Feudlings In Smoke (Fate On Fire Short Story)

by Knight, Wendy

  “Are you ready for this?” Ward asked next to him.

  Will looked up in shock. “What are you doing here?” Here was an outcropping of trees just beyond what had once been Ada Aleshire's home. The Carules boy she'd scorned had burned it to the ground, killing everyone in it except the Duke of Adlington, Ada's father. By the time Ada had arrived, it had been too late to save anyone. Now, there were the ancient bones of a stone structure and charred, broken trees that seemed frozen in time. And covering it all were warriors from both sides, locked in a desperate fight. If there was such a thing as a battle to end all battles, this seemed the place to have it.

  “I'm here to fight with you. I can't defeat my own Prodigy, but I can get you to Ari.” Ward, who hadn't fought in a battle in over a decade, looked mighty confident in his abilities.

  “It's too dangerous—”

  “Shut up, Will. I love Ari, too. She's just like a sister to me. I'm not going to stand by while she's slaughtered.”

  Will clapped him on the back. He didn't have time to argue, and really, he didn't want to. “Fair enough. How do we find her?” They both looked out over the battle, swarming with thousands of bodies, riddled with screams of the dying as the ground soaked with ash-covered blood.

  “You look for the most smoke.”

  The most smoke, because Ari moved so quickly and could burn five spells in the time it took a regular warrior to burn one. And if Ari moved like that, it stood to reason that the Carules Prodigy did, also. And the most smoke was, of course, as far away from Will as it could possibly get.

  Awesome.

  “The way I see it, we have two options. We go straight through, trying not to get hit by stray spells while not fighting back because,” Ward gave him a pitying look, “one spell from you and everyone'll be trying to kill us.”

  “Yeah. Thanks,” Will muttered. He could smell the burning flesh now. The smell made him remember why he'd quit the war in the first place. He didn't believe in killing.

  But he did believe in saving.

  “Or, we scout around, try to stay outside the fight, and see if we can get closer before we cut it. Sounds longer, but it'll probably actually be faster.” Ward smiled grimly at him.

  “When did you become a master battle planner?” Will asked, scanning the throes of battle below him. “We'll have to go around. See that cliff?”

  Ward squinted, because the smoke was so thick it was hard to see in the distance, but finally nodded. “Yeah, I see it.”

  “Ari's below it.”

  “You're saying we throw ourselves off the cliff? We're sorcerers, Will. Not birds. Won't do Ari any good if we're dead at her feet.” He rubbed his bald head nervously, and Will belatedly remembered that Ward was afraid of heights.

  “No. We aren't going to throw ourselves off it. Just I am.”

  Ward snorted. “And leave me looking like a coward? I don't think so. Let's go.”

  They backtracked several yards into thicker trees. Sprinting through the close-set branches was difficult, but they'd wasted too much time talking. Will kept his eyes on the smoke, and as they rounded the battle and started climbing the hill that led to the cliff, he could see Ari's bright red flames. There were no matching blue ones, though. Not yet.

  The hike on this side wasn't bad. There was the barest hint of a path, like a road had existed here once. Will hit it and started running, focused only on the battle waiting for him on the other side. Too focused to see what was right in front of him.

  “Will, look out!” Ward tackled him from behind as a spell blasted over his head, slamming into the trees. Another came just after it, and he felt it slam into Ward, his body heaving. His friend grunted in pain. Will rolled him off, scrambling to his knees as more spells came. There were two Carules just hidden in the shadows. “I got… this. Go, Will.” Ward gasped.

  Ari needed him, but he couldn't leave Ward, either. Rage at the war, at the Carules, at the fighting and unfairness and even at Ari for breaking her promise, rage at all these things overtook him and he threw his hands up, flames bursting from his fingers and his palms. The wall of fire raced toward the Carules, too fast for them to move. As their screaming died, Will dug his phone out of his pocket and hit send and started counting down. At “one”, he burned the saldepement into the air and gasped in relief when the doorway shimmered open.

  “Will? You found her — Ward!” Dani cried.

