Chapter 2: Chapter 2
The fire festival was a celebration born in the northern regions of the Kingdom of Tyrial. On that day, the sun remained asleep and the moon turned black.
Because of this, the white flame carried by the year's light Bringer became the only sight to be seen. Once the Bringer came to the town, they would light the torch stationed at the center of the town and leave. The heavenly fire would burn for the rest of the year and keep the town warm throughout the harsh winter.
At the start of the new year, the fire would flicker out and then the town went back to preparing for the fire festival again. It was an unchanging cycle that survived through the centuries, but it was the main attraction for travelers and tourists. They came from all over the Kingdom of Tyrial to watch the spectacle.
Outsiders did not know where the mysterious light Bringer came from. Every year, they stationed all around town to discover how the Bringer entered the town and to where the Bringer would leave to.
Calisa, a native of the town, knew that the festival had no symbolic or spiritual meaning. Light Bringers were initiates for Calisa's association, the Flame Lily. These initiates were tasked to carry the light into the town and slip out unnoticed.
It was a difficult task since the blackness of the night made the fire burn even brighter. It was a beacon for all eyes to follow. Enemies of her association often disguised themselves as the travelers and tourists, and they hunted the light Bringers.
The initiates had no chance of surviving unless they successfully maintained the town's legend of the heavenly fire. However, this was the Flame Lily's only method of initiation. They used the heavenly fire to heat a seal and burn the mark of the Flame Lily onto their skin. It was the only mark of proof for honor and ascendance.
The merchant at the store, the man who had set up his booth earlier in the day, was an enemy. Calisa recognized the calculative look in his eyes, familiar because it was one that she often used, as the merchant scanned through the tourists who passed by his stall. He assessed them, searched them for a sign that they were different, but his eyes never strayed too far from the buyers. Calisa noticed the strange behaviors that distinguished him from other common men. It was easy, like spotting a stone among the grains of sand.
"Good evening, merchant," Calisa approached his stall with a practiced smile. "How has business been going today?"
"Not bad, not bad," the merchant stood from his stool. "Is this pretty lady looking to buy a token for her lover?"
"Aha," Calisa giggled lightly. "You flatter me. I'm actually here because I overheard some talk about a foreign craftsman who could forge gold from fire."
"Oh, that is nothing but a small trick! Back home, it is as common as stumbling upon rabbits when hunting."
"You are not from around here, merchant?" Calisa glided her fingers over the chains that stayed colorful jewels and the other crafted metals.
"From the western plains," the merchant tilted his head as if he were unsure whether he should have revealed that information. "Where even children can do this trick-- summoning gold with fire."
"It is an impressive feat. Around here, where the townspeople practically breathe fire, it is something very unusual."
"You don't acknowledge that you do not recognize this humble newcomer, miss, yet you speak as if you have lived in this town long enough to gauge all of their tricks and talents," he grinned. "And I would disagree. The disappearance of the heavenly fire is such an incredible act that is spoken about throughout the kingdom. I just can't wait to see it for myself."
Calisa decided to ignore his unnerving gaze as he continued to study her, even as heat blossomed from the center of her chest. She had slipped up while trying to pursue more knowledge about the merchant. "Well, but I have yet to hear about anyone who dares to play with gold apart from you, and now your friends in the grasslands."
"Fair, enough," the merchant wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, brushing back a lock of hair that draped over his left cheek before it fell over and shuttered his eyes from my sight. But the brief moment allowed the sunlight to strike the irises of his eyes, which glowed in a mystifying intensity.
Calisa sucked in a breath with both fascination and dismay at the striking feature. His eyes were like ink and water, one utterly darkened, perhaps the embodiment of the black night, and the other eye as clear as the day sky or the water or ethereal beads of glass.
"Something caught your fancy, miss?"
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