The Fire Chronicle (49 page)

Two more steps brought him into the room, and there was Dr. Pym, bent forward over his sister, speaking softly; and there was Kate, sitting up, her eyes open, nodding as she listened; and Michael didn’t hear the cry that erupted from his throat, he only knew that a moment later, he was in his sister’s arms, sobbing; and he could feel Kate’s cheek against the top of his head, and he could hear the beating of her heart, and he could hear her voice saying his name, over and over.

Michael wanted to tell her how much he’d missed her, how much he loved her, that he had kept his promise, that Emma was safe, but he couldn’t speak; and finally, it was Kate who drew away. She put her hands on the sides of his face and lifted it so he was looking into her eyes. There were tears on her cheeks, but she was smiling.

“Michael, did you bring me back? Dr. Pym said you were the only one who could. How did you do it?”

Michael took a deep breath and wiped at his eyes. He could feel the wizard watching him. Kate was back; she was alive. It was time to face the consequences of what he had done. And he opened his mouth to tell them about the green-eyed boy, about the Dire Magnus, when the wizard said:

“I also am eager to hear the story. But let us save the explanations till Emma arrives. I sent for her as soon as Katherine began to stir. She should be here in a moment.”

“No. She is gone.”

And Michael and Kate and the wizard all turned to see Gabriel enter and step past the elf princess.

“I went to her room, but it was empty. She is gone.”

“Gabriel, are you sure this is the right place?” Emma asked.

“There’s no one here.”

“I am sure.”

They were at the edge of the clearing where, two nights before, Emma and Michael had watched the elves have their picnic, where Emma had been abducted by the dragon Wilamena, and where Rourke had built the portal to bring through his army.

The portal, its fire quenched, stood in the center of the clearing, half a dozen felled trees fashioned into a rough arch.

“We must be patient,” the man said.

Since leaving the elf village, Emma had several times been on the verge of mentioning her fear that no matter what they did, Kate was lost for good. Mostly, she just wanted to be reassured. But each time she thought of her sister, lying there so pale and still, it took all of Emma’s strength to keep from crying. And beyond that, there was something in her friend’s silence, some new unsettling quality, and it kept her from speaking.

Without warning, the wooden archway burst into flame.

Emma gasped. “Did you know that was going to happen?”

“Yes.”

“What’s it mean?”

“This portal leads to a stronghold of the Dire Magnus. It was from that stronghold that the army came through yesterday.
And it is where, for decades, the body of the master has been preserved.”

Emma wanted to ask what master he was talking about, and what did some stupid portal have to do with bringing back her sister—she was confused and starting to feel a little bit scared—when, from deep in the forest, she heard shouting. Emma listened. Someone was calling her name. But the voice … It couldn’t be.…

Then a hand gripped her arm. There was a shimmer in the air.

And Emma saw that the face beside her was no longer her friend’s, and screamed.

Afterward, they put together what must’ve happened, how Rourke must’ve survived the fall from the fortress tower, how he must’ve entered the village under the cover of a glamour, disguised as Gabriel, and lured Emma away. It even came out that the pair had been seen heading into the forest.

But that was all later.

Immediately after Gabriel failed to find Emma, Wilamena roused the village, and elves streamed out into the valley. Word soon came back that the wooden archway in the clearing was on fire once again.

They were too late, of course. By the time Kate and Michael and the wizard arrived at the clearing—Gabriel had sprinted ahead with the elves—Emma was gone, and the wooden arch had collapsed into a smoldering jumble. Anton, the blue-eyed elf captain, had gotten there first, just in time to see Rourke carry a screaming, kicking Emma through the portal. He said there had
been another figure as well, but it was strange, for at one moment the figure had seemed to be a man, and the next a boy. Both man and boy, the elf captain said, had the same startling green eyes.

Then Kate grabbed at Dr. Pym, crying, “It was him, wasn’t it? It was Rafe!”

But the wizard didn’t reply. For Michael had run forward and was pulling at the burning timbers with his bare hands and shouting his sister’s name, and the others had to come and lift him away.