Aaron
Aaron sat with his feet up on his coffee table, wondering if he would ever get to use the table to entertain any of his neighbours. “Doubtful,” he muttered. No one ever wanted to just be chums or pals with a member of his family. They were the stuff of lore and legends. Held in awe for the sheer amount of magic they had.
He’d been in his new flat for months, and no one ever did more than nod respectfully or give him a bashful smile. “If only something would happen to break the ice,” he said, throwing his head back.
Two Doors Down
Angelica stood by the stone fireplace in her flat, practising her fire magic. “Come on,” she tried to coax the dying fire into getting bigger. “Be good little flames and grow…” she strained, until beads of sweat broke out on her forehead.
“I’d give it up if I was you,” said Ted, her best friend, grabbing his drink and downing it. “Those flames haven’t done anything in more than hour, except grow smaller. Except when you tried to get them to shrink, then they roared back to life.”
“Why can’t I get it right?” she asked, collapsing into a chair, her black hair cascading over her shoulders.
“So fire isn’t your subject.” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
“I know, but it’s annoying. I should be able to do a simple thing like control fire.”
“And I should be able to do a simple thing, like cook an egg, but you’ve tasted my omelets.” He grabbed a handful of nuts from the table next to him, threw one up in the air and caught it in his mouth. “If you’re really that bothered, try forming the fire into a bird, or animal.” He threw another nut into the air, and caught it. “You’re really good at that sort of thing. It just might work.”
“It couldn’t do any harm to try,” she said. She closed her eyes, and moved her hands through the air. Her magic flared to life inside her, flowing and moving in a way she’d never felt before.
Ted knocked her leg. “Angelica,” he said. “You’ve got to see this.”
She opened her eyes. The embers of the fire were collecting and forming the shape of a bird.
Ted moved to the floor, staring wide eyed. “Would you look at the detail?” he said. The feather wings were so exquisite, they looked almost real. The longer they watched it, the more real they appeared.
It flapped its glowing wings and a shower of ash and magic flew off and it became a living, breathing bird. It sat in her fireplace.
“Did I just…” Angelica tailed off, pointing at it.
Ted leapt away from it, tripped and fell backwards over the sofa. He jumped up. “That’s a fire bird!” he cried, waving at it. “You created a fire bird in your living room. We’re going to get in so much trouble.”
“It’s not a crime, or anything,” she said, slowly getting up, moving away from it and going to stand with Ted. “And I didn’t mean to create it.”
“Tell that to the jury,” he said. “Who besides you could create a fire bird without meaning to.”
Angelica rolled her eyes. Jury indeed.
The bird spread it’s orange and black wings, and took off, zooming towards the door; its feathers shimmering like the dying embers that had formed it.
They dashed after it, to find a bird shaped hole burnt into her front door.
They sprinted after it. Angelica ran full pelt into someone coming out of their flat. A tall, muscular someone. Angelica stared up at Aaron, and stumbled away from him. “I’m so sorry,” she stammered. “I didn’t mean…”
Ted ground to a halt, and rushed back to her. “What are you doing, we don’t have time to stop for a chat…” he tailed off as he saw who she was talking to. “It’s you, that is. I.” He fell silent, and nodded respectfully. “I apologise, we’re just…”
“Chasing a fire bird,” Aaron supplied. “I saw. Do you need any help?”
They both shook their head.
“We wouldn’t dream of troubling you,” said Angelica.
“We have everything under control,” said Ted, and the pair rushed off.
“It’s no trouble,” Aaron said, as they sprinted off.
Angelica turned to see him take half a step after them, before turning away.
I think he really meant that, she thought. He wanted to help, but there was no way she was troubling someone of his prestige with her problems, especially not a problem of her own making.
They followed the bird around a corner, and into the communal living room. “Where did it go?” Ted asked. “It was here. It came in here. I’m sure it did.”
“It did,” said Angelica assured him, glancing round. “It must be hiding.” She checked behind the curtains.
Ted put his hand on the wall, to peer behind the sofa. His fingers touched the edge of an orange and black bird on the wallpaper. It was at odds with the blue and purple of the rest of the design. Ted, turned and stared at it. “Where did that come from?” he asked, tapping it. The bird moved, and then the fire bird flew off the wallpaper, and was away. A trail of flames, billowed out behind it, as it went.
They both leapt so they were laying on the floor. Once it had gone, Ted got quickly up, and spun in a circle. “Mercifully everything appears undamaged.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Angelica. “It’s gaining power.”
