The Fire Prophecy

by Megan Linski

  I quickly analyzed the area. There were no ditches to lay down in, and outrunning the twister wouldn’t work.

  “Imogen, can you get us underground?” I asked at the top of my lungs as the tornado drew closer. I could barely hear myself. I didn’t know how the others would.

  “I don’t have enough time!” Imogen shouted. “It would take a few minutes, at least!”

  That was it, then. We only had one option.

  “Jonah, you’re up!” I shouted. “This is your task!”

  Unlike Imogen yesterday, Jonah looked completely determined. His face was completely calm as he shouted, “Imogen, use the tree roots to hold everyone down! I’m gonna end this big bastard!”

  Imogen did as she was told. She wrapped the surrounding trees roots around our legs and ankles, securing me, Sophia, Sassy, Esis, and herself down. For extra precaution, I drew up water from the ground and froze it around our feet and between the roots so that we were firmly held in place. The ice crept up Esis’ body until only his head was sticking out. He gave me a scathing look I ignored.

  Jonah didn’t need to be held down. He forced the air around him and Squeaks to calm, making an invisible shield that the tornado couldn’t penetrate. But he could only protect himself, not us.

  Squeaks remained outside with Jonah, taking a wide stance and screeching at the tornado, like it was a challenger that had encroached on her territory. Jonah wasted no time and threw his hands out in front of him, shooting out a strong gust of wind that was meant to break the twister’s rotation.

  The twister seemed to slow, but it didn’t stop its descent. The moment the twister touched down about fifty feet away, things really started going to hell. Rocks and debris were picked up and thrown around as projectiles, and smaller trees began getting uprooted.

  “Look out!” I shouted. Imogen and Sophia ducked as a sapling was hurtled toward us full-speed.. It was hard to move around against the strength of the storm.

  Jonah kept increasing his power, trying to break the funnel of the twister, but it wasn’t working. No matter how hard he tried to get the tornado to break and the winds to go in a different direction, it only seemed like the twister gained intensity. Squeaks kept her wings pinned to her sides and concentrated, giving what power she could to Jonah.

  Even from a distance, I could tell Jonah was working really hard. The twister was more powerful than he was. A majority of his magic went to keeping himself anchored. But he couldn’t be tangled up in the roots like us, because he still needed to move around in order to use his element. He was stuck.

  I heard large breaking noises as trunks behind us were shattered by the force of wind. The larger trees were coming up, too. There had to be four or five Elementai behind this twister, controlling it. I couldn’t imagine how the Elders expected us to survive this. I could feel the ice starting to crack around our heels, and the roots were starting to break, too. It wouldn’t be long before the twister pulled us up.

  “Squeaks, I need help!” Jonah screamed.

  Squeaks ruffled her feathers and shook her head. There was a fierce glint in her eye. She drew a deep breath and then opened her mouth, screaming at the top of her lungs at the twister.

  The very ground shook, and it wasn’t because of the twister. Squeaks’ shout caused the twister to waver, rocketing back and forth at the force of her cry. Jonah’s Air gathered around her and pushed the tornado backward. Squeaks walked forward, still braying, and the tornado started to head in the other direction. It was backing off!

  Holy shit! Squeaks is powerful.

  I thought that Squeaks was going to have it handled, but then she coughed and staggered to her knees. She got back up, but when she shouted again her scream wasn’t as strong as it had been before.

  The twister buckled at her shout, but remained, then started spinning toward us again. Squeaks’ scream had weakened the tornado, but it hadn’t broken it.

  “I can’t control it!” Jonah yelled. “But I have an idea. Everyone, let go!”

  “What?” the three of us shouted in unison.

  “Are you crazy?” Sophia yelled.

  “Just trust me!” he cried back. “Imogen, let go of the roots! Everyone make a chain!”

  There wasn’t time to argue. I melted the ice around Sassy and Esis first. Esis dragged himself toward Sophia and held onto her leg while Sassy launched herself at Imogen, clinging to the front of her shirt. We all held hands, me grabbing onto Sophia’s and Imogen’s as the last of the ice melted. Imogen began to release the roots, and we started to lift into the air.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing!” I yelled at Jonah as he grabbed Imogen’s hand. Squeaks unfurled her wings. She was immediately carried off, swirling around the edge of the twister.

