Hunter Brown and the Consuming Fire

by Chris Miller

  He shouted for Rob to get back to the atrium where the pedestal stood, as it was the only place that could move between the environments. Sam managed to land a boulder on top of the dragon’s tail and fled for the dial as well. As he turned the last numbers into sequence and readied to press the dial, Rob had motioned with his sword that the dragon was getting free. His sword slipped from his grasp and flew across the room. Sam pressed the button just as Rob leaped to retrieve his sword, leaving him behind. Rob picked up his sword in desperation and ran for a small crack in the wall, where he hoped to hide from the dragon. Scooting back into the darkness, he found himself suddenly and inexplicably transported back home to the Veil.

  “So that’s what happened to ya!” Sam said. “I musta come back only a minute or two later and when I couldn’t find ya we figured the worst had happened! We never took anyone back after that day for fear it was too difficult a challenge. Like I said, you were the only student I ever lost.”

  “Well, technically, I really never was lost so I guess your slate is clean.”

  “Still, I think it’s a terrible mistake going back in there. Nobody ever completes that challenge.”

  “Well, we’re going to have to be the first,” I said boldly. “Hope’s life depends on it; we think she’s the sixth mark of the Flame. If the Resistance ever hopes to be strong again, we need her.”

  “I don’t like it none, but I’m with you to the end,” Sam offered.

  “Me too!” Trista added.

  All eyes turned to Rob, who sat silently beside us. He obviously didn’t want to go back either. “I’ll come too,” he said at last, “but I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”

  The memory of his former mistakes had dampened his spirits a bit.

  “Hey now,” Sam said, “assurance comes from the Author, not from yourself. I, for one, am looking forward to fighting along side ya again. Only this time not as your teacher, but as your friend!”

  Rob smiled.

  “Aye and don’t be forgettin’ about me none,” Stoney boasted. “I may not have found me sword yet but I can put up quite a fight. Why, I’ll even sit on the beastie if that’s what it takes!”

  A round of laughter burst into the air as we all enjoyed a moment of common purpose. Our spirits were high with anticipation of what the Author would do. I hoped the feeling would never end.

  We arrived at Sanctuary three days later, though it felt like half the time now that our purpose was clear. Our first glimpse of the fallen city brought a sobering feeling.

  The once great white wall was toppled to the ground, nothing more than a heap of rubble. Fire had ravaged what remained of the city and many of the buildings looked to be only ghosts of their former selves. The Academy grounds were a desolate, deserted field of overgrown grass and toppled statues.

  “Can’t say I like what they’ve done with the place since I’ve been gone,” Sam said.

  “It must have been beautiful,” Trista imagined.

  “It was,” I remembered, as Stoney dropped anchor outside the Academy and lowered the gangplank. After disembarking the ship we agreed Stoney would keep watch, in case anyone or anything had followed us.

  Stepping up the cracked, battle-scarred steps and through the lopsided doors, we followed Sam to the long staircase that descended to the Revealing Room far below. Along the way, we brushed huge cobwebs away and had to step over piles of crumbling rocks where the walls had started to give in. After a long hike down the winding staircase, the four of us were standing at the foot of an enormous wooden door without any handles or hinges.

  “Well, here it is…” Sam said, blowing dust off the brass plaque that was embedded in the floor. Only the humble of heart shall pass, the words read. “Guess I’ll go first then,” Sam said, walking straight for the door without slowing his pace.

  Effortlessly, he passed through the door as if it didn’t exist. Rob was next and did the same with little effort. Next up was Trista.

  “Just remember,” I explained, “you have to have a spirit of humility to pass through the door.”

  “Right,” she said in her usual bubbly tone. “Just walk forward with a teachable spirit. Got it,” she claimed. She started to take a step when I interrupted her with another instruction.

  “And, don’t go too fast or it will think you’re cocky!”

  “Okay, not too fast,” she said, starting forward again.

  “But not too slow,” I interrupted again, “because it might think you don’t trust what we’re saying!”

  “Not too slow, thanks,” she said, resetting her position and taking a deep breath. She was about to start again when I offered another round of advice.

  “Oh, and don’t worry if it doesn’t work the first time. It took me awhile to get it right. Just try and do your best.”

  “Anything else you want to say?” she asked, a little annoyed that I had interrupted her approach more than once.

  “No…sorry…just stay calm and lead with your head, because if you go nose first it might…you know, hurt a little more.”

  “You’re nervous, aren’t you?” she said in response.

  “Me? No…Okay, yes. Maybe just a little!”

  When at last I promised not to say another word, she approached the door and stood in front of it. Then, closing her eyes she stepped through without any trouble at all.

  “Beginners luck,” I grumbled, marching toward it full speed.

  Smack! It was the nose again!

  Two minutes later, I made it through the door at last, a sufficiently humbled man with four bumps and countless bruises on my forehead to prove it. The stone walkway that led up to the podium seemed like the longest walk of shame I had ever taken.

  As I stepped up the atrium steps, I could tell Trista was trying not to laugh.

