December Rising

It was Jon who reached her first. He was running full tilt towards the both of them but when he saw the pillar of fire that was once Cairyn and Ember surrounded by smoke he skidded to a halt, eyes wide open and mouth gaping. "What in the hell did little Ember just do?" He wondered vaguely to himself. His other brothers had caught up to him by them, only to have the same looks on thier faces, that of horror and amazement at what thier little sister had done. For she had always been a happy child and showed no hostility towards anyone. They all called her the little saint. No one could have ever guessed that this, this angry almost evil child had done. And at such a very young age. They were all older, in thier teens already, but Ember was a mere child of four, and for her to have done this, well, it bespoke a lot of things to the boys. And not all of them good.



Jon was the first to speak when the flames had died away. "Ember, how, how were you able to do that sweeting? Are you ok? Did that woman hurt you?" Ember seemed not to hear her favorite older brother, for she was now leaning over her mother, crying and squalling at the loss. And even though the loss of everything that they held dear was beginning to fall over them like a thick heavy veil, the oldest sibling knew that they had to get out of there, for they were no longer protected from the evils that had hunted them since before their birth. And even now, the people in town had begun arriving at the compound. And since the spells that thier ancestors had put around it to make it look like a farm were now gone, people were wondering how the huge compound was now suddenly in the middle of nowhere. Or rather what was left of it. Jon knew that they should all leave this place before anyone saw them and begin to ask questions. Or rather he wasn't sure if they would start hanging, then ask questions. Quickly and quietly he issued orders to his brothers. "Ed, I need you to put out the flames surround the area, we don't want a wild brush fire. I will create a cavern beneath us so that we may hide, but Jason, I need you to call down a tornado to wipe away what is left of our home. I know that we all mourn the loss of our parents, but they would want us to act and protect ourselves. Nor would they want the townspeople hurt either." To which Jason replied first. "Jon, I refuse to call a tornado down to tear apart our mother. I don't know were our father is, but I will see them put to rest before we go into hiding."

"Very well Jason, I will bury our mother, but father is not here, we will have to search for him. We must hide from the townspeople before we can find him. They will be asking to many questions about us and this place, questions that none of us may answer." It was then that Jon turned once again to Ember. The poor thing had fallen asleep on thier mother. Jon tried his hardest not to look at his mother, for he couldn't afford to break down now, he needed to protect what was left of his family. Deep within his heart he said a small farewell to his mother. Gently he lifted Ember and cradled her in his arms. "I promise, one day little one, I will bring you back so that you may say goodbye to her" In his mind he made Ember all sorts of promises, promises that he knew he may not ever be able to keep. He only hoped that he could at the very least protect her now. Even if it was clear that she could protect herself.



Jon held Ember tightly to his chest while he made a large hole in the ground, at least six foot deep. He only wished that he could do it properly, but there was simply no time. His brother Jason used his own power over the wind and lifted thier mother gently from the ground only to set her down in the newly formed grave. He too could not look at his mother, for it was to painful. He averted his eyes as Jon slowly lowered the dirt back over thier mother, and as a last gift to her, he made hundred of lillies spring forth from the ground, covering her grave. Lillies always were Alicia's favorite flower.



After the lilies were all in full bloom, Jon then made a large tunnel under the ground several feet from where they were. He made an opening that sloped gently down so that none of them would fall, and it ended in a large carvern that would serve well for at least a few hours, even though it would be dark. Before narrowing the opening to the slightest pinhole, Jason called down the tornado while Edward put out the remaining fires. Then they all settled in for a very long night.



A few hours later, Ember was the first to stir. She woke with a scream as she found herself in complete darkness. She was very confused and she began screaming for her mother. For she thought that it was all nothing but a bad dream. But it was not, and when her brother Jon reached out for her and told her that everything was going to be alright, she began to cry again. But most of all, she wanted to know if her brothers were ok. "Jon, what about Daddy, Ed and Jason? Where are they? Why can't I see anything? Where are we?" With a somber and grim tone to his voice he told her. "Jason and Ed are here, and if you light up the cave, you will be able to see them. But father is gone sweeting. The evil woman killed him. I'm sorry." Ember could hear the pain in his voice, she knew that her big brother would never lie to her, and for this she was very sad. And now, like her brothers, she was an orphan. But she did as she was told and conjured a huge fireball that was sustained in the air by her will.



As the fireball lit the dim cavern, Ember looked around searching for her brothers, only to find horror written on thier faces. She didn't know what horror looked like, but she knew that they looked at her very strangely. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked them as she wiped her nose on her shirt. It seemed as though they had all lost the ability to speak. Before them, in the form of a tiny four year old child, stood a tear soaked, blood and mud encrusted face, but somehow, she seemed much older. Somehow she didn't look quite like herself. It was as though there were two people inside her body and both faces were showing at the same time. Like a mirror reflection on the same surface. But it quickly dissapeared as Jon neared her first. "It's alright sweeting, you just don't look like yourself is all. Do you remember what happened?" Ember tried hard to remember, her very hardest infact, as she squinted her eyes and scrunched her face. "No Jon, I don't remember. All I remember is that mommy is gone and daddy is gone and I was playing in the garden. I remember someone walking up to mommy, they kinda looked like daddy but it wasn't him. I tried to tell mommy about the stranger, but I dunno what happened." Jon shook his head, for he was glad that Ember did not remember murdering the woman. Maybe it was fate takeing it easy on a child, or maybe Ember's child mind forced it from her little head. Either way he was glad.



Jon hugged Ember and turned to thier brothers. They were no longer staring at Ember as though she were some strange being, but as they once did, like she was thier little saint. For hours they talked trying to figure out a solution to their current problem. But none could come up with an answer. It was as though they were stuck with no way out. The townspeople would never take them in, even if they had thought that they were alive. They just had to come up with something.