Fire Study - Study 03 s-4

by Мария Снайдер

  “Just be very careful.” I started to walk away.

  “Wait. How will we know when the time is right?”

  “I have a bad feeling that you won’t be able to miss it.”

  After the day settled into night, I met up with Fisk and his uncle. People walked the streets in good humor despite their Vermin watchers and the late hour. While Fisk went to prepare for later, I led his uncle onto the roof.

  Once we ascended, we traveled over the roofs of the Citadel to Bavol’s dwelling. If they weren’t out celebrating, the other residents had already gone to bed. I pulled the rope Fisk had bought for me from my pack, and secured it around the chimney before tossing the end over the side.

  The glow from the lamplights didn’t reach the back alley, so I hoped Bavol had remembered to open the back window. Clutching the rope, I shimmied down the side of the house and was relieved to find the window open. I climbed into Petal’s room with the utmost care. Inside the room, I stilled and listened to her breathing, steady with the occasional snore. I yanked on the rope, then held it stable while Uncle slid down. He joined me in the room with a thump. We both froze until Petal resumed her even breathing.

  Bavol, awake and ready, waited for us in his room. Uncle slipped into bed, pulling the blankets up to his neck and the Councilor came with me to the back window. Living in the jungle canopy all his life, Bavol had no trouble ascending the rope. I followed.

  Traveling over the rooftops proved to be ideal. Eventually, we climbed down to the ground. When we came within sight of the north gate, we found a place to hide. No traffic. I worried, and the longer the gate remained empty the greater my fear.

  As I tried to decide if we should risk crossing through, a group of obviously inebriated men and women approached. With loud voices, a few of the group decided they wanted to go outside the Citadel, and a discussion ensued, leading to a fight.

  When the guards became entangled in the brawl, Bavol and I slipped through the gate unnoticed. Once out of sight of the guardhouse, we ran. Our time was limited.

  We reached Valek’s cottage and I hoped we would be far enough away from the Citadel and the Warpers.

  Kiki whinnied in her stall and I opened my mind to her.

  Lavender Lady safe, she said with contentment. Ghost upset.

  I’ll talk later. No time right now. I hustled Bavol into the cottage. Valek sat on the couch, his expression set into cold fury.

  I ignored his anger. He of all people should know the nature of this operation lent itself to unforeseen circumstances. However, I knew why Bavol’s face blanched when he spotted Valek on the couch.

  “You set me up,” he said, taking a step back.

  “Relax, Bavol. If Valek was going to assassinate the Council, you would be dead by now. He’s helping me.”

  Valek snorted. “I am? Funny how I forgot. Or is it because someone forgot about me?” Sarcasm spiked each word.

  Again, I ignored his fury and filled him in on what Bavol had told me. His face lost some of his ire as he considered the new information.

  “Bavol, sit down. Close your eyes. Think of your daughter,” I ordered.

  When he settled on the couch, I reached for power. Touching the source caused a sudden rush of relief. I hadn’t used magic in two days and reconnecting felt like being wrapped tight in my mother’s arms.

  I projected my awareness to Bavol. His loving thoughts dwelled on his little girl. She appeared to be around eight years old. Strands of gold streaked her long brown hair and a spattering of freckles dotted her warm maple-colored cheeks. A beautiful child, she twirled with delight after being presented with a piece of sap candy.

  Through Bavol, I reached toward Jenniqilla. Within the memory, her happiness over the candy matched her joy over spending time with her father. I pushed past the memory and tried to find the girl.

  She missed her father with a painful desperation. Cold and hungry, she wanted her father and mother more than food or heat. She rocked back and forth, trying to soothe the child in her arms. The two-year-old boy’s crying had set off a chain reaction among the children in the room. A woman paced with a year-old baby girl and the man tried to cajole another two-year-old.

  The gloomy light in the wooden room came from small cracks between the gray boards. The area contained no furniture and only two slop pots had been placed behind a ripped screen. From the harsh acidic smell, the pots hadn’t been emptied in a while. A coating of grime clung to Jenniqilla’s skin and she promised herself she would never fuss at her mother about bathing again. An icy chill seeped into her legs and back from the dirt floor.

