Guardians of Fire

by Alexia Purdy

  I studied her for a moment then glanced at Soap, who tilted his head in a slight bow as a token of respect. Flicking my eyes back to Shade, I smiled.

  “Yes. I can do anything for you, Shade. I wish I had realized it sooner. I’ve made so many mistakes, but I plan to make it up to you for as long as I live.”

  Her face brightened to the point that the sun would be jealous of her smile. Soap let us have our moment as we hugged and kissed again, and I took note of it. We could work this out. I knew in my heart that if there was anyone who I’d want to have my back in life, it would be Shade and Soap. And I, resolutely, would always be in theirs.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Soap

  The tiny thread of invidious emotion threatening to overtake me wasn’t hard to brush off. Luckily, I was no fool. Fighting Dylan would get me nowhere with Shade, and it was mutually beneficial for us both to get along. So that was the end of the feud, and I could see as I threw him a curt nod that he was as grateful for it to be over as I was. It was crazy what love made us do, but there were things we had to accept, no matter what. Choosing to battle such things like fate was the most foolish thing we could ever do and wasted precious energy.

  “Welcome back, Dylan.” I held out a hand to him after he let go of Shade and settled into the group, which began excitedly chatting about the journey the next day. Dylan had jumped in immediately, already taking over some tactical work.

  “Thanks, Rylan.” He took my arm by the wrist, locking his grip firmly against mine. We eyed each other for a moment before he broke out in a genuine smile, one I had not seen on his scowling face for weeks. Seeing it relieved me of the pent-up tension I’d held about our relationship. I was grateful he had chosen to let it slide. At least, for now. “I look forward to working with you more closely. Our children will need us more than ever.”

  I nodded as he let go and returned to the work of planning our expedition. The mountain range was exclusively fey territory, and there were no human cities nearby. Just as well; we didn’t need any kind of interference from the mortal realm.

  It was bad enough we had three Ancients tagging along: Rowan with her subservient mate, Ciaran; Corb, with his cool demeanor, watching us like a hawk perched to snatch its prey; and Arthas, nonchalantly crunching on a dish of mixed nuts set before him. He couldn’t care less about the mission. We had to be wary. They were pariahs amongst us, and dangerous ones at that, and they would do us no favors if they didn’t think they had to.

  I was glad to have Dylan on my side again. We were not Ancients nor were we anything grandiose like Nephilim, but Teleen were brave, powerful, and made of the hottest fire known to man. We could fight if need be, even against Ancients.

  The presence of the three reminded me of the absence of Kilara, our bane and our salvation wrapped up in one. How she dared to torment Shade so much bothered me. I wanted to slash the woman’s throat, but it was an impossible desire. She was needed not just by the Land of Faerie but also by Shade. But what would happen when we got to The Heart of Fire and Ice? What would we find there, and what price would it demand to save Kilara?

  While others jovially spent the evening hours dining and drinking, I refrained from joining in too much, feeing the threads of dread wrapping my very soul with each passing moment.

  “You okay, Soap?” Benton sat down next to me and offered me a goblet of faery wine. I shook my head, and he shrugged and downed it like no human I’d ever met. He was impervious to most faery magic, which I thought was more useful than most of our powers. If only we were also impervious to fey magic, I wouldn’t be so damn nervous for the upcoming journey. It wouldn’t be a long one. Camulus could take us right to the doorstep of the cavern where The Heart was hidden. From there, only Shade and Benton would be able to go much farther. The rest of us would be left behind to do nothing but worry.

  I hoped they won. We had to win. There was no other way to think of it.

  “I’m fine,” I answered when Benton had finished his drink. “Just apprehensive for tomorrow. I can’t shake off this feeling like something is going to go wrong.”

  “You feel that too, huh?” Benton placed his empty goblet onto a table and cleared his throat. “I thought it was just me. Isolde feels it too, but not as strongly. She’s determined to remain positive, so she told me to stop sulking. I wasn’t happy about that. Unfortunately, my gut feelings are usually right most of the time.”

