by Megan Linski
I had to duck as a blast of air shot backward from the totem. It blew Sophia’s hair back and created a whirlwind as the sun was swept out. The room was bathed in colors of silver, blue, and white shadows. Dark figures of creatures I didn’t know the names of ran along the stone walls, creating an ancient dance that had long been forgotten. Sophia held the totem tighter in her hand and blue fire lit up her form, creating a raging inferno that she was completely immersed in. But the blue fire didn’t hurt her— it just made her more beautiful. It grew and intensified, shooting up to the ceiling in a spectacular show. Sophia looked up at the dazzling display, stunned by the show of magic she was creating. Esis’ blue eyes widened and he cheered loudly, like his Elementai had finally accomplished what she’d been destined for.
I about fell to my knees. I had to force myself to stay standing as I watched Sophia bring the totem close to her heart. She was like a goddess, invincible and unreachable. When I saw her like that, holding the totem with that blue fire blazing all around her, I didn’t need to ask if she was the one the prophecy was talking about.
I knew she was.
The prophecy was real. Sophia was the one who was to bring glory to Koigni. Everything… everything the Fire House had talked about for hundreds of years... had been about her.
The rumors were true. The end times for the Hawkei were here. Koigni House was going to take over and rule over everyone.
And Sophia would be the one to end all things for the Elementai.
The blue fire eventually died down. The shadows fled, along with the dark creatures. The sunlight came back to the room again. Sophia looked over her shoulder at me, her chestnut hair settling around her shoulders.
This was crazy. Sophia was strong, stronger than I ever imagined. She was only a First Year, but give her enough time and her magic would make fools out of us all. She was so powerful she could rule the entire tribe. I bet she could even take it over by herself, if she wanted.
And I was in love with her. If I thought things couldn’t get more complicated, I was a damn liar.
Sophia moved toward me. I took a few steps back, and she paused.
“Liam, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She seemed puzzled.
I had a hard time responding. It hit me. I was afraid of her.
I snapped myself out of it and said, “Hey. Are you okay?”
“I think so.” She made a face. “What was all that?”
Poor pawee. She was always so behind. Guess that was a good thing in this circumstance, though. “I’m not sure,” I lied. “But I think you should put that totem back.”
“Put it back? No!” she said, and Esis hissed loudly. “I’m not doing that. Besides, where do you want me to put it? It was floating in mid-air!”
Good point. I was really glad the cameras hadn’t caught what had happened, because I didn’t know if Sophia was ready to face all of that.
I wasn’t sure if I was, either.
She opened her hand and looked at the totem. Beneath each House were various inscriptions. It was ancient Hawkei, but it was some sort of code I couldn’t read. “What do you think it means?”
“I have no clue.” I tried to study it, but I was spooked. All looking at that totem did was make me nervous, but I no longer thought it was the totem that was all-powerful. That was Sophia herself. Whatever that thing was, it was just a tool that she used to channel her power. She didn’t realize that.
“Should we tell Imogen and Jonah about this?” She held the totem out for me to take.
I shook my head and folded her fingers over the totem, gently pushing it back toward her. “No. I think this should stay between us.”
Sophia nodded and pocketed the totem in one of her pant pockets, securing it with a button. “Okay. Our little secret.”
We sure were coming out of this cave with a lot of secrets. This was like the Tunnel of Love slash Tunnel of Stuff-I-Didn’t-Want-To-Get-Involved-In.
I grabbed her hand and tugged on it. I was almost scared to touch her, like I would get shocked, but that was stupid and I told myself to stop being a dumbass. “Come on, Sophia. Let’s get out of here.”
Sophia lingered a moment longer in the cave, like she didn’t want to leave it, before she finally relented to me tugging on her arm. We walked out of the cavern and into the cool forest air just as the sun was going down over the horizon. Sophia lit up a tiny fire so we could see as we hiked through the woods, looking for Imogen and Jonah.
After a few minutes, Sophia spoke. “Liam,” Sophia said cautiously. “You’re acting different.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine, pawee. This tournament has just been really something.”
