Fire!

Part 1: The Sacrifice

by Donna and Abby

Bub was getting restless.  He had been delighted when the fae men had stumbled into his traps, but now he was bored of them.  He needed new diversions.  Even the victory of holding on to all these fae did not please him.  He needed to do more.

By far, his greatest power was fire.  With the rainy season finally ending, he saw his opportunity. Just past Newport, an enormous forest began.  If he let a spark fall in just the right place, it could spread all the way to Esperanza in the southwest, and Camelot in southeast!  Not to mention Hogwarts somewhere between the two.

The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. He would have to expend a little bit of energy to get it going, of course, but once it had taken hold, he could then sit back and enjoy the carnage! Especially with the help of his favorite servant, Snape the wizard!

Plus it would be easier than keeping half the ocean away from his foe.  Water was not exactly his forte.

Because he wanted the fire to start in a specific area, he disappeared, and reappeared where he wanted the spark to fall.  In a moment, a tree was aflame! Pleased with the result, he watched as the flames spread from that tree to another. Soon the whole forest would be afire!

But his job was not over.  He had to push the flames where he wanted them to go.  Wind was against him in some areas, as he wanted very badly for it to go south, toward the logging camp, and it wanted to go north.  On the one hand, Newport was in that direction, but on the other, toward the east there was nothing at all.

So, he had to start more fires. It was draining, but exhilarating at the same time! If it worked well, he would destroy the whole forest, from Newport to Esperanza, over to Camelot!

As he went from place to place, starting more fires, Bub was aware that he was cutting it close. Just how close became very apparent when all the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up!

Lightning split the sky. That annoying god had caught on to his act!  Well, he thought, the fire was spreading quickly enough now, and Rayden was the god of lightning and thunder, not rain!  Lightning would only fuel the fire, and thunder was useless.  Just some noise, really, and he was certainly not frightened by it.  Neither was Snape, who by now had put a spell on the central part of the fire.  No matter how hard they worked to put out the fire from the individual cities, more fire would come from the center!

Breathing in one last lungful of the smoke filled air, Bub vanished, heading back to his own territories. He would need to rest for some time in order to build up his strength again. It had taken a great deal out of him, and he still had to keep the ocean near Hadez free of intruders.  Not that anyone arriving in his territory could do much, he thought with pleasure.

In the meantime, Rayden saw that the spreading fires covered an area too big for him to handle by himself. He had to call for help! His powers had been limited when he had agreed to come there.  Now he turned to the intermediary he dealt with since arriving.  The Old One had already learned of the fire, and responded quickly to the call, while at the same time trying to summon his daughters and nieces.

Near the logging camp, the earth fae, Gaia, shook her husband, Jeremy awake. "The forest is on fire! Go warn your brothers!" This he did.   Fortunately, the flames had slowed in that direction now that Bub was not helping them out.  But they were still spreading on their own. The loggers immediately grabbed shovels and axes and headed out to do what they can. In the forest itself, the fae that lived there were desperately trying to get the panicky animals and birds to safety. Even the leprechauns showed up to help!

That entire area was deployed.  Even the wizards at Hogwarts were out with their wands, keeping the flames away.  The water and weather fae were called into action to use their talents to put out the fires, but they could not reach the center of the fire.  Once they fought the flames back, new ones would come back at them!

Clouds of smoke rose over Edan.  Even in areas where the flames were not a threat, the sky darkened.  As Methos looked up, he frowned.  "This is familiar," he mused.  He was on his way to Hogwarts himself for the weekend.  "I remember something similar on another Friday, two thousand years ago."

Of course, that thought angered Bub, who also remembered the day.  And he called the Old One right away!

"I'm rather busy right now," Fisher replied in a sour tone. "What do you want?"

"I have an idea," the demon said.  "If you give me a sacrifice, I'll tell Snape to remove the spell.  Then you'll be able to put the central fire out."

"No," Fisher said firmly.

"Have it your way," said Bub.  "That fire will never go out.  It's Hellfire, you know.  Hellfire does not burn itself out, it just chars the trees and tortures whoever goes into it!"

"What type of sacrifice?" the Old One sighed.

Bub grinned like a big oily Cheshire Cat and said, "I knew you could be reasonable.  And don't worry; I'll give you something in return.  Something far better than just the end of a blaze."

"Since when can we trust you?" With a shake of his head, the Old One turned to leave.

"I'm feeling Biblical," Bub sighed.  "You may not know the details, but one of your men reminded me of it.  At any rate, once upon a time there was a sacrifice, and the result of it was a sort of immortality.  I say that if you give me one of your innocents, then I will see to it that every person in Edan will become immortal.  Not just as they are now - automatically returned - but as the other immortals are.  They will return with their memories intact.”

It was a tempting offer, but how could he ask one of his dear ones to willingly sacrifice herself? But he had no choice.

"It is a shame that Bunny got herself in trouble," Bub drawled after a moment.  He was playing with a snake he'd found, and appeared not to be paying much attention to the bargaining that was going on.  "I really liked her."

"She is not for you," Fisher replied.

"But she had a friend."  He did not look up from the snake, playing with the deadly thing like anyone else would a sweet little Yorkshire Terrier.  The serpent reared and hissed at him, but did not strike.

"You are indeed evil," Fisher spat at him. He then vanished. He appeared again at the Monastery.  That was where Easter had gone when rescued from Innocent Island.  Could he do this?  Or would Edan's largest forest burn forever?

If he did nothing, the world would be destroyed! All they had built and all the lives they had invested would be in vain. But it was up to her.  He could not just give her up to his whims - whatever they might be.  He realized only now that he had not asked what sort of sacrifice it would be.

He found her in the garden, praying. "Don't look so sad, Father," she said with a smile. "It will be all right."

"How are you so sure?" he asked.  "The days are gone since I willingly gave my Little Ones to that man!  Now he takes them and makes them forget who they are.  He's vile!  But . . ."  He could not bring himself to tell her how much was riding on it.  Still, above them, clouds of black smoke rolled toward Camelot and Glenerin.  The forest came close there.

"They have taught me many things here," Easter said softly. "One of them is that there is no greater love than to give yourself for someone else."

The Old One felt a tear in his eye as he put his arm around this gentle creature.  It was no surprise that Bub had chosen her!  But that did not make it any easier.  Even though he had dozens of daughters, he could not bear to lose even one.

But lose one he would.  The question was, how?