Burning Bright

 The fire swirled around Eliane; never ending and power hungry. It didn’t burn. It never did, unless she commanded it to. The flames were a part of her and she was a part of the flames.

 Her flaming red floated around her; blending in perfectly with the flames and her emerald green eyes shone with power.

 Master Ethan was in the Control Room, monitoring her. Here at Super High, superpowers were not exactly unusual. But a Pyrokinetic like her………. They were very rare. As far as she knew, she was the only one to walk through the Halls of Super High since Firestorm, a legendary superhero and her ancestor, came here decades ago.

 “Okay, that’s enough,” Master Ethan’s voice echoed from the speakers.

 Eliane ordered the flames to die down and stood up straighter.

 “That was excellent control, Eliane. I want you to practice more on solidifying the fire into weapons and shields,” Master Ethan said as he entered the Power Room.

 “Sure, Sir.”

 “You may just get to go on Initiation next week.”

 Eliane almost beamed. Once they learned to control their powers, they could go on Initiation with any one of the active Superheroes. And she could finally go on hers next week.

 “I think I will put you with Beamer.”

 Beamer was Warren Oakwood, owner of Oakwood Enterprises, who could shoot infrared light from his eye, hands and feet. He was number 1 on the Honor’s List.

 “Okay Sir.”

 “Touch up on the flying and weapons formation and you will do great.”

  “Sure, Sir.”

 “Dismissed.”

 Eliane almost ran out of the room. But, she managed to keep a slow pace until she entered the Main Hallway. It was bustling with students as they found their way to their next classrooms. Except for Power Training, all lessons were conducted in classrooms.

 She found her way to her locker and grabbed her Math books. Since Super High was an alternative to High School, they also had to take subjects like Math and Science, but for a different purpose.

 She shut her locker door and turned to face Aira Cooper, her best friend. They both were the strangest pair in Super High because they were literally fire and ice as Aira controlled snow and ice.

 “Well, how did it go?”

 “Great! Master Ethan told that I may even get to Initiate next week.”

 “Wow, lucky you. My Master was not so chill today. Can you believe that he told me that I would likely freeze the entire city rather than saving it?”

 “Really? Well, who would you go on Initiation with?”

 “Probably Stormer. He’s Number 2 on the Honor’s List and soo cool.”

 Stormer was Josh Farrow, just an accountant. But, he could control the winds and lightning and brew up some pretty amazing storms. He was living proof that there was more to than what meets the eye.

 “Master Ethan said that he would send me with Beamer. How cool is that?”

 “Yeah. He’s Number 1. You are so lucky.”

 “I know, it would be amazing to Initiate under him.”

 “And you will. Don’t worry.”

 But first, she had to get through Math.

**********

 The entire week, Eliane practiced at every spare minute she had at the Power Bunker below her home. Once she could fluidly shape her flames into any weapon and do absolutely anything with it, Master Ethan finally certified that she was ready for Initiation. Her parents couldn’t be prouder. At 13, she was one of the youngest Powerlings to Initiate at such a young age. Most of them Initiated at 16 or older.

 On Initiation day, Eliane woke up with a queasy stomach. She could barely eat breakfast. Her mother reminded her again and again to eat something as she would need her strength that day. So, she managed to nibble on a piece of toast before the Shielded Carrier she took to Super High everyday arrived.

 By the time she reached school, her stomach was in knots and she could barely speak. Aira managed to calm her down a little, but by the time she stood at the Roof of Super High, waiting for Beamer, her tension had returned with full force.

 Master Ethan stood beside her, head held high and cape billowing in the wind. A few minutes later, Beamer flew out of nowhere and landed. With his red and gold one suit made of bulletproof material, he was extremely impressive. A golden mask completed the look. He bowed to Master Ethan. “Good morning, Master. Is this the Powerling I am Initiating today?”

 “Yes, Beamer. It is.”

 The Superhero surveyed her. “She’s a bit young for Initiating.”

 “Yes, she is. One of our youngest. I trust you can handle it. I am needed in the School.”

 Beamer bowed again. “Sure Master.”

 With that Master Ethan turned and left the Roof.

 Beamer held out a hand. “Warren.”

 Eliane clasped his. “Eliane.”

 “What is your power, Eliane?”

 “Pyrokinesis.”

 He looked stunned for a moment. “That’s very rare.”

 “I know.”

 “You will make a great Superhero.”

 Eliane’s legs went weak at that. Here was the top Hero on the Honor Roll, telling her that she would be great. Well, if he believed in her, she certainly could do it. So, she swallowed her fear and stood up straighter.

 “Yes, Sir.”

 “Okay, show me what you can do.”

 Eliane willed the fire into her hands and legs and shot off from the ground.

 “Good, perfect.”

 She then summoned the fire into her hands, forming two large fireballs. She started forming weapons; a sword, knives, guns, rifles and shields. As she got the hang of it, her movements became more graceful and fluid.

 “Amazing. Now….”

 Suddenly, a blaring alarm went off. A voice screamed from the speakers of Super High, “CODE RED, I REPEAT, CODE RED.”

