She arched on the altar, screaming in pain as flames burned beneath her skin, and the world around her turned blood red. k12
20
FIRE MAGE
Turning to face Malian, Caelan was frozen in time for a moment as she arched on the altar. Her skin glowed fiery red as she screamed. He tried to step towards her, but her luminescence blinded him.
Then she exploded with light, and the force of it shook the ground beneath his feet before blasting him backwards, away from her.
Instinctively covering his head as he flew back through the air, he cried out her name.
The force of the explosion slammed him back into a pillar before he slumped to the ground in defeat.
As the glow of the explosion eventually faded, he peered back over his shoulder to see the army of demons fade away too after Malian’s light had blasted them apart. He watched Binks pick himself up off the floor while a few yards away Aleck helped Holly stand.
Caelan couldn’t speak. He was numb. He didn’t want to look at the altar, but he knew he had to. A part of him was broken inside because he knew what he would find there.
Swallowing the painful lump in his throat, he faced the altar.
Malian limply lay on it, her head turned away and her arm hanging over the side. She almost looked as if she was sleeping, and a glimmer of hope ignited inside him.
Maybe she survived. Maybe she is just sleeping.
Ignoring the pain in his battered body, he pushed himself up off the ground and stumbled over to her.
He tilted her chin to turn her face towards him, and all his hopes vanished. Her eyes looked up at him in an empty stare, the kind that was devoid of life and hope.
He hauled her into his arms and crushed her against him as he sobbed into her hair. She was gone, and there were so many things he’d never told her.
‘I love you,’ he whispered into her auburn curls, which were damp with his tears. ‘I’ll always love you.’
More than anything now, he knew what she was to him. She’d been his to protect. He wasn’t a Sun Knight. He was the guardian of the last elemental mage, and he’d failed her.
When he felt something touch his shoulder, he assumed it was one of the group telling him to let her go, so he tightened his grip on her because he didn’t want to let her go.
Another tap on his shoulder a few seconds later told him that it was time to release her, and after eventually gaining control of himself, he reluctantly looked behind him to tell them to leave him alone.
He frowned when he saw a white flower behind him. He blinked and then looked again before he realised that a vine was tapping him on the shoulder as it grew around him.
Raising his head, he realised that the scorched ground around the altar was now teeming with life as flowers bloomed around it and grass sprouted up through the soil.
He peered down at Malian in his arms as the flowers blossomed around her. Her eyes were closed now, and her skin was warm.
‘What the hell is going on?’ He heard Binks cry behind him.
He glanced back to see the little wizard trying to scramble down a tree as it sprouted up from the ground beneath him and grew.
‘She’s doing it. She’s healing the planet,’ Caelan muttered to himself. ‘Malian, heal yourself. Can you hear me? Come back!’ He stared down at her, a new hope bubbling up inside him.
She lay still, surrounded by flowers as if it was her funeral, and in some ways, it was. A part of him hated the flowers, the thriving planet because Ispa had taken her life to save itself.
‘Wake up. Come back to me. I am your guardian now. Take my life.’ He leaned down and kissed her lips, closing his eyes and willing his life into her body while wishing for a miracle.
As he kissed her, every moment with her flashed through his mind from the moment when she walked into his forge and set him on his path to destiny to this moment right now. He didn’t want to let her go, he couldn’t. He wanted this moment of kissing her soft lips one last time to last forever. He knew that the second he let go, he would have to face the grief of losing her, and he wasn’t ready to do that. He didn’t think he’d ever be ready to let her go.
He closed his eyes, holding her tightly against him.
Come back to me. Don’t leave me here alone.
She exhaled a small breath into his mouth. He was about to pull back to see if it was her last breath or if she was alive when she answered the question for him by quietly moaning in protest when he started to pull back. As his lips began to leave hers, she kissed him back, her soft lips caressing his.
Silently vowing never to miss a moment with her again, he crushed his lips against hers and enveloped her in a passionate embrace.