Esis chattered in agreement, and Sophia nodded. I felt guilty. I didn’t want to treat her different. She was still my sweet Sophia, wasn’t she? I couldn’t imagine her hurting a fly. She was too nice and innocent. She was still a virgin, for crying out loud. I didn’t think she could kill anyone, or be a dictator over an entire tribe.
But that’s not what the prophecy said. And judging by what I just saw, Sophia could slaughter anyone with her powers in the blink of an eye.
Maybe I was getting ahead of myself. The prophecy only said that she would bring Koigni glory. Maybe it wasn’t as doom-and-gloom as the Toaquas made it sound. What if instead of taking over the tribe, Sophia helped the Koignis learn how to get along with the rest of us?
Doubtful, Liam. You know how Koignis are.
No. Not Sophia. She wasn’t that way. Not all Koignis were like that.
Sophia was incredible. She was a wonderful person... and her element was soon going to be unchallenged.
If the wrong Koignis got their hands on her… they could turn her bad. They would try, anyway. I didn’t think Sophia would turn— not unless something awful happened to make her that way.
My eyes wandered toward Esis. There were Koignis alive who would hurt him to get Sophia to do what they wanted, I was sure.
It was all the more reason for me to stay close to her.
You can’t protect her forever, Liam.
I could fucking try. I’d give my fucking life to defend her now, I knew that. I’d do everything I could to keep the Koigni Elders from getting their filthy hands on her. Anyway, if Sophia did end up going crazy and taking over the tribe, she probably wouldn’t kill me if I was her sugar baby. And I’d still be in love with her anyway, so it was a win-win.
I heard branches snapping in the trees ahead of us. I held out an arm to hold Sophia back. “Wait,” I said lowly.
She paused. We proceeded with caution toward the noise, peeking out through the branches.
Thank the ancestors, it was Jonah and Imogen! They were alive, huddled up against Squeaks for warmth, Sassy in Imogen’s lap. They didn’t look hurt or injured. They were awake, but on the verge of nodding off.
I went to go say hi, but Sophia held me back, a mischievous smile on her face. She crept through the bushes until she was right in front of them.
“Boo!” Sophia yelled loudly. Jonah and Imogen both screamed. They toppled over as Squeaks got up and ran for cover. Sassy nearly jumped out of her fur.
Sophia laughed. “Surprise!” she cried. “It’s us!”
Jonah’s eyes widened in shock, and Imogen’s face spread into a wide grin. Sassy gave a happy yip as she rushed to greet Esis. Squeaks was so excited to see us, she started doing a dance.
“You assholes!” Jonah roared. “Do you realize how glad we are to see you?!”
Jonah stormed forward and picked both Sophia and me up at the same time, raising us off the ground and hugging us tight. When he dropped us, Imogen latched on to Sophia and clung to her best friend like she was all she had in the world.
“You guys stuck around? Why didn’t you go forward?” I asked, baffled.
“We couldn’t move on without you guys,” Imogen insisted. “We weren’t gonna leave you behind until we were sure we had no other choice.”
My cold, dead heart
was about full of all the affection I could take today, but Imogen’s words made it melt a little faster. “Thanks, Imogen.”
Jonah pumped his fist in the air. “You have no idea— wait.” Jonah paused. His eyes widened as he looked me over. “What happened to you? You look… better.”
“It’s a long story,” I started. “I went into this cave, and I passed out. When I woke up, I was completely fine.” I shrugged. “Weird, huh? It must’ve been magic.”
Jonah and Imogen looked at each other. “Yeah. Weird,” Jonah said.
“We’re almost at the finish line,” I continued. “We still have each other. We can still do this. Sophia?”
I looked at her. She seemed so much more sure of herself than she did last night. She stepped forward and said, “I wasn’t ready before, but I am now. I can handle my task, guys. It was really rough before, but I have an idea on how we can get through the flames.”
Her hand fell over the pocket that held the totem.
“You’ve got this, Soph,” I said finitely. “I trust that you can handle this alone.”
“But she doesn’t have to,” Imogen said, realization dawning on her face.
