From Flame and Ash

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  And maybe that should worry me.

  “Look over there,” Easton said, his voice low, barely a whisper against my ear. I shivered at the sensation of his breath on my neck and wondered why he was doing this to me. Because I had more important things to worry about than whether or not Easton was my soulmate.

  Apparently, I had to save the world.

  I didn’t have time for boys. Or girls.

  “What am I supposed to be looking for?”

  “Look directly at the horizon, and then just watch.”

  I looked where Easton pointed and did as he told me to, and then my mouth dropped open.

  A large bird, far bigger than a pelican or anything I had ever seen, dove down into the water and came up with a fish.

  Only this fish seemed to have two tails. It slid down the gullet of the bird.

  “Is that an albatross?” I asked, trying to remember the name of the large bird from the human realm.

  “No, but it’s similar. Here, our birds are slightly bigger.”

  “What’s it called?”

  “A cascade, or at least, that’s what we call it. The Water Wielders may have another name for them. But it’s quite big, and it has been known to try and eat small children—and even Wielders who don’t really know how to fight back.”

  I froze and looked up at him. “You’re just kidding with me, right?”

  He shrugged, pushing a piece of hair behind my ear. I had it in a long braid down my back, but tendrils kept coming loose.

  “I wish I was. They don’t usually come near ships though because large groups of people are too much for them. But if you were alone and playing out in the water and one happened to come near you? I’d use my Wielding. Or I’d run. Really fast.”

  I tore my gaze away from him and looked where the cascade dove again into the water and picked up another fish with two tails. “That thing’s huge.”

  “Yep. But don’t worry, you’re safe here. Well, safe enough. And not all fish here have two tails, that’s just one of the special ones. They come up to the top to get some sunlight since they don’t really like being in the dark, but in doing so, they’re ripe for the cascades’ pickings. So, they have to be careful and usually form large schools even though most fish that big don’t form schools. But, that’s just the Water territory. Weird yet beautiful at the same time.”

  I looked up at him and frowned. “I never would have thought you’d say anything in the Lumière Kingdom is beautiful.”

  He shook his head, his gaze focused off in the distance. “You can think something’s beautiful and yet know it’s not for you. Know that it’s dangerous for you and that it doesn’t want you. That it will do anything it can to keep you away. So, yes, the Lumière Kingdom is beautiful, but it’s not for me.”

  I had the strangest feeling that he wasn’t exactly talking about the Lumière Kingdom anymore, but I didn’t broach the subject. I didn’t say anything at all. Instead, I stood in front of Easton with his hands on either side of me on the railing and did my best not to lean back into him.

  The guards sometimes gave us curious looks but didn’t say anything. And for that, I was grateful.

  All I could do was watch the realm that was not mine pass me by and try to take in all I could.

  It was so different from anything I’d ever seen before. And wonderful.

  “Look at that,” Easton said, his voice soft. “But don’t make too sudden a movement.”

  I tilted my head to him and studied where he pointed, and then sucked in a sharp breath. “Was that a tentacle?” I asked, my voice a little shaky.

  “That was either a giant squid or a Kraken. The Wielders are on top of it, though. That’s why we’re shifting just slightly west. We should be safe, but I would keep that new Water Wielding power of yours handy.”

  I swallowed hard. “A Kraken? Like…like a real Kraken?” I shook, trying to figure out what to say.

  A Kraken. Mythological creatures that could take down ships and break them in half with just their tentacles. The creature men in armor yelled to release when they were at war in the movies. The same creature that would ultimately eat them just like a large octopus would. I tried to keep my breathing steady, but I was having a hard time of it. Easton snorted and rubbed my shoulder. That just sent my breath into another fit, and I wondered again what I was doing.

  “We’re safe. It’s not as close as it looks. If it was going to get us, we wouldn’t be able to see it first. They come up from below and wrap their tentacles around the sides of the boat, breaking it in half before pulling it under along with the crew. So, the fact that we can see it at all means it’s just letting us know it’s there and it’s not going to attack.”

  “You know, I don’t really feel that much more reassured.”

  “Well, I’m doing my best here. We may have things in our kingdom that can kill you, but I swear it’s the things that are beneath the surface that seem a little more dangerous. You know?”

  Oh, I knew. I was still a little too stressed out to focus on anything else.

  Easton continued to show me different animals and sea life as we traveled through the Water territory. The others came up to us at some point to listen, and then we all just stood there, taking in the territory that wasn’t ours.

  There were whales, more birds, and even dolphins. Everything just looked slightly off from the human realm, as if magic and evolution had altered things ever so slightly. And from all the stories that Easton was telling me, I knew I really didn’t want to get in the water and swim.

  Because, no matter what, I would always wonder if the Kraken would come at me from below. Or a cascade would come at me from above.

  Either way, the Water territory seemed far more dangerous now, and we weren’t even in the part where there was land, and we could discuss politics.

  Because I had a feeling that was going to be the hardest—and scariest—part.

  Because while animals were dangerous, you could see their true natures. People? Not so much.