  Jenniqilla, I said in her mind. Where are you?

  She glanced around, wondering if someone had called her name. Seeing no one, she continued to sing to Leevi.

  I’m your cousin, Yelena. I need to know where you are so I can help you and the others.

  She remembered how her second cousin was taken long ago, but had returned. If she got away, than I can, too, she thought.

  Jenniqilla was too young to access the power source. She couldn’t communicate with me directly, but she felt the intentions of my power. She remembered her kidnapping. Somehow, she had lost sight of her mother at the market. As she wandered around, searching for Mama a man dressed in the loose tunic of the Sandseed clan picked her up. Before she could yell, he clamped a sweet-smelling rag over her mouth and nose.

  Jenniqilla woke inside a box and cried for Mama. A man banged on the wood and threatened to kill her if she didn’t shut up. She felt movement and when the box stopped and opened, the same Sandseed man pulled her out and brought her to an old dilapidated barn smelling of rot. Within the barn was another structure. This one smelled like sawed wood and had shiny locks on the door.

  When they shoved her through the door, dark shapes moved in the corners. Distraught and confused, she cried. A woman materialized from one of those black forms and took Jenniqilla into her arms. After she had quieted, the woman, Gale Stormdance, explained to her why they all were there.

  Ask Gale where you are, I encouraged Jenniqilla.

  But Gale wasn’t sure. “I think somewhere in Bloodgood’s lands,” she said. Her face grew thoughtful, and I projected myself toward her and encountered a magical defensive barrier.

  She stared at Jenniqilla in shock but lowered her defenses tentatively.

  I’m here to help, I said to Gale, explaining who I was and how I had found her.

  Thank goodness, she said. I’ve been hoping a Keep magician would look for us. Why did it take so long?

  I updated her on what I knew, then asked her again about her whereabouts.

  I only had a brief glimpse. I sensed her frustration.

  Visualize the area around the barn for me.

  Forest-covered hills loomed behind the barn and a large stone farmhouse was located to the right. Something odd had caught her eye on the left. A glint of sunlight off a crimson-colored pond. The shape, though, had been stranger than the color. Her mind sifted through all the panic and fear of being hauled out of a crate and taken inside to find the required image.

  A diamond, she exclaimed. The pond is shaped like a diamond.

  It was a start. I thanked her for her help and promised to find them.

  I pulled away from Gale, away from Jenniqilla and back to Bavol. A thin filament looped around my mind as I returned to Bavol. As if another power had caught me in a parasitic embrace.

  Through Bavol’s confused mind, I returned to my body. Valek had disappeared and the smell of smoke burned my nose. I rushed to the window.

  The stable was on fire.

  CHAPTER 27

  “KIKI!” I SCREAMED, running. The image of her trapped in her stall and engulfed by flames filled my vision.

  A voice yelled my name.

  A black horse stood in the pasture.

  A Daviian Warper coaxed the blaze higher. Brighter. Hotter.

  It didn’t matter.

  The parasite in my mind had gained control.
<
br />   I ran straight into the stable, diving into the fire.

  The heat burned my face and seared the inside of my nose. Flames danced with delight on my cloak, eating the fibers in gleeful disregard. The soles of my boots melted. The smoke robbed air from my lungs. My throat closed.

  Hot knives of pain stabbed into my skin. Layers burned off in sheets of torment. The sound of boiling blood sizzled in my ears.

  Pleasure followed pain and the colors of my world turned from white-hot and blinding yellow into bloodred and ice-black.

  I marveled at my surroundings. Lit with a soft gray light, the flat world extended for miles in every direction. With reluctance, I glanced at my body, expecting to see a burnt corpse, but was surprised to find no damage. A weightless feeling tingled, and my arms and legs were slightly transparent.