  “I'm okay. Tell Will… shut the door…” Ward could barely talk through the pain, and Will could see the spell still burning through Ward's thick gear.

  Will picked him up under his arms and dragged his friend through the portal. “Call the healers, Dani. I have to go back.”

  She nodded, already digging for her phone as Will jumped back through and closed the doorway behind him.

  He was more careful this time as he raced the rest of the way up the hill. He watched the shadows and the trees for any sign of movement or spark, but there was none. It took him several seconds to realize that the screaming from the battle had stopped. Was it over? Had he missed it all?

  And then an awful thought hit him. Was there no screaming because Ari was dead? Had the Carules Prodigy and his Guard killed her while Will fought two roaming warriors on the wrong side of the hill? Terror propelled him forward and he sprinted the rest of the way to the top, skidding to a halt before he threw himself over the side.

  His eyes landed on her bright red flames immediately. The reason the field was silent was because everyone had stopped fighting to watch them.

  The Carules Prodigy and his Guard had found her, and the Carules formed a tight circle around them. They still fought, throwing spells at Ari every chance they got. In the few seconds Will watched, he saw her get hit twice.

  Finally, the Edrens on the outside burst into action, fighting their way through the tight circle, trying to help their own Prodigy. “It's about time, you blasted—” before he could think of an awful enough word, he leaped over the side of the cliff. It was steep, but not a freefall. He half-ran, half-tumbled down the sharp face, until he landed on his knees right above them, close enough to hear the weird, dislocated voice of the Prodigy scream, “This ends now!”

  Ari answered with a spell thrown right at the Prodigy's heart, a vicious lirik that sought to finish him forever. He threw himself to the side as his Guard attacked. It was like watching the most horrific choreographed dance Will could ever imagine.

  He pushed himself to his feet and jumped.

  He landed hard on the ground just beyond the circle. He had to get in to her. Now. He threw his hands up, and his flames responded, exploding from his palms, feeding off his fury and desperation. The Carules in front of him burst into screaming, writhing masses of flames and the circle broke apart as they sought to escape.

  He saw Ari's shrouded head jerk toward him, and by the way her entire body tensed, he knew she recognized him. Oh yeah, if he lived through this, she would kill him for it. “Get out of here!” he screamed at her, but she ignored him, backing up until she stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

  They turned and faced the Prodigy together. Not so tough now that you don't outnumber her, are you?

  The rush of the battle was upon him and his blood practically sung. He burst into action, his hands moving faster than he thought possible. He threw spells at everything except Ari, because everything except Ari was trying to kill him.

  That got the Guard's attention. Will pushed a lirik at the Prodigy and spun out of the way as the Guard turned his attack from Ari to Will. Ari threw herself in front of him, dodging flames from random Carules warriors, and threw a masas. A spell that attacked multiple targets at once.

  And Ari was the only one who could throw them.

  The Prodigy and his Guard dove out of the way and Will sucked in a breath before he willed the sparks to his fingers again, burning his next spell in the air. He went to shove it toward the still-recovering Prodigy, but Ari was there, in between them. Protecting him. And in his way
.

  “You need to go!” she screamed, the voice hers, but not hers, disguised by the shroud. He ignored her as she had him, but she'd distracted him just enough that the Guard was able to get around her. He threw a spell before Will had time to dodge out of the way, and he turned just as it slammed into him, spinning him completely around. He staggered, the pain nearly causing him to fall, but through a sheer force of will he stayed on his feet, only to see that the Edrens had realized who he was and had turned their attention from the Carules to him.

  Awesome.

  Ari swore, which, had the situation not been so dire, would have been highly amusing in her odd, dislocated voice. She threw her hands out and wards bloomed to life between them and the Edrens. Between them and the Carules, as well. She locked everyone out.

  Except the Prodigy and his Guard.

  Both of whom were frozen, staring in confusion at the wards. Perhaps they didn't use wards where they came from. Or maybe they just weren't thrilled with their odds now that they didn't have everyone on the field attacking their enemies.