  We had already been attacked more than once on our journey here, and I had killed to protect my friends and myself.

  And though we were visiting the Lord of Water, he still answered to another. His brother, the King of Lumière.

  The same regent who might have sent others to kill me.

  So, I didn’t know what we were going to face, but I was glad I wasn’t alone.

  Even if it was dangerous for them, I was glad they had come.

  Because our journey was only just beginning. I was sure that what was to come would be just as deadly.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Unlike in the Earth territory, or even any of the other territories we had been in, it only took a day to traverse the sea.

  I didn’t think it was because the Water territory was any smaller than the others. In fact, from what I had read, each territory had the same square mileage as any of the others. It was just that the Water Wielders pushed us across the sea at such an incredible speed that we moved faster. I didn’t think any of the other territories had the means to do that. With the exception of moving via Wielding and the crystal, of course. Like Easton had done to transport us to the court to meet his mother.

  Maybe the Air territory had similar means, but I didn’t know how they traveled their lands.

  It wasn’t like the Fire territory could send you along a wave of flame. The same with the Earth territory. There wasn’t just a mound of dirt that could push you towards the border.

  I thought back to what I had read in Rosamond’s book and tried to remember exactly how each of the territories had been formed.

  Not much was known about the history spanning the centuries before the Fall. Just the fact that as each set of Wielders started to intermate and have children with either dual powers or just one strong power, the land began to look like the magic that was centered in that area. Some scholars thought the land had always looked like that, and the Wielders sprang from that.

 
; I wasn’t sure, but given the fact that every territory was almost the exact same size, I had a feeling that either the magic had wanted everything to be even, or someone had made that happen, and then everything else had come from that. I didn’t know for sure, and it wasn’t like I would ever be able to find out. Not really. But it was still interesting to me to imagine how things had been formed.

  Even when I was in the human realm, I had liked to know how cities rose up where they were and why things had evolved as they had.

  A thousand different decisions could make a city. Millions of choices and steps.

  It seemed to be the same within the Maison realm.

  Now was one of those choices. A decision.

  As soon as we hit the land mass where the estate had been built, the Water charm on my bracelet tingled again. I stood straighter.

  I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and I knew we were about to enter the land of some powerful Wielders.

  The land where I hoped Rhodes was.

  He might be in the royal court for all I knew, and that was at the center of the entire realm, across the way from the Obscurité Court. Rhodes had told me once that he had rooms there and sometimes stayed with his uncle and cousin.

  I didn’t know if he would be there now, or what I would say to him when I saw him.

  Because the thing of it was, I wasn’t the same person I had been when I first met him. Nor was I the same person who took that journey with him.

  I wasn’t even the same person I had been when I woke up from death and realized that he wasn’t mine.

  Because there was something different inside me now, some power that I was still trying to find and understand.

  Plus a connection that I wasn’t ready to talk about.

  A bond with the boy at my side. A king.

  The king who was in hiding because he couldn’t let the others know who he was.

  And it wasn’t a choice I wanted to make, or a choice I had to make at that moment—maybe not at all. There were more important things to worry about than the fact that I might be seeing Rhodes soon or the idea that the boy at my side might be anything more than my friend.

  If he was even my friend at all.

  I couldn’t think about any of that.

  Because I was about to meet the Lord and Lady of Water. I was about to go to a new estate and learn a new territory.

  I had to discover how to use my Water Wielding without draining myself and perhaps fracturing the world.

  I had to be better. About that and so many other things.

  So I couldn’t think about Rhodes.

  I couldn’t think about Easton.

  I couldn’t even think about myself right now.

  “Are you ready? Because I do believe we are here,” Easton said, his voice low. He had that same sarcastic tone that I knew would give him away if Rhodes or anyone else heard.

  No matter what glamour he wore, you couldn’t take the Easton out of Easton.

  “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” I said quickly, my voice soft. I was nervous. Why was I so nervous?

  Okay, it could be the fact that I had a new element to Wield, I had just killed a bunch of Water Wielders and didn’t know who they owed their allegiance to. I had fought a ghost dragon, learned part of the prophecy, was having feelings for someone that I still didn’t fully know, and my best friend was a cat and not by my side.

  Oh, and my ex-girlfriend was stuck in a dungeon somewhere, and I couldn’t help her. But, apparently, I still had to save the world—or at least this realm.

  No wonder I felt weird.

  I couldn’t think about any of that right now, though. So, I pushed all of my thoughts aside and raised my chin.

  “It’s time to meet them.”

  “You’re strong, Lyric. You’ll make it through this. It’s just one more step. And you won’t be alone.” Easton cleared his throat. “Because Wyn and the others will be here. So will your man.”

  I gave him a look. “Don’t start. Please? Because you know you can’t act like you usually do. You get that, right?”

  “You don’t have to tell me how to protect myself. And I’m the one who needs to protect you, remember, little girl?”

  “Shut up,” I muttered under my breath.

  Before either of us could say anything more, the ship let down its gangplank at the dock.

  I looked around at the land, my eyes wide.