  I realized Jonah’s plan the second before it happened.

  “Everybody hold on!” Jonah screamed, and the roots broke loose.

  We were instantly carried off into the air. The twister sucked us up, and all sound drowned out as we entered into the eye of the storm. The tornado spiraled us around violently. I felt like my arms were going to be ripped off as I held on to Imogen and Sophia’s hands. My stomach churned as we were sent spiraling around. I was going to throw up.

  Though I couldn’t hear anything, I could see the horrified looks on everyone’s faces and I knew they were yelling. Imogen was crying, Sophia had her eyes closed, and Esis’ chubby cheeks were getting blown back by the wind. Sassy dug her nails into Imogen’s chest, holding on for dear life.

  The only one who wasn’t screaming his head off was Jonah. Though we were in the middle of the tornado, his eyes were narrowed in concentration. He was completely calm, like he was born to be up here.

  Using his element, Jonah ricocheted us away from the tornado. We went flying hundreds of feet above ground at a high speed, but it was away from the twister.

  Once we were out of the reach of the vortex, we started falling. Fast. While we were all screaming our heads off, Jonah shut his eyes. Calm air gently came up beneath us to support our weight like a parachute. We drifted toward ground at a leisurely speed until our feet hit the grass softly.

  Squeaks was already there waiting for us, peeping happily. The mountains were far in the distance now. We had landed in a valley on the edge of the forest.

  I collapsed when my feet hit the ground, and so did Sophia and Imogen. Jonah was the only one still walking. He had his hands on his hips and was looking very full of himself. “There. Safe and sound.”

  I gagged. Sophia held her head like she had a headache. Imogen lay spread out on the ground with Sassy, who had all four feet above her so it looked like she was dead. Esis rubbed Sophia’s temple until she rose to a sitting position.

  Jonah raised an eyebrow. “Hey, you guys okay?”

  “Are we fucking okay.” I closed my eyes and tried to make the earth stop moving.

  “I hate heights.” Imogen shivered. She sat up, and Jonah helped her to stand. “I like keeping my feet on the ground.”

  “Well, let’s hope that we never have to do that again.” Jonah clapped Imogen on the shoulder.

  After a few moments, I managed to push myself to my feet. The ground was still moving, but it wasn’t like that hadn’t been happening for me for the past two days now, anyway, so I forced myself to rise. I needed to tough it out. “Let’s hope so. That was some pretty spectacular stuff, Jonah.”

  “Wasn’t it?” Jonah threw an arm over Squeaks. “But it was nothing me and my girl couldn’t handle.”

  Squeaks chortled and nipped at Jonah’s hair. His bun had come loose in the chaos, and now his hair was down around his face. It was a mess.

  Imogen’s lips quivered. “You know, Jonah, with your hair down like that you look like a sexy Viking.”

  “Yeah.” Sophia giggled nervously. “Like Thor.”

  “More like Tarzan.” He brushed back his messy hair with one hand. “Though if you ladies want to play Jane, I’m sorry to disappoint. I’m looking for a w
ild man myself.”

  Imogen and Sophia burst out laughing. It was the kind of laugh people made when they were on the edge and just needed to loosen the tension. Jonah joined in, and I shook my head. This tournament was making us lose it.

  We walked for awhile, until we reached the trees again. “We should rest,” I said. “We barely slept in that cave.”

  The group nodded in agreement. Imogen began building her root house again, and Sophia and Esis started looking for firewood. Jonah dragged over two large logs for us to sit on. I sat down, and Sophia put her kindling in the middle before starting a fire.

  I wanted to help the group, but I just couldn’t. I didn’t have anything left. I managed to draw up a small well of water we could use to drink before I put my head in my hands and sank it between my knees. I. Felt. Awful.

  Sometime, I started coughing. Hard. Jonah kept looking at me, but I ignored him. I struggled to take deep breaths and concentrated on just breathing.

