10. The Fire of Jealousy and Confusion

Sophron and Doren had been gone for a week now. The house that was once full seemed empty. Nergal had been taking over the studies of the younger two siblings, Manas and Jerter. Damurah took care of the physical training of all of them.

There was an anger that Damurah had been holding back. Whether it was the jealousy he felt from his younger brother or his longing to leave. Maybe it was he wasn't as strong as he wanted.

Damurah clenched a fist as it lit on fire. He watched the flame dance around his fist. The dark corners lit up from it.

His mother had come into the kitchen where he was sitting. She saw the fire and yelled, "Put that out while you're in here!" With a friendly smack on top of his head, she said, "You know you can't use your powers inside. Your father forbids it."

Damurah smacked the table and stood up. "Well," he sarcastically said, "dad isn't here now is he?"

Jeslyn sighed and went to go start lunch. She said nothing as she drew water for noodles. "Dont tell me that you're going to start acting like a hotshot now. You know I will put you in your place Damurah Blaze." she glared at him from the sink.

Damurah turned away and tucked his chair in. "I'm going out. Don't lock the door." he took his change bag and walked out the door.

Just down the dirt road was Theedres. The docks were busy as fisherman pulled in their load and set off again. Near the fish stalls, there was an ice cream stall. Damurah's favorite place as a kid and even still as an adult.

The owner's name of the stand was Amara Luna. A young girl with beautiful long brown hair and energetic green eyes. Her face would light up when she would see Damurah. It wasn't just because of the tip he left. Besides the children who come to get ice cream, he was her favorite customer.

As he walked down the street, she scattered to get her stand back in order. Once wiped down, she started mixing the combination of cream and fruit that Damurah loved. Slicing and flipping the ingredients around, she smiled up at him as he stood in front of her.

"Afternoon, Amara." he said with a smile across his face. "Beautiful day, huh?"

"It's gorgeous outside. Been great for business so far." She put his ice cream into a homemade cone and handed it across the table. He went to go pay her, when she put a hand up. "This one is on the house today."

Damurah nodded and thanked her. So instead of paying her, he put what he owed in the tip jar. "So what are your plans later?" he asked.

Her face got red. It wasn't the first time he had asked, and each time she refused. But the thought of it gave her butterflies. She shook her head no.

"I wish I could, but I need to take care of my father." she shyly smiled at him as a customer came up. She greeted the customer and started making her cone. "Maybe some other time?" she asked, peering over at him. But he was already gone.

Damurah hated rejection, but for some reason kept coming back to her. Maybe he'd try tomorrow if all went well. He looked down at the melting ice cream. With a sigh, he threw it to the ground.

It was now going on mid-afternoon. The two suns in the sky were just above the horizon. He sat by a small cliff that stood almost five meters from the crashing waves.

When the Xanzaba River was calm, it was the perfect spot for fishing. Perfect for reeling in dowgdish and shryd. Sophron had taken Damurah there all the time. He told him that calmness and patience is the best way to master any power.

He looked down at a hand as it was engulfed in flames. That's probably why he mastered fire so easily. Though there was still many techniques to learn still.

With the fire still surrounding his hand, he picked up a pebble. Perfectly oblong and flat, the pebble began heating up until it was orange and steaming.

Damurah readied his arm, and chucked it against the surface of the water. The rock bounced, leaving pillars of steam as it skipped. It didn't stop until eight bounces in. And it was gone.

He stared blankly at the still water. Damurah had began thinking of his brother, Doren. The amount of pent up frustration from his jealousy, the flame around his hand grew.

Fire elements were unpredictable. It could spread faster than one can blink their eyes. And then it takes time to die down.

If only he had the Powerhart. He could control the elements so much better. For some reason, when Down left he knew none of the elements. He was a worthless shell for such a powerful weapon.

He took a deep breath and relaxed. The fire dimmed down but was still dancing across his skin. Standing up, he flicked his wrist to put it out. He began walking back to Theedres.

Amara was still at her stand, washing it up. He stopped by the stand and watched Amara. While he was walking back to town, he had a lot of time to think.

When she noticed Damurah, she looked up. "Hey there,heading on home?" she asked.

