon the wood returned and sat down in front of the flame, “ Where were we? Ah, what is a sprite? It is a being made of a single element and willpower. You for instance are a fire sprite. Does that make sense?”, the wood asked with a smile.

The flame sat there a moment contemplating this and then shook its head, it didn’t understand. If the flame was a fire sprite, was the wood a wood sprite? The flame voiced this inquiry, “ Does that mean that you are a wood sprite?”. The wood let out a long hissing laugh, “ Not quite my friend, I was once a water sprite, and now I am a wood spirit.”. The flame sat there thinking once again and concluded that it knew absolutely nothing. Seeing the confusion on the little sprites face the wood spirit decide to enlighten it, “ A spirit is a sprite that has gained enough power and energy to take power of more than just the most basic of its element.”

“Then if you were a water sprite, whatever water is, the how did you become a wood spirit?”, the flame asked scratching its head. The wood spirit scrunched up its face in thought.

“We’ll deal with the water thing later, but to answer your question, I was a water sprite yes, but I became a wood sprite when I started to consume the energy from the water inside trees, and plants. And when I became strong enough to become a spirit, I became a wood spirit.”. The flame did not completely understand ,but it felt like it understood the general idea.

“ Okay, I think I understand, but I have another question.”, the flame stated before asking, “ Who was that other voice, another spirit?”. The wood through back its head and laughed. Much to the annoyance of the sprite, but not surprise. When the wood spirit finished its laughing, wiping away a tear of sap from its eyes, said,” No, that was Nevil, he is one of my worshippers, he is not a sprite or a spirit he is an elf. A wood elf to be precise, an alvsvel.”, sensing the impending questions the spirit continued, “ They are different then us, they are made of flesh, and cannot control elements like we can. They worship me, by giving me a piece of their energy and other things, and in return I gift them with my blessing, which makes them stronger. We protect each other.”. The wood spirit looked at the fire sprite expecting its explanation to only draw in more questions, but instead the sprite simply nodded. The sprite remembered how the wood had helped it, protected it from itself in a way. The flame did have one last question, “ There was a word I didn’t understand when the elf called to you earlier. What is Yasevl?”.

Smiling the spirit answered, “ That is my name, Yasevl. It means forest one.”.

“ Name?”, the flame asked.

“It is a word that identifies one from others, it is how others know you.” The wood explained.

“Oh, should I call you Yasevl?”, the flame asked afraid that it had offended its friend.

“I would like that very much, my friend.”, Yasevl smiled. The flame smiled back, then frowned.

“What is my name, do I have one?”, the flame asked. Yasevl thought for a moment then nodded to itself.

“ I will give you a name. If that is alright with you?”, Yasevl said with joy in his eyes. The flame sprite glowed with excitement,” Oh yes, please!”.

“ Then from this day forward you shall be, Igneous, flame brother.”, Yasevl said with a proud smile. Igneous felt a sudden jolt inside of him, he was a brother, which somehow, he knew what that was, he was Yasevl’s brother. Igneous flew to Yasevl and hugged his brother, until Yasevl let out a yelp, this was due to the spot Igneous was hugging had begun to smolder. With a sheepish smile the and a quick apology he absorbed the energy back to him. A light began to shine through the doorway of the room.

“ What is that?”, Igneous asked feeling the energy of the light and curious to see what it was.

Smiling at his younger brother Yasevl said, “ That my brother is dawn.”, standing up he continued, “ How about I show you some more of the world and introduce you to my people?”

Igneous’ eyes grew large as did his smile, while nodding profusely he said, “ Oh yes, please, but first what is dawn?”. Laughing Yasevl led his new brother into the light of dawn and into a world that held all new wonders for Igneous.