  I nodded, feeling a weight lift to know someone else felt the same as I did. “Maybe I should have consulted my mother about this. She might have had some information. I don’t know. There’s something off about it all, and I’m afraid to find out what is going to happen when it does. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to sound negative, but it’s just this feeling.”

  “I get you. No need to explain it to me.” He nodded and reached out to grab an orange from a fruit bowl in the center of the table. He carefully peeled it then popped a slice into his mouth. He chewing pensively as he studied my face then swallowed and flashed me a smile. “There no need to lose our heads. We’ll take each obstacle as it comes, right? We’re pretty adept at that now.”

  I agreed and reached for an apple. Biting down into it, I let the possibilities run through my mind. They gave me a headache, so I gave up quickly, pushing them from my mind until the morning. No need to lose any sleep.

  “You guys ready for bed?” Shade asked as she approached Dylan, who was sitting nearby. We all stopped eating and looked up at her in surprise. I turned toward Dylan. He hadn’t seen her in weeks, but if this was our last night on earth, I wanted to be with her.

  “Um… how do we go about that, my love?”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Shade

  I stared at the path we had to take to The Heart of Fire and Ice. Camulus had tried to take us to the entrance, but the magic of the place had shunted us several miles away. It didn’t look out of the ordinary, nor would anyone think much of it as it winded around the rocky hills and up a steep mountain range bare of any sort of vegetation. One side of the mountain was packed with snow and ice, and the other side steamed from an underground lava flow. I hoped we wouldn’t be treading anywhere near the lava. Luckily, with Corb and me on this journey, we could cool the surrounding area for our troop. The cold spots could be warmed enough by Benton and me with our fire energy. Either way, it was going to be uncomfortable and draining. I could already feel my powers ebbing away as the cool air slid its embrace over us.

  “The air here, it feels different.” Isolde shivered but didn’t complain. She ran her hands over her arms, suppressing a shudder as we walked single file along the path. This place was a vortex of magic, like the one sitting atop the Teleen Caverns, yet it was more powerful. It sat where all leylines crossed and sucked up power like a black hole.

  Benton turned up his heat to enfold her and the rest of the group. I linked to his power and threw him a grateful nod. If there was anyone there I was grateful to have my back, it was Benton, for as we started the mountainous, rocky climb, Soap’s and Dylan’s heat failed, and they had to resort to our magic to keep them warm.

  So Brendan had placed a shield that was strong enough to drain faeries of magic. How convenient. When Arthas meant only humans could enter, he’d meant everyone would have to be human-like to enter. Only we humans and part humans could enter with our magic intact, though I did feel mine pulling more from my human elemental powers than my faery ones. It was an odd feeling, like a switch had been flicked inside me. It was more arduous than using fey powers, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

  “You feel it, don’t you?”

  I turned toward Arthas, who had inexplicably jumped ahead in line to be next to me now that the path had widened.

  “Feel what?”

  “The Heart. Like a body’s heart, it beats life into the world, spreading magic like blood across the land. It knows we’re here.”

  I frowned, not liking his analogy. I’d had enough talk of
blood. “It drains faeries. Do you think that’s all Brendan’s doing?”

  “Your uncle? He was quite inquisitive and powerful. He knew the right questions to ask others and what to do to keep beings like me out. I’m afraid he had a lot of help from someone who knew how to weaken an Ancient’s powers. I’ll be no help beyond, in the cavern where The Heart resides.”

  “Then how would your blood help us?”

  “It won’t, not once you’re inside. I think it will allow you entrance, but that is all. Do you know why entrance requires the blood of only three Ancients, and not all four?”

  I shook my head.

  “It was not unthinkable that three would have to turn against the fourth. And you notice that three of four Ancients are here now. It makes one think.”

  A chill ran down my spine despite my fire magic. “How does it work?”

