From Flame and Ash

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  I believed him, but I didn’t know what we could do about it. Somehow, the magic within the sea saved us from the Kraken and put us on the shore of the Air and Water border. I just didn’t know what it all meant. Or why it had happened at all.

  All I knew for sure was that if someone were creating bone magic, there was obviously something far darker in the Lumière Kingdom than had ever been in the Obscurité Kingdom.

  I was afraid if I kept digging, I would find darkness so wretched, it would be hard for me to figure out exactly why I was here. And what I could do as the Spirit Priestess in the face of all the brutality.

  “So what can we do?” I asked, wringing out my hair. The breeze was starting to come in, chilling me to the bone, and I shivered.

  Easton sighed and then reached out and slid his hand over my hair, under the watchful eye of every single person around.

  I could feel the heat of his palm, and knew he was using his Fire Wielding somehow. And then suddenly I was dry, as if I had never been dunked beneath the sea as a Kraken tried to drown us.

  “That’s an interesting way to use your Wielding,” I said, keeping my voice light. It was hard to do when all I wanted to do was curl myself into a ball and try not to think about everything that had happened over the past few days.

  “It wouldn’t do well if the Spirit Priestess caught pneumonia since we’re heading into the Air territory.”

  “I’m fine. Thank you. But what about the bone magic?” I repeated.

  “I don’t know what we can do. The fact that we know it still exists? That’s something we should worry about. But first, we need to get to Rhodes’ grandmother. And then we’ll figure out the rest.” Easton shrugged like it was no big deal. Even though I knew he held the weight of his kingdom on his shoulders.

  It didn’t help that I held the weight of both on mine.

  “Let’s be off then,” Wyn said, stepping between the three of us. She put her hands on her hips and looked around.

  “Teagan already dried me and Arwin. So, Easton, if you could get Rhodes over there, we’ll all be dry and can head into the very cold Air territory. Lyric, I don’t know why, but it’s like the breezes come from the tundra over here, it’s not a warm breeze. It’s going to be interesting. So, let’s just get there. And, no, I don’t know why the bone magic sent us here specifically. All I know is that we need to get through. Because I’m sure you know just like I do, something’s off.”

  I looked at the others as Easton and Rhodes glared at one another before Easton and Teagan simultaneously dried Rhodes.

  I turned away and sucked in a breath as I finally looked at where we were.

  It was magnificent.

  I felt like I thought that every time I hit a new territory, but it was the truth. Because though the people within the realms were dying, fading because of the lack of power, and even though the power in those who still had it was sometimes more corrupt than not, the land was beautiful.

  Yes, the monsters were coming back, and the magic was changing, and the realm was literally fracturing, but the setting was still gorgeous.

  And maybe that was a metaphor for something, but I couldn’t think more about it right now. All I could do was look at how beautiful the area was. Like when we moved into the Water territory, this border was set at a different height than what was in front of us. So, we were higher than the Air territory and the border itself. We were on a cliff of some sort, but everything was green with blue and purple flowers. There were vivid, royal colors everywhere, so bright that it almost didn’t seem real. And water burbled, but not in rushes like the Water territory. More like leftovers from whatever the Water territory gave.

  The stones here were a mix of pale gray and dark brown and looked as if they were those art installations that I had seen in photos where people balanced rocks on top of one another to create sculptures.

  Yes, there were cliffs, but there were also stones that were flat and jagged, all stacked up on one another to make their own pieces with vines and other greenery flowing.

  Animals chirped, though I couldn’t see them, and birds flew. Avians with two sets of wings in colors I had never seen before in real life. It was like watching one of those documentaries where that man with the British accent talked about the different birds of prey and their mating dances.

  Everything was so bold, it almost hurt the eyes to look at it.

  But I knew we were still at the border because though everything seemed a little higher than in the other territories mostly because I assumed people with Air Wielding were able to actually get to those places, there was still water everywhere. Rivers and what seemed to be a lake off in the distance. Fish with wings were jumping out of the water in front of us. I just blinked, wondering how all of this could be real.