  A ghost perhaps? Was I in the shadow world? Then where were the others? All the Sandseeds who waited for me. Perhaps they had been a figment of Moon Man’s imagination.

  A soft laugh sounded beside me.

  “You don’t see them because you have chosen not to see them,” a voice said.

  A voice I feared more than anything. The Fire Warper stood next to me. He had lost his cloak of flames and appeared as an ordinary man. Broad shouldered with short dark hair, he stood as tall as Moon Man. His skin gleamed as if carved from coal.

  He raised his arm to me. “Go ahead, touch it. It’s not hard.”

  I hesitated. “You read my mind?”

  He laughed again. “No. I read the question in your eyes. Despite your fear, you’re curious. An admirable trait.”

  The Fire Warper stroked my arm with his fingertips. I jerked away.

  “So afraid of being burned. I knew I needed a big fire to attract my little bat. It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

  “Bad enough.” Caught here with him, my fear turned to resignation.

  He seemed delighted with my response. Gesturing around, he said, “So what do you think of my fire world? Rather dull?”

  “Yes. I thought it would be…” I scanned the featureless plain, with black ground and crimson sky.

  “Hotter? Filled with burning souls? That you would be welcomed by your old tormentor, Reyad, for an eternity of rape and torture?”

  “Filled with souls,” I agreed. Drawn into the fire before, I had seen others.

  “That’s because you were with Moon Man. He has chosen to see those unfortunate souls. They’ve all lived colorful stories of life. You block them from your mind. Unwilling to see and unwilling for Moon Man to show you.”

  “I saw them in the shadow world, and relieved him of those painful images,” I protested.

  “Really? Do they haunt your dreams? Are you working with Moon Man to soothe them?” He paused and, when I didn’t answer, he smiled. “Of course not! You have locked them away just like you have pushed Moon Man and your brother out of your life. Soon Valek will follow.”

  “At least they’ll be safe.”

  “No one is safe.”

  Tired of his wordplay, I asked him what he wanted.

  The amusement dropped from his face in an instant. “The sky.”

  I stared at him.

  “I rule the fire world. I now have control over the shadow world, thanks to those Daviian magicians. And even though the shadow world is a borderland between fire and sky, I still can’t access the sky.”

  “Why?”

  “Because once I rule the sky, I can return to the living world.”

  Horror rolled through me. “What’s in the sky?”

  “The source of all magic.”

  I didn’t quite understand. All magicians had access to the power source. Would he block others from using it?

  “You know so little of magic,” he said. His expression was incredulous.

  I peered at him. His face had changed from smooth to covered with burn scars. His skin rippled as if melting.

  “Why do you need me?”

  “You’re the only one who can get me into the sky.”

  “And why would I do that?”

  “Because this is what I’ll do to your family and friends.”

  He touched my arm. Burning pain seared up my shoulder and encompassed my head. My eyes turned hot and dry. The other occupants of the fire world became visible through a shimmering veil of heat.

  Souls writhed in pain, dancing as if flames clinging to a log. Twisting and contorting, their misery pulsed off them in waves. The force of their emotions slammed into me. I stepped back into the Fire Warper’s embrace.

  He pointed to the different souls. “A few belong here, like Hetoo and Makko. Others were sent by the Daviians to feed me. Increased my power so much I can travel into the shadow world and steal more souls.” He dragged me through the sea of suffering. “Your brother would add nicely to my collection. His magic is strong. Moon Man.” He savored the Story Weaver’s name. “Would bring me a cooling blue power. Combined, your mother and father would give me a boost. But I’ll let them all live if you help me.”

  “If I help you, you’ll be able to rule the living world, so how does that save them?”

  “I’ll show them special favor.”

  I knew they wouldn’t agree. Yet spending eternal life in complete misery wasn’t an attractive alternative.

  The Fire Warper released me. The souls faded from sight and the dull plain reappeared.

  “Much better, isn’t it?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “This could be your eternity. It’s not very interesting, but it is safe. However…”

  I leaned forward.