“We’re going to chase after it, is what we’re going to do,” Ted said, then broke into a frantic run, in the direction it had left by. Angelica followed, hot on his heel. They ran past Aaron.
“Everything’s under control,” Ted cried, not stopping.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I can help if…”
Angelica ground to a halt, and turned towards him. “We wouldn’t dream of bothering you with such silly, trifling matter,” she said.
“It’s no bother, really,” he said, sincerity in his eyes. “I’d be glad to lend a hand.”
Angelica wavered for a moment. Maybe…
“Angelica!” cried Ted. “A little help.”
“We’re fine,” she told Aaron, losing her nerve. She took off running, leaving Aaron stood alone in the corridor.
“I can’t find it, can you find it?” came Ted’s voice. “I thought it went this way, but…”
“Maybe we should ask Aaron, he might have seen it…” she began.
“We can’t do that,” he said.
“Watch me,” she said, gathering her courage. “You keep searching here.” She walked back to where she’d meet Aaron. He was walking back along the corridor, away from her. “Aaron,” she called, her heart pounding in her chest.
He turned to her. “Yes?” he said, all eagerness.
“I don’t suppose you saw which way it went?” she asked.
He pointed left. The opposite direction that Ted had gone in.
“Thanks,” she said, and sprinted off. “Ted, you went the wrong way.”
They found the bird flying towards the bathroom, and followed it in. “It’s gone again,” said Ted. “Wait a second,” he said, going towards a tile, with an orange and black bird painted on it. “That’s it there.” He tapped it. The bird flew off the tile.
It let off a blast of fire and explosion magic. The force of it knocked them off their feet, and the sink basin exploded into pieces.
Aaron came in, and stared down at them on the ground, water shooting out of the broken sink. “Are you absolutely sure you don’t want a hand?”
“Since you’re offering,” said Ted, putting his head back in defeat. “An extra set of hands might be useful.”
Aaron put his hand out to Angelica. She stared at it for a moment, then took it, and let him pull her up.
“I hope someone saw where it went,” said Ted, getting up, and grabbing the singed hand towel, which was threatening to burst into flames, and throwing it onto the wet floor, while Angelica surveyed the damage. Her landlady was going to kill her. Fortunately she, and the rest of the building were out.
“It flew back into the hallway,” said Aaron. He hesitated, and then said, “If I may, venture a comment?”
“Venture away,” said Ted, grabbing the now extinguished towel and hanging it back up.
Angelica picked up the broken pieces of the soap dish. “Mrs Knight is going to kill me,” she said, naming her landlady. She’d brought the dish back from a holiday abroad.
Aaron waved a hand, and all the fire damage in the bathroom mended itself.
Angelica dropped the dish in shock. Ted caught it, before it hit the ground. Then stared from it, to the now pristine room. There wasn’t so much as a whiff of smoke. He took half a step away from Aaron. People their age shouldn’t be able to do all that in the blink of an eye.
“Fire birds are mischievous creatures, who enjoy playing?” Aaron told them, ignoring their reaction.
Ted replaced the soap dish, in its usual spot. “So, you think it’s toying with us, using us for sport,” he said.
“No, I think it’s playing hide and seek,” he said, moving towards the hallway, the other two following behind him. “Not an uncommon activity for fire birds, especially when they’re first crafted. Instead of counting to ten, it lets off a blast of fire, to keep you occupied while it finds a hiding place.”
“Hide and seek with a fire bird, that’s a new one,” said Ted.
“It does fit it’s behaviour,” said Angelica, thinking back. “How do we end the game?”
“Successfully find it,” he said, looking round. “And then contain it, before it starts another round.”
“How do you find something that can become part of the furniture,” Ted said, frowning in annoyance, as he searched for the bird.
“By finding what doesn’t fit,” said Aaron, studying the wallpaper. “It doesn’t replace an existing item, it becomes an addition. So what in this hallway has an extra bird?”
Angelica shrugged. “You’re asking the wrong person,” she said.
“True,” said Ted, pointing at her. “She has the worst observational skills of all time. I re-decorated once. It took her three months to notice.”
“That is pretty bad. What about the vase?” said Aaron. “Did that always have a bird on it?”
“Yes,” said Ted. “But I don’t remember that statue having a bird,” he walked over to the ceramic dancing woman, which has a small orange bird at her feet.
Aaron studied it discreetly from the corner of his eye. “That appears to be it,” he said, gesturing for them to move away from it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of bird food.
