I don't know how, but she pulled me out of my shell. Maybe it was because I was tired of being alone. Maybe it was because I forgot the extent of damage I could do.
Or maybe it was because she was Rose. Maybe it was because when she laughs no music in the world could be sweeter. Maybe it was because she filled an empty void I had all these years. Maybe it was because she made me happy even though I thought happiness wasn't possible for me.
The days I spent with her at Ether were the best since my early childhood. (Though I still feel guilty about leading her into a trap.) Even before she told me about her mission, I already knew and was determined to help her in any way I can—even if it meant risking my life. And right now Rose needed my help.
I tripped over a rock and looked up. I had emerged from the forest and arrived at the base of a volcano.
LOGAN
Chapter 28
The vision didn't mention the gravestones, but everything else was the same. The volcano was tall and steep and rocky with rivers of molten lava.
The forest stopped a hundred feet from the base of the volcano, but even from here, I could feel the heat. In some ways it was welcoming and warming especially after walking through the stinging cold. Though I knew it would be overwhelming later.
But the heat, the lava, or the rough hike ahead wasn't what made me stop. It was the tombstones. The vision conveniently left out the gravestones that formed a circle around the bottom of the volcano. The gravestones looked transparent and ghostly like they weren't really there. If you didn't pay attention, they would disappear. But too late. I had already spotted them. Now I couldn't look away.
Every headstone was different. Some were small, some were large, but each had the regular engravings except one thing. Painted on all the gravestones was a big, bolded warning. Beware!
Beware of what? I thought. I crossed the line of graves and knew. I tried to fly, but I didn't have enough energy. My wings wouldn't work, and my joints stiffened and had a bad case of arthritis. I felt like I had aged seventy years in three seconds.
“It will all pay off,” I said, urging myself on.
I started to hike very slowly up the volcano. The rocks were so hot that it felt like walking on a stovetop turned on high. The terrain was steep, rocky, and hard to navigate especially with these old bones. Small rivers of lava flowed everywhere, and pockets of magma randomly burst through the black rock, so I had to watch my footing or get severely burned.
If I was agile and could move easily like I did two years ago before Ash took over or even a few hours ago, I would have an easier time scaling this volcano. But I wasn't. Every minute I spent there, I was aging right before my eyes. My hand turned into an ancient specimen with long, bony fingers and gray speckled skin. If I could see myself, I would probably look like a zombie.
Of course, there was a graveyard. It was for all the people who didn't make it out of here. Though isn't that contradicting? You are trying to get Healing Elixir, but this journey is basically killing you.
Finally, after what seems like forever and the sun was long gone, I reached the rim of the volcano. My bones were ready to crumble, and I was dripping with sweat. This morning I might've despised the cold, but now I would love an icy drink and a blast of frosty wind to cool me down. But there was another major problem to solve, so I can't waste time wishing.
Twenty-five feet below the rim of the volcano in the middle of a two hundred fifty feet crater filled with red hot lava was a tiny speck of an island. The island was too far away for me to see anything but a floating piece of rock. I just have to hope the Healing Elixir was there.
Now how to get across a hundred twenty-five feet chasm of violently boiling lava? I still couldn't fly. A vision would be really helpful right now, but they were random, and I couldn't control them. Preferably, I would find the least suicidal way to get to that island, but how? I spotted some snow on a distant mountain then I had an idea that was so dumb and unreliable.
The closest mountain was on my right about five miles away. I never tried to control water that was so distant, but after a while and with a great deal of concentration, I turned all of the snow on the mountain back to water.
I floated the humongous bubble of liquid over to the volcano and formed a scraggly bridge of ice. After I was done, the bridge turned out to be two feet thick, three feet wide, and was just long enough to reach the island. I placed a foot on the rapidly melting bridge. I was lucky to get this far. I just hope I wasn't pushing it. But pushing my luck is what I do all the time.
I was almost across the sea of lava when a large bubble of magma burst and melted the other ten feet of the ice bridge. The bridge started to creak and shudder. Cracks appeared between my feet. I had to jump, but the island was still too far away.
Looks like my luck finally ran out.
The bridge started to calve and fall. I had no choice, so I leaped. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. The rest of the bridge collapsed and landed in the lava with a loud hiss. I soared over the chasm while more bubbles of magma popped underneath my feet. The island was just three feet away when the momentum stopped, and I started to fall.
“Come on, wings. Don't fail me now,” I said.
My wings fluttered weakly and carried me the last few feet. I landed on solid ground and doubled over wheezing.
After I regained air in my old-man's lungs, I took a look around. The island was an odd, irregular shape and made of volcanic rock. Anything should've melt in lava, but the island didn't. It felt sturdy, solid, and surprisingly the ground wasn't even warm.
I walked over to a small hot spring in the middle of the island. The hot spring was a foot in diameter and filled with bubbling dark blue water. I reached for the backpack on my shoulder, but then remembered in my hurry to dodge Skylar's questions, I forgot to bring it.
I came all this way and forgot to bring a bottle.