  I didn’t know how long I sat there, but after awhile, I could smell rabbit cooking. Sophia offered me a leg, but I shook my head. Just looking at it made me queasy.

  “Liam, you have to eat,” she said, shoving it toward me again. I took it and forced down a few bites, though my stomach churned and cramped with each swallow.

  After a couple of minutes, I stood up. “Hey, guys, I’m going to scout ahead really quick,” I told them. “See where we should go in the morning.”

  Nobody questioned me. I took off into the woods, far enough away so nobody would hear, and threw up the few bits of rabbit Sophia had forced me to take.

  I felt clammy. I pressed a hand to my forehead and flinched at how hot it was. I was running a fever.

  I coughed again, and quickly covered my mouth with my hand. I slowly drew it away. When I did, I noticed my fingers were covered in blood.

  The grim reality set in. I was dying. I knew that already. I’d been hiding that from my team since we’d gotten buried in that mountain. It’d taken everything I had to get us this far.

  I knew I wasn’t going to make it through this tournament. I’d never see my family again, that much I was sure of. My only goal now was to get my team as far as I could, before the end. They didn’t realize why I was pushing them so hard, because they thought we had no time limit.

  Oh, we had a time limit, all right. It was me. And my clock was ticking, fast. It wouldn’t be long now before my time would be up.

  I knew I’d been a bigger asshole than usual during this tournament. I didn’t mean to. I’d been trying to control my temper, but I wasn’t a superhero.

  They didn’t realize how hard this was. They all had their Familiars to lean on for support. I had no one. When I fell, I had to catch myself. Doing this tournament with a Familiar was difficult, but without one… it was fucking impossible.

  I wiped the blood off my face and hand before I headed back to the fire.

  “That was quick,” Jonah remarked suspiciously. His eyes followed me as I sat down.

  He was on to me. Whatever. I shrugged, and Imogen commented, “Hey, guys… do you realize that there’s only one more task left?”

  “Yeah,” Jonah said, clarity dawning on his face. “We’re almost done. We might get to go home tomorrow.”

  I thought about it. We did only have one more task. This awful tournament wasn’t going to go on forever. There was just one more trial we needed to pass. Maybe I’d last that long.

  I coughed violently again, and didn’t let myself get my hopes up. I had a day left, if that.

  Sophia didn’t say anything. She stared into the fire with Esis curled up in her lap, looking haunted.

  Fire was the only thing left. That meant it was up to Sophia. I didn’t know if she believed in herself enough to do it.

  That frightened me. We didn’t come all this way just to die tomorrow, did we?

  Well, I did. I just didn’t want that to happen to everyone else.

  “Hey, Imogen,” I said, and she looked up. “I’m sorry I was such an ass back there in the cave. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. I just knew you could do it.”

  Imogen didn’t say anything, but Sassy climbed up on my lap and licked my cheek a few times. Her tail swished back and forth happily, and I knew Imogen had forgiven me.

  “That goes for all of you,” I said, looking at Jonah and Sophia. “I know I’ve been kinda rough on you guys so far. But I know you can make it through this thing. If I push you, it’s because I want you to succeed. Sorry if it comes off in a shitty way. I can be over the top sometimes.”

  “Sometimes?” Jonah asked, and Sophia smirked. Everyone laughed— including me.

  I cleared my throat. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is… I believe in you guys. And I’m sorry for constantly freaking out on you.”

  “Aw,” Imogen said, and Sassy let out a happy bark. Esis clapped, and Sophia smiled.

  “Group hug!” Jonah announced, and he got off his seat.

  “No, this isn’t that kind of—”

  Nobody heard me. Imogen, Jonah, and Sophia rushed toward me and gave me the biggest, most sappy hug that has ever happened in all of existence. Sassy twirled herself around my legs, and Squeaks threw out her wings to encompass us fully. I could even feel Esis on the top of my head, squeezing me tight.

  “All right, all right,” I said, and I pushed everyone off of me. “That’s enough of that. This isn’t the Bleeding Hearts Club.”