  “The three bloods combined make a powerful potion to allow one magical favor, even in a vortex like this. That favor, for you, will be entrance to The Heart.”

  I nodded, impressed that he’d offer so much information to me without any demands. “Why are you being so helpful suddenly? I put you to sleep and bound your magic. Surely we are not even close to being friends. What’s your angle?”

  “No angle. Let’s just say I’m invested in this.”

  He chuckled and peered up ahead, where Dylan and Soap kept throwing him inquisitive glares. Both kept close in case Arthas decided to shove me off a cliff or something malicious like that. I knew he wouldn’t. Killing Kilara’s only heir would bring a major war, and the Land of Faerie would probably perish. The four of us had put our grievances aside for the greater good. I hoped Kilara would do the same when we were done.

  “It’s underground from here,” Dylan called out, pointing toward the entrance to a darkened cavern with walls made of glassy obsidian that sucked light into them.

  “Do our witchlights work here?” I asked the Ancient standing beside me.

  Arthas shook his head, but Benton pulled several torches from his enchanted pack and passed them along to the group. I had always wondered if there was a bottom to that thing.

  “I took the honor of packing regular old torches. I figured flashlights or witchlights might not work, so here we are. Fire for fire.” He snapped his fingers, and all the torches lit up with a whoosh. I grinned, glad he had taken the initiative.

  “Thanks, bro.”

  Benton winked and followed Dylan into the darkness.

  Arthas stood still, quietly holding his torch. He met my eyes and tilted his head, his face serious and calm. “You know, some have said that once you enter The Heart, your own heart dies. You never emerge the same. It can change you. A good man can turn evil. A bad man, good. You’re just never the same.”

  I swallowed hard, my chest already fluttering from fear. I wouldn’t let it paralyze me. Nothing could break me ever again. I wouldn’t let it.

  “I know. I read it in my uncle’s grimoire.”

  “But you interpreted it how you wanted to. Did you tell the others? Did they take it as just a metaphor, meaning you come out with a new realization? No, it’s not that. The change is… profound. They should know.”

  I frowned. “What good would it do to tell them now?”

  Arthas didn’t snicker. He appeared even more concerned as we began on into the enveloping darkness of the cavern. It was just wide enough for him to walk next to me. Dylan, Benton, and Soap led the way while Isolde walked behind us and Camulus, Rowan, and Ciaran lagged behind.

  “Is it true?” I asked.

  Arthas turned curiously toward me.

  “Is what true, Your Majesty?”

  “That I’m related to you in some way?”

  He cleared his throat and stared straight ahead. “You have my blood, but so little of it. It’s been centuries since I came to be with a young woman of dark brown hair and glorious, rich caramel eyes. She was smart, beautiful, and vibrant. She died in childbirth, and the child was whisked away to live elsewhere with a new family, for I had left in my grief, disappearing from the public for more decades than I care to remember. I didn’t know what happened to that girl or how her life had turned out. I chose not to find out. For Ancients, pain manifests differently and lasts for far longer than it would for a mere mortal or a common faery. All emotions do, so we learn to simply not feel them. Not unless we truly want to.”

  “You think that child was my ancestor, and that someone in her line eventually had a child with Kilara?”

  He nodded. “Yes, but we are almost not related. It’s been far too many generations. Oran has far more of my power than you do. But it’s there, enough to control the Unseelie Kingdom if you want. I have seven living descendants, Oran being the most powerful. You are the least powerful because you and I are too far removed. Of course, you have other, much greater powers, don’t you? What would you ever need with my magic?”

  I nodded, glad to know the truth of it all. I wondered how Queen Aveta knew. She’d given me control of the Unseelie castle, and it had obeyed me without question. I could still reach out to it, even across a continent, and I listened in on the happenings there often. It was a power I was sure Oran wanted and needed, but I wasn’t sure if the palace would ever grant it to him.

  “Will Oran take control of The Withering Palace when he marries my sister, Anna? Will the control of it leave me then?” I asked.