  “Well then,” Sam said loudly, clearing his throat and pretending not to notice my face. “Now that we’re all here, let’s take a moment to ready ourselves for the final exam. The Code of Life, as revealed in the Writ, tells us that all things come from the Author alone—even big ugly dragons like this one! There is no doubt in my mind that the challenge ahead will be difficult, but he has brought this team together for this purpose.”

  The plan was for Rob and Sam to work together on distracting the dragon, while Trista and I looked for the crag in the walls that led to Hope’s chamber. When at last nothing else was to be said, I handed the cipher to Sam, who dialed up the sequence on the rotating pedestal and pressed the button in the center of the device.

  The darkness lit up all around us like the lights suddenly flicked back on after a midnight power outage. All at once, we found ourselves standing in the dead center of a massive cavern, the throat of the dragon’s cave.

  Chapter 26

  Finding Hope

  The cave floor was littered with the remains of fallen creatures who had met their end as a tasty meal within the walls of this cavern. Though there was no sign of the beast itself, it was clear we were in the right place, though I doubt there is ever a right time to find yourself in the middle of a dragon’s lair.

  High overhead, the ceiling of the cavern was open to the outside world. The sky was an inky midnight blue crossed with streaks of silver clouds reflecting the moonlight. The wind howled across the top of the dragon’s lair, whistling a low and eerie tone.

  The medallion glowed brightly in the cave, its light pulsing like a heartbeat outside of my body. I took it as a good sign.

  “We’re getting close,” I said, excitedly. “Hope is nearby!” I started for the atrium steps but Sam cut me off.

  “Hold tight a minute, Hunter. Let us go first.”

  He motioned to Rob who nervously followed Sam down the steps and around the perimeter of the room. Each footstep seemed to echo off the sides of the cavern. Nobody said a word, but it was clear we were all thinking the same th
ing. Could it be that we had entered the dragon’s lair while she was away?

  “Too easy,” Sam whispered to Rob. “Something is not right here!”

  “Over there!” Rob said, a little louder than he intended. “That’s the fissure I hid in.”

  Sam wandered over to the entrance to check it out. The way seemed clear, and the path through the rock took a sharp turn at the end. Satisfied with the results of their scouting, Sam turned around and motioned with a large wave toward us.

  “It’s all clear, come on down!”

  Only then did I notice the rocks above the crack begin to shift in unnatural movements, lowering themselves toward Sam. Two fiercely red eyes shot open amidst the stone and I realized that we had just found the dragon. It’s camouflage was perfect, the scales blending with the rock on which it perched.

  “Sam, behind you!” I yelled.

  He spun around with his sword blazing and gasped at the sight of the creature. “Clever!”

  A blast of flames accompanied the deafening roar of the once slumbering beast that we had awakened. Raising his sword, Sam quoted a passage from the Writ that I did not yet know.

  “My sword and my shield!”

  The fire seemed to divide around Sam, surrounding him in flames but protecting him under its invisible cocoon. This angered the creature even more and she lunged at Sam with deadly speed. Sam rolled forward under the creature’s attack and out from beneath her. Now in the clearing, we could make out her form completely. She was more frightening than even I had remembered from my brief encounter before, a massive creature nearly fifty feet high, riddled with clusters of spikes along her spine, wings and tail. The tip of her nose was crowned with a large protruding horn like that of a rhinoceros.

  Sam scurried to his feet and raised his sword again as the creature spun around in search of the lost meal. Rob picked up a rock and threw it at the creature, hitting one of its glaring red eyes. The dragon winced momentarily, then whipped its massive tail across the room and plastered the wall above Rob’s head.

  A cascade of rubble fell from the side of the cave, forcing Rob to run away to avoid being buried. He tripped on a rock and fell to the ground. This delighted the dragon who prowled over and ignited the air with its fury.

  “I can’t watch!” Trista said, ducking close to me behind one of the atrium’s pillars.

  Sam sped to the rescue and blocked the blast of fire intended for Rob. Then, after helping him to his feet, the two of them fled to the opposite side of the cave, luring the dragon away with them.

  Sam yelled at me as he ran, “Now’s yer chance, Hunter. Run for the cleft while you have a clear shot!”

  “But I can’t leave you!” I shouted.

  “Don’t worry about us. Just stick to the plan, finish what we came for!”

  Following orders, I pulled Trista to her feet. We raced for the fissure and the hidden room I hoped to find behind it. The path was tight, the way narrow enough in places that we had to turn sideways to pass through it. But eventually, it widened and separated into three pathways.

  “Where to now?” Trista asked.

  The medallion tugged slightly to the right.

  “This way,” I said, choosing the rightmost of the passageways.

  With each familiar footstep I ventured further into the depths of the cave. Each curve in the trail triggered my senses to believe I might only be dreaming, but I wasn’t dreaming—not this time. We were here to find Hope.

  The passage lowered into a steep decline and ended in a small cavern, a dead end. Spinning around, I searched the walls for an entrance into another room. There was none.

  “What’s wrong?” Trista asked, sensing my concern.

