When they were halfway above the lake, Luc whispered into Macey's ear, "I won't be getting the others. From here on, you have to go alone."
It took a moment for his words to register.
"No, you can't do that!" she protested, her voice almost a scream. "Get them now!"
"You may not trust me, but I'm your daimon," he said coldly. "I know what's best for you."
"You bleeding don't!" she shouted. "We need to stick together!"
"No, you don't. The lampads will not show themselves as long as the men are with you. You do want to rescue your Fire Warden, don't you?"
"But..." The protest was ripped from Macey's throat when Luc let her go and she fell the last three feet onto hard ground. They were on another stone ledge, the only way forwards a narrow tunnel. This one was different though, it looked more planned and precise, less natural. There were rough chisel marks on the walls. Someone had built this tunnel.
"Now go," Luc said, his voice suddenly filled with urgency. "Something is coming for your men and if they know you're waiting over here, they won't leave."
"Just fly them here!" Macey demanded, but the daimon had already flown away into the darkness.
She groaned in frustration.
"Jared!" she screamed, hoping her voice would echo through the cavern. "Rónàn! Cam!"
There was no response, no matter how hard she listened. The water down below seemed to suck up all the sounds. She was alone.
Illustration: Lampad
Chapter 5
She stared at the other side for another moment, but saw and heard nothing.
"Guess I really am doing this alone," she muttered.
As much as she didn't like it, she also knew Luc was right. She had to do this bit alone. She'd known from the beginning that the lampads weren't going to give her anything if she didn't do this alone. Though she had hoped that she'd be able to have her men with her up until the last moment.
Trusting herself, she turned her back on the cliff her men still stood on and made her way down the path. The salt smell of the sea disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving a pang of longing in its place. She missed having water around her, but that was nothing new. She was glad her men had a house with a swimming pool she could use, otherwise leaving the water for them would be torture, no matter how much she loved them.
A chill stole over her and sent shivers down her spine. That wasn't right. She didn't feel the cold, it was part of her kelpie nature. Which could only mean one thing. It wasn't natural. But it also didn't make sense, the lampads were fire creatures, they shouldn't be making her feel so cold. It just made no sense.
She turned a corner, the small, tight path not getting any wider. Shadows flickered against the walls, though Macey wasn't sure what caused them. While she could see, she couldn't work out where the light was coming from. Considering she was magical herself, she was really starting to dislike everything else to do with it.
Another corner came, but around this one, she found the first evidence of flames, though these ones were eerie blue and filled the hall with creepy light. Macey found she preferred the mystery from before.
"Hello?" she called out.
All she got was crackles in return. She scowled. That wasn't what she'd had in mind.
"My name is Macey," she shouted. "I'm the Water Warden. I've come seeking your assistance in a matter of great importance," she added, hoping it would spur the lampads on to appear rather than just doing their vague fire thing. It just wasn't a good sign.
She stepped forward again, the path finally opening up into a wider room. The whole place was carved into stone, but there was nothing natural about it. This was a place made by man or magic. Macey would put her money on the latter of the two. The fires still crackled, echoing around the room as they increased in their ferocity.
"Please, I've come here for your help, to submit to whatever test you wish to give me." And she was really fed up with all the cryptic magical nonsense.
A fire spurted up from the ground, causing Macey to jump backwards to avoid being burned. The brightness ebbed away, leaving a writhing woman in the flames. No. Not in the flames. The woman was made of them. Her whole body a crackling swirling mass of sparks. If Macey hadn't been able to see it with her own eyes, then she'd never have believed it to be possible.
Which was a little idiotic given she'd seen people made of clouds before.
"Hello?" she asked again, nerves cracking her voice and revealing her apprehension.
"Hello, Macey. Warden of Water." The voice didn't sound like one person, but like a chorus of voices all singing in unison.
"I'm here seeking an audience with the lampads."
"Then you've come to the right place," the woman answered.
"Are you one?"
"No, I am but an apparition. I am the gatekeeper to the lampads."
"May I see them?" she asked, confused but determined.
"Not yet. You must pass a test first."
"I thought I didn't have to pass any tests until they knew what I wanted?" She cocked her head to the side and tried to discern the fire woman's expression.
"That is true. But you may not see them without passing a test first."
"I've had enough of bloody tests," Macey muttered to herself. "Tell me what I must do," she directed at the fire-woman.
"In order to reach the lampads, you must pass through the tunnel of fire."
"Okay." Macey nodded, not wanting to admit how terrifying that sounded. She might be a being of water, but she imagined that magical fire could still burn her. And if it did...well, it wouldn't be as easy to heal her as it was to heal Jared.
"The entrance is to your left, Water Warden. You may not use magic. You must not stop. You must not answer any of the calls."
Dread flowed through Macey at the instructions. What could she be about to face if that was the list of things she couldn't do.
"I understand," she acknowledged.
"Then proceed." The fire-woman lifted her arm and waved to the entrance, which turned out to be nothing more than another cave entrance.
The main difference was that this cave was covered in a ring of fire. One Macey knew she'd have to step through.