  It was beautiful.

  “We should be going,” Easton growled, and I looked up at him. When his eyes widened, I sucked in a breath, and then looked back to where I had been gazing.

  And that’s when I screamed.

  Because it wasn’t beautiful anymore.

  “Are you kidding me?” Wyn snapped. “A freaking gollum? A gollum?”

  “You mean the flying fish that’s coming at us with very large fangs?” I said quickly, backing away. “That’s what a gollum is?”

  “Yes. And it seems they are no longer dormant. No longer extinct.”

  “Well, take care of it, Wyn,” Rhodes snapped, sounding angry for the first time in a while. He was always so controlled, so it was odd to see him lose his temper. “We know how to take care of them, but there’re only two people here who can actually do it quickly.”

  Then he glared at Teagan and Easton, and I knew exactly why Rhodes was angry.

  “Fire Wielding? You can burn them?” I asked, and Easton tugged me away from the edge of the border.

  “Right in one.” Before I could actually focus on what to say next, seven more gollums came out of the water in front of us.

  We were standing on a cliff that wasn’t too high, and there was a beach right in front of us. One that went to the sea before it became the rest of the Air and Water border. And while everything was lush and colorful, the gollums were anything but.

  They were gray and a muted green with scales. It reminded me a little of that ghost dragon, and how death-like the Domovoi looked.

  The gollums came at us quickly, and I had a feeling it was going to be a bit too much for Easton and Teagan. So I went to Rhodes’ side, knowing I could at least use my three elements to do something. At least, I hoped I could.

  I had my hands out, my Air Wielding sliding between my fingers as the earth shuddered beneath me, and water lapped at my feet.

  Rhodes gave me a look and then nodded before holding out his hands, as well.

  It was odd to think that I had two of his elements within me, but I had one more than he did now. Such a difference from when I was just the human girl, looking at the boy with silver eyes and so much power within him.

  I had the power now. And I didn’t know how to contain it.

  A gollum came at Easton, and he held out his hand, Fire Wielding erupting from his palm. He stood there, his legs braced shoulder-width apart as he smirked at it, and the gollum screamed, a terrible sound that echoed in my ears.

  The creature burned to ash, but that seemed to ignite the tempers of the other gollums, and they came at us.

  I held out my hands and pushed my palms out so my Air Wielding shoved one of the gollums into another. It rolled in the air, its mouth wide, its fangs dripping—dripping with what, I did not know, or want to know.

  “Don’t let those fangs or its venom touch you,” Rhodes said. “Its poison will kill you faster than anything else. Just stay out of its way.”

  “Oh, I have no intention of touching those.”

  But I wasn’t the best fighter, even with all my training, and while I didn’t want everyone else to do the work for me, I wasn’t going to put myself in a dangerous situation. At least I would
try not to.

  The other gollums came at us, and while Teagan and Easton used their flames to try and get at them, it only scorched their sides as they barrel-rolled out of the way, screaming at us. It made my head hurt, so much that I had to close my eyes as I tried to block it out.

  It was like they were using their screams to stop us from fighting, employing them as another weapon.

  But we had to fight back. I just didn’t know how.

  I used my Water Wielding to create a wave to slam on top of the gollum, but I overshot it, and it only skimmed over the creature before landing back in the sea. I cursed under my breath, and then Rhodes gripped my hand and looked at me.

  “Follow my moves.”

  I looked down to where he touched me. I didn’t feel a single thing like I had before, but I knew it had to be the adrenaline. And the fact that this was totally not the time for any of that. I shouldn’t even be having those thoughts.

  So I nodded and moved my hands up in a cupping motion before pulling them down in front of me and then pushing them out again. It was an odd little wave-dance move that somehow worked, and I didn’t know if it was just Rhodes or my help or both that pushed the water into the gollums. It pulled three of them back into the water, giving Easton enough time to get his footing again before he slammed his Fire into the next gollum that came up.