  Will leapt forward, burning another lirik, ready to push it at the Guard, and Ari was there, between them again. Protecting him. In his way. Again.

  He bellowed, a wordless, frustrated noise, before he yelled at her. “Work with me, will ya?”

  She jerked toward him, as if dumbfounded that he could possibly not want her right in front of him. She nodded and they turned just as another spell shot past her and into Will's shoulder. He started to fall, but as he did Ari's hand shot out, catching his wrist and he spun, burning a spell as he did, and threw it at the Prodigy as he came around.

  It missed him, but hit the Guard. The big form went down hard and didn't move. The Prodigy raced to his side, turning his back on Ari and Will both. Ari grabbed his distraction and used it, burning a lirik and shoving forward. At the last possible second, the Prodigy threw himself backward and the lirik flew harmlessly over his head, smashing into the invisible wards beyond him, raining to the ground in a shower of sparks.

  Beyond the walls, the rest of the battle had fallen silent as each side, too exhausted to continue, watched in fascinated horror as the most powerful sorcerers ever to walk the earth fought with everything they had to kill each other and end a centuries-long war.

  The Prodigy didn't have time to get up before Ari was attacking again, but he shoved a spell at her from the ground. She danced easily out of the way, already burning her next spell. Will joined her, burning spells that worked with Ari's, weaving around the Prodigy, tightening like ropes of flames, ensnaring him, trapping him. Ari had only to throw one lirik and the entire war would be over. The Prodigy would die by her hand, and the prophecy would be fulfilled.

  She burned it into the air, more slowly than before, as if she was relishing this last spell. It seared the air in front of her, and she pushed it, watching as it closed the distance between them. The Prodigy struggled, the flames flexing around him, almost shattering, but they held. His hands were literally tied. He could not fight back.

  And then a portal bloomed to life behind the Prodigy, and several figures—Council Members, if Will had to guess, swarmed through. A saldepement burned in front of the Guard, who had somehow managed to sit up without Ari or Will noticing. The Carules surrounded the Prodigy. One of them screamed as Ari's lirik hit him instead of his Prodigy, and he burst into flames, like a human inferno. His screaming seemed to jolt the rest of them into action, and they fought back, throwing spells as they dragged their Prodigy through the portal.

  Their spells fell like sand, useless against Ari's anger.

  Ari screamed like a demon and threw herself at the doorway, but it was gone before she got there.

  Will reached for his phone, found it covered in his blood. He hadn't realized how badly he was wounded until now. He hit send, fought to stay focused as he counted down, and burned a saldepement of his own. The doorway shimmered to life and Dani stood on the other side, pale, shaking, terrified, but there, always there.

  “Ari!” he yelled and she turned, and even grey and faceless she seemed lost and confused. “Come on!”

  She jogged after him as he stumbled through the doorway to safety.

  The healers were waiting. “Heal her first,” he groaned as he collapsed on the steps outside his house. He dropped his head into his hands and fought to stay conscious. All of a sudden, he was so tired. So very tired.

  “Not a chance. He's hurt worse than I am.” Ari growled when the healers attempted to ignore her, and they scurried to Will's side. She fell to her knees next to him. “Dani, can you get rid of the shroud so we can see better where he's hurt?”

  He looked for Dani, and she was there, pulling the shroud off of him before her warm blue flames joining with the others, healing him. “You're going to be okay, Will,” she whispered, but tears still streaked her cheeks.

  “Can you fix him?” Ari whispered, and for the first time Will could remember, he saw fear in her eyes.

  Ward jogged up behind them before anyone could answer her, seemingly in perfect health. “Why didn't anyone tell me they were back? Am I not the best healer we have?” He shoved his way to Will's side, and instantly Will felt the flames mending his wounds, weaving him back together even as they warred with his red Edren blood.

  “Yes, Ari. He will be fine,” Dani cried, more tears soaking her cheeks as her shoulders shook with silent, grateful sobs.