"Thank you for your guidance."
"You're welcome, Water Warden."
Macey nodded, but said nothing else. She stepped towards the cave, her heart pounding in her throat. She didn't want to be scared, but there was a part of her that was. She didn't know what lay in wait for her beyond this cave and from the sound of it, she didn't want to either.
The heat batted against her skin as she stepped through the entrance. She closed her eyes, mustering up all of the courage she could.
The flames were even hotter within and she tried to ignore the overbearing heat of it all.
Before her, the flames began to rise, forming shapes within them. Shapes she recognised.
An orca dived between a sea of fire waves. A beithir flew high above. Selkies, cat-sith...just about every other creature she'd met on her journey appeared in the flames.
While she longed to stop and see what else she could spot, she knew she had to ignore them. They weren't real. They were just apparitions sent to distract her from her purpose.
"Macey!" someone called.
She ignored it.
"Macey!" another voice called.
She swallowed hard. She recognised those voices. She knew them as well as she knew her own. She tried to ignore them. She tried to remind herself they weren't real, but the voices continued to shout and she wanted to answer them. She'd never ignored her men's pleas before. It didn't feel right to do that now.
"Macey!" This time, it was Amber's voice calling, but she didn't sound in distress. She sounded gloating. "Macey!" she called again, drawing out her name.
Knowing she had to ignore it, Macey carried on down her path, one step after another, her focus on getting to the other side and meeting the lampads.
"Your fate was so tragic," Am
ber called. "Died trying to save one of the people you loved. It's a shame you weren't enough. But that just left more for me. All we had to do was invest someone else as the Water Warden. So easy to replace." Amber's voice came out like a sneer, and unlike any Amber Macey had ever encountered.
She ignored her, even as jealousy tugged within her. She knew she wasn't as easily replaced as that, either in her men's hearts, or in her position as one of the Seven Wardens. She also knew Amber was far too happy with her mage to go after Macey's men for herself. The beithir just wasn't that way inclined.
"Our hearts were easily given again," Cam's voice came. "We've shared before, we'll share again. Sharing with Izban is a small price to pay for someone's love."
"I had to do it, Macey. Losing you was too much for me to take. I'm an incubus, I need someone who is always going to be there to sate me. And you weren't. You were too busy saving another man for my needs. Amber is everything I truly need and desire."
"She sparked my flame to life," Flint joined in. "Not like your water dousing flames. She can create them."
Macey's gut twisted in on itself as she listened to the cat-calls of the fake apparitions. They just wanted to stop her on her journey. The lampads had chosen their test well. It sent needles of pain through her heart unlike any she'd ever experienced before. There was no way she could ignore this, and yet she knew she had to.
A tear splashed onto the floor and gave a hiss as it evaporated into the air. The heat was crazy and Macey was surprised it hadn't burned through her shoes and clothing already.
If this was the test just to meet the lampads, then she dreaded to think what they had in store for her once they heard what she wanted.
"I was never sure if you loved me as much as the others. I came in later after all. And I'm not a Warden. It was easy for me to accept that role. I'm another water being after all. And with me as the Water Warden, with Amber at the centre, we can be Wardens in truth," Rónàn sneered.
Another tear fell.
"Why did you have to leave?" Izban demanded. "Now I have to share the woman I love. You left, and now she has everyone and everything. Yet another thing you ruined for me."
"Ruined?" Cam laughed. "It's hardly ruined. Everything is how it was meant to be. The Wardens are one in spirit as well as in body."
"I'm sorry, Macey. Please forgive me," Jared begged. "I had no choice. It was this or die myself and the world needs the Wardens."
"I did consider returning to the selkies, but then Amber visited me at night. We..."
Macey clapped her hands over her ears, hoping to block out the sounds of their voices. Her tears were falling thick and fast as what they were saying broke through her defenses, shredding her heart to pieces over and over again. Each time she managed to remind herself she was just being tested, something else would break through her defences and shatter it over and over again.
If the lampads couldn't help her, then she was going to be left broken and shattered. A shell of her past self.
"Macey, don't listen, you're nearly there." Luc's voice was soft and reassuring.
She looked up to find the daimon's figure in the flames. His expression was one of pity. She hoped it was just another part of the magic and not something he could actually witness and react to.
She said nothing, knowing she couldn't or she would fail.
Some things were more important than her broken heart. And this was one of them.
She took a deep breath, almost searing her throat in the process because the air was so hot, and ran, ignoring the voices, holding her heart pieces together as best as she could. Letting go was not an option. She felt like she was about to fall apart and that would have meant the end of not just her, but of Flint as well. Even if he was with Amber... no. He wasn't. It was all just a trick, an illusion created to throw her off her path. If she didn't complete this quest, he might never recover, and without their Fire Warden, their fight against the Mahoun and his siblings was looking bleak. This was more important than just her.
She squeezed her eyes shut when more people appeared in the flames. Nessie, shouting something about being Macey's mother. Yes, she already knew that, it wasn't news. Didn't mean she had to accept it, though.
