text: There is a land where an ancient king formed a new empire. There is a land where a particular method brought about the vision of one man. There is a land where an organization brought about great works. There is a land where the choices of gods dictated the lives of many. The land is called Gala, and within this land a flame burned. It was not a destructive flame. It was not a flame that consumed all in its wake, but it was a small, steady flame. It was a flame that brought about warmth in a cold world. It was a flame that brought many together, and showed many the light. This is a tale of that flame, a faithful flame. Maera spoke quietly to her friend, “That’s the guy,” she pointed to a man sitting quietly next to the fire in the work camp. “Really?” responded her friend. “Yep,” They both took a glance at the man. He was very strange. It wasn’t his short blonde hair that was odd. It was his bright, glowing, yellow eyes, and the fact that he had feathers growing behind his ears. He stared deeply into the small campfire, completely transfixed by it. “So, he was just laying down in the ashlands?” Maera’s friend was having a hard time believing that someone would want to be in the ashlands, let alone lay down on the inches of ash that had covered the area for years. The ashlands were an anomaly of the natural world. The natural order of things called for a renewal of life when a fire burned through a forest. The ashlands had burned down years ago, but no life had come to the area. “Sure was.” Maera brushed her curly brown hair out of her face and continued talking in hushed tones with her friend. The man by the fire was deep in thought. ‘Who am I? I don’t remember anything about who I was. There was something... something about a man. Flame? Or was it faith?’ His brow furrowed, his mind desperately trying to remember something from his past. “Hey you,” The man looked up at Maera. His train of thought was lost. “What’s your name?” The man stood up. “Umm... I don’t really remember,” he confessed. “But you can just call me Sol.” Maera raised an eyebrow. “Sol?” “Yep,” Sol sat back down next to the fire. “What is so interesting about that fire?” said Maera. “You may not see anything, but I can make out a story in these flames.” Sol turned his head slightly. There, directly in the center of the fire. There was something there. Sol reached into the fire. “What are you doing!?” Maera went to stop him, but he had already retracted his hand. Flame circled his fingers and made its way up his arm. “You’re on fire!” cried Maera. “Well, technically the fire is on me,” responded Sol in a very calm voice. The flame went all the way up to his face, and lit the feathers on the sides of his head. They ignited and gave off a bright flame. “Whoa,” his eyes grew brighter. He stood up. Maera and all the other members of the small camp stared at Sol. It was hard not to notice someone who had two fires burning on either side of his head. “This feel amazing!” he had a bright smile on his face “Are you okay?” asked Maera. “I’m better than okay. I feel like I could...” Sol crouched down and jumped straight up, and up he went. He ascended gracefully into the air. Two large apparitions of wings emanated from his back. They spread wide, and gave off a warm glow that the entire camp could feel. Sol flew around the camp laughing and giggling at the experience. It was exhilarating. It was a feeling of total freedom. Freedom from gravity, freedom from restrictions of any kind. He landed back down by the fire. “How did you do that?” Maera was understandably astounded. “I dunno. I just did it.” “Well-” she began, but was cut off by a panicked yell. “Inspection! Everyone, get back to work!” a scout ran into the camp waving his arms. Many of the workers returned to the fields surrounding the camp while others went into their tents. “What’s going on?” asked Sol. “Don’t you know?” responded Maera. “Um, no.” Maera gave an exasperated sigh. “There is an inspector coming to make sure we are working. If we aren’t then we are punished. Simple as that.” “That sounds awful,” Sol said earnestly. “Yeah, no kidding. You should probably hide,” suggested Maera. “He doesn’t know about you, and I’m not too interested in what he makes of you.” “That’s not right. This isn’t right. I should talk to him,” prompted Sol. “What!? Are you crazy!? He can’t be reasoned with!” Maera was absolutely bewildered. “Do you have any idea-” “Alright, how’s camp 368 doing?” There was a short man in expensive looking attire strutting about the far end of the camp, and he was casting a scornful eye at the disheveled inhabitants. Sol and Maera froze. The flames on Sol’s head went out, but luckily he went unnoticed. The man walked into the large storehouses toward the back of the camp and continued his inspection. “Tut, tut, 368. You’re a looking a bit lacking this week. You had a larger harvest last time,” he came to Sol and Maera. “And what are you two doing? I see two sets of idle hands contributing to the lacking supplies.” “They’re always lacking,” Maera muttered under her breath. “What was that young miss?” the man’s tone was deadly. “Nothing sir,” she said. “Hmph. Be glad Pharaoh hasn’t given me a combat form yet,” he stated indignantly. “I could crush you without a second thought.” Sol looked around for some support from the other inhabitants. They just continued to watch, unmoving. “What’s your problem kid?” asked the man. It was then that he noticed Sol’s eyes. “What’s with your eyes? They’re creeping me out.” Sol stormed up to him. “You can’t do this! This is wrong!” The man was taken aback. “You dare lecture me on what’s right and wrong!?” he screeched. The people in the camp trembled at the sound of shouting. “Sir, don’t mind him,” Maera chimed in, trying to subtly tell Sol to shut up. “It’s fine, right Sol?” she glared at him. “No it’s not!” Sol insisted. “I’d listen to her, boy,” but Sol was not backing down. “You can’t do this to people! Who gave you the right?” Sol demanded. “Please, Sol. Stop talking,” Maera was desperately trying to salvage the situation to no avail. “I have been authorized by Pharaoh himself to run this place. Are you going to challenge my command? You worthless whelp! I’ll-” Sol grabbed the short man by his collar and hoisted him up to eye level. “Now you listen here, ya little twerp,” the feathers on the side of his head erupted into flame. “You aren’t going to bother these people anymore. Ya hear me?” The inspector squirmed under his grip. “You’re going to go back to whatever hole you crawled out of and you’re going to leave these people be, capisce?” he thrust the man on the ground. “You won’t get away with this!” the inspector scrambled away. “I’ll have your head boy!” he ran out of the camp. Maera was furious. “What was that for!?” Maera shouted. Sol was confused. “Hey, I just helped you out,” he said. “No! You didn’t! You just made it worse for all of us! Now he’s going to come back and make sure we all learn a lesson.” “I won’t let that happen,” he reassured. “Why are you doing this? You don’t even know us. You just barely got here, and now you’re trying to protect us?” shouted Maera “I don’t need to know you to do the right thing,” he argued. Maera threw up her hands in resignation. “Great, now we got ourselves a hero. Congratulations!” her voice dripped with sarcasm. “What should I have done?” he demanded. “Nothing! You could have done nothing, and we would have been fine. But noooo, you had to go and be a hero,” she responded. An old man walked up to them. Maera paused in her rant. “Young man, we appreciate the fact that you want to help. We have lived in a world where we have had to endure these hardships. Many of us have lost loved ones doing this work,” Maera clenched her fists “but we have lived on. I ask you this, do you truly think you can stop them?” Sol did not hesitate in his answer. “Yes, I believe I can.