Of Fire and Fingertips | Teen Ink

Of Fire and Fingertips

December 29, 2011
By dolphinportkey7 GOLD, D, Other
dolphinportkey7 GOLD, D, Other
12 articles 0 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Because I knew you, I have been changed for good" AND "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"


Fire has never been my strong point for seeing things. The stars, sure. Crystal balls, definitely- I’m really good at those. I’m even okay with palms, and those are realy hard. But the whole “staring into fires” doesn’t work for me.

It’s like they don’t want to work for me. It’s such a conscious effort to really see any other thing in such a fast-moving, swift spectre of an object. Fire doesn’t really know if it is alive or not, and how am I supposed to look into an entity that doesn’t know what it is?

I guess I just get to sit here now, hoping I can look and see what I need to see. I’m told that this is one of the easiest, and so I don’t know why I can’t get it. It doesn’t make any sense.

“Maybe that’s your problem, then,” Lianna says, approaching from behind me. I turn, and see his deep eyes looking at me intently. Lianna is a Walker of Minds, not a Seer of What Is To Come, like me. I don’t know what he’s talking about, but my heart beat is pumping faster all the same.

“What?” I ask him, unnerved. Normally Lianna never goes into my mind, or those of the other apprentices, without permission. He smiles and sits next to me.

“Well, maybe you need to stop thinking it needs to make sense,” he explains to me. “You see things that haven’t happened yet, and that doesn’t make sense to most people.”

I roll my eyes sarcastically.

“Yeah, but that’s because they don’t know about the rules, Lianna. Even magick has rules that make sense. And I can read the stars and everything else. Fire is supposed to be the easiest, but it’s not.”

We sit in silence for a few seconds, and Lianna looks over at me briefly. He smiles mischievously and looks at me annoyingly. I groan.

“Look, don’t you have to go and, like, make out with Vilanshi? She’s probably waiting for you,” I remind him, thinking of his girlfriend. He gives me another infuriating smile, one of those smiles that make me so excited all at once, but that make me sad, too. He looks into the fire where I am supposed to be seeing glimpses of the future.

“So…Master Rekko tells me that the stars are for the world’s future; the palm is for someone else’s personal future; and crystal balls are for one’s own future.

Then…what’s fire for?” he asks me curiously. I think of why he could be asking this. My exam for the fifteenth circle is tomorrow, and I need to learn how to see fire, which I should’ve learnt a long time ago, but was always too busy hanging with my other friends, being the random guys that we can be, or being a third wheel to Lianna and Vilanshi, two other apprentices of our kingdom’s chief sorcerers. There are always three: A Walker of Minds, A Seer of What is to Come, and a Wielder of Life and Death. Each of us has one master whose role we will someday take, and we spend time with them learning our individual specialties. But we also learn some universal spells and potions together.

“The fire can be anything,” I explain to him. “It’s whatever the Spirits think the Seer needs to See at the moment.” Lianna already knows this, of course, being a Walker of Minds…But I humor him.

“I think that’s why it’s the hardest. I don’t know what to be looking for,” my mouth practically recites, having thought it over and over again sadly. How can I ever continue my training if I can’t see the Fire’s secrets?

“I don’t know what to expect.”

Suddenly Lianna is putting his hand to my face tenderly, taking my chin gently and turning it towards himself, and his shining, amethyst eyes, glinting with the beauty of the fire.

“That’s a good thing, Cord. That’s one of the best things, actually…about everything. You never know what to expect, and that’s scary and wonderful, all at once,” he whispers to me. I shut my eyes, hoping against all hopes that he and I are about to-
Yes, now we are…he’s kissing me. I didn’t think he could ever like me, I thought he only preferred women’s companionship,and he's so dashing and amazing while I'm just a too-skinny, ordinary peasant, but this is…this is heavenly, him and I, locked together at the lips, tender and beautiful. It’s my first kiss, and I don’t want to break apart, but we both have to breathe. We stop for a second, looking into each other’s eyes, and then passionately go for it once more.


Finally he puts a fingertip to my closed eye, and softly puts it open. He points to the fire.

“Look again, Cord,” he commands kindly, brushing his raven hair out of his eyes. I do, and I see so many things…ships sailing across open waters, and a blushing bride with a regal-looking man, crowds gathered around hopefully. I see two men, wielding lightning and shooting it at one another, and a smile on a newborn child, grasping at golden locks. I look back at him in amazement.

“How did-?” I ask incredulously. He grins once more, that beautiful smile.

“I just…I knew you needed something to jumpstart it, that’s all. And I needed to let you know, so…it’s two birds with one stone, right?” he explains. I look at Lianna happily and we embrace.

“I was so scared you wouldn’t love me back,” he tells me. I raise an eyebrow.

“But you...you're never nervous or scared. And anyway, you walk in my mind, Cord-“

“No. Not until tonight, and only to know certain things. I’ve never wanted to…spoil myself that way. Not with you. It had to be special. It had to be risky…or else-“

“Or else it wouldn’t’ve been worth it?” I finish. He nods, and our souls dance as the fire roars on.


The author's comments:
I've been wanting to write a romance between two guys for awhile, and also wanted to show that love requires risks, but they can be worth it. I did both here, and also came up with some characters that I might revisit later on, in other short stories.