  Wyn and Arwin were standing on either side of Teagan, using their Earth Wielding to create waves of dirt, helping Teagan’s Fire.

  We all worked as one, using whatever we had to slow down the gollums enough so the Fire Wielders could work their magic.

  The only problem was that it wasn’t like Easton and Teagan created a huge wall of fire to just burn them all at once. For some reason, once they burned one, the flames died out, and they couldn’t use the fire for the next. Meaning, they had to start all over with their moves.

  It was magic I didn’t understand, nothing that had been written in any book for me to read.

  But I was learning. And I would remember this.

  And so we fought, side by side until the gollums stopped screaming, and the ash in the air rained down on us.

  I sucked in a breath, my body hurting, my Wielding feeling as if it had been sucked out of me.

  I had used so much power in the past few days without replenishing it. I knew that my well was running dry.

  I just didn’t know how to find the time and energy to make it come back.

  Easton’s uncle had taught me to meditate, to focus on my inner power to replenish myself, I just didn’t know if I had the time to sit down and cross my legs and focus on it.

  I needed to figure out how to do that while moving, while traveling, while finding my own peace.

  I didn’t know how the others did it, but they had a century or two more experience than I did. And it was starting to show.

  While they all appeared a little tired, I felt ragged. I looked the most ragged, too.

  My whole body ached, and I didn’t feel like I could actually pull up any Wielding on my own without forcing it.

  And that didn’t bode well for anything else that might be coming at us.

  “Well, that was pretty amazing,” Teagan said, not looking exhausted in the least. In fact, he looked revved up from the fight. So much so that he grabbed Wyn and smacked a hard kiss on her lips. “Good job, old friend,” he said, grinning.

  Wyn just rolled her eyes and then kissed him hard on the mouth back. “Sure, honey. It was totally all me.”

  “Shut up.”

  Easton gave me a look and raised a brow. I just shook my head.

  I did not understand those two.

  Teagan grinned and then put both hands on Easton’s cheeks and kissed him hard on the mouth, too. “There. Are you happy now? Did you feel left out?” Easton just blinked and then wiped his mouth, shaking his head. “Oh my, oh my. I’ve never known such glory. Seize the day. Oh my, you strong warrior you.”

  He said it so deadpan that everyone started laughing. Even Rhodes. I laughed a little, too, but it was hard. I was just so exhausted. And it hurt to want him.

  To find more aspects of him that made me want to reach out to him. To be with him.

  But it didn’t matter. Because that wasn’t important.

  I knew that Teagan and Wyn were just trying to make people laugh, attempting to bring more warmth into what had just happened. What kept happening to us. Everything was being thrown at us, and we didn’t have time to settle down and regroup. So the pair was just trying to help.

  Even with the forced levity, I still felt two steps behind.

  My bones ached, and that just reminded me of the bone magic that had brought us here. We still didn’t know why it had.

  But I knew something was coming. Something was always coming. And I had to be ready for it.

  And that meant I needed to stop worrying about what I felt for Easton.

  Because it didn’t matter.

  We had more important things to worry about.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Apparently, there was still a half-day’s journey down whatever trail Rhodes knew through the Air and Water border. If we’d had the ship, it would have been easier, but there was no way to let anyone know that we needed another one. So, we would be walking until we reached the Air territory itself. However, tonight, we’d be resting. Because, apparently, I wasn’t the only one who was exhausted after using so much Wielding.

  We had lost most of our supplies, everything that wasn’t strapped to us when the ship went down thanks to the Kraken, so we had nothing but our Wielding, and even that wasn’t as plentiful as it needed to be. After all, we had used so much of it recently. It was just a little too much.

  I was exhausted, and sometimes I really just wanted to go back to the way my life had been. When it had been just me, Brae, and Emory, and my crush on the boy with the silver eyes.