‘Don’t ever do that again. I can’t live without you. I love you too much.’ He muttered between urgent kisses, declaring his intention to never let her go again.
Her arms tightened around his shoulders, pulling him closer as she kissed him back with just as much urgency. ‘I love you too. I always have, and I always will.’
In a kiss that seemed make the world melt away, he became lost in the feel of her warm, enticing body crushed against his as he leaned over her and caressed her, wanting to make every second with her count and keep her safe in his embrace forever.
‘Is this going to last for long? I just want to know if I should burn out my own eyes now or later.’ He heard Binks shout behind him.
Malian’s breath warmed his neck when she expelled a soft laugh, and he reluctantly released her and lay her back on the altar.
The buds of flowers opened around her, and she looked vibrantly alive as she stared up at him with bright eyes. ‘Are we all alive?’
‘Yes.’ He nodded. ‘We did it. You saved Ispa. How do you feel? Are you okay now?’
‘Yeah.’ She smiled. ‘I feel great actually.’ She sat up and peered at the beautiful woodland that now surrounded them. ‘Oh, and you finished your first quest. You’re a Sun Knight now.’
He shook his head. ‘I am something better now. I am a knight of Amoria, defender of the last elemental mage.’
* * *
‘Does that mean I’m magical now?’ She raised her hand to study the back of it. It glowed a fiery red. Then a fireball shot out of it at lightning speed and exploded into a tree to the left of them.
They both jumped and stared at her hand.
‘Oh, that’s a whole new level of scary,’ she muttered.
‘Did you just shoot a fireball at me?’ Binks shouted from behind the smoking tree.
They turned to face the gnome, who was staring at Malian with an incredulous look on his face.
‘What? No! Did I?’ Malian stared at her hand. She realised that she was different now, but also kind of the same. She was still an outcast, the only one of her kind.
She looked out at the lush lands of Ispa, which were no longer scorched plains dotted with dead tree husks but instead were thriving with life, and she realised that it was her difference that created all that life. She realised that being different was what made her special, and it was what made the world a better place.
With the realisation that she was powerful all along, she glanced up at Caelan. ‘Are you ready for your second quest?’ she asked.
‘Yes, of course. What is it?’ He smiled.
‘We need to find out how I can control this power, so I don’t accidentally blow anything up.’
THE END
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THE OUTLIERS
SHE’S BEEN SENTENCED TO TEENAGE PRISON…
When Carla Mainston is sentenced to two weeks in juvenile detention for dirtying someone else’s carpet, she promises to never break the rules again—no matter how stupid they are.
She thinks that the w
orst that can happen is she’ll be bored to death, but it seems that the wicked warden of the institute plans to keep her imprisoned indefinitely in the detention centre, along with all the other kids trapped behind its dark walls.
In an attempt to escape, Carla discovers the monster on the fourth-floor and uncovers a darker purpose to the institution. She will have to fight for her freedom if she wants to go home. She will have to break all the rules if she wants to survive…
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AUTHORS
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After completing her honours degree in English Literature, Claire Chilton was interviewed to work for MI5. Fortunately, for the sake of the United Kingdom, she did not get the job. Now a designer and an award-winning author with a passion for great stories, she writes about the adventures she’d like to have.
You can find Claire online at claire-chilton.com.
With years of expertise in speculative fiction and as an avid reader of fantasy adventures and lore, J.J. Eldred is an editor and a writer. Along with wanting more fantasy stories to read, because four-hundred thousand words a week just aren’t enough for him, he would also like to have a pet dragon.
BOOKS
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BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
Listed in order to be read
Lost Sorcery: Mage of Myths | Book One
MORE BOOK SERIES
by Claire Chilton
The Demon Diaries | Paranormal Comedy Series
The Hunted Hearts | Mystery Romance Series
The Cursed Series | Paranormal Series
The Celtic Witches | Paranormal Romance Series
The Legacy Series | Paranormal Series
The Iceworld Series | Sci-fi Series
The Outliers | Sci-fi Comedy Series
The Mists of Time | Time Travel Series
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