‎ "They say there will be a solar eclipse soon!"

 "What!? But that hasn't happened in over 100 years!"

 Fiera looked around the bar to see who had spoken these shocking words, but they were nowhere to be found. It was noon on a Tuesday so there wasn't really anyone, other than Fiera, Hanging around in the bar. The bartender brought her a cool blue cocktail and quickly waved his hand over it to set it aflame, perfect.

 A solar eclipse on a planet where the sun never set in order to support a flame species was a big deal. Looking up, Fiera saw the bright red sun burning fiercely. The bar didn't have a roof, of course. None of the buildings did. To go without sun exposure for even a minute meant certain death. It was basic knowledge. The life giving rays of the sun reached every inch of the planet and kept the flames that burned in peoples' hearts, on their heads, and in their hands blazing strong.

 If a solar eclipse truly did happen then everyone would die, period. While Fiera did have a love for the macabre, she didn't actually want to die. She looked over to the bartender with his orange head flame burning in the straight line of a mohawk; and imagined him face down on the bar, flame snuffed out, dead. It scared Fiera to no end, and not just because his death meant no more free drinks. 

On a planet where warm hearted souls lived in communes yet also mated for life, Fiera was alone. Her parents died when she was young and she never found a kindred flame to spend the rest of her life with. She basically lived at the bar and the bartender was the only person who would miss her. The voices said that the last solar eclipse was a 100 years ago. Fiera refused to die without even knowing what was going on around her so she stood up, gulped down her drink, and headed out the door toward the place where all flame knowledge was held.

 The library was a small, unassuming building. Fiera couldn't remember the last time she had been there. She walked through the door-less entry way, there's no point in doors when even roofs are absent, and walked straight up to the librarian. He looked familiar. Fiera was pretty sure he was one of her classmates from school. His name was something like Empy or Embo.

"I need a book on flame history." Fiera said with urgency.

 "Fiera? Whatever could have possessed you to leave the bar? The world must be ending!" The librarian noted jokingly. 

"You're about right. I need a book on eclipses specifically." Fiera replied in all seriousness.

 "A solar eclipse? One of those hasn't happened for..." 

"A hundred years. Yeah, I know. Like you said, only the end of the world could get me out of the bar." Fiera interrupted in a rushed tone. 

The librarian looked at her wide eyed and just pointed toward the historical section. Maybe his name was Embry. Without haste, Fiera ran from the desk and toward the books.

 "Wait!" The librarian yelled. Fiera looked back to see him holding a pair of titanium gloves. Of course she needed them. Fiery hands don't mix well with paper pages. It really had been a long time since Fiera was last at the library. You'd think a fire planet would have evolved past paper products.

 Even though Fiera was rusty with her Dewey decimals, she still managed to find the perfect book in no time. It was called "Our History in Natural Disasters", and the cover was a large solar eclipse. The author was the last living survivor of the previous eclipse, Blaiza. Fiera thought long and hard about reading the book, she really did. In the end, however, she decided to go straight to the source and talk to this Blaiza woman.

 As she rushed out of the library, Fiera dropped her gloves at the front desk. Oddly, the librarian was nowhere to be found. Blaiza lived on the other side of town from the library. By the time Fiera  got there, the place looked like a ghost town. Before she could enter, an elderly woman rushed out.

 "Excuse me, are you Blaiza?" Fiera asked the woman who was moving very fast for her age. 

"No time to talk Dearie. I'm headed for the fire hills." The woman answered breathlessly.

"Why?"

 "Because that's the best place to be during a solar eclipse!" 

"So you've heard about the eclipse? Who is your source?"

 "Smould, the man who runs the bazaar at the center of the city. He gets all the news. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm in a hurry!" The woman rushed off, leaving Fiera in her dust.

 Fiera's next stop was to the bazaar. After a long interrogation, Fiera learned that Smould found out about the eclipse from a profit who lived on the edge of town. As tired as she was, she couldn't stop now. These could be her last days. 

The trek to the outskirts of town was exhausting. When she finally arrived, the profit was sitting on the edge of a flame fountain, heating his feet in the flames.

 "Heat well, profit." Fiera greeted him with a customary saying. 

"And to you, sister." He replied accordingly.

 "I come seeking information of the eclipse. How have you sensed its approach?" Fiera asked. 

"Sadly, my third eye has failed me in this instance. I heard of the eclipse from a trusted confidant." The profit replied solemnly. 

"Who?" Fiera asked somewhat rudely. The source of this story was harder to find than expected and she was getting frustrated.

 "Embrix, the..."

 ".....librarian!" Fiera yelled out before the profit could finish his sentence. Of course his name was Embrix! How could Fiera forget that? She raced back to the library. If Embrix knew all along of the eclipse, why hadn't he just told her earlier?

 Back at the library, the front desk was still empty. The gloves Fiera had used were right where she left them. A noise came from below her feet, and she was able to follow the sound to a large basement. The dirt floor was dug into a pit and Embrix was at the bottom of it, starting a large fire.

 "What are you doing?" Fiera yelled down to him.

 "Creating a warmth shelter for during the eclipse." He replied.

 "About the eclipse, when is it coming? What will it be like?" Fiera was dying to know.

 "I don't know!" Embrix replied, annoyed. 

"How can you not know? Didn't the person who told you about the eclipse inform you of anything?" Fiera asked curiously.

 "You're the one who told me of the eclipse this morning Fiera! You said the world was ending! Shouldn't you have the answers?" He yelled up to her. Fiera stumbled backwards in shock. She was Embrix's source. That didn't make any sense. Her source was the conversation she overheard at the bar. Why had those two not told anyone else? She headed straight back to the bar at hyperspeed to find out. 

The bartender met Fiera at the front of the bar. He pulled her roughly toward the TV in the corner of the room. Sighing, he pressed play and let Fiera watch.

 "They say there will be a solar eclipse soon." 

"What? But that hasn't happened in over 100 years!"

 "I'm not worried because I've got Hothead Insurance! It gives me peace of mind through the cold times!" It was a commercial for life insurance. Fiera couldn't believe it. She had caused mass hysteria based off of something she overheard from an infomercial. 

Slowly, she sunk into her regular seat at the bar. The bartender had already prepared for her his strongest drink, the double fireball.

 "Keep 'em coming. I'm never leaving this bar again." Was Fiera's only reply.