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This article has 9 comments.


on Jun. 26 2012 at 8:16 pm
blacksummer2014 SILVER, Brookfield, Wisconsin
7 articles 4 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;&#039;I love you all; except you, Draco, I can&#039;t f****** stand you&#039;&quot;-- Harry from A Very Potter Musical<br /> <br /> &quot;Granger! Oh I thought you were a boggart!!!&quot; -Albus Dumbledore from A Very Potter Musical

Ooh let me know if you do write a sequel and I like his name as Lianna :D it's just... it's the right name for him I think.

on Jan. 21 2012 at 3:21 pm
EPluribusUnum DIAMOND, Woodbine, Maryland
59 articles 24 photos 280 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; <br /> I lift my lids and all is born again.<br /> (I think I made you up inside my head).&quot;<br /> -Sylvia Plath

Wow, this is extremely well written. I loved the whole thing with not bring able to see into the fire until he was kissed by his crush. Wow. Great job!

on Jan. 19 2012 at 9:05 pm
dolphinportkey7 GOLD, D, Other
12 articles 0 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Because I knew you, I have been changed for good&quot; AND &quot;&#039;Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all&quot;

I thought of that about an hour after posting, Honor. XD I guess it'll be like guys who are named Ashleigh or whatever. ;) Glad you liked it, though. I'm currently working on a sequel featuring Vilanshi- the jilted girlfriend of Lianna, and the Wielder of Light and Dark. :D

Honour SILVER said...
on Jan. 19 2012 at 8:46 am
Honour SILVER, New London, Connecticut
9 articles 0 photos 181 comments

Favorite Quote:
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ~John 15:13<br /> <br /> &quot;Give me liberty or give me death!&quot; ~Patrick Henry<br /> <br /> Be brave and steadfast; have no fear or dread of them, for it is the Lord, your God, who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you. ~ Deuteronomy 31:6<br /> <br /> &quot;I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery&quot; ~ Thomas Jefferson

It was good except for one thing...Lianna is a guy's name? I mean it's not very manly...

on Jan. 16 2012 at 1:21 pm
wistfuldaydreamer12 BRONZE, Reddich, Other
3 articles 0 photos 4 comments
dolphin this peice is amazing.Its not just really well written it also explains about majick and gives the charachters a background and i really like the message behind the piece.

on Jan. 15 2012 at 10:26 pm
TheGirlWhoDancesWithSnowflakes SILVER, Sunnyvale, Texas
8 articles 0 photos 99 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together.&quot; <br /> <br /> Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another,<br /> &quot;What! You too? I thought I was the only one.&quot;<br /> - C. S. Lewis

I know this is irreverent, but I feel bad for the girlfriend. D: I mean, her boyfriend cheated on her with a boy; I'd probably be really devastated if I were in her predicament. Now, the story. WOW. Dolphin, have I told you how amazingly awesome you are today? I love how you are able to write about love between two guys; if I tried to do that, I would mess it up really bad. >______< Anyways, I must give it a five out of five. :)

on Jan. 15 2012 at 4:03 pm
SarasotaWonder BRONZE, Cumberland, Maine
1 article 0 photos 61 comments
This is such a well written piece! I loved the voice you had in this, along with the context of the story. Great work with that! The one thing that confused me in the beginning was why the main character couldn't "see fire". At first I thought she was talking about it literally, not in a magical sense, so you may want to just introduce the magic part a little earlier.

on Jan. 15 2012 at 3:56 pm
iluvnacho PLATINUM, Somewhere, Colorado
28 articles 1 photo 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
\&quot;Find the beauty in the ugly\&quot;-Jason Mraz 5-19-10<br /> \&quot;Be kinder than nessicary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.\&quot; Unknown 11-29-10

I gave it a four out of five stars :) I really like it. Mostly because, it's romance. Especially a g.ay romance. And it's really hard to potray that, you know? You're characters seem very strong, and I like how Cord is completely head over heels with this Lianna dude. You have no problem with description; I can imagine everything. It helps that your writing flows very well, too. So, kudos :D The only criticism I have for you is the overload of information. I mean, I get that this is a new world and stuff, but in the beginning, I kind felt overwhelmed with all this See Who Sees and stuff. I think maybe, if you left some parts a secret, it would want to keep the reader reading...? The kiss is very unexpected, and while I like that, it's like it just kind of...happens. Perhaps some tension, some leading up to this big turn of the moment? You do that in the beginning, and again, the decription is great. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks it happens to soon.... Anyways, I really liked it! c: Keep up the good work! Oh, on a side note, do you read the Mortal Instruments series? It's spectacular.

on Jan. 14 2012 at 10:57 pm
blacksummer2014 SILVER, Brookfield, Wisconsin
7 articles 4 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;&#039;I love you all; except you, Draco, I can&#039;t f****** stand you&#039;&quot;-- Harry from A Very Potter Musical<br /> <br /> &quot;Granger! Oh I thought you were a boggart!!!&quot; -Albus Dumbledore from A Very Potter Musical

Dolphin it's beautiful! :D I'm so glad you didn't forget about me! *hugs super tight* I missed you so much. It's not fun to RP without you or the rest of the Busting In troop. :,( I am in an RP where I created two ga.y guys and now someone else took one of them so we are having them get together. You are really good at writing romance which surprises me every time I read your work because normally guys aren't as good at romance stuff (not a fair stereotype but relatively true). You are excellent at it. Everything seems so real- like it's actually happening to me or to someone I am close to. Excellent as always! :D -Lizzie