CHAPTER 11: A Pond

The night of the second day fell upon Wolfe's fatigued body faster than he could comprehend. It was 10:30 P.M. already when Wolfe finished dinner, and he immediately fell onto his bed as soon as he returned home. His body screamed silently as the backlash from the day's exercise finally hit him.

Wolfe tried to stay awake, fighting the tempting pull of sleep. He knew that if he slept now, he would have less than 24 hours to find the answer. And he really wanted to find the answer. He wanted to impress Emblaze. Wanted to show him that he was capable and deserving of his teachings.

Despite his efforts to fight against the wave of fatigue that overcame him, Wolfe slipped into the dark comfort of sleep. His aching body barely survived the cold night and the once forgotten desire for warmth returned to Wolfe. But that was all it was; a desire.

Finally waking up at 5 A.M. Wolfe walked out of the servants quarters and stretched. He began walking towards the meadows and reached the spot in 15 minutes. The darkness before dawn spread across the sky, engulfing Wolfe along with it.

The boy stood next to the tree stump which had supported his back multiple times in the past 2 days. He concentrated all his energy into his palm, attempting to manifest larger flames that earlier to see the progress he had made.

A tiny ember formed at the centre of his palm in response to his conviction, sending a wave of disappointment over his mind.

"Why?" he questioned in horror. "Why is it smaller?!" He shouted out loud, and the dead silence that followed made it worse. The ember slowly withered away along with Wolfe's remaining confidence.

The boy cowered on the muddy ground, with tears falling out of his eyes. Getting back up and finding the answer was the only plausible action for him to take, but the weight of his anguish wouldn't let him.

He lay curled up on the ground until 5:30, finally getting up and walking back to the mansion gates. Arriving at 5:45, Emblaze met the sulking Wolfe, but did not question the boy's emotional state. No words were spoken during the jog uphill, but Emblaze could still feel the misery exuding from Wolfe.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, Wolfe's expression hadn't changed one bit. Emblaze had expected the boy to be tired when falling to the ground, instead the boy looked dejected as he fell onto the grassy dirt.

"Wolfe," Emblaze prodded, trying to get any words out of the boy. "Show me the strength of your flame."

Wolfe stared wide-eyed at the ground, unable to make eye-contact with Emblaze after the outrageous command. He slowly turned his head to face Emblaze, but their eyes didn't meet.

Holding back tears, Wolfe faced his palm towards the sky and willed the flame into existence.

Nothing followed.

His palm felt as cold as the rest of his body as realisation hit him. The terror was clear as day. Wolfe finally looked up to Emblaze, searching for the man's disappointed expression, but found only compassion, as always.

Emblaze watched Wolfe's eyes shake along with the rest of his body. He watched as the boy descended into an anxiety filled pit and wondered how he could possibly help him out.

"Listen, Wolfe." Emblaze began. "I think I'm right to assume that you still don't have the answer," Wolfe's eyes went blank as Emblaze continued to speak.

"But that's okay. You still have until 6 P.M. to find it, so let's make sure you spend your time constructively."

Wolfe's eyes brightened up a little as he was reminded of the remaining time. He had 12 more hours to find the answer..

As his mood lightened up, Wolfe smiled at Emblaze thankfully. Emblaze smiled back, and an awkward silence followed. Wolfe waited for Emblaze to go ahead with the day's schedule, while Emblaze expected Wolfe to have understood that there was no schedule for the day.

A few seconds passed and the two laughed it off as they continued with their

own activities. Minutes later Emblaze suggested something that would change Wolfe's perspective on recent events.

"Let's take a walk," he said, and the two descended the hilltop.

A few hundred metres from the base of the hill was a flourishing mini-ecosystem with a pond at its centre. Born from 2 adjoining streams, the pond acted as a reservoir for large amounts of water that would run off into a third smaller stream. Surrounding the pond, rooted in the wet soil, were weeds that invaded the land that beautiful flowering plants originally inhabited. The weeds grew up to knee-length while the flowering plants were reduced to bushes and shrubs in an attempt to stay alive. Minute vegetation sprung to life in the spaces that were not occupied by the weeds, covering the area around the pond in a vibrant green.

Small rocks, borne from once-massive boulders eroded by the constant stream of water and the enzymatic activity of microbes, formed the boundary of the pond. Sitting comfortably on these rocks were patches of foliose lichen that enriched the atmosphere with fresh oxygen.

In the clear water of the pond, shrimp-like invertebrates acted as the primary consumers in the food web. Birds that visited the pond would usually feed on these invertebrates or on bigger fish that preyed upon them.

The two streams that converged into the pond were off-shoots of a massive river that passed through the whole country. The numerous offshoots of the river were the reason life thrived in Zodia and why there was no shortage of water. The narrower stream that led out of the pond fizzled out of existence a few metres later, its water seeping into the ground surrounding it.

"Why don't you sit there," Emblaze suggested, pointing at the smooth surface of a large rock as he and Wolfe arrived at the pond. Wolfe looked around in awe at the variety of organisms living off of a singular water source.

Emblaze's reason in bringing Wolfe here was in hopes that he would find some inspiration to help him find the answer. He trusted Wolfe's intelligence despite having met the boy only 3 days ago.

The Emblaze family taught its children true equality from the moment they were old enough to venture into the world. They were taught not to underestimate the intelligence of servants because their financial situation did not reflect on their intellect.

Just as Emblaze had hoped, Wolfe would find the answer that day. But not instantly. It would take until later that night when Wolfe would completely understand the meaning of the answer and finally break through the barriers he had put up for himself.