Suddenly, something tripped her and she fell to the ground, screaming as her hands touched the scorching earth. Flames licked on her skin, blisters forming immediately. It hurt, hurt so much, but the physical pain also helped block out the mental agony she was still feeling.
She jumped back to her feet, noticing that she was almost at the end of the fire tunnel. She stumbled the last few metres, her hands hurting like hell. Maybe this was hell. The fire certainly fit. She had trouble believing that she was really still underneath London. Maybe there had been some weird portal that they hadn't even noticed. Maybe it had been the archways that had led them into the strange cave full of naked people. She grimaced. Compared to this fire torture, that hadn't been all that bad.
As soon as the fire stopped and she was standing in cool, fresh air, she came to a halt, looking at her burned hands. They were red and covered in tiny blisters, some of them oozing already. This was going to need some attention soon, before she got an infection.
"Who are you, what do you want and why aren't you dead?"
A booming voice suddenly came from all around her. It was neither male nor female, but something in between.
There was nobody to be seen. It was another cave, bare and empty, not particularly big. Behind her, the flames were slowly flickering out, revealing the long, dark tunnel she'd come through. Well, thanks. They couldn't have stopped burning while she was running through it, could they.
Macey was getting tired of caves. Really, really tired.
"I'm Macey, I'm the Water Warden and I'm looking for the lampads," she said in a clear, confident voice. Not like she felt at all, but her diplomatic training was kicking in. She'd been trained to react calmly in difficult situations.
"How did you enjoy the fire, little water being?"
The voice was mocking her, but Macey refused to give in.
"I'm here for your help," she called out. "A friend of mine, the Fire Warden, is injured and needs help. If you don't want to help me because I'm representing water, fine, but please help him!"
Silence greeted her words.
"Hello?" she asked. Still, no response. The voice had disappeared.
She took a deep breath and tried to block out the agonising pain in her hands. There was another tunnel leading out of this cave, so it seemed as good an option as any. Waiting for a few more seconds for the voice to return, she moved to the tunnel entrance and peeked inside. There was only darkness, except for a single flickering flame at the very end.
"Hello?" she called into the tunnel, her voice echoing slightly.
Unsurprisingly, nobody answered. She sighed. These lampads really didn't like visitors.
Gathering her courage, she began to walk into the tunnel. It was even narrower than the ones before and she was almost glad that her men weren't with her. They wouldn't have fit.
The flame came closer and closer. When Macey finally stumbled out of the tunnel, she was in, guess what, yet another cave.
This one was bigger than the last, and illuminated by hundreds of flames floating in the air, not just the one she'd seen from afar. There were no people though, just the flames.
"Hello?" she called out for the third time.
"Welcome, Daughter of Water," a voice said, different from the one before, but just as sexless. "We have been waiting for you."
Macey was tempted to respond with a sarcastic 'it didn't seem that way', but she kept her mouth shut.
"I'm here for your help," she said instead, repeating her request.
"Yes, we know him, the Son of Fire," the voice said. "He is suffering a great deal."
Her heart threatened to break apart yet again. "Can you help him?"
"We could."
She waited for an explanation, but none came. "Yes? Could
you? Please?"
"We don't just help anyone." The voice sighed, as if that was supposed to be obvious. "You will have to prove that he is worthy."
"Wait, that he is worthy? How am I supposed to do that?"
"Tell us about him."
Macey thought for a moment. "Well, he's a wraith, he wields fire magic, he's one of the Seven Wardens, he's-"
"No," the voice interrupted her, a chiding tone vibrating in it. "Tell us about him, about how you see him. We don't need to know about his life. We want to know about his soul."
"Oh," Macey muttered, trying to rearrange her thoughts. If only her hands weren't hurting so much. The pain was making concentrating rather hard.
"He's kind, he's strong, he's generous. He likes to help others. He's got a great sense of humour. I love it when he laughs, he gets little dimples on his cheeks..."
She let her voice trail off, certain that this was not what the lampads wanted to hear.
"Continue."
The command surprised her. Apparently she was going in the right direction.
"He likes to tickle me," she admitted, a little embarrassed. "And sometimes, when we're alone, he tells me secrets. I think he does it more for himself than for me. You know, he wants to get things off his chest so they don't hurt him anymore. He's lived for a long time, but he's refusing to tell me his exact age. A lot of things have happened during his lifetime, and sometimes he gets sad, even though I don't know why. He gets that look in his eyes..."
She stopped, anger suddenly bubbling up in her. "Is that enough now? Have I told you enough about him? I don't know if it's your place to know all this. It should be him telling you things like that, not me."
"You're loyal," the voice observed. "Do you love him?"
Macey didn't have to think about that. "Yes, I do."
"Would you die for him?"
The impassioned voice made it hard for Macey to get a feel for it. Was this a threat? Did this mean she'd have to die to save Flint?
"I probably would, yes," she said, "but other people are relying on me, on all of us. We're the Wardens, we need to fix the world. We can't just give up, we need to keep on fighting."
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