Chapter 9

I think my eyes might pop out of my head.

This cannot be happening.

I glance over at Michael. In the moments between Vin stepping into the clearing and his fists turning into a giant ball of fire, he must’ve heard the commotion and dipped into a doorway. I can see him peering out of the battered frame. It’s less than sixty feet. I can make it if I stay behind the walls.

Another rumbling begins beneath my feet, and I grab the nearest wall for balance. Vin's hands are still on fire, but now the earth below the man named Jace is shifting, and huge rocks rip up from the ground and into his hands.

Great. Another Monda.

“Vin, it was fun to duel like this last fall, but I’ve grown tired of you.” With a swift thrust, he launches the rocks at Vin, and I gasp. Vin is quick though, and somehow, he steps to the side of the attack. In a whirlwind, he unleashes a wave of flames at Jace. Jace raises his hands, creating a wall with his forearms, shifting the ground with the motion and shielding himself from the oncoming fire.

I can’t look away. Like a dance they move side to side, unleashing fire and rocks, smashing the columns around them. The space is hot from the flame attacks, and dust fills the air.

“Jace, I'm impressed. You've outgrown the pebble phase.” Sarcasm drips from Vin's words.

I remember Michael and look back to see if he had moved. Nope. He stands frozen, bow and arrow in hand, also watching the scene from his doorway.

Jace yells something back about Vin and his “sparkles”, and I make a break for it. I dash between broken columns and into door frames. Thirty feet to go. I check on the Mondi—still fighting. I dash closer. Finally, I catch Michael’s attention.

He motions to the scene, and I nod but don’t look. Ten more feet. I’m about to dash into the door Michael disappeared through when I hear a shout. I turn back to see rocks flying in our direction. I cover my head and duck behind a column. Rocks slam into a nearby pile of rubble, shooting dust and debris into the air.

I’m knocked off balance and end up on my hands and knees.  My ears ring from the impact, and I squint my eyes in the cloud of dust. Vin looks like he’d dodged the hit, which explains why the rocks had barreled toward us. I force myself to my feet, and Vin hurls rapid flames of the fire in Jace’s direction. Jace again lifts the earth in front of him, but Vin is quicker this time, and the blow knocks the man backward.

I turn away and sprint the next ten paces, practically slamming into Michael.

“This is not our fight. We are leaving,” I hiss and motion to retreat the way we came. He nods.

We step into the road, and I steal one last look at the scene behind us.

“One day, you’re going to wish you had taken up our offer, Vin,” shouts Jace, who is catching his breath behind a low wall.

“As good as I would look in a black cloak, brooding and blowing up villages, I’m not one for killing innocent people, Jace,” Vin calls out from a doorway down the street. The boy is watching from above, but the girl hasn’t shown herself yet.

Wait, where is the girl?

My heart stops.

“Where do you think you’re going?” an eerie voice behind me purrs. I turn my head, and there she is, blocking our exit. Tight black curls frame her face. Silver beads with red stones are woven into braids in the front. Her dark bronze skin sparkles and wine-red lips split into a vicious grin. The look in her hazel eyes reminds me of a cat that’s found new prey to hunt. Her black uniform is only a shade darker than her hair. Her hands hang at her sides, and she wiggles her fingers, which burst into flames. Just like Vin.

Fire. She’s a fire Monda.

I glance back at Vin over my shoulder. I can’t make out his full expression, but it’s clear he is not prepared to help us. I turn back to the girl. Michael is behind me on my left. I raise my mable-blade with both hands. I don't think it will hold up well in a fight against fire, but it’s better than turning my back on her.

“Aw, that is precious. You look scared.” She stalks forward. “Never played with fire before, soldiers?” She strides closer, the flames in her hands growing bigger.

I glance to my right and notice a doorway that leads to a crumbled building.

“Can’t say that I have,” I mumble under my breath, and then I swing my blade in a low arch, kicking sand and gravel into her face. Her hands fly up to cover her face, and I grab Michael's hand and drag him through the doorway. A blazing trail of flames crashes past us in the street.