  Arthas laughed. The others turned toward him to see what was going on, but he just gave them a grumpy scowl until they turned back toward the tunnel. “No. He is not fit to rule. He’s a strong leader and would make a good general, but there’s no chance the palace would pick him.”

  “How do you know?”

  He turned toward me, his dark eyes shining in the torchlight. “Because he’s far too much like me. The Withering Palace favored Aveta, the second weakest of my heirs. It doesn’t go for the most powerful heir, it goes for the best ruler.”

  I frowned. This meant that no matter what, The Withering Palace was my true home, not The Scren. How could that be? “I cannot rule the Unseelie Kingdom. I am queen of the Seelie.”

  “One does not choose where they rule in Faerie. If you let yourself accept this, things will be easier for you. Let go.”

  Arthas took my silence as a cue to leave my side and hop ahead. I stared after him, baffled. Nothing the Ancient said made sense. His calm demeanor was confusing enough. I shook it off, though, at least happy to have a few more facts about my heritage straightened out. I was a descendant of two Ancients, though so far removed from one he was practically not related to me. Even so, the magic had chosen me to rule two kingdoms. Why?

  I shook my head. It was all so darn complicated. Now this, The Heart of Fire and Ice, was beckoning to me. I felt the magic of the place pressing in on me, overcoming my natural wards. It scared me, and I had no way of telling anyone my fears because even I didn’t know what they were.

  “Shade, are you all right?” Isolde fell into step next to me, and I smiled at the Nephilim. She was pretty and strong. The perfect girl for Benton. I was more than elated to know she loved my brother just as much.

  “I’m fine. Pregnancy is quite taxing. Who knew?”

  Isolde nodded. “I know I don’t. But maybe one day. Maybe if Benton wants, I would do it. I only hope this world won’t always be volatile as it is now. Raising children in these tumultuous times is hard enough.”

  “So true,” I agreed. We continued in silence, and I thought of Soap and Dylan, my love for them, and the relief I felt that Dylan had returned. I’d been so afraid he’d given up on me. The weeks without him had been an absolute torment, and only the distraction of this mission had kept me from falling apart. I couldn’t live without either of them, and now our children would have two fathers to dote on them. I was so blessed.

  Blessed and cursed, both at the same time.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Shade

  “We’re here.” I pointed toward the small entrance to a
room-like cavern. It was pitch black, but the air coming from that direction was far different than in the rest of the caverns. We’d been walking for over an hour, deep into the mountain. This was The Heart of Fire and Ice; I could feel the magic pulsating into the air and giving off a sharp, ozone stench. It looked like it led into another room, but nothing could be seen beyond it, and the entrance appeared to be wavering.

  “I can feel it beating in my head, like a headache without pain,” I added.

  The others agreed and stood guard, waiting for some foreign creature to emerge. After all I’d seen in Faerie, I wouldn’t be surprised if one popped out of there and surprised us. But nothing came, which put us on edge even more. How was it possible that nothing lived in there, protecting The Heart?

  I approached and reached out to touch the pulsating shield covering the door. Corb lunged forward and grabbed my wrist, shaking his head as he stared hard at me, a warning gleaming from his white eyes.

  “You’ll die if you touch the barrier. You need the potion to enter.”

  I nodded, paling at the realization that I had been that close to killing myself. It wasn’t unusual to touch a magical barrier to assess its strength and the kind of magic used to create it, and that instinct had made me forget where I was. I needed the potion made from the blood of three Ancients before I could enter. I cringed… did I have to drink it? It’d been bad enough drinking my grandmother’s and my own blood to restore my memories from the charms my mother and grandmother had given me.

  I frowned, pulling my hand away from the barrier. Corb let go of my wrist but didn’t move away.

  So The Heart’s domain didn’t need any protection. This place was deadly all on its own. I threw Corb a grateful smile before yanking out the vial of blood collected from the three Ancients who were present. I swirled it around and almost gagged as I brought it to my lips.