Fire Study Read online

  I rolled as her weapon twanged and snatched my bow. The arrow stuck the dirt. I jumped to my feet, swinging my staff in a wide arc. The end of my weapon caught her behind her ankles. I yanked her feet out from under her. She went down with a loud oath. The black shape of her partner grew bigger as he ran toward us. Great.

  The air filled with a strange rasp as if a person had pulled a rope from a wooden holder very fast. The noise grew louder and came from all directions. The three of us stopped. All thoughts of fighting banished as we searched for the source of the sound.

  A necklace snake slithered past my legs. It aimed for the female guard and wrapped around her with amazing speed. All my preconceptions about a slow-moving creature dissipated.

  The other guard looked at his partner and bolted. Another snake slid after him. The vibrations of the necklace snakes and Chestnut’s drum thrummed in my chest.

  I projected into Chestnut’s mind for an update. He kept the creatures from going after us, but he didn’t know how long he could maintain control.

  Faster is better, he said.

  Right. I switched my awareness to Moon Man. He and Leif had marked the other four guards. They waited with Marrok and Tauno for my signal.

  Running toward the campfire, I avoided snakes, terrified guards and broke through the null shield. I stumbled for a moment as an array of thoughts and emotions washed over me. The air was charged with magic and fear. My panic pressed on my back, but I forced myself to slow down.

  When I reached the edge of the Vermin camp, my blood turned to ice. Three men pulled out the stomach of one of the prone forms on the ground. The Vermin turned their attention to me, their surprise evident in their openmouthed gapes. I had moved without realizing it and stood in the middle of their camp, screaming at them to stop.

  10

  WE BLINKED AT EACH OTHER for a stunned moment. Blood and gore dripped from the Vermin’s hands. The three men then returned to their macabre task, ignoring me. Astonished, I moved toward them, raising my bow to strike when a blistering force slammed into me from behind as if I’d been struck with a red-hot iron pan.

  I hit the ground hard. My bow flew from my grasp. My breath whooshed out. Searing pain clung to my back; I rolled over, convinced my clothes were on fire. Gasping for air, I thrashed on the ground until I spotted what had attacked me. I froze in horror. The Vermin’s campfire had grown to three times its previous size. A man stood in the midst of the roaring bonfire.

  The man stepped from the burning wood. Scorched black from head to toe, small flames clung to him like feathers. He advanced toward me. I broke my paralysis and scrambled away from him. He stopped. A trail of fire linked him with the campfire.

  “Did I surprise you, my little bat?” the man asked. “Counted nine when there really were ten. Hot little trick.”

  He knew my consciousness had flown with the bats. But who was he?

  I scanned the surrounding jungle, looking for my backup. Leif and my friends were at the edge of the clearing. Their arms and hands were raised as if they protected their faces from a searing wind. Sweat and soot stained their clothes and they averted their gazes from the man.

  “No help from them, my little bat. They will burn if they come any closer.”

  I tried to project into the flaming man’s mind, but his mental defenses proved impenetrable, a Warper of incredible strength. Running out of options, I glanced behind me and caught sight of my bow.

  The blazing Warper pointed and a line of fire appeared between me and my weapon. I jumped to my feet. The heat singed the hair in my nose. The moisture evaporated from my mouth. I tasted ashes. A wall of hot air pushed against me and the Warper was before me. Yet his connection with the burning wood remained.

  “Fire is your downfall, little bat. Can not call it. Can not control it.”

  My body roasted as if I had been staked to a spit over a giant campfire. I cast my awareness into the jungle, hoping to find help. Nothing but the panicked thoughts of my friends and one curious necklace snake nearby.

  Just when I thought I would faint, he extended his hands and a bubble of cool air caressed my skin. The break from the heat was an intoxicating relief. I swayed.

  “Take my hands. I will not burn you. Travel with me through the fire.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you belong to me.”

  “Not good enough. Many others have made that claim.”

  “I need you to complete my mission.”

  “Which is…?”

  The flames on his shoulders pulsed in amusement. He laughed. “Nice try. Take my offer or I will burn you and your friends into a pile of ash.”