  “I don’t recognize this place. In my dream there was a black door and behind it a massive cavern.”

  “How do you know you can trust your dreams?”

  “They haven’t been wrong yet. Besides, the Flame led me here; I’m sure it’s the place.”

  “Well, there’s no black door.”

  “I can see that!”

  “Maybe you just took a wrong turn or something? We can go back and try another tunnel.”

  “No,” I said. “It’s here somewhere. I just…can’t…”

  Before I could finish the thought, a trail of footprints on the dusty floor caught my eye. The prints led straight toward a tiny fracture in the red rock wall. The crack shot straight up, then turned overhead and came back down a few feet to the left of where it started—the perfect shape for a door.

  Placing my palms flatly against the cool stone between the cracks, I shoved forcefully against it. The stone slid slightly forward, but only an inch. Still, it was enough to prove my suspicions had been correct. Inspired by my discovery, Trista joined in helping push the stone further. The hidden door opened on unseen hinges, revealing a space behind the wall.

  Stepping inside, I led Trista into the open chamber…Hope’s chamber. The room glistened with an aura of light, which seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. No natural origin or source could be given; it just was. A sparkling pool of fresh water gathered in the center of the room, fed by a small stream that trickled down the sloped path in front of us. Flowers and plants bloomed all around, somehow taking root in the stone and finding enough nourishment to grow. Even the air smelled sweet and full of life, which was surprising, considering how far below ground we must be by now.

  “It’s like an oasis underground!” Trista said, marveling at the beauty of the place.

  Near the center of the room, a twenty-foot boulder that looked like a stone tower stretched up and out of the pool, commanding our attention and drawing our gaze to the flattened ledge at the top. A steep rock staircase was carved into the side of the boulder, which led to a stone altar at the top.

  The medallion warmed on my chest and pulled gently toward the stone tower in the center of the room. Even from where we stood, I could tell there was a figure hovering over the table. It was Hope. It had to be Hope.

  As we reached the base of the stairs, I stopped short of climbing them. After all this time, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to see her once more. My mind became an instant breeding ground for doubt. What if I was only dreaming? Or worse yet, what if my worst dreams came true? Would the Flame save her? Could I bear to lose Hope again?

  My heart pounded in perfect rhythm with the pulse of the Flame, which swelled in the medallion.

  Trista sensed something was bothering me and stepped up beside me, grasping my left arm gently in her hands.

  “You should go alone,” she said, encouraging me to continue up the stairs in spite of my doubts. “I’ll wait for you here until you need me.”

  I thanked her with a nod and stepped forward to ascend the staircase, treading gently on the solemnity of the moment. When at last I reached the table’s edge, I gazed down on the one I had been searching for.

  There, lying still, as if in a peaceful slumber was Hope, floating a good six inches above the stone table. She was dressed in a simple white gown with a squared neckline and long flowing folds. Her face was peaceful, eyes closed, lips sealed and her skin perfect, without any blemish whatsoever. Her hair was longer than I remembered, tied up in a golden ribbon to keep it from floating wildly out of place.

  I recalled what Gabby had said about Hope being sent from the Author himself. A virtuess she had called her—whatever that was. I studied her features for a moment longer, looking for any sign of life behind her tranquility.

  Release me, a voice whispered. It was only a memory from past visions.

  “How?” I wondered aloud, answering my memories.

  The Flame, Hope’s voice replied. This time, it sounded real and nearby. Her lips didn’t move, but I knew she was speaking to me.

  The medallion lifted gently away from my chest, wanting to return to Hope. Removing it from my neck, I pla
ced it over hers and let the Author’s mark insignia fall on her skin, just above the neckline of the dress. The medallion began to glow, pulsing with the beat of her heart. A moment later, the golden mark of the three-tongued flame etched itself on her shoulder, just below her collarbone. The mark confirmed what I hoped to be true; she was the sixth. The ember of Hope.

  The fire’s mark sparked life in her and in a moment of pure radiance, her eyes opened, searching the room and finding my face.

  “Hunter?” she whispered, her voice still weak.

  “Yes, I’m here,” I answered.

  “You came.”

  “Of course I came,” I said, finding a tear building in the corner of my eye—a tear of joy. Knowing Hope was alive birthed a swell of emotion within me that I couldn’t fight or ignore. For the first time I could remember, I wasn’t trying to impress her or act cool. I just wanted to be near her. It was enough.

  She reached out her hand and took mine. The warmth of her skin filled me with peace.

  “Hey now,” I said jokingly, “the last time I tried to hold hands you freaked out on me.”

  “Oh stop it,” she said, fighting back a small chuckle and sounding a little more like herself.

  “You’re laughing, that’s a good sign.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was going to be right now; I had Hope again. She was going to be okay.

  “I’m glad you came. I have something important to tell you…”

  Suddenly, her eyes shut in pain and she tightened her grip on my hand.

  “Not now, we can talk later,” I said, wanting to keep her from exerting herself too much, too soon. “We’ll get help.”

  “No, Hunter. You don’t understand. Something difficult is going to happen. You have to let me go.”