“We’ll work together,” Jonah suggested, and his words sped up as he got excited. “I’ll send away the smoke so we can breathe, Liam and Imogen can use their elements to try and douse the flames, and Sophia can control it. If we all lend a hand, we can get through the final task together.”
Sophia’s face glimmered. “You guys mean that?”
“Of course!” Imogen flung her arms around Sophia’s and Jonah’s shoulders. “What are friends for?”
Squeaks squawked in approval. From her back, Sassy and Esis cuddled up against each other and gave noises of agreement.
“All right,” I said, satisfied I didn’t have to come up with the plan for once. “If we feel like we can take this, let’s get this over with.”
The team cheered, and we started walking toward the finish line again. The final task was only a short walk away, but I didn’t feel terrified of it anymore. We’d already been through hell and back. We’d seen the worst and come out stronger. Nothing could break our team now. I was sure of it.
“So, Liam…” Jonah said as a really bad way to start off a conversation, and I suppressed a groan of irritation. He held me back, away from the girls as we headed forward. “I can’t help but notice something’s changed between you and Sophia.”
“And how’d you gather that, Jonah?” I asked tiredly. I hadn’t even touched her since we got back.
“I sense the sexual tension in the air,” Jonah said, and he waggled his eyebrows. “What exactly happened when you guys were separated from us?”
I decided to cut out all the sad stuff and get straight to the point. “We might have kissed.”
Jonah gave a girly squeal. “You guys kissed? No way.”
“Keep your voice down! Yeah, so we kissed, big deal,” I snapped back under my breath. “It’s not like we banged or anything.”
Up ahead, the girls had their heads together and were giggling. I bet anything Sophia was up there telling Imogen every minuscule detail of our make-out session.
I hoped I was impressive. She’d impressed me. I prayed Sophia didn’t think I drooled or anything, or worse, that I sucked at kissing. How embarrassing would that be? I thought I was pretty good.
“This is just the start,” Jonah said, rambling on. “Before you know it, you guys will be making the cutest babies. I’ll get to be Uncle Jonah.”
Jonah’s stupid words brought up all sorts of emotions. Part of me was like, Hell yeah! I hope she lets me put a baby in her!
But a bigger part was like, Yeah, never gonna happen.
“It was just a kiss, dude. Let it go.” I sighed.
“Oh, my ancestors. Liam, are you in love?” Jonah’s jaw dropped.
“Shut up,” I growled.
“You are!” Jonah jumped up and down and clapped his hands. “I’d never thought I’d see the day! My little boy, all grown up!”
“I’m older than you, jackass.”
“Aw.” Jonah reached out to pinch my cheeks, and I slapped his hand away. He craned his head around. “Hey, girls! Liam’s got a crush!”
“Okay, that’s it. Team meeting!” I shouted loudly, and everyone turned to look at me. I slashed my hand through the air to get their attention and said, “Newsflash, and as I’m sure everyone has heard”— I shot a look at Imogen, and she giggled— “me and Sophia made out in the cave. So what? Can we please move forward and end this thing? I really want to go home.”
Jonah smiled like it was his birthday. Imogen was giggling, and Sophia was beet red. I caught her eyes, and we both grinned and looked away.
“Like Liam said, it was just a kiss,” Jonah said, mocking me. “And… a lot more than that.” He scrambled the words together quickly. “But, he’s right. We need to get home. We have a ball to get to!”
Imogen whooped happily. She jumped on Jonah’s back and he piggy-backed her ahead, letting out a victory cry.
Sophia and I stole a glance at each other. She was still pretty red. “Liam Mitoh’s got a crush, huh?”
“Yeah I do,” I whispered, and I dared to reach out and brush my fingers through hers for a few seconds. I was really fucking glad the cameras only caught visuals and couldn’t record audio from so high up, because what we were saying was so incriminating. There’d been talk of hooking the contestants up with microphones a few years ago until the tribe decided it was too expensive. Thank the ancestors they didn’t go through with that plan.
The mood got somber as we approached the site of the final task. All jokes fell to the wayside as everyone got serious. We really screwed up last time. It wasn’t just Sophia’s fault. And we needed to rely on each other to reach the end.
