What is The Great FIre?

The fire that ravages the riverbank when Xavier and Elijah are traveling is symbolic of how Europe will be destroyed in the fire of war and how the pair will be thrown into the middle of it. The fire comes upon Elijah and Xavier suddenly. They have seen the signs of it on the horizon but they did not expect it to catch them unawares. They are forced to enter the river, in the process losing each other for some time before struggling in the river together. That is exactly what the war does to them. The pair know they are heading into war but they do not realize that its devastation encompasses much more than what they had originally imagined. The pair are then forced into the midst of battle and in it, they lose sight of each other and Elijah begins to lose himself completely. They struggle against the tide of the war and it pushes against them like the current of the river did.