Inside, there’s a partially collapsed wall, leading back outside. I sprint across the room. Beams are strewn across the ground. I jump over them, leading the way, and we rush into the daylight, but my heart sinks. There’s light from above us, but around us are four walls and the one hole we came in through. On the other side, the Monda is chasing after us. The remains of a staircase lead over the hole she’s about to climb through. I point, and we dash up the steps.

Our advance takes her by surprise, and she pauses in front the hole in the wall. Michael flies up the stairs first, and I’m right behind him. Andria realizes what is happening and tries to shoot flames after us as we climb onto the roof. We look around—the next roof is a jump, but we go for it, launching ourselves over the alley below, hot flames chasing after us. It’s a weak attempt, and I realize something.

“Michael, send her an arrow!” I shout as we land on the next roof, running in the direction of the other boys. He whips out an arrow and lets it fly without breaking stride. I look back and confirm my thinking—she hadn't built up enough fire to send a wave. All she could do was unleash a quick flurry of flames that turned the arrow to dust. She’d even flinched, as if she didn't fully trust she’d catch it in time.

We clear another jump but come to a skidding halt. There are now two buildings between us and the Monda, and we’ve run out of roofs to jump to. The ledge we’re on would drop us into the alley by Vin and Jace. My heart is pounding, and I sneak a look down the alley, back at the girl. One building away, flames are growing in her hands.

Where did Vin go?!

“I'm going to make this easy for you, Andria.” As if on cue, Vin’s cool voice echoes from across the street. He’s on the roof, holding the younger boy by his cloak, who is helpless in his grasp. “You either get out of here, and little Jonah doesn't get hurt.” His hand flames up again. “Or you don't listen to me, and you know what happens.”

His threat is calm, like he doesn’t care that he is holding a child by the collar.

Andria finally stops, and her smirk drops as she bares her teeth. Her flames die down but do not go out completely. Jace drops the boulder he’s holding like it weighs nothing.

“Let these two go. I don't even know who they are. The four of us can go our separate ways and destroy another ruin next week if you so insist.”

These four obviously have a serious history. Nobody objects, and so Michael and I slowly scale over the edge and descend into the rubble. Michael goes down first and, with a loaded bow and arrow, keeps an eye on everyone while I climb down.

I land on the ground, and that's when I see the pendant again, stuffed in the top of Vin’s sack.

A shout and a gasp and a worried, “Carter,” from Michael recapture my attention. I look up and see the young boy leaping high in the air and landing right beside Jace. Vin's face contorts, and he clutches his nose, blood trickling between his fingers.

This fight is not over.

I grab the pendant and stuff it into my pocket. Above us, Andria jumps from her building into the street. We are trapped. Vin also jumps from the roof into the clearing. He isn’t as agile as the younger boy, but he still makes it look effortless.

My heart races as I glance between the powerful Mondi that have trapped Vin, Michael, and me. Behind me, I can feel the intense, stubborn earth ripping up as Jace prepares to attack Vin again. The boy stands behind him, unsure how to help. Andria stalks toward us, flames raging in her fists. She is just twenty feet away.

Fifteen. Ten.

Vin creates his own flames and faces the man, blood still trickling down his chin. But in that moment, I feel the air shift between Jace and Vin. Until now, Vin has been careful about where and when to step, dodging everything thrown at him, retaliating with fire only when he hadto, but he misses a step.

I can feel it. He is going to be too slow. Those rocks are going to slam into him.

Panic floods into my veins. Andria is about to close in, and her hands fly forward, flames racing toward us. The earth groans at the pull of the earth Monda. We are about to die at the hand of magic, and I am trapped.

But something happens.

A force inside me suddenly takes over.

Move.

All around me, everything shifts. Something inside me is begging for an escape, for a release. The air in my lungs freezes, collapsing my breath, and a ringing in my ears drowns out every noise in the clearing.

In the moment before the collision, everything around me stops. It’s as if I am completely separate from the present, simply watching.

The morning slips through the cracks of my skin, and shadows bend and break around me. What was once absolutely certain to me now feels unmistakably fluid. In that space between the moments, I’m not bound by my body–I am everything else.

I count each speck of dust that floats around Jace as he releases the shards of earth he’s collected, throwing them at Vin. I breathe and touch the flames exploding out of Andria's fingertips yet am not burned by them.

