Arsonist's Lullaby

Peg landed on the island and shook himself off, the metallic scent of copper and the rotting egg scent of sulfur strong in the air. Around him vents of noxious steam billowed while the gray and straw colored grasses waved in the breeze. It was a truly ominous place, seemingly devoid of animals and birds as he moved from the greenish shores toward the waving grasses. Overhead the sky was overcast and the thick scent of rain could be detected under the sickly sour scent wafting off the vents. He kept his head low as he wandered deeper onto the island, passing a bare tree with gnarled reaching branches as he did.

He raised his head at the soft murmur of thunder and felt a whine escape him as he surveyed what he could see of the small island. In some places he passed veins of crystal blue stones that gave him the odd sense that they would fizz and burn if he tried to lift one of them in his maw. They were too solidly formed anyway for him to even hope of breaking them off. He continued on, his head lifted now as he passed billowing vents. Out of curiosity he tipped one of the greasy lime green rocks over into the pit emitting steam and listened as it seemed to fall for an eternity, his fur frizzing as it was exposed to the steam. This was a truly odd place, he noted, and carried on.

His exploration of the island was purely curiosity driven; in his year on Boreas he had sparingly explored whatever lands he could on the continent, gathering information on the plants and animals native to the land to be stored away for future use. What that use was exactly he couldn’t say, but he was sure in time the answers would come to him, as they so often did for those who followed the path of Ley. Assuming of course that he was still faithful to his father’s god. The one true god if he was truly faithful. He was no longer sure where his passions laid, only that he was nowhere near as zealous as his father or sister.

He shook his head to himself and continued his wandering, the overcast sky now rumbling irritably with much more prevalent thunder and raising the fur on his hackles. A brief blinding flash of light filled the sky and was followed quickly by a rancorous crash of thunder that made his heart stop beating for a split second. He felt exposed, as large as he was and as open and devoid of life as the valley was. The ground beneath him felt charged and somewhere ahead of him he heard the panicked bugling of a small deer. He heard the furious stomping of prancing hooves and from ahead of him the smallest deer he had ever seen in his life tramped at the ground as it fled. He supposed he should have taken it as a sign but he was not deterred as he continued on his journey. Behind him he heard the chattering of a medium sized cat as it too fled an distantly he heard the splash of something hitting the water before it seemingly swam away.

Another clap of thunder, this time preceding a great bolt of lightning shooting down from the sky and striking a tree that promptly exploded, spilling embers and the scent of burning resin in the air. Too stunned to move Peg watched as the tree burst into flames and ignited the dry grass surrounding it. Too late did the instinct to run reach him as he barreled away from the quickly spreading flames. Another strike of lighting, this one seeming to just barely miss him struck the ground, sending a fresh blossom of fire spiraling into the air. He turned sharply, running as fast as he was able to and unwisely moving toward a ring of smoke and fire.

Around him he could hear the panicked shrieks of animals, the scent of fear permeating the air along with the scent of smoke and burning grass. His tongue lulled from his mouth, his eyes wide with fear as flashes of light from the igniting sulfur clashed with the lightning storm still raging overhead. With the way he had come engulfed in flames Peg had no choice but to run up the steep cliffsides on the other end of the island. Pushed further and further toward the sheer drop he had only a passing glance at the dancing flames surrounding him.

He stopped abruptly as he reached a wall of fire, his knees shaking as smoke burned his eyes and lungs. He attempted to lower his head, desperately trying to suck in a fresh breath, but the very heat from the air around him seemed to bake his lungs from the inside out. He tried to run again but found that the flames now encircled him. He was trapped, his eyes watering and coughs racking his lungs as he searched for a possible escape. Time seemed to slow around him as in an instant he spotted a break in the wall of fire where the flames had yet to reach their full zenith. He kicked off the ground and using all the force in his tremendous body leapt through the flames, landing on his side and burning his muzzle slightly on scattered embers. He rose to the smell of burning fur and smoke and continued to run, tearing over the field with all the strength his limbs afforded him.

With nowhere else to turn to Peg ran straight for the cliffs, his legs never stopping their powerful motions as the horizon ahead of him abruptly cut away to the deep ocean surrounding it. His paws landed on the rocky edge and with a mighty kick he pushed off the cliff and fell like a stone into the sea. He sank weightlessly, his body being rocked by the current of the storm even from the depth he had fallen to. His body ached and he wanted nothing more in that moment than to drift away and sleep.

“Philomena…Sphinx…Medea… Mother…” His mind listed off the names of those he swore to keep fighting for but he did nothing to stop his imminent death.

“Célestin…”

His eyes snapped open then as his paws hit the sandy floor beneath his feet. With a mighty kick he sailed upward, his paws churning the salt water to bring him closer to the surface as he swam with all the strength left in his burning limbs. His head broke from the sea’s surface and he gasped wildly, filling his lungs with air as his body struggled to keep his head above water and survive the thrashing waves brought on by the storm. He gave one last look at the burning island, then swiftly paddled away, back to the continent and solid land. As he swam the storm belatedly unsheathed a curtain of rain, the cold water at least refreshing him as he paddled closer and closer to the sandy banks.

He all but collapsed on the shore, just barely out of the reach of the tide as his heart thrummed wildly like the beating wings of a hummingbird. He sucked in a deep breath, and then another. He was alive. And then he found he could do nothing else but laugh.