03] ES) Firestorm (16 page)

There was a soft scuffle of claws on stone and a burst of flame broke through the darkness. Scar blinked up at me, his purple eyes dilated in the bright light. “You’re lost, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t help the bitter laugh. “I am. Think you can help me back to the main cave?”

Scar nodded, and his fire went out. “Yes, just put a hand on me.”

I touched the tip of one of his horns that arched over his neck. “Scar, how did you find me?”

“The mother goddess sent me. She said you will save us from Fiametta because you are the only one who can hear us speak.” He moved forward, his gait a smooth side to side motion.

“Why is that, do you think?”

“I don’t know, but the other Spirit Walker can’t hear us. It is like he is deaf to our words.”

I swallowed the sudden burst of excitement. “The other Spirit Walker? You mean the one in the cloak?”

“Yes, that is him. He made us do things ve did not want to. My father learned how to stop him, but now he steals us away.” Scar let out a low sigh. “There aren’t many of us left and . . .” He stopped speaking. “I must leave you here, Spirit Walker. Be careful there is much danger.”

He flicked his head and I let go of his horn. “Thank you,” I said into the darkness.

“Lark?”

I spun on as a torch flickered down the hallway. “Cactus?”

He jogged toward me but Peta blasting down the hallway caught my attention. Five feet away she leapt into my arms, her body shaking. “Lark, we have to go, right now.”

“Yes, I know.”

“No, you don’t,” Cactus said, his eyes strained at the edges. “Fiametta is on her way to Brand’s, we saw her in the tunnels. We were just lucky she didn’t see us.”

Oh, that was not good in any way, shape, or form. “Then I guess we’d better get our asses in gear.”

“You don’t understand, Lark. We are all supposed to be asleep. And if you are not in your bed, asleep when she gets there. . .” He shook his head.

He didn’t have to finish his sentence, I understood all too clearly.

If Fiametta had even an inkling I was doing what I shouldn’t be, I would be toast; perhaps in the most literal sense of the word.

eta clung to me as Cactus ran ahead, the torchlight flickering. “Dirt Girl, who was that calling to you?”

I glanced at her then back to Cactus. “You heard him too?”

“Yes.” Her claws dug into my clothes, the tops of them brushing against my skin. “I tried to stop you but you couldn’t hear me and then . . . I couldn’t find you.” She shivered, her whole body twitching.

“I don’t know who he is, but he can manipulate Spirit; he made it sound like you were calling to me.”

Peta let out a low rumbling hiss. “But you stopped him?”

“For now. He took the papers.”

She meowed softly in my ear. “He will be back, you think? We will get the papers from him then.”

We took a hard left turn and I nodded. “I’ve no doubt about it.” I had to believe hope was not lost.

Cactus slid to a stop and I almost slammed into him. “Why are we stopping?”

He pointed to a hole in the wall, the edges jagged and crumbling, the opening not very large. “Crawl through here. It will take you into a deserted home three doors down from Brand’s place. Hurry.”

I didn’t question him, and neither did Peta. “Dirt Girl, go ahead of me this time, I don’t want to lose you again.”

Dropping to my knees I leaned into the opening and then lay flat on my belly as I shimmied forward. “How far?”

“Fifty feet.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered, pushing myself in. There wasn’t a lot of room. It wasn’t like I could really build up speed, but I had to try. Frantic to get to Brand’s home ahead of Fiametta, I shoved myself along, my elbows and knees scraping in the dirt; my skin tearing open and filling with bits of rock. Sweat rolled down my face, and for the first time since I’d been in the Pit, it didn’t evaporate right away. Which meant it acted as a perfect fluid for all the dust I stirred up to stick to me.

“Peta, she’s going to know,” I breathed into the shadowy darkness. Ahead of me there was a dim glow that had to be the way out.

“Just keep going. If you’re in bed, she can’t accuse you of being out.”

“I’m covered in sweat and dirt; she isn’t that blind.”

“Dirt Girl, just go.” She swiped a claw at my bare foot and I did as she said and concentrated on the exit. I fell through—finally—and quite literally. The tunnel opened four feet above the ground and I tumbled out, landing in a heap.

Peta leapt out after me and ran for the open door. She peered out and a low hiss escaped her. “Hurry, she is on the bridge.”

Scrambling to my feet I lurched forward as I untangled my legs. Reaching the door, I took a quick look. Fiametta was at a distance, but no way would she miss me if making a run for it. If I could see her, she could most assuredly see me.

Pressing my back against the rock, I slid out the door toward Brand’s home.

“Run, Dirt Girl,” Peta snapped.

“If I run, her eyes will be drawn to me,” I answered quietly. “You’re a predator, surely you know that.”

She snorted and then pressed herself against the wall. “I don’t like when you’re right.”

“I don’t like that you didn’t argue she wasn’t a predator.” My back scraped along the wall, my heart hammered and my mind raced. We passed the first two homes with no problem, but Brand’s home would be the clincher. I stood in the shadow of a low overhang between Brand’s home and the one beside it.

“We need to distract her; find a way to get her to look behind her.”

