Arrow's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Arrow practiced on the wide shelf for three days. Every time his paw glowed, the same thing happened. The blue light spread. His chest swelled. Look what I did, he thought. And the light snapped out. Luminos watched from the beam, saying nothing. Below them, Pepper slept among her treat bowls in the big wooden cat house. Arrow needed a flame strong enough to cross the veil. His pride kept killing the spark. "The gift knows when you want a crown," Luminos said at last. "You glow for Mommy. Then you glow for yourself. The light can tell." "Then help me forget myself," Arrow said. "I keep falling into it." Luminos dropped from the beam and landed near a pile of soft, folded cloth. He nosed out an old scarf, gray and worn, stitched from mismatched patches. "A pilgrim wore this. He walked a thousand miles and never once bragged. Wear it. Let it weigh on you." Arrow let the owl drape the scarf across his shoulders. It smelled of dust and long roads. It did not feel grand. It felt plain and heavy. "How does a scarf stop my pride?" "It does not," Luminos said. "You do. The scarf only reminds you." He pushed something else across the floor with his beak. A small round pebble, speckled dark like scattered pepper. "Hold this under your paw while you glow. When the pride rises, press it. Feel how small and plain it is. Be like the stone." Arrow set his huge paw over the pebble. He closed his eyes. He remembered Mommy's hand on his back, fourteen years of quiet nights. He let the memory fill him. The blue light spread under his paw, warm and steady. Then the old feeling came. I'm doing it. I'm the best spirit cat in the universe. The light flickered. Arrow pressed the pebble. He felt its rough skin, its small weight. Nothing special. Just a stone. The scarf pulled at his shoulders, heavy and humble. I am just a cat who misses his person, he thought. That is all. The flicker steadied. The light did not break. It grew brighter, climbing up his leg. It lit the whole shelf blue. Below, Pepper stirred and lifted her head, her yellow eyes wide. "He's glowing," Pepper whispered. "All by himself." Arrow held it. He kept his eyes on the pebble and his heart on Mommy. The light burned strong now, strong enough to throw his shadow on the wall. He did not snuff it out. "That," said Luminos, "is a flame." Arrow finally let the breath go. The light faded on its own, gently, not snapped dead by pride. His paw stayed warm. He looked up, grinning, and this time the glow stayed gone only because he was done. "I held it," Arrow said. "I held it the whole way." Luminos ruffled his feathers. "Now the harder question. A flame can be seen across the veil. But seeing is not the same as reaching. Can you aim it?"