  “No.”

  Flaring brightly, the flames jumped in size before he shrugged. “No matter.”

  The cold air disappeared and I gasped. The heat’s intensity robbed my lungs of air.

  “I need only wait until you go to sleep, little bat. Then I will take you.”

  My throat strained as my vision scrambled. Sleep was a nice way of describing the process of suffocation. It was a strange notion, but it gave me an idea.

  With my last bit of energy, I grabbed a capsule from my pocket and crushed it in my hand. The sticky liquid coated my palm, dripping down my arm. My legs buckled as I collapsed to my knees. The last thing I remembered before the world melted was a brown and green coil reaching for me.

  I woke, shivering. Chestnut’s concerned face peered at me. He waved a large leaf, fanning me with cool clean air. Exhaustion lined his brown eyes.

  “I guess that’s one necklace snake who’ll go away hungry,” Chestnut said.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, wincing at the sharp pain in my throat. When I tried to sit, I realized we were on a tree branch.

  Chestnut helped me. “If you died, I told the snake he could eat you.” He smiled.

  “I’m sorry to disappoint him.”

  “No matter. Perhaps we’ll have some extra Vermin to feed him.” His grin faded.

  I jerked as my memory returned. “The Fire Warper! My father! The others! What—”

  Chestnut raised his hand. “When the snake grabbed you and pulled you into the trees, he distracted the Warper long enough for Leif to break through the wall of heat. With Moon Man’s help, Leif was able to quench the link between the main fire and the Warper.” Chestnut glanced away. “The Warper disappeared.” He shuddered. “The remaining Vermin ran off, with Moon Man, Tauno and Marrok chasing after them.”

  “And Leif?”

  “Below with your father.”

  Before I could ask, Chestnut said, “He’s fine. Although I fear Stono will not live to see the dawn.”

  Sudden purpose energized me. “Help me get down.”

  My limbs trembled as I slid and crashed through the lower branches. I hit the ground hard, but didn’t stop until I stood next to Leif. He had Stono’s head in his lap. My gaze shied away from the gruesome mess that used to be Stono’s stomach. My father and the other scout lay on the ground next to them, unmoving—still paralyzed by the Curare. I couldn’t see my friends.

  “Where are the others?” I asked.

  “They haven’t returned,” Chestnut said. He sank to the ground next to Leif and took Stono’s left hand in his own.

  “At least he isn’t feeling any pain,” Leif whispered. Streaks of soot and sweat lined Leif’s face. Burn holes peppered his clothes. He reeked of smoke and body odor.

  I knelt beside Leif. I put two fingers on Stono’s neck and felt a tentative heartbeat. Stono groaned and his eyelids fluttered.

  “He’s not paralyzed like the others so the Kirakawa ritual could work,” I said.

  “Can you save him?” Leif asked.

  Stono’s wounds were fatal. I hadn’t healed anyone with such extensive damage before. Tula’s windpipe had been crushed when she was killed. I was able to repair the damage, but couldn’t “wake” her without her soul. Why not? According to Roze’s fire scenario, I had the power to create a soulless army.


  “Yelena.” Leif’s impatience cut through my musings. “Can you save him?”

  Would I be able to save myself once I assumed his injuries? I drew in a shaky breath. Only one way to find out.

  Closing my eyes, I pulled power and wrapped thick strands of magic around my stomach. I reached for Stono and forced myself to examine the bloody distended mass, seeing his wounds through my magic. His wounds pulsed with an urgent red glow as I focused on them.

  Without warning, Stono’s heart stopped its labor and his soul rose from his body. Instinct drove my actions as I breathed in his soul from the air and tucked it into a safe corner of my mind. I ignored his confused thoughts, concentrating on his injuries. My stomach exploded with the pain of a million sharp knives digging deep into my guts. Clutching my abdomen, I curled into a ball. Blood coated my hands, arms, and pooled on the ground. The air filled with the hot stench of body fluids.