I smacked my forehead. “I am so stupid!”
But then the air shimmered, and a tiny hip flask appeared out of nowhere. I thought I was hallucinating, but I grabbed the bottle, and it felt solid. I scooped up as much water as the flask could hold and put on the lid. But that is too easy, I thought. As if this climb was easy.
I stood up. Immediately, the lava erupted into a solid, domed cage on all sides. I braced myself for when the top comes crashing down, but it didn't. The cage held its shape without collapsing. I knew I couldn't get away so quickly.
The lava was like a chocolate fountain, constantly flowing down and back up again. The temperature rose even higher. Now I know firsthand what it felt like to be a turkey in the oven.
I walked around, trying to find a way out. But the heat muddled my thinking, and all I could focus on was that super annoying sizzling sound that kept getting louder. A sizzling sound? Then I noticed that the cage of magma was steaming and sizzling in the cold air outside. It must be snowing as well, judging by the amount of white steam vapor coming from the walls. Yes! Water I can control.
I started to condense the steam into a ball. I lost track of time, but I formed an orb of water the size of a wrecking ball and froze it into a hard-packed sphere of ice.
I only had one shot at this. The ice will pass through the lava (assuming the lava wall isn't very thick) and clear a path for me to fly through, but I will only have a few seconds. A sip of Healing Elixir made my wings work again, but I still moved like a snail. This was going to be very risky, but what other option was there?
I thrust the ball of ice. It passed through the lava and broke a hole in the cage like I predicted. I jumped and flew through the hole just a second before the whole cage collapsed. Instantly, I felt years younger and was energized again.
I watched as the island disappeared under the lava.
“Wahoo!” I yelled. But then I remembered why I was here in the first place.
My laugh died, and I flew as fast as I could through the dark, snowy night. I don't know how many hours had passed
, but I hoped it wasn't too late.
As soon as I got back, I barreled into the cave. Skylar raised her bow and took aim at my chest. Then she realized it was me.
“Jeez! Don't do that again. Where have you been? You disappeared for five hours. Ariel and I were starting to get worried.” Skylar scanned my appearance. “Why are you covered with ash, and why do you stink of sulfur? What kind of walk did you take?”
“A crazy one,” I replied.
“But—”
“Questions later. Is Rose all right?”
A look of despair passed over their faces. Skylar looked to Ariel.
Ariel cleared her throat. “She is…I don't know. We tried everything. Nothing worked.”
I walked over to Rose, and my heart lurched. Her face was deathly pale, and her breath rattled badly on the way in. I placed a hand on her forehead, and it felt ice cold.
I pulled out the small flask of Healing Elixir, trickled all of it into her mouth, and held my breath. Please let it work, I prayed. Slowly her breathing became smoother, her skin started to warm up, and color returned to her face. I exhaled with relief.
“She is going to be fine,” I said.
“Ok, where did you get that?” Skylar asked.
“I um…”
I tried to figure out a way to tell them about my trip but not reveal my secret.
“I stumbled across this Healing Elixir in the forest,” I said.
Skylar cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, right. You disappeared for hours and came back covered in ashes and smell like smoke. You definitely didn't spend time in a forest unless it was burning down. But my question is how did you know where to find…well, whatever you needed to find?”
“I didn't. It was on accident.”
It was a bad excuse, but Skylar stopped arguing, and Ariel stayed quiet even though she knew about the legend of the Healing Elixir and probably was also wondering how I knew where to find it.
“Go to sleep,” Ariel said. “I will take first watch.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. Though my eyes were already drifting shut.
“Yeah, get some rest.”
Skylar and I settled in for the night.
“Thanks, Logan,” Skylar whispered. “If Rose is gone, I don't know what I would do.”
“I wouldn't either,” I replied.
It had been a long day and night, but it was worth it. Now I could rest easy knowing that Rose is going to be ok. Well, for the next few hours. If we don't defeat Ash by noon the day after tomorrow, nobody will be ok. It's frustrating I can't see how this is going to turn out… Wait, I probably don't want to. But I know one thing—I will do anything to protect my friends. I would die content if all of them are safe and Ash is defeated.
Drowsiness overcame me, and on that happy thought, I shut my eyes and fell asleep.
ROSE
Chapter 29
The sound of crackling fire brought me to my senses…fire! I jerked into a sitting position. The Griffgon! My friends!
“You're awake!” a few voices shouted.
I turned my head and saw a scene so impossibly nice and peaceful I thought I must be in heaven. I was in a small cave wrapped in all the blankets we had. Logan, Ariel, and Skylar were sitting around a small campfire eating hard biscuits.
“Are we dead?” I asked.
“No,” Skylar said. “Well, not yet anyway.”
“Come here, Rose, and have some breakfast.” Logan patted an empty space beside him.
“Wait, do you mean dinner? Have I been out for hours?”
“Well, actually a day and two nights,” Skylar corrected.
All of a sudden, I became dizzy. Logan caught me as I began to keel over and helped me walk to the fire. I felt as if my head just hit that mountainside again and my brain was still twirling.
