Keldon’s heart almost leapt out of his chest. The way that Salem controlled his flames was a work of art. The heat emitted was careful yet deliberate. But there was such an intense practicality in the way that Salem used his magic, binding ethereal heat and light into precise movements, precise actions. There was no better comparison Keldon could give other than it was akin to watching a master surgeon at work.

  So why couldn’t he even copy it in the slightest?

  “It’s not working Salem.” Keldon said, huddled over a small bundle of sticks. They had built a small fire, taking small steps as Keldon called out to the name of fire.

  “Perhaps it isn’t my skill’s presence then after all.” Salem said, dismissing his skill.

  “Let me try again.” said Keldon, “Karyx.”

  The flame flickered, vibrating to the sound of Keldon’s voice. Instantly there was a connection between Keldon and the flame, a hunger to consume life-sustaining kindle. Keldon closed his eyes, concentrating on the feeling of steady growth as he willed the flame to grow, suggesting gradual increases as a chilly prickle crawled up his fingertips.

  “Maybe just a little more…” Keldon thought, his heartbeat ramping up.

  No. Not enough.

  Momentum, the fire DEMANDED momentum. He could have it all… power…respect… He. Just. Needed. Momentum!! Raw PASSION spilt forth, blood rushing to Keldon’s head as the flame flickered in front of him, suddenly bursting into a bonfire. This was it!! This was-

  “Wait!!” thought Keldon, wrestling back control. But the fire would not listen, waiting was not in its nature.

  Salem tossed a bucket of water onto the fire, bursting it into steam with a hiss as the flame died down and the pumping in his ears quieted. Keldon touched his chest, feeling… guilt? Disappointment? It was hard to quantify his failure into a single feeling.

  Seeing Keldon’s face, Salem rested his hand on his shoulders. “Don’t worry pup, control takes time.”

  “I know.” said Keldon, pulling Salem’s hand off his shoulders.

  Salem opened his mouth but couldn’t find the words, letting the silence fill the air instead. Keldon stared into the smoldering embers, piling on a few pieces of tinder as small flames rose from the ashes.

  “Fire is just combusting carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen… What else is there to know about it?” thought Keldon. He remembered Ars’ words, speaking to the soul of the object. But only living being had souls, how could he talk to something that doesn’t even exist?

  “I mean, it’s just a dinky little fire?! How does it even have a name?” thought Keldon “Wait…”

  Maybe… just maybe, the dinky little fire DIDN’T have a name.

  “Salem!” said Keldon, mind racing at the potential implications.

  “Hm?”

  “What do you think when you activate your skill, the greater origin of fire?!”

  “I’m gonna hurt someone now probably?” said Salem.

  “No! Not like that. I mean what do you visualize?! Do you feel anything?” asked Keldon.

  “I haven’t done visual training in ages, nowadays it’s more like flexing a muscle.” said Salem. “It’s not something I’ve thought about, that’s what the skill orbs are for.”

  Salem thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “But when I did do visual training, my skill orb connected me to the feeling of magic, I just had to focus on controlling it.”

  “That’s it!!” Keldon thought, dropping more sticks into the fire. How had he been so blind?! His Naming magic wasn’t about the fire itself, it was about what the Name of fire represented, it had ALWAYS been about what the Names represented. When Ars mentioned the Apperceptual Realm, Keldon had had no idea what that meant. But, the root of the word is in the perception, meaning, it wasn’t about Keldon saw the fire here, in the real world, but it was about how the fire sees itself!

  “Salem, you have to trust me.” Keldon said, suddenly standing up.

  Salem crossed his arms, looking Keldon in the eyes with a raised eyebrow.

  “Please.” Keldon thought, matching his gaze.

  “…Fine. What’s the plan.”

  Keldon smiled.

  “Only stop me if absolutely necessary.” said Keldon, closing his eyes.

  Salem snorted, summoning his skill orb. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  Salem’s greater origin of flame skill had already been pre-programmed into the Skill orb, it was just up to the Salem to learn how to control it. But like Ars said, Naming magic was never something meant to be controlled. If he’d wanted to be able to use magic, he couldn’t use Salem’s methods, he needed his own. That was something he’d already understood.

  Keldon took in a deep breath.

  “The mind is the method; the heart is the reason.” Keldon thought, centering himself in his mind. “Let the thoughts melt away… don’t think about how the name of fire sees itself. Feel it.”

  An icy chill pricked at his skin, sending numbing jolts up his arms and legs. The air around Keldon warbled with heat, burning nearby leaves as Salem watched, mouth agape as he subconsciously took a step back. The small fire that Keldon made flickered towards him, drifting in his direction.

  To fire, momentum wasn’t just a feeling or an action, it was it’s LIFE. Fire didn’t just live to burn, it burned to live. Momentum was the essence of its life, it’s purpose, nothing else mattered, only momentum.