  I struggled to push the pain away, but it clung to me, eating its way through my spine and toward my heart. Leif’s voice battered at my ears. He wanted something. Annoyed by his persistence, I transferred my attention to him for a moment. His energy flooded my body. We stopped the advance of pain, but we couldn’t conquer it. It was only a matter of time before our strength failed and we would lose the battle.

  Moon Man’s resigned voice sounded in my mind. I can not leave you alone. What made you believe you could counter the power of the Kirakawa ritual on your own?

  I didn’t—

  Know? Think? Does it matter now?

  Moon Man’s blue energy added to Leif’s and together the three of us banished the pain.

  I reached for Stono and laid my hand on his smooth stomach. Go back, I instructed his soul. A tingling sting pulsed down my arm. When I felt his gasp for breath, I pulled my hand back.

  Too exhausted to move, I fell asleep where I lay.

  At one point a hand shook me into semiconsciousness.

  “Theobroma?” Leif asked, his voice a distant call.

  My tired thoughts slogged through a fog. “Pack,” I muttered.

  “Where?”

  Leif shook me again. I batted at his arms, but he wouldn’t stop.

  “Where?”

  “Backpack. In jungle. Snake.”

  “I’ll go,” Chestnut said.

  His retreating footsteps lulled me back to sleep.

  I woke choking on a foul-tasting liquid. Coughing, I sat up and spit.

  “You still need to drink the rest,” my father said.

  He offered me a cup.

  “What is it?” I clasped the mug. The green-colored contents smelled like swamp water.

  “Soursop tea. Restores the body’s strength. Now drink.”

  I grimaced and put the cup to my lips, but couldn’t produce the nerve to consume it.

  Esau sighed. Blood and dirt matted his shoulder-length gray hair. He looked older than his fifty years. Weariness pulled at his broad shoulders. “Yelena, I would like to get home. And your mother must be having fits by now.”

  Good point. Cringing at the rancid flavor, I gulped the tea. My raw throat burned as I swallowed the liquid, but, after a few moments, I felt more awake and energetic.

  The sun loomed high in the sky and the clearing was empty. “Where is everyone?” I asked.

  Esau grunted. “I’ll tell you on the way home.” He stood.

  Spotting my backpack nearby, I checked through the contents before shouldering the pack. My bow rested on the ground next to a wide scorch mark. I hefted the weapon, running my hands along the ebony wood. It appeared to be unharmed. A nice surprise since, during the skirmish, I had thought the Fire Warper had reduced my bow to a pile of ash.

  A hot flush of fear raced over my skin when I thought of the Fire Warper. I had never encountered magic like his. I had been completely unprepared to fight him, and I couldn’t think of anyone in Sitia who could match his power. But what about in Ixia? My thoughts turned to Valek. Would his immunity to magic save him from the Fire Warper’s flames? Or would he be consumed?

  “Come on, Yelena,” Esau said.

  I shook off my morbid thoughts and followed my father from the clearing. He set a quick pace, and, once I caught up to him, I asked him what had happened after I had fallen asleep.

  He huffed in amusement. “Passed out, you mean?”

  “I had just saved Stono’s life. And yours, too.”

  Stopping, Esau grabbed me in a tight hug. “I know. You did good.”

  He released me just as fast as he had seized me and continued through the jungle. I hurried after.

  “The others?” I asked.

  “You were asleep for a full day. We thought it best for Leif and Chestnut to take Stono and Barken back to the homestead. The Sandseeds and the other Ixian fellow never came back.”

  I stopped. “They could be in trouble.”

  “Two Sandseed warriors and a swordsman against three Daviians? I doubt it.”

  “How about against three Vermin with Curare?”

  “Ah, hell!” Esau spit. “I wish I had never discovered that foul substance!” He pounded his fists on his thighs. “I had hoped the supply they stole from the Sandseeds would be almost gone by now.”

  “You extracted the drug from a vine in the jungle?”

  “Yes.”

  “So how do they know how to make more?” I wondered out loud.

  “And where are they making it?” Esau glanced around. “Maybe in the jungle. I’m going to cut down every single Curare vine and burn it,” Esau vowed.

