Emergence of Fire

by Holly Hook

  Picking my feet off the stone, I rammed into Steve, pushing him back. He growled in confusion.

  Sofia opened her eyes just in time to see me saving her life.

  And reached for her sword.

  Steve shoved back. He was used to his dragon body. I wasn't. He sent me down onto my side as I failed to keep balance. Landing near the antique pile and with the side of my face against a fallen table, I watched as he got his bearings and advanced on Sofia again. But this time she was ready. The Slayer unsheathed her sword, which reflected the fire as if it contained a magic all its own, and rose from the ground. She ducked underneath Steve's snapping mouth and sharp teeth, falling onto her back as she drove her blade into his silvery underside.

  Steve froze and jolted.

  The quarry owner roared in pain, shaking the fire of the nearby braziers.

  Sofia let go of the weapon which hung from the space below his chest. He backed away as Sofia rolled to her crossbow, broken chest plate falling off and exposing her tank top. I struggled to rise, but such a huge, powerful body wasn't very agile. I clawed at the stone as Steve roared again, trying to reach the sword just beyond the range of all four legs. He rose onto his back legs, trying to snap at the handle, but even his teeth couldn't close around it. Sofia had chosen a critical spot. Blood seeped onto the floor. Steve glanced at me, bewilderment and betrayal burning in his eyes.

  I had helped Sofia do this.

  I'd turned against my kind.

  And now I needed to fix it before Steve bled out. Already, blood pooled under him as he continued to struggle.

  "Sven!" she shouted, standing.

  I stood, grasping at the stone. Hot rage blasted through me as I stormed at her. She turned, weaponless, and faced me down as I pinned her to the ground, face-up. I curled a claw around her shoulder, tracing it over her collarbone. Trembling, I struggled to hold the fire back. Instinct told me to roast her right there. A primal urge to make her burn and suffer wrapped around my mind as ancestors I'd never met screamed for vengeance. Behind me, Steve growled, urging me to kill. To join this war. I could still redeem myself. Sofia's eyes opened wide with terror. She would not have the glory she craved. Now she would die a failure and her father wouldn't miss her.

  "Leave my sister alone. Please."

  I turned my head. Sven stood in front of the coin pile, surrounded by shining discs of metal. His sword remained on his belt and he put up both hands, pleading.

  The fire inside died.

  "Don't hurt her," he repeated with a heavy accent. He was nervous. "Please. I let one of your kind go earlier." He shook his head as if something mentally bothered him. But he wouldn't look right at me. His body language was off. Sven took a step closer as Steve growled in pain and hopelessness. The sound would haunt me forever. His life was leaving him.

  Someone had to pull out that sword so he could heal.

  I faced Dirk. He peeked around the pillar.

  And I nodded in Steve's direction, hoping Dirk had the guts.

  He nodded and ran to the struggling green dragon. Steve's breaths gurgled. He was bleeding on the inside.

  Boots hit the ground.

  Sofia took a breath.

  I faced my nightmare: Sven charging at me, sword ready to deliver a killing blow. He aimed the point at my heart as he closed the distance to save his sister.

  Backing away, emotion took over. I left Sofia lying unharmed on the ground as I pedaled into the pile of antique furniture, shattering glass. My magic wavered at the broken treasure, but all I could focus on was Sven and his new desire to kill me. The block in his mind, preventing the real Sven from shining through...

  The block.

  I sensed it now, like a shimmering purple wall acting as a dam inside his head. The image flashed in my mind as Sven closed in. I focused on it with all my might, shattering it and making it fly away in a million pieces.

  Dirk pulled the sword out of Steve's underside. Blood sprayed and slowed as his body tried to heal. Sofia pushed herself up.

  Sven stopped and blinked at me. Gentle warmth flowed through me as Sven's prison fell apart, liberating him.

  He dropped his sword.

  And he said one word that tied everything together, with a mix of horror, wonder, and love.

  "Felicia?"

  Chapter Fourteen

  We had no time to reconcile. Guilt tightened Sven's features as he turned away from me. He remembered all the awful things he said Every stab he didn't mean. Each insult he didn't realize he was delivering.

  I snorted after him because it was the best I could do, but he couldn't understand the meanings in my attempted words or my body language. I forgave him. Sven was back, and he didn't want to kill me.

  He darted for his sister. Meanwhile, Steve's wound glowed with deep embers as it closed and he settled on the floor of the cave, breathing a weak sigh of relief. Dirk dropped the bloody sword and put his hand over his mouth. Steve had lost blood. Had Dirk not pulled out the sword, he might be dead already. Sofia would have taken her honor and cast Sven out, thinking she was doing him good.

  "Sofia!" Sven shouted, shaking his sister with anger.

  "Don't touch me!" she shouted, brushing herself off.

  "I don't ever want to speak to you again. Do you understand?"

  Sven reddened. He was furious.

  "What? Why?"

  He glanced at me, eyes wide with the horror of what he'd almost done. I shook my head. The last thing I wanted was to tear him from his sister. This was paining him.

  "In fact," Sven said, "We'll tie you up until you see sense. You almost killed this dragon over here. You would have killed them both." Sven faced Dirk, who cringed. "Is the green one going to be okay?"