  In that moment, Keldon couldn’t exactly see the name of fire, but he could sense it… it was somewhere in this mix of both his mind and his chest. And it sensed him back. The name of fire felt… well, it felt nostalgic. It was the same warmth and light that had helped him save Raul in his visions, and once again it stood before him. He tried to pull the name closer to him.

  But the name of fire thrummed. It was… it was trying to communicate something to Keldon. Hesitation? Was it hesitation?

  No. The Name of Fire wasn’t hesitating, that’s impossible. Instead… somehow… The name of fire had reached into Keldon’s soul and pulled up HIS own hesitation. There he saw it all. His hesitation when he saved Raul. How he had been frozen in terror when he met the Aberrant.

  How his hesitation killed Luther.

  Those feelings flooded Keldon, bogging down his resolve. His passion, as his perception of the name of fire became more and more blurred.

  The Name of Fire was concerned. To it, Keldon’s hesitation was a matter of life and death.

  The wind died down around him, the fire he had created was slowly dying, barely more than embers. Salem watched carefully, his entire body tensed to leap into action at the slightest hint that Keldon was going to be in danger from himself.

  Keldon tried to communicate reason with the name, he was a different man, he had changed!! He had to have changed…

  But try as he might, the feelings of passion and momentum were slipping from his hands. He could lie to himself, but he couldn’t lie to a cosmic entity.

  “Why… WHY DAMMIT!!” Keldon thought, he was so frustrated, he had worked so hard!! He had the passion; he had the determination! Yet, despite it all, he knew his hesitation held him back. Maybe… he was just never worthy.

  But Ars’s words echoed in his mind.

  “Command? Oh Mink, you don’t command names. You ask of them.”

  “You ask of them…” Keldon thought.

  .

  .

  Keldon stood in the middle of the field as the winds died down around him, a wave of calm sweeping over the glade.

  But Salem stood his ground, wrinkling his nose. His eyes watered from the pungent smell, overwhelming his senses. Although the clearing was peaceful, the scent was stronger than ever…this was merely the calm before the storm.

  .

  Ars had said, “No matter how hard one pleas, one cannot force the river to flow upstream. However, through action, by carving open a new path for the river to flow, they may direct it towards a new destination.”

  “A new destination…” Keldon murmured. He’d hesitated his whole life…maybe the cosmic representation of fire had some nuggets of wisdom after all. Keldon steeled himself as he stretched out to the Name of Fire, pulling back every ounce of passion he had in him. He bore his soul to the Name of Fire; he couldn’t lie so what did he have to lose? Keldon’s guilt, his burdens, his fears, sorrows, and hesitation, he threw it all at the Name of Fire.

  The Name of fire hummed in delight.

  He exposed every fibre of his being to the Name of Fire, letting it peek into the deepest crevices of his mind where even Keldon himself couldn’t bring himself to remember. And at the end of it all, Keldon showed him his resolve. A resolve that said even now, with the Final Calamity looming and no hope in sight, he would push forward.

  Inside of him, there was a momentum that The Name of Fire had to have respected, even if Keldon didn’t know what it was, otherwise, it would never have came to Keldon in the first place. And if he strayed off the wrong path, then it wasn’t like he hadn’t hesitated before, right? As long as he took the next step.

  The Name of Fire hummed in satisfaction.

                                #

  “What’s he doing?” thought Salem. The scent hadn’t faded, in fact, it had only gotten stronger but Keldon was just standing in the middle of the field, muttering to himself in a language Salem couldn’t understand.

  Then, Keldon bursted into a pillar of flame!

  Taken by surprise, Salem threw his hands up in front of his face as a shockwave of heat burst from Keldon, sending him flying as he slammed into a nearby tree trunk. The sandy clearing had instantly melted, forming a sheet of glass as the vortex of fire and light swirled around Keldon, piercing the clouds, creating a break in the sky.

  Salem thrust out his hand, pushing through the force of the blast.

  The red needle skill orb whirred, as three fifty-foot orange sigils lit up the sky, layering over top of each other, pinpointed on Keldon’s location and suppressing the blazing inferno that swirled him. Only after the flaming tornado was completely suppressed did Salem dismiss the skill, dropping to one knee as burn wounds covered his entire body. Chest huffing up and down, he picked himself up, running over to check on Keldon.

  Keldon wasn’t moving. Salem bit his lip, running a quick inspection on his body. Salem put his ear next to Keldon’s mouth, still breathing. But when Salem went to check Keldon’s pulse, something was troubling. Keldon was ice cold, and his heartrate was a fraction of its usual rhythm. He slung Keldon over his shoulders, making a break for the campground. But as he raced through the forest, he couldn't help but let a a smile creep across his face

  “Looks like the pup has a few fangs after all.”