  Ari leaned her head against Will's good side, and he was shocked to feel her trembling. “You, dear brother,” she said, her voice barely above a shaky whisper, “are in so. Much. Trouble.” She paused, tipping her head back but unwilling to move away from him. “And Will? I always knew… if I needed you, you would be there. And you were. Thank you.”

  About the Author

  Wendy Knight was born and raised in Utah by a wonderful family who spoiled her rotten because she was the baby. Now she spends her time driving her husband crazy with her many eccentricities (no water after five, terror when faced with a live phone call, no touching the knives…you get the idea). She also enjoys chasing her three adorable kids, playing tennis, watching football, reading, and hiking. Camping is also big—her family is slowly working toward a goal of seeing all the National Parks in the U.S.

  You can usually find her with at least one Pepsi nearby, wearing ridiculously high heels for whatever the occasion. And if everything works out just right, she will also be writing.

  Also from Wendy Knight

  Chapter One

  Please don’t let him be here today. Please don’t let him be here today.

  He was there.

  Of course he was there; he was always there. Trey didn’t miss class. For a few seconds Scout debated on backing herself right out the door and skipping class, but Kylin shoved past her, nearly knocking Scout into the wall. Scout gritted her teeth but bit back a reply. Getting in a fight with Trey’s girlfriend right before her first class of the day? Not a great way to start her morning.

  It was zoology, and it would have been her favorite period if she didn’t have the privilege of sharing it with Trey and Kylin. Scout pushed her light brown waves over her shoulder, straightened her spine and stalked in, choosing a seat as far away from her ex-boyfriend as she could.

  It wasn’t that she minded Kylin. The problem was that Kylin minded Scout. It made things a tad awkward when they shared a class. Happily, Scout and Trey were both content to pretend the other didn’t exist, so she didn’t have to deal with him much.

  Mr. Zornes, the teacher, breezed into the room. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, refusing to give in to the whole stuffy ‘teacher’ thing. “Morning, guys. Get comfortable, we’ve got tests to go over.”

  Almost the entire class groaned. Scout didn’t groan because she was fairly confident she did well on the test. And if she had to guess, she’d say Trey didn’t groan either, but she refused to look at him to check. They were battling over the highest grade in the class and leaving everyone else way b
ehind. Scout planned it that way — because when Mr. Zornes assigned partners for the science fair, he would assign the highest grade with the lowest. That was the way he’d always done it. Scout was making sure there wasn’t a snowball’s chance she’d get stuck with Trey. Never mind the fact she loved every second she was in the lead. Was she bitter about their breakup?

  Not at all.

  They’d broken up over a year ago. She didn’t care. She wasn’t still in love with him. She wasn’t still devastated over his complete and absolute crushing of her heart.

  Not at all.

  “Scout, not surprisingly, got the highest in the class with a 98%. Congratulations.” Mr. Zornes winked as he dropped the test on her desk, and she smiled. She had worked her tail off studying for that test. Mr. Zornes passed the rest of the tests out without comment; he wasn’t cruel, and he didn’t want to draw attention to someone who hadn’t done well.

  “So.” Mr. Zornes leaned on the edge of his desk, scanning the room. “I’ll give you a minute to go over your tests, and then we’ll go through them together. That will leave us with just enough time to assign partners for the science fair.” The class buzzed as they went through their exams. Scout flipped through hers and found the two questions she’d missed. Mentally she shrugged because they were hard questions.

  It was Mr. Zornes’ policy to go over every test and show them the correct answers. He believed they learned better that way. He might have been right, if anyone actually paid attention. Scout tuned out and popped back in when he got to the two she missed, taking notes so she could study for the final. She had to beat Trey on the final. It was still eight months away. She didn’t care.

  “So, the bell’s gonna ring any minute. Let’s hurry and get you paired up. We’re doing things a little differently this time.” He grinned like he should be congratulated, but Scout’s heart started hammering in her chest. “In the past, I’ve always done pairs according to percentages — highest with lowest, hoping that the student with the higher grade could have an opportunity to help teach their peer. But it’s occurred to me that this isn’t the way things are happening.”