They had to get out of there—and fast. Most importantly, Blaze had to get Princess Sapphire to safety.
Blaze grabbed Princess Sapphire’s sword, quickly slid it into her belt, then lifted Princess Sapphire under her shoulders and dragged her back toward the station entrance.
With all that heavy armor, she was barely moveable.
Blaze had to get her out of there. The Prophecy depended on it.
She looked up as the jotnar’s enormous form towered over the tree line. It was so tall; the treetops barely reached its chest. Runes on its skin glowed red.
It was too late.
The dark jotnar raised a hand, and a burst of ice and snow shot toward the Crook-Eye Orcs who had flanked Cernonos. When the ice flurries settled, the loyal orcs were encased in several feet of solid ice. They hadn’t even had time to react before they were frozen still.
The jotnar’s other hand let fly another ice blast toward the dwarves. Sweeping from one side to the other. Princess Sapphire’s tiny army was buried in a wall of ice.
Cernonos laughed.
He had won. As bold as Blaze and Princess Sapphire and their band of orcs and dwarves had been, they were still no match for the jotnar. It had been all too easy for him.
But Blaze could do nothing to help. She dragged Princess Sapphire back toward the station. Cernonos’s head turned, following the tell-tale tracks in the snow left by Princess Sapphire’s body.
Blaze had to get them out of there, and fast. She knelt in the snow, one hand still gripping Princess Sapphire’s armor, the other placed flat on a dark blue spot in the snow near the base of the cliff. The snow would be weak there—or so Blaze hoped. She forced heat out of her palm in a burst, then held it. The snow melted, then shifted, and finally broke. She fell two feet, pulling the princess with her.
She turned to see Cernonos looking at his feet, where there were several sticks of gnomish explosive.
Bort and Tort—they had lit the fuses before getting hit by the ice.
BOOM. BOOM.
Two explosions rocked the amphitheater.
Cernonos reeled backward as the ice walls encasing the dwarves rippled with spider-vein cracks.
Blaze looked up to see a wall of snow collapsing toward her. Frantically she hauled Princess Sapphire back. But it was too late.
“Fire Wave!” cried Blaze. She let fly a burst of heat that turned the falling snow into a gust of steam. Hidden by the steam and collapsing snow, she unleashed another wave of heat into the snow below her. