Leaving

Arawn was stunned by her words and he swore his heart fluttered a bit. It was an intimate thing to be able to say such a thing about what he and his power felt like to her Arawn had always had an affinity for fire in contrast to Anu’s coldness. It was one of the first elements he learned to master in his youth.
“Give it back to me if you can.”
She tried and the flame tumbled out of her hand and fizzled into nothing. She pouted and he conjured another fireball.
“You have to keep the flame afloat and feed it at the same time or it will fizzle out.”
She pushed more magic into the fireball he placed in her hand and it tripled in size.
“Less power, Sirona,” he said gently and watched the flame grow smaller. “Good. Now hand it back to me.”
She worried her lip but managed to hand a small spark back to him. He fed the flame and returned it to her. They passed it back and forth until she could give him back the same-sized flame.
“This is harder than it looks.”
“It’s about to get harder.” Arawn stepped a few steps back and Sirona looked distraught, “Now you have to toss it.”
“But what if I burn you?”
“Unlikely to happen.” He was impervious to firer because of how much energy he circulated through his vessel. She might singe his clothes, but that was all.
He smirked, “If you circulate your power throughout your body the same way you do through your hands, you’ll be impervious to most things.”
“Most things?”
“With the amount of power you have right now, you could be impervious to fire, perhaps even a dull knife, but against a sword, you’d lose some blood. Perhaps even a limb.”
Sirona nodded and tried to toss the fireball. It fizzled out as it left her hand. She huffed, glaring at her hands until another fireball appeared. It was much larger than the last. She tossed it to him and the ball shrunk drastically before he caught it. He fed the flame enough and threw it back quickly. She gasped as she missed catching it and it cut through the sleeve of her gown.
“My apologies. Are you hurt?”
She wasn’t. She had been trying to circulate her power the way he mentioned. She’d felt the heat of the fire, but nothing more than that. Her gown’s sleeve however was singed.
“No. I’m fine.”
“I will throw it slower this time,” Arawn said, conjuring another ball of flame. He tossed it and Sirona marveled at the fact that it didn’t lose size at all.
“How are you doing that?”
“What?”
“It’s not losing size.”
“Just because it is no longer in my hand does not mean I have lost control of it.”
The flame changed color, grew bigger, then smaller before returning to its original size and color in the palm of her hand.
“Will I be able to do that?”
“Yes,” Arawn said, “With practice and time. Being able to do so will allow you to safeguard your power from others who might steal it.”
Sirona frowned, “How would you steal someone’s power?”
“The same way to take from the surroundings.” She shuddered at the thought before trying to focus on tossing it back at him.
He smiled, “It does not have to be… unpleasurable.”
Sirona flushed as he caught the fireball and she felt her power leaving her at a slow steady drain that felt a lot like he was touching her the way he had in the forest. It eased and he wiggled his eyebrows.
“Maintaining control of it allows someone access to you, even if only for a moment.” He tossed it back, “Try it.”
She focused on it, trying to parse through where her and his powers mingled. Then, she found a thin line of light that cut through the air to him. She grabbed it with her power and tugged on it. His face flushed as she felt his power pouring into her.
Then it stopped.
“Good job,” Arawn said, “If you need more power to keep going, this is a means to get it.”
She fed power into the fireball and tossed it back. In a few moments, she felt him tugging at her and tried to cut him off, but the pleasure of it was making her unable to concentrate. He tossed it back with a teasing wink but didn’t allow her to pull from him.
A little frustrated she thought of a wicked idea. She poured enough power into it to send it sailing back towards him. Just before he caught it, she shoved a bunch more into it, forcing the flame to expand quickly and engulf him.
She gasped, “Arawn, I—”
The flames died down leaving him completely naked on the other side of the clearing. She stared at him wide-eyed as her gaze drifted across his naked body until she realized what she was doing and covered her face.
“I’m sorry!”
He looked down at his bare state and wiggled his toes, a bit impressed that she’d even managed to destroy his shoes. It was partially his fault for teasing her, but it was well worth it to feel the way she looked at him before she rediscovered her sensibilities.
Sirona wanted him, even though the thought flustered her.
Good. This would be easier this way.
“Why are you covering your eyes?” Arawn asked with a smug smile, “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to—”
“There’s no need to lie, Sirona,” Arawn said, “Please. Look your fill.”
“I can go find you some clothes…”
He laughed as her ears turned red and summoned another set of clothes from his room in the palace. She shouldn’t have been able to muster up that much energy or dispel it that way. She was learning a lot faster than he thought. The fact that she’d managed to obscure her intentions from him was also impressive.
“At some point, I will not believe you,” Arawn said, “Though I will not make such excuses when the tables are turned.”
Sirona turned towards the town, “I think we should head back.”
He laughed, “As you wish. I wanted to get back on the road before midday anyway.”
Sirona turned, her eyes still covered, “You stay here and I’ll get you clothes.”
He glided over to Sirona and lowered her hand with a smile.
“I am dressed, Sirona,” Arawn said. “I have no shame to speak of but I do have at least a passing notion of decorum.”
He winked at her and entwined their hands before leading her back to the little house they’d been staying in. Sirona grabbed her bag and packed up before they headed towards the road that led out of town.
“You’re leaving?” Someone asked.
Sirona turned, “Yes, but I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to give you all a gift.”
Arawn lifted an eyebrow at her, curious about what she meant by a gift. The woman who had stopped them looked just as confused.
“You have already done so much for us.”
Sirona didn’t agree. Maybe the bandits would have continued to make their lives hard, but their lives were hard even without the bandits. Mining was back-breaking work and it didn’t seem like the town’s farmland yielded much of anything so they relied on the money from the mining to sustain themselves.
The gift she had planned wasn’t much, but it would help them a bit. She led Arawn to the farmland that she’d seen near the edge of the town.
She crouched down at the edge of the town’s plot and whispered to the earth.
“You have to do your best to feed these kind people, okay?”
The wave of magic that went out turned the dry, brittle earth soft and near glowing with health. The seeds they’d managed to plant began to flourish and grow down the rows. They gasped as she stepped back and continued to feed the plot.
She grinned at the townspeople who stared in amazement.
“Live well, okay?” She said and took Arawn’s hand, “Let’s get going.”
Arawn nodded, chuckling a bit, “As you’d have it.”
There was a surge of power that went through them both as they walked away. Arawn didn’t look back, but he knew just being associated with Sirona was going to help him in the future somehow.
“I’m surprised you’re not making us fly.”
Arawn laughed as they entered the forest, “What’s wrong with walking when I know how much it terrifies you.”
He would never admit that flying had not crossed his mind as it would be much too quick and he didn’t know exactly where they would go next. He had simply wanted to get out of that town.
They walked quietly until the strength of the wind began to change around them.
“What is that?”
“A storm.”