  Although the sea had been vast, a mix of blues and greens and purples and even black, the land was lush and green and covered by water. Not as if there’d been a rainstorm, but with small streams and tributaries everywhere. In the distance, I could hear the sound of waterfalls, and even the air seemed to have a mist to it as if everything were wet.

  But I couldn’t feel the moisture on my face, not really. It wasn’t like it was miserable, and my hair wasn’t curling in the steam or humidity. It was just that everything was lush, and water truly was everywhere.

  It didn’t seem to bother any of the non-Water Wielders, and for that, I was grateful. There was nothing worse than being wet and uncomfortable. Okay, many things could be worse, but that was up there on the list.

  We walked the ramp, Teagan and Arwin in front, me in the middle, and Easton right behind me. Wyn took up the rear as usual, always on guard. All of us were.

  We still didn’t know if we were prisoners, nor did we know what was going to happen next.

  For all I knew, the Water Wielders were going to take me into custody and kill the rest of my group.

  All of us had our Wieldings ready, though I tried to hold back my Water Wielding. I had no idea how to summon it yet, and there was no way I could control it without training. But I could still feel it pulsing within me, one beat to the next.

  I worried that if I used my Air or Earth Wielding, my Water Wielding would spill out, and I’d end up drowning myself.

  As soon as we hit the end of the dock, I immediately saw two individuals that I knew.

  There were people everywhere, guards and others in long white and soft blue robes. Everyone looked regal as if they were waiting for someone of great import. I let the others pay attention to those around us. I just smiled and focused on the girl running towards me.

  Rosamond grinned, her eyes bright, her arms outstretched.

  A smile filled her face, her light brown skin shining beneath the sunlight and mist. Her dark brown curls flew behind her as if dancing in the wind as she bounded up the dock and threw her arms around me. I caught her, taking a staggering step back, so I landed against Easton. He put his hands on my shoulders to steady me and then backed away.

  “You’re here. I Saw you coming, but I was so afraid that I was wrong. Not that I’m usually wrong, but it was more that I was afraid I wouldn’t get to see you. But you’re here. I’m so glad you’re here.” Rosamond held my face, kissed me on the mouth hard, and then hugged me again.

  I laughed, my eyes stinging with tears.

  I had missed her. I didn’t know her as well as the others I’d been on the journey with. After all, Rosamond had been kidnapped by the knight of the Obscurité Kingdom, and that was why we had come to the Maison realm in the first place. But now Rose was here, and I felt such a strong connection to her. Not a soulmate connection, but as a friend. Someone I could trust.

  Her letters to me while I had been hiding and licking my wounds in the human realm had been a steadying force for me.

  I was so glad she was here.

  “It’s good to see you, Rosamond. You look wonderful.”

  “You look gorgeous. I love these leathers on you. You look like a warrior. Like a true Spirit Priestess.” She kissed my cheeks and then danced around a bit, doing a little bop-wiggle. “I know I’m supposed to be a little bit better about controlling myself and acting more regal right now, but I can’t help it. You’re my friend. My family.”

  I blinked, wondering what she meant by that. But then she moved out of the way. Suddenly, Rhodes was there. He too
k two quick strides to me, hugged me hard, and then kissed me hard on the mouth.

  I froze, wondering what he was doing. The last time I had seen him, he had walked away from me, saying I wasn’t his. It had been one of the hardest things I’d ever overcome in my life. Standing there, watching him walk away once we both realized that the dream of what we could have had, had slipped through our fingers.

  He wasn’t my soulmate. Wasn’t my other half. He hadn’t been connected to me in a way that meant he would stay. That he could save me as I could save him. He had walked away from me and towards his responsibilities. He’d left me, the one person I’d thought he needed.

  I couldn’t close my eyes, couldn’t even lean into the kiss.

  Because it felt wrong.

  Because Easton was right beside me.

  Rhodes wasn’t my soulmate, he wasn’t the person that I felt that mystical connection to. He was something to me, but I didn’t know what that something was.

  But right here, now, out in the open when I was so confused? I felt like this wasn’t the time. Wasn’t the place. I honestly didn’t know what was happening.

  So, I put my hands on Rhodes’ chest and gently pushed him away. I didn’t want to make a scene. I didn’t want to hurt him. But I was confused, and this wasn’t helping.

  Rhodes didn’t look offended, didn’t look hurt that I had pushed him away. Instead, he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and smiled at me. “It’s good that you’re here. We’ve missed you, Lyric. And I can sense the Water Wielding beneath your skin. You unlocked another element. I hope you’ll tell me the story, and I hope you’ll let me help you learn the craft. You are so strong, Lyric. I’m proud of you.”

  He said all the right words, and I knew they were true. I really and truly appreciated them, but I was still so far out of my depth, it wasn’t even funny. I didn’t know what to say to his praise, so I just smiled and nodded before taking a step back and gesturing towards the others.

  “Thanks for letting me come. Letting us come. Or, I guess, showing me to come.” I held out my wrist and jangled my bracelet.