“You just happen to have that on you?” said Ted. Then back tracked, “I mean, great, bird food, that’s just what we need.”
“I like feeding the birds in the park,” said Aaron, undoing the bag. “I go most afternoons.”
Angelica thought she saw a flicker of loneliness deep in his eyes. “Birds are good company,” she said.
He nodded. “They’re better than no company at all.” He offered the bag to Angelica. “Why don’t you do it?”
“Me, I couldn’t…” she stammered.
“Of course you can,” he said, with an encouraging smile.
“Yeah, go on,” said Ted, pushing her forward.
Angelica frowned at him. “You just don’t want to have to do it,” she said.
“Too right,” he said, moving backwards away from it.
Angelica smiled and shook her head, then turned to Aaron. “What do I do?”
“Hold out your hand,” he said. She did. He took some of the food and put it into her palm. “Now, just put your hand out to the statue.”
She did as he said. The bird appeared from the statue, and hopped towards her. Its feathers flared with fire.
“Easy,” said Aaron. “Move your hand closer.”
Angelica slowly inched towards it. The bird stretched out it’s beak and took a seed and swallowed it. It let out a burst a fire in its joy, and then hopped onto her hand.
“Good,” said Aaron. “While it eats, I’ll quickly…” He created an elaborate birdcage that would hold it. He got the bag of food and poured the whole lot in the cage. “Slowly move towards me,” he said. “And put your hand into the cage.”
Angelica moved so she was shoulder to shoulder with him, and slowly moved the bird so it was in the heart of the cage. It saw the food, gave a happy chirp and dove in.
Aaron swung the cage door shut and locked it. “That should hold it.”
Ted went towards them, and smacked Angelica on the back. “Well done you,” he said.
Angelica smiled, but it fell as she looked at the bird. “What now?” she asked. “What happens to the bird? Do we have to uncreate it?” They both turned to Aaron, who was more than within his right, as a member of the Frank Family, to decide it’s fate.
“It seems a shame to destroy it. It’s a fine example of it’s species.” Aaron gave her a smile. “Why don’t you hold onto it. A few books from the library should tell you everything you need to know about fire birds. Or you can always ask me, but I suspect you’d be more comfortable with the books.”
Angelica opened her mouth to object, but she couldn’t. He was right. She was never going to knock on his door for help with it. She closed her mouth again.
Sadness filled his eyes for a brief moment, but it quickly vanished. “I’ll carry it along for you,” he said.
They walked along. He got the cage set up next to her fireplace.
There was an awkward silence.
“I should go,” said Aaron. He turned and, fixed Angelica’s door.
“Wait,” said Angelica following him. “Thank you, for your help.”
“You’re welcome.” He hesitated, and then said, “It might be better if you didn’t try to create any more animals from the dying embers of your fire. With your skill for animal magic, there’s no telling what would happen.”
She smiled. “I have learnt my lesson,” she said.
He smiled, and left.
Angelica stared after him. Then went back in, and closed her door. “You know, I think he’s lonely,” she said.
Ted leap onto the sofa. “You could be right,” he said, grabbing the bowl of nuts.
“So,” she said.
“So, what?” he asked, throwing a nut up and catching it in his mouth.
“We should do something, about it,” she said, going over and sitting on her coffee table.
“Like what?” he asked. His eyes fell on the fire bird, and scooted a little further away from it. “If you want to invite him to dinner, be my guest but don’t count on me attending, that guy still terrifies me.” His family had more magic running through their veins than most countries could boast.
Angelica walked towards the door, then did an about turn.
“Chicken,” he said.
“I am, aren’t I,” she said, leaning against the back of the sofa.
“Look, how about we start small,” he said, picking up his empty glass. He got it half way to his lips, before realising there was nothing in it. He put it down again.
“Yes, like not pretending he doesn’t exist, whenever we see him,” said Angelica, getting the bottle that was sitting the floor by the table and handing it to him.
“I think something a bit bigger than just not ignoring him,” said Ted, taking the top off the juice and pouring himself a glass. “I know, stick an invitation to the bonfire under his door, we’ll buy him a drink or something if we see him.”
“Great idea,” she said, opening one of the little drawers on her coffee table. “I think I have one somewhere… Here it is. I’ll be right back.”
Aaron
A page slipped under Aaron’s door. He picked it up. It was an invitation to the next bonfire night. On the back was Angelica’s script.
Please come.
He smiled down at it. “Bless that fire bird.”