I feel cold. I feel calm. Then I feel the presence of someone else. Someone who I hadn’t noticed earlier. Someone who knows what I am doing now. I turn to see who could be standing behind me in this stillness, but as I do, the entire moment begins to slip.

An echoing, icy voice splits the air.

Catherine.

Faster than it began, my mind snaps back to my surroundings. Like an arrow, I am shot into action. I feel like I am everywhere and nowhere at once. Everything and nothing.

I only have an instant before I’m in front of Michael, preparing to take the full impact of Andria’s blast. The fire hits me harder than I expect, but I’m right—it isn't hot. It isn’t even warm. It spreads over my body, but as soon as I feel it, I know I must let it go. The fractured flames fly in every direction as I emit a wave of raw energy. It shatters the air-borne rocks Jace had thrown. The ruined buildings crack and explode, crumbling under the pressure. Instantly, the air is drowning in dust and ash.

Unexplainable power courses through my veins.

More.

It demands I do more. But my knees are wobbling, and my ears are ringing. The dust slowly settles, and I blink, taking in the scene around me. Jace and Jonah are on their backs, trying to sit up. Andria is also on the ground. Her cloak has torn, and she snuffs out the flames that dance on the charred edges.

I look down at my hands. They’re trembling, so I curl them into fists to stop the shaking. Every bone in my body screams at me. I want to lie down so badly. I want to collapse right here, but I can’t. Not yet. I look back at Andria.

“What in Thaliria’s name…” Jace mumbles with a groan.

“Get out of here and never threaten me with your fire tricks again,” I snarl at the girl.

She trips over herself as she tries to find her footing. In a flash, she’s darting behind the building to her left, pulling her hood over her head as she vanishes.

The boy cries out to Jace, “Let’s go!”

They scramble into the woods, their footsteps fading into the bushes, but I can still hear their heartbeats.

I can hear their heartbeats?

I try to take a step, but my knees buckle. I ache in ways I have never ached before. The black haze settles around us. The buildings that had been partially standing before are now completely fallen, and the clearing is twice the size it was just a minute ago. Dust and ash coat everything.

I did this?

My consciousness fades, but I know I have to hold on. I can’t faint now. Not when Michael’s body is sprawled on the ground.

Michael’s body.

I lurch forward, but the aches take over, and a wave of nausea threatens to surface. I collapse to the ground, dragging myself to my knees beside him. Blood spills from his nose.

“Oh no, no, no! No, Michael! Get up!” Panic rushes through my body. Vin grabs his sack and hurries over to us.

“Get away! Get away from us!” My voice trembles as I scream, and he freezes. “You brought those Mondi here and… and now… now Michael… Michael is…” The words come out broken. Tears roll down my cheeks.

“Hey, I’m not the reason… Carter, he’s breathing. He’s just been knocked out.” His voice is so sure.

I don’t look away from Michael as Vin drops to a knee beside me. I can barely see the dried blood that cakes his face. Scratches on his cheek from debris and rock are bright red. A rip in his shirt reveals more of his bare chest.

“This isn’t your fault. You just saved his life.” The tears are falling harder. Vin reaches into his sack and pulls out a vial.

“Carter?!” I hear a shout from up the road. The expression on Vin’s face changes from concern to irritation.

“Listen, soldier.” He shifts behind a column, out of the view of the road. “You did that.” He points to the clearing, and I dare a glance at the destruction. “If they find out, you’re dead.” I know who he means. He mutters a curse and shoves the vile into my shaking hands. “Mix this with water, a court mushroom, and mint, and get him to drink it within the next few hours. He’ll wake up in about a day, probably with some bruising. And this…” He hands me something that looks oddly like a sweety. “This is for you. For the nerves.”

“A day? What… where… who are you?” I trip over the words, glancing down at the vile, then back up at him. I have so many questions. I have so many aches begging me to succumb to the rush in my mind. The sound of my team racing up the gravel is getting closer.

“I’m Vin, soldier.” He flashes me that same confident smile from earlier, as if the battle that had just happened hadn’t been anything but a normal Tuesday morning for him.

He backs toward the edge of the woods, out of sight of the rest of my team, and stops. “And this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing each other.” He turns on his heel and disappears into the woods, like a ghost.

A ghost on fire.

The footsteps fade, and his heartbeat goes with him.