  Dirk stood in front of Steve, who continued to breathe with relief and calm. He had his red eyes half-closed. "I think so."

  "Sven, what is your problem?" Sofia asked. She tried to stand, but her brother held her arms. "You said you would not talk to me, but you still are. And why are you defending the dragons?"

  "They don't want to kill us! See?"

  I felt like an observer in this. Steve's eyes filled with hunger. To recover, he needed food, and more than I did. I nodded to the pile of sandwiches, which had survived the fight, and back at Dirk. He waved to tell me he understood as he dragged the torn yoga mat and the pile of McDonald's fare over to Steve. Steve sniffed, rose on his front legs, and devoured the burgers in two gulps while Sofia and Sven continued to argue.

  But I barely paid attention. There was only one thing I wanted to check on and that was Sven.

  "You," Sven said to Dirk. "I know you. So you were the bronze dragon. Look, I'm sorry I acted like a jerk. Find a rope. Believe me, there's some down here. Maybe yellow hardware store kind, but if we can tie her up and hide her—"

  "You're not tying me up!" Sofia shouted, thrashing against her brother. She shoved him, but being bigger, he held her arms. Frustration built in Sofia's eyes, which brimmed with tears. "You don't know what you took from me!"

  Trying not to breathe too loud, I walked towards Sven. With his back turned, I couldn't tell if it was the guilt or my form that prevented him from looking at me. I wanted him to turn and see so I could witness his reaction.

  My attempt to say his name resulted in another, not-so-glamorous snort.

  Sven paused. Sofia looked at me in horror and confusion.

  "They won't hurt us if we don't hurt them," Sven reassured her. "Only the purple one is a problem, and she's not here."

  "Sven, you're scaring me."

  "We can't fight for Father," Sven told her. "What has he ever done for us? He won't even tell us where our mother is."

  Look at me, I thought.

  But it was only when Dirk finished digging through a pile of stuff somewhere around Steve and returned with some plastic blue rope did Sven dare take his gaze of his distressed sister and dare to look at me. There was an apology in his eyes, right along with anguish. He didn't speak, not with his sist
er here.

  Sofia burst into tears.

  She didn't even fight as Dirk took her arms and instructed her to put her wrists behind her back.

  And Sven looked up at me, letting Dirk deal with his sister. Steve continued to rest. Sven eyed him, and then his crossbow lying on the floor, but only for a split second.

  Even after taking a near-fatal injury, Steve was chill and everyone knew. The one person who tried to kill him was getting bound and no longer a threat. The guy might not have much magic, but he was smart enough to know there was more going on here than what met the eye. Steve was seeing how it would play out before acting. I glanced at him, telling him to sit tight and hoping he understood. There was still a chance he'd attack Sven.

  But he made no signs.

  Sven followed my gaze and faced Steve. "I don't know who you are," he said, accent coming through strong. "But I don't want to fight you. What my father's doing is wrong." He looked at me again, full of conflict and terror. "I think...I think the only way we'll have peace is to disband the Wiglaf Society and return the dragons' treasure, wherever it is. Look at what the Society has done. It got founded on theft."

  He was back. The real Sven had returned. That old one had become nothing more than a memory. As soon as I figured out how to change back, I would kiss him. But all I could do was nod.

  "The what?" Dirk asked. "Is this the same one she told me about?"

  "Yes," Sven said. "For a while, I wanted to join them."

  "But what about protecting people?" Sofia asked. She pulled against Dirk and eyed Steve with terror, but he made no motion to rise, even though he had healed and no more blood leaked out of him. For now, peace ruled. With Sven back it was as if the fighting had the injuries had never happened.

  "Father doesn't want to protect people. He wants to control them," Sven said. "I know it's hard to face, but that's what he's always been about. You know it. Trying to tell yourself a lie won't make things better." To my shock, he strode towards me. "Don't fire on Felicia again. Or any of them."

  "Wait...what? She almost killed me!"

  "To be fair," Sven said, "you tried to kill her first. What did you expect? I'm glad you survived. You don't know how relieved I am. But I don't want to see the two of you fight again."

  The look of horror on Sofia's face was unmistakable. But before I could tell if it was horror based on what she'd tried to do or what I was, Dirk pulled her back behind a stone pillar.

  I almost shrunk back as well, but Sven took my arm (well, what used to be my arm) and stopped me with his gentle touch.

  "You did this for me," he said. "You came down here and faced your fear. I guess we're even, right?"

  All I could manage was a nod. Emotion choked me, chasing away all the monstrous feelings that rose in the fight. We didn't have to battle. For the first time, I felt sure of that.

  "I'll never forgive myself for the things I said to you. All of it."

  I wouldn't be able to tell him to forgive himself until I changed back and got a sense of everything. Jens, either. So far as Sven knew, I wasn't a killer yet. He didn't hate me for what I almost did to Sofia. Instead, he held onto me with the understanding that I'd been defending myself.

  But would it last?

  War hung in the air, and even Sven and I couldn't stop it.

  "I love you, Felicia," he said. "And I'm not going to leave you again, even if that means fighting my father."

  END OF BOOK TWO

  Thank you for reading Emergence of Fire!

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