Damurah nodded and looked away, "It's for the last time. I'm going to try and catch up with my brother, he left about a week ago."

"Ohh, Doren? Yeah, we all heard about that from Jerter the other day. You know, if you go, she's going to be even more sad that her two brothers aren't there anymore." she gathered her supplies and held them in her hands.

He held out a hand, "Can I please walk you home? I don't know if I'll see you again anytime soon."

She blushed but hesitantly handed him the box. Walking toward her house she waved at him to follow. "Come on, then. I'll show you where I live."

He smiled and began following her. The moltchicks began lighting up the streets as they walked by them. Staying close to her, he wanted to ask her to come along. But the words wouldn't come out. Not like they were even seeing each other.

When they got to a small shack, she turned to him and shyly said, "Here it is. My humble abode." she began walking to the door. "It's not much, but that's why I have the stand. You know, to save up money."

"Where's Maddox?" Damurah asked.

"Daddy is inside. He's probably drinking again." she took her cleaning supplies back from him. "I guess I should go in." She looked away and down at the ground. "Are you really leaving?"

Damurah didn't say anything. He lowered his head to meet her's. Using a hand, he moved her face so that they could lock eyes. That's when he put his lips to her's.

The energetic bright green eyes lit up and relaxed as his embrace warmed her body. As much as she wanted it to happen, since he was leaving it was going to make things so much harder. Her eyes began tearing up and she pushed herself away. Running into the house, Damurah was left in the light of the moltchick in front of the shack.

He waited a couple minutes and began walking back to his house. Knowing it was a risky move, her response to his kiss was not surprising. But it was worth it. Now it was something to remember when he was lonely on the road. He smiled to himself and looked at the stars dancing in the sky.

He got home late and was met by Nergal in the kitchen. Nergal had been eating after a long day of teaching his siblings. He looked at his older brother and shook his head.

Sitting down, Damurah sighed and said nothing. It was a couple moments of silence before Nergal cleared his throat.

"So, I heard mom upset you earlier." Nergal broke the silence.

"She thinks father's rules apply when he isn't here. Who becomes the man of the house when he's gone?" Damurah asked, crossing his arms and pointing to himself. "This guy does. And rules are different when I'm around."

"I would have to disagree." Nergal said as he cleaned his dishes. "I'd have to say dad is still the man of the house regardless. His name is on the deed after all." Nergal began drawing water for some tea. "We still need to listen to mom too. Let's face it. She is smarter than all of us."

With a scoff Damurah stood up. "I guess it don't matter. I'll be leaving soon. I'm hopping to catch up to Doren."

"Why?" Nergal asked, tilting his head.

Damurah stayed silent. He began staring off. There was a reason he wanted to find his brother. But it was a reason that was going to remain to himself.

"I just figured.. maybe I could go find myself like Doren." Damurah looked up and shrugged his shoulders.

"So," Nergal poured some leafs in the water, "you're saying that you're leaving like father and our brother?" he began stirring the leaves. "Just going to break mother's heart like those two? Who cares about our mother after all right?"

Damurah slammed his fists on the table, they were already on fire. "How dare you. It's not exactly fair to be kept in this house for the rest of our lives while our dad goes on some glamorous adventure to satisfy his lust for knowledge."

"Why exactly are you leaving Damurah?" Nergal asked sipping his tea. "And why are you going to try and find Doren?"

"I'm leaving because I want to." Damurah said through clenched teeth.

"So not to find yourself." Nergal instigated. "I'm going to assume the jealousy over Doren is also why. Because you know you can beat him." Taking another sip, he glared at Damurah. "But let me tell you now, if you do decide to go after Doren, I will come after you."

Damurah grinned and stood up, "If that's what you want to do, then I guess have at it."

"Why do you want to hurt him?"

"Because I'm jealous. It's not fair to be brought into this world just for a piece of weaponry. And then when he was born, you and I were nothing more than pushed to the side. Doren got all the attention." He began walking to his room. "So, because my jealousy is a raging pit, maybe once Doren is gone, it'll die down."

Nergal shook his head and walked away. That night Damurah left a letter for his mother on the table, along with one of her favorite flowers.