  I put a hand on my father’s arm. “Remember why you searched for it. There’re plenty of good uses. Our immediate concern should be for Moon Man and the others. I’m going to try to contact him.”

  Gathering power, I projected my mind into the surrounding jungle. My awareness touched a variety of life. Valmurs swung through the tree canopy, birds perched on branches, and other small creatures scurried through the underbrush. But I couldn’t locate Moon Man’s cool thoughts.

  Did the Vermin have him hidden behind a null shield? Was he dead? I searched for Tauno and Marrok, also to no avail.

  My father said, “Let’s go home and figure out a way to find them. All of them, including the Curare-making Vermin.”

  He reminded me of the other Vermin guards we had sprayed with the snake perfume. “We can question the Daviian guards. Are they at our homestead?”

  Esau tugged on his stained tunic as if deciding how to tell me something unpleasant. “When you were picked up by that snake, the creature wasn’t happy to discover you weren’t a female snake. So in order for Chestnut to keep you from being devoured, he had to concentrate all his efforts on saving you.” He paused.

  “And that means…?”

  “He lost control of the other snakes.”

  “The guards are dead?”

  “An unfortunate development, but there is an upside,” Esau said.

  “Which is?”

  “Now there are four very full necklace snakes who won’t be bothering the Zaltanas for a long while.”

  I washed as much dried blood and sticky gore from my body as I could in the small stream flowing underneath my clan’s homestead. My mother would worry and fuss over my disheveled appearance despite the fact I would be standing before her safe and sound.

  Climbing the ladder into the tree canopy, I mulled over recent events. There might be a group of Daviian Vermin working in the jungle, gathering vines and distilling Curare. I had no idea where Ferde and Cahil had gone or where my friends had disappeared to. And there was a Fire Warper on the loose who could possibly jump out of any campfire in Sitia. My life in Ixia as the Commander’s food taster sounded like a vacation in comparison.

  Why had I wanted to leave Ixia? An order for my execution for being a magician had been one compelling reason to escape to Sitia. That and wanting to meet my family, whom I had no memories of until Moon Man unlocked them. Well, I’d met my parents and the execution order had been revoked. The thought of returnin
g to Valek and Ixia tempted me.

  I reached the top of the ladder and arrived into a small receiving room made of branches tied together. Esau hadn’t waited. The Zaltana guard stationed there informed me my father would meet me in my parents’ living quarters.

  Walking toward their apartment, I marveled at the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the vast complex of living areas built above the jungle floor. The Zaltanas were resourceful and determined and stubborn. All traits I had been accused of possessing.

  I wondered if those qualities would be enough to counter the Fire Warper. Did I have the experience or magical knowledge to find Moon Man, recapture Ferde and stop the Vermin from killing more people?

  The daunting and overwhelming to-do list would not deter me from making the attempt or die trying. But how many would be hurt or killed in the process because of me?

  11

  I NEVER REACHED my parents’ suite. My cousin Nutty intercepted me en route, relaying a message to go to the common room. She scrunched up her face and tsked over my ripped and stained clothes.

  “I have a change in my pack,” I told her.

  “Let’s see then.” She held out her long thin arms, waiting.

  Knowing it was useless to argue with her, I opened my bag and showed her the other set of skirt/pants and cotton top she had sewn for me. I thought a lifetime’s worth of events had happened since then, but in reality it had only been two seasons.

  Nutty examined the clothes with a dismayed purse to her full lips. “You’ll need some new ones. I’ll make them for you.” With a slight nod of farewell, she hopped up into the tree branches with the grace and speed of a valmur, disdaining the practical rope bridge.

  “Oh, snake spit,” she called from above. “I’m supposed to fetch Uncle Esau and Aunt Perl.” She changed directions and disappeared through the trees.

  I reached the common room. Oran, Violet, Chestnut and the two scouts stood together. My strong relief over the absence of a fire in the central pit alarmed me. If I was afraid of a simple hearth fire, what would I do when faced with the Fire Warper again? I avoided thinking about that scenario and focused my attention on the matter at hand.