 Eliane caught sight of the doors locking down and the windows baring themselves. Code Red meant that the entire School would go into shutdown and that only happened when it was a high danger situation. It effectively shut down the Powerlings inside while the Superheroes would deal with it. But today, she was the only one in Initiation and that meant…………………….

 She was locked out of the School.

 Beamer flew low, trying to get sight of the Code Red Situation. “Okay, you stay here and keep watch.”

 “But-”

 “No buts. You pass the Initiation if you follow orders.”

 “Aren’t I supposed to help you?”

 “Initiaties are only required to help in Code Blue and Yellow Situations, not Code Red. So, stay here and keep a lookout,” he tossed her a tiny chip. “Keep me informed of whatever is going down there. But do not engage.”

 Eliane really wanted to help, but if staying put would get her through Initiation, then……………………

 “Yes, Sir.”

 He looked relieved. “Good.” With that, Beamer flew down, shouting something through his communication device.

 Then, she saw the thing that had prompted the Code Red Alarm. And Gods, it was huge. A giant with rough rocky skin and beady eyes stomped its way to Super High. It could crush the entire school in a single step.

 Beamer was shooting it repeatedly with his laser beams, but that creature just swatted them away like gnats. She could help. But, Beamer had specifically told her not to interfere.

 “Can I help?” she mouthed into the device.

 “Absolutely not,” Beamer’s voice yelled back. “Stay right there. You do not have the experience to tangle with this.”

 Just then, the creature got a lucky shot at Beamer and he went flying, crashing into a building with such force that it crumpled on top of him, burying him under the debris.

 “Beamer!” Eliane shouted.

 But there was no movement. No sign that he was even under there. If something happened to him…………

 The giant continued to advance. There was nothing between it and the School. Where were the other Superheroes? They were nowhere to be seen. If something happened………………..

 Disobeying all the orders Beamer gave her, Eliane swooped down at the creature. “Hey, ugly.”

 It shifted its beady eyes to her. “Yeah, you right there.” And then she shot fire into his eyes. It roared and stumbled back. Now, it was really pissed.

 It brought down its mammoth hand and tried to grab at her. She ducked and shot fire at its hand. But, she couldn’t even make a dent. Its skin was too strong.

 Several times, it swung its hands at her, trying to swat her like Beamer. Finally, he got a lucky shot and his hand grazed her side. But that was enough. She went streaming down and cracked her head on the concrete. Her eyesight was hazy now and her side was on fire with pain.

 She made out the creature’s gigantic foot coming down on her. Great, now she would be the first Powerling to die on Initiation. That was not the kind of record she wanted to set. She closed her eyes, awaiting the death that was sure to come.

 Then, she heard Master Ethan somehow shouting at her to get up and form a shield. Was she hallucinating? But- she opened her eyes. A shield was her last hope. The giant was so close to crushing her. Eliane rallied her strength and imagined the fire solidifying into a shield around her; a barrier between her and certain death.

 Sure enough, a shield formed into existence and its foot bounced off. But, it wouldn’t hold for long.

 The creature roared and swatted at something behind it; a figure clad in blue and silver; Stormer. He enveloped it in a hurricane and landed next to her. “Hey, kid. You okay?”

 Eliane tried to sit up and failed. “Yeah, sure.” But her voice was cracked and her head was swimming.

 Stormer frowned. “Looks like you have a serious concussion. Just stay out of the way. Let me deal with him and I’ll get you back to the School.”

 She swallowed and spoke, her voice breaking, “Its skin- it’s impenetrable. We- we have to shoot fire down its mouth.”

 “No, you are staying here. I’ll find a way. Where’s Beamer?”

 Beamer, how could she have forgotten? “The creature. It swatted him off.” She pointed to the rubble. “He landed there.”

 “We’ll have to get him out later. Stay here.”

 “No, I want to help. Please,” she pleaded.

 “You are in no condition to-”

 “I am okay. I can do it.”

 He still didn’t look convinced. But, he did sling her arm over his shoulder and help her up. “Be careful,” he warned. “I’ll keep the storm up.”

 “Yeah, sure.”

 Eliane leaned off him and wobbled a bit. When she was steady, she willed fire into her legs and shot of from the ground. The creature was still stuck in the hurricane. She flew towards it and Stormer opened it up for her to fly through.

 Then, she was in the center of the hurricane with the creature. It was trapped but still struggled and tried to bat her away. Eliane wondered who had unleashed this creature on them. Whoever it was, she was going to find them and give them a nice smack.

 She flew around the creature, gathering the power in her hands to shoot fire. But she had to get close first. And she had to be careful. Her powers were already drained.

 As if Stormer knew what she needed, a lightning bolt zapped the creature from behind and while it was momentarily roaring in pain, Eliane flew at it from the top and emptying all of her fire right down its throat.

 And, it incinerated from the inside out. As the creature turned to ash, the hurricane subsided. Then, she felt the energy leaving her as she free fell towards the ground. Then, everything went black.