“Can you reach your earth powers?” Peta asked.

“If I’m angry enough.” I looked across the cavern. With each moment that passed, the light grew and the shadow I hid in shrank.

“If you can do anything at all, now would be the time,” Peta quipped. Damn it, she was right. I focused on Ash being locked away, on Fiametta and her games . . . but it didn’t work. “Peta, help me out here.”

“Cactus slept with Maggie after he kissed you,” she said.

And there it was. A fierce hurt arched through me and I grabbed hold of the anger that flowed with it.

Behind Fiametta was the stone statue of the firewyrm that epitomized their family. I focused on it, thinking about how I’d broken down the sandstone doors in the Deep, and how shocked Requiem had been. Maybe that would work here too.

Pressing my hands into the ground, I pushed my power through the earth toward the statue. A wave of the earth rippled out from me—“Shit, she’ll see where it came from,” I growled.

Fiametta seemed oblivious to the wave until it hit the statue. The large obsidian fire lizard groaned as it rocked on its base. She turned and put her hands on her hips. The two Enders flanking her turned also; this was the moment I needed. I urged my power into the stone, finding the particles and pulling them apart bit by bit. Gritting my teeth, I focused.

In an explosion that rocked the cavern, the statue burst apart the black stone, flinging out wide enough that a few pieces even landed at my feet. I scooped one up and tucked it into a pocket, not really knowing why, but trusting my instinct. Perhaps I would need it later. Fiametta’s back was to me, but I couldn’t help but stare. “Mother goddess.”

“Run, Dirt Girl. You won’t get a second chance.” Peta urged me forward, butting her head against the back of my legs. I stumbled forward, around the close corner and into Brand’s home. I jogged to my room, stopping only to grab a cloth from the bathing room. Dipping it into a basin of water, I scrubbed at my face and arms. The mixture that flowed off me was a deep black, like coal dust. “There is no way—”

“Just hurry,” Peta looked over her shoulder. “They are coming faster now. She already suspects you.”

Great. I threw the wet cloth into the basin and bolted down the hall to my room. Peta slipped in as I shut the door. I stripped out of my vest and pants, dropping them onto the floor and then crawled into the bed. The silk sheets were cool on my skin and they covered the dirt on my legs, sticking to me where I was still wet. Peta curled up in the crook of my neck. “Until she commands you, do not open your eyes,” she said as I closed my eyes just as the door to my room slammed open.

Even with Peta’s warning, it was a struggle to lay relaxed, breathing slowly with my eyes closed tight.

“Terraling, awake,” Fiametta commanded and I slowly opened my eyes. Blinking up at her, it was no effort to yawn.

“What’s going on?” I whispered, sitting up and clutching the sheet to my chest.

Fiametta’s eyes narrowed as she took a step closer. Once more I thought for just a split second I saw a glimmer of pink at the edges of her eyes. But it was gone before I could say for sure.

“How is it that your skin is damp?” Her words snapped me out of my musing.

I frowned and then gave a slow shrug, thinking fast. “Sweating, I guess. It is far hotter here than I’m used to at the Rim.”

I didn’t think her eyes could narrow more, but I was wrong. Her eyebrows dipped as her two Enders slipped into the room. I held up my hands, allowing the sheet to drop, baring my chest. “I am unarmed.”

“I doubt that, as I doubt very much that you have been here all night. How did you keep awake when the bell tolled?” she said quietly, the tone of her voice anything but soft. Worm shit and green sticks, if she didn’t believe me, there was nothing I could say to sway her.

Peta leapt to the floor, stretching. “My queen, the Dirt Girl has been here all night and I have slept beside her. What you are suggesting would imply that she has some sort of strength against our magic.”

Fiametta’s eyes flicked between Peta and me. She bent and scooped the cat up and I stiffened, feeling like she was touching something of mine that I hadn’t given her permission to.

The queen held Peta up to her face. “And why should I believe you, bad luck cat?”

“Because my heart is here in the Pit, no matter where I am assigned by the mother goddess.” There was a deep sincerity in her words and for some strange reason a slice of pain cut through me.

Fiametta sniffed. “We shall see.” She lowered Peta to the ground gently. “Terraling, come with us. It is time for you to see your friend for the last time.”

I grabbed at the sheets to keep from leaping out of the bed and showing all the dirt on my legs. “You said three days, today is only the second day.”

An arch of her eyebrow and the Enders shifted on their feet. “And if I chose to kill him now, I would be within my rights.”

I swallowed hard. “Is that what you’ve decided?” What would I do if she said yes? Try and raze the Pit? Take Ash out by force?

I would start a war between our families, a war the world could not afford; even I knew that much.

“No.”

That one word and I deflated. “Thank the mother goddess.”

“Do not thank her yet.” Fiametta’s words bit at me. “Neither of you are safe. You may not be in the dungeon, you may have tried to save me from treachery, but I do not trust you. Nor will I. I feel you trying to worm your way into my good graces.”

I couldn’t stop my eyes from widening as she spun and strode out of my room. Her Enders followed silently. I rolled out of bed and jerked my still warm clothes back on.