I raked my fingers through my hair. “A day and two nights!”
“You are lucky to be alive right now. Passing out for that long is nothing,” Ariel said.
But I wasn't worried about myself. I was more worried about how much time we lost because of me.
“You mean it is day five on our mission—the last day to defeat Ash and save all of Astella.” My breathing became shallow.
“Rose, it's ok,” Logan answered. “We have the potion to fly as fast as the wind. We can get there in time.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” I sprang to my feet, but as soon as I got up, black spots danced in front of my vision.
Logan tried to lower me to the ground. “Hold on. You have to eat and rest first.”
“The world is at stake, and I am going to sit here and eat breakfast!” I exclaimed and resisted him.
“Yes,” Logan said. “You just woke up. You need food and at least a few minutes of rest.”
I knew he was right, but there was so little time left that sitting down even for a few minutes was terrifying. But I obeyed and reluctantly sat back down beside him.
Logan handed me a biscuit and a can of water. I ate as Skylar, Ariel, and Logan told me about everything that had happened since I passed out. Though Logan was acting a little strange.
As he told me about his walk through the forest, he wrung his hands, and the Healing Elixir sounded surprisingly easy to get. Maybe he had a stroke of luck, or it wasn't the whole story. But it didn't matter. He saved my life once again. That's another tally mark to add to my growing list of debts I owe him.
When they were finished with their story, we just sat together listening to the fire crackling and enjoying what may be our last day to live. But even wrapped in blankets, beside a warm fire, and cuddling in Logan's arms, I was still cold. Then to make matters worse, a blast of snowy wind rushed into the cave and blew out the fire. The temperature dropped ten degrees, and I couldn't help but tremble.
Ariel and Skylar tried to relight the fire, but the matches were all used up. I raised my hand to summon flames, but Logan stopped me.
“Don't risk passing out again,” he said.
But without the fire, the heat kept dropping. I must have been shaking badly because Logan took off his jacket and wrapped it around me. It was a sweet old-fashioned gesture.
“No, Logan, I'm all right.” I reached to take the jacket off, but he put his hand on mine to stop me.
“You need the extra warmth.”
“Won't you be cold?”
“Nah, I am fine.” But I could see he was shivering though trying to hide it.
Logan is so kindhearted. He was willing to give up his own comfort for mine.
Finally, Ariel and Skylar got the fire going again. The air slowly climbed up a few Fahrenheit. I sank back into Logan's arms.
I can't lose him. He helped me greatly on this quest, saved my life a thousand times, and gave me another reason to save the world. If I let him die, even if I did save Astella, half my world would be gone no matter what. I could never live with myself knowing that I didn't save the person I cared deeply about and who cares so much about me.
But how can I do it? The task that lies ahead of us was terrifying, and I wasn't a person to run away from things (maybe except spiders). But Ash with her Dark Magic that can kill my friends was enough to make me lock myself in a closet and curl into a ball. The only reason I am not backing out of this mission is because of Logan, Ariel, and my parents. (Hopefully, they didn't die already.) I have to save them. They are my world to me. But what if I can't? What if I fail?
No, I can't think like that. It's not over yet. I still have time, I thought. Against my efforts to keep positive, the last two lines from the prophecy kept chanting in my head.
But in the final battle to the end
More than just a friend's life shall end
It was extremely annoying at first, but then I noticed something.
“Hey, guys. Did you know that the last two lines from the prophecy don't rhyme like the rest?” I asked.
“Good point,” Skylar said. “What does it mean?”
“Maybe it means that it might not happen,” Logan suggested.
He turned to look at me. Now that my head wasn't so foggy and I could see clearly, I was surprised by how much worse he looked than two days before. His cheeks were sunken, and his eyes had dark rings around them. His hair was all silver, and his skin was slightly gray and ghastly pale. It broke my heart to see him like that. But how was he so calm knowing he could die in six hours, or was he just putting on an act? If my life could end in six hours, I wouldn't be anywhere near as calm as he seems.
But I hoped he was right. Maybe the prophecy meant something else. However, nobody is going to survive if I don't figure out this defeating Dark Magic secret. Though I am still baffled about how I melted that Griffgon with a handful of water.
The cave rumbled, signaling that the Fifth Petal was growing even bigger. A few small rocks rained down.
A long way to go and only six hours to save everything I love.
ROSE
Chapter 30
We packed up camp and spritz our wings with the Speed of the Wind Potion—if you can call the rags on my back wings. They were so torn up that they looked like a slice of Swiss cheese after a mouse attack. They were definitely way beyond repair.
I am so grateful that Logan helped me fly and is such an awesome person, but I did feel ashamed. He shouldn't have to carry me through this whole quest. But thankfully traveling at the speed of wind was less tiring. The mountains and terrain zipped pass below faster than the eye could see. But even as swift as we were going, time was running out faster.
We flew for three hours until we crossed a frozen valley with rolling hills on each side and a broad snow-covered plain in the middle.
Fated Loss (Red Rose & Black Ash Book 1) Page 13