  But it was never going to be like that again.

  Now that I really thought about it, it hadn’t really been that easy then either. Because nothing ever was.

  Wyn and I were gathering up firewood, and starting a fire would be easy for Teagan and Easton. We didn’t actually have to worry about making it, just setting it up.

  Easton and Arwin were out searching for food, while Rhodes had done some fishing and was now getting those ready to go over the fire.

  Teagan was on patrol, watching all of us work, but I knew he wasn’t just lazing about. He was making sure that no monsters or others could come at us.

  And considering that’s all that seemed to be happening to us recently, I was grateful for that.

  “I think every bone and muscle in my body hurts,” Wyn said, rolling her shoulders back.

  I looked over at her and nodded. “It’s a little ridiculous. Like, you guys are all so much more in shape than I am, yet if you’re hurting, you have to realize how bad I’m hurting.”

  “You do look a little ragged.”

  “I realize how whiny I just sounded, but God, I don’t think I could look as ragged as I feel.” I let my head fall back as Wyn put another stack of wood into my arms. I almost buckled under the weight of it but ignored it because, even though I was hurting, we had things to do.

  There was no rest for the weary, especially Wielders.

  I snorted at my little joke that wasn’t really all that funny, and Wyn just gave me a look.

  “Care to tell the class?”

  “I’m just being stupid. And how do you know so many sayings from the human realm?”

  “I spent a fair share of my life in the human realm,” she said, shrugging as she picked up another stack of wood. “Before I had to go on patrols on the Spirit border, and before I went to try and help the Wielders who were losing so much of themselves thanks to Lore, I was out in the human realm, searching for you. I never found you, but I guess it just wasn’t my time. It wasn’t Easton’s either. Rhodes was the one who was supposed to find you.”

  She gave me a look, and I just shook my he
ad.

  “He’s not mine,” I said, my voice a little firmer than usual.

  “No, but I see the way he looks at you.”

  “He can look at me all he wants. Anyone can. But no one here is my soulmate, and that’s really the only way I would care who looks at me at this point.”

  I winced as I set the wood down in the center of our camp area. “Well, that just makes me sound like I’m whining more. Like a little baby.”

  “No, it makes you sound like you’re exhausted. You’ve had a lot thrown at you in a little bit of time. I’ve never found my soulmate, Lyric. And I’ve been around a lot longer than you. Teagan and I thought we might have been that for each other once. But that’s a story for another time. I’ve never gone out searching for my soulmate, and I know you haven’t either. You searched for other things, and all these maybes and perhapses have been thrown at you. It’s kind of hard not to think about that stuff when you know you need to be worrying about other things. So, I won’t bother you about it. Because I know it hurts. But just know that I’m here if you need me. Always.”

  “Thanks, Wyn. It’s kind of hard sometimes, trying to figure out exactly what I’m supposed to be doing when there’s no set path before me.”

  “And having a prophecy that doesn’t say much and just seems to be a bunch of riddles isn’t helping anyone.”

  “Oh, totally. And I feel like we’re always on the move, going from one thing to another, trying to take in as much as we possibly can. Yet it’s not enough. You know what I mean?”

  “Yes, I do. We came to you in the lower Spirit territory to take you back, to train you. And ever since, we haven’t really been resting. There were a few times where we could breathe, so we could get to know each other, but it wasn’t enough. And the rest of us, save Rhodes and this group, has had centuries to get to know one another, to make our own stories. To figure out exactly who we are. You haven’t had that time. And I know that you have Brae. And I miss her for you. I kind of miss that sweet little cat myself. Even though I know she wasn’t a cat before. And I know that you’ll eventually want to find Emory, though I’ve never met her. All of that combined with the fact that you don’t really have a girl to talk to… Just know I’m here if you need me. I mean, you have Rosamond, and that’s a girlfriend, but you can’t only stick with one. So, you’re welcome to have me, too.”