We finally reached it. We stood in a line, watching as flames sprang up out of nowhere before us. They didn’t approach, but they didn’t move, either. The flag was on top of the mountain just on the other side of them. They were even hotter and angrier than they were before. I could feel the heat from here.
Sophia swallowed. She stepped forward and said, “Let’s do this, guys. Together.”
Sophia led the way. Her powers pushed against the flames, protecting us as we headed back into the inferno. The rest of us got right to it. Jonah redirected the smoke away from us and manipulated the oxygen so it didn’t empower the flames any more than it already was. Imogen piled dirt on top of the fire. The Familiars walked behind, calling encouragement as we continued at a steady pace.
I summoned as much water as I could from the earth and used it to put out as many of the flames as I could, though they basically sprang back up the minute I got rid of them. But with our combined efforts, it was easier than before. It was still hot, but we slowly made progress. The flames were pressing inward and getting closer, but none of us panicked. We just continued calmly as a unit.
We didn’t have to say anything, but it was decided between all of us that if one of us didn’t get out, none of us got out. We were in this together or not at all. We’d survive as one or die as one. There was no other option.
Mid-way through the flames, Sophia turned and locked eyes with me. Passion ignited between us, hotter than the flames closing in, and it was like I could see the change in her. Something behind her gaze clicked, and I saw her face clear. She knew what to do.
“Guys!” Sophia said. “Pull back your elements! I can do this!”
“Are you sure?” Jonah cried back. “We’re doing pretty good as it is!”
Sophia gave a broad smile. “I can handle this. I know I can.”
Imogen and Jonah seemed nervous, but I wasn’t. I had complete faith in my girl. “She’s got it, guys!” I shouted. “Trust her!”
At the same time Jonah, Imogen and I stopped casting, the fires roared to life beside us and rushed in to devour us alive.
But instead of making the flames smaller, Sophia made them bigger.
Imogen, Jonah and I ducked. But we shouldn’t have. The flames ricocheted backward and rocketed toward the sky. Yet we didn’t feel the heat. The air around us was cool, the temperature regulated. Although there were twenty-foot walls of fire raging around us, it felt like we were walking through a freezer. The flames were so close I could reach out and touch them, but even so, I didn’t think they would burn me even if my hand was stuck in the middle of them. Sophia had them under her command.
The sight of Sophia’s magic, what she could do… it was nothing less than fucking incredible.
“Stay close to me,” Sophia instructed. Her face blazed like the flames she controlled. “We’re going home.”
Sophia proceeded forward. Esis jumped off of Squeaks and ran to be on Sophia’s shoulder, where he belonged. I looked up at the massive fire walls, hardly able to believe what was happening. Was this really real?
Everything felt like it was in slow motion. We must’ve looked like total badasses for the cameras, walking through the flames with Sophia in the lead like they were nothing to handle. Even I could feel the rage of the Elders as they tried to break through Sophia’s magic. But it didn’t work. She sustained her protective shield around us with no more than a bat of an eyelash.
This was impossible. A Koigni couldn’t do this.
An Elder couldn’t do this.
But Sophia could. I worried her secret about being the prophesied child wouldn’t stay secret for long.
We finally reached the end. Sophia shut her eyes, and as she did, the fires behind her went out completely. My. Jaw. Dropped.
When she opened her eyes again, she smiled. “That’s it. The final task is done.”
I felt so relieved. I wanted to fall on my ass and cry. Imogen and Jonah jumped up and down, holding onto each other. “We did it, we did it!” they cheered.
I could see the orange flag. It was literally right up there, only thirty feet or so above us. All we had to do was climb. “There’s the finish line, guys!” I shouted. “Let’s go!”
Squeaks trotted up the mountain like it was nothing. Sassy nipped at Imogen’s heels cheerfully, while Imogen and Jonah sang the elements song, off-key and loudly. I started up the mountain at Sophia’s side. My body screamed in protest at the hint of climbing one more mountain, but I blew it off and told it to behave, just this once. Nothing could ruin this moment. Not today.