  “You could live in the sky. It’s peaceful and filled with contentment and joy.”

  “Until you join them.”

  “I only need to use them for a while. Once I’ve returned to the living, I will let you preside over their happiness.”

  An appealing prospect, except he had changed his story and I knew then I couldn’t trust anything he said or promised. Being dead hadn’t released me from my responsibilities at all. Perhaps if I went into the sky, I could tap into the power source and stop him.

  “What would I have to do?” I asked.

  “You need to find a soul on its way to the sky and follow it.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll be with you.”

  I looked at him in confusion.

  “When you go to the sky, you’ll be able to explore all aspects of magic. But to get there, you need to draw a soul to you. You know how to do that. Once you have the soul, step into the fire. Come to me and together we will go to the sky,” he explained.

  “But I’m dead already. Why can’t I take one of the souls that doesn’t belong here?”

  He shook his head. “You must come under your own volition. You’re not dead. I pulled you from the flames before they could consume your body. Besides, all these souls belong here. They don’t deserve to be in the sky.”

  Another contradiction. I didn’t know what to believe. And his motives were unclear, so I asked him, “Why do you want to go back to the living world?”

  His burned face creased with anger. Fire erupted on his shoulders. “He sent me here to spend an eternity in misery. But his descendant released me, fed me power in exchange for knowledge and obedience. My master is strong, but not that strong. I have exceeded my savior’s power. Now I want to regain my life that had been stolen from me.”

  “Who sent you here?”

  “An Efe traitor named Guyan. Now do we have an agreement? If not, then you will remain here.” He shrugged as if my decision didn’t concern him too much.

  Guyan’s name was familiar to me. He was Gede’s ancestor. So my new Story Weaver was in league with the Fire Warper. Perhaps Gede was also their leader Jal. I would have to remember that tidbit the next time I had a lesson scheduled with Gede. I choked out a laugh. At this point, there would be no future sessions for me.

  I scanned the flat plain, peering into the red-tinged light. A gray shape swooped from the air
. It dived and danced over a figure. I moved closer. The shape was a bat. But there weren’t any insects or sources of heat to warrant its actions. Yet it picked and yanked at the figure. Another torture on the poor soul?

  “What do you see, Yelena?” the Fire Warper asked. “Your future?”

  “Perhaps.” I turned away.

  “Will you come back?”

  “Yes.”

  He held out his hand. I grasped it. My world melted in a blaze of heat and cooled just as quickly in a swirl of ash and smoke. I lay among the ruins of the stable. Charred beams rested in crooked angles, twisted pieces of blackened metal littered the floor, and the scorched smell of burnt leather hung in the air.

  I stumbled from the still-warm pile of wood. Singed holes peppered my clothes and soot streaked my skin. My cloak was gone. The hair on my arms had been burned away. I reached for my head, stopping when I encountered half-burnt stubble instead of hair.

  My ruined boots crunched on the remains of the stable and shuffled through ash-filled puddles as I walked out, seeking Kiki. No response to either my mental or physical calls.

  A loud bang sounded behind me and I turned to see Valek standing in the doorway of the cottage.

  I laughed at his expression of complete and utter surprise. Then my legs turned to liquid as I realized what I would really lose when I kept my promise to the Fire Warper. My efforts were so focused on trying to protect him—protect everyone—I hadn’t considered the cost of keeping them safe. I fell.

  He was beside me in an instant. Caressing my face with a feather-light touch, he looked uncertain.

  “Are you real?” he asked. “Or just some cruel joke?”

  “I’m real. A real simpleton, Valek. I should never have said…I should never have done…” I drew in a deep breath. “Forgive me, please?”

  “Would you promise never to do it again?” he asked.

  “Sorry, I can’t.”

  “Then you certainly are real. A real pain in the ass, but that’s who I fell in love with.” He pulled me close.

  I clung to him with my ear pressed against his chest. The beat of his heart, steady and solid, comforted me. His soul, nestled within its chambers, was unreachable with my magic, but he had given it to me freely.