  I yanked Esis off of my head and handed him back to Sophia. Her eyes… they were sparkling.

  “We’re totally going to do this, guys,” Jonah said. “We’re going to get through the tournament, and it’s going to be together!”

  Imogen and Sophia cheered, but I only plastered on a fake smile. I knew they’d have to make it to the finish line without me.

  Imogen and Jonah went to bed before Sophia and I did. They took Sassy and Squeaks inside the root hut, and soon it was just the three of us gathered around the fire. Esis sat by the flames and rubbed his little paws together to keep warm.

  Sophia crossed her arms and held them tightly against her body. “I’m worried, Liam. What if I can’t do it?”

  “You can,” I told her. I was starting to shake, but it wasn’t because of the cold. I tried to force myself to stay steady so she wouldn’t notice.

  “I don’t know.” She threw a stick into the fire. “We don’t know what’s coming. I’m not prepared. I’m not ready. I’m—”

  She dropped her head, and Esis put a paw on her calf for comfort.

  I’d go over to her, but I was having trouble moving at all at the moment. “Come here,” I said. I opened up an arm, and Sophia got up. She left her log to sit next to me. I pulled her close and laid my head on top of hers as we stared at the fire. Her just pressing against me was enough to make me feel a tiny bit better.

  My pants were practically doing the happy dance. Despite the fact that my body was shutting down, my dick was working just fine. I couldn’t seem to help the fact that I got a boner every time I got within three feet of Sophia. Though we were in a life-or-death situation, all I wanted to do was lie down for another long cuddle and… something else.

  Last wish, maybe?

  She sighed. “I don’t think I can do this.”

  “You don’t have a choice,” I told her softly.

  “You don’t understand, Liam. I’m not strong enough. I’m going to fail.”

  “No, Sophia.” I grabbed her shoulders and shook them. “You have to pass that task tomorrow and get Jonah and Imogen through this, you hear me? Whatever it takes.”

  She stared at me. “I notice you didn’t mention yourself.”

  I stayed silent, and she added, “It seems like you’re saying if something happens, to go on without you.”

  My heartbeat sped up. “I didn’t say that.”

  “Sounds like it.”

  She pressed further into my chest. “That was really sweet, apologizing to Imogen and Jonah,” Sophia said quietly.


  “I’m not above apologizing,” I told her. “Ancestors know I’m the biggest fuck-up on this team. I know how to ask for forgiveness.”

  “You’re not a fuck-up, Liam. You’re the best person I know,” Sophia said.

  “You’ve met a lot of shitty people, then.” I laughed under my breath, but secretly, I felt like flying. I can’t believe she thought so highly of me. I didn’t deserve that.

  “I really do mean it.” Her voice became heavy. “But I can’t help but wonder if that was really an apology, or a goodbye.”

  My insides rolled, and I shuddered. “What do you think, Sophia?”

  “I think you’re the one who cares the most, but you don’t like people getting too close, so you push them all away,” Sophia said. “This isn’t goodbye, Liam. We cross that finish line together, or not at all.”

  It was awesome she didn’t want to give up on me, but I was a lost cause. “Sure. I promise, pawee.”

  She seemed a little less nervous now. “I’m glad you’re here, Liam. I want you to be there with me when we finally reach the end.”

  I just wrapped my arms tighter around her for an answer. I wanted to be there more than anything. But the truth was, I wouldn’t be able to. My body wouldn’t let me.

  The hardest part of this tournament wasn’t going to be losing my life. It was going to be leaving Sophia.

  “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

  A huge figure blocked out the sun. It was Jonah, looking down on us with a smug smile on his face. Squeaks was nearby, her head tilted in curiosity.

  Sophia untangled herself from my limbs and stretched. I slowly pieced together what was going on.

  Aw, fuck. We’d fallen asleep by the fire, while Imogen and Jonah had spent the night inside the hut. I damn well hope the cameras hadn’t caught that.

  Imogen was nearby, and she had the most satisfactory smile on her face. “Ha. I knew it.”

  “Shut up, Im.” Sophia sat up and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and brushed her hair out of her face.