However, any doubt about what he’d earlier seen when he’d Looked at Edwyrd vanished in a moment. Even as he watched he saw Edwyrd’s naked body shimmer. Flames danced along the boy’s body, running up and down his calves and thighs, spreading up and over his waist and chest. Along his arms and finally engulfing his head. For the first second, Maelen thought it was another spell of the enemy wizard, but then he realized that Edwyrd was not being consumed in the normal way.
Edwyrd was being consumed, his body dissipating beneath the flame, but not by burning. It was as if his body were being systematically superimposed upon by, or replaced by, orange and yellow flames. Piece by piece, from the outside in, flame roared and lashed over Edwyrd’s naked frame. Within moments, Maelen couldn’t even see the pink flesh beneath the flame. Only fire was present.
Fire in human form. Edwyrd’s shape was perfectly formed out of flame. Here and there small bursts and rolls of flame coruscated up and down his body, but in all it was as if there was a man made out of fire on the deck. “The Living Flame!” Maelen whispered to himself. He was literally shocked.
He hadn’t seen the Living Flame performed in ten years. It was at the Conclave in Rasparta. The Living Flame was the final test for an animage wishing to earn the title of Pyromaster. The aspirant proved his or her worthiness for the title by literally transmogrifying themselves into elemental flame. True union, the Living Flame was the ultimate joining of Anima and the Element of Fire. Maelen really hadn’t expected this.
The enemy wizard was once again releasing a spell however. This time a large jagged bolt or spear of ice was flying across the water like a javelin. This time, however, Gastropé was back on his feet. Jenn was at his side, madly they were shouting something in unison. Suddenly from their two outstretched hands came a blast of lightning, bigger than any the two had achieved separately. The bolt streaked across to the ice javelin, even as it reached the midpoint of its arc of flight.
Crash... Boom!
The bolt exploded into thousands of tiny shards, some of which pelted people on the decks of both ships. Gastropé and Jenn, however, had apparently used the last of their energy in a desperate attempt to stop the bolt. Both seemed to collapse unconscious, together in a heap on the deck. Maelen sent a quick probe out to them to assure himself that it was only normal mana reserve depletion from spell casting and not anything that required his assistance.
Maelen quickly began to attend to the few sailors wounded by the ice shrapnel. As he did so, he returned his ever more divided attention to Edwyrd. He had to admit once again that he was impressed by these youngsters. That last bit of spellmanship from Gastropé and Jenn was highly unexpected, and surprisingly effective. Further, even if pyromastery was the only discipline Edwyrd, this student, who “just managed to get by”, knew, he was still an animage worthy of the name. However, even so, Maelen wasn’t sure what good the Living Flame would do. While his body was now flame and could do damage to whatever it touched, there was still several hundred feet of water between Edwyrd and the wizard.
Maelen didn’t have to wait for the answer, even as the question formed, Edwyrd proceeded to answer it. Edwyrd’s flames grew brighter and brighter, racing up and down his flame body. Almost majestically his outstretched arm of flame began to lengthen. In cycling jets, the flames of his arm shot outward farther and farther. First racing out, then retreating slightly, but not completely. Seemingly slowly, but in reality, quite quickly Maelen was sure, Edwyrd’s flame bridged the distance between the two ships.
As Edwyrd’s flames began to lick the edges of the ship, causing a worried scurrying among the crew, the big wizard quickly aborted whatever spell he’d been casting and switched. Suddenly white flames dashed out from the wizard’s hand, blocking the progress of Edwyrd’s arm. As Edwyrd’s flame broke upon the white-cold flames of the wizard, they began to mushroom out and around. The wizard’s cold shield expanded horizontally and vertically to cover it.
Maelen was once again more than impressed. Most aspirants to the title of pyromastery could never do what Edwyrd had just done. While it took great skill to assume the Living Flame, extending it that far across water, its diametrically opposed element, would take almost half again the training and skill.
Edwyrd’s flames continued to beat upon the cold shield. The cold shield, though, remained firm. Edwyrd began to pulse harder, sending ever increasing waves of flame, soaring in a continuous stream across the water. Maelen blinked suddenly realizing the problem. Edwyrd had so far contained his flame so that he did no damage to the deck or rail beneath and beside him. As he escalated his flame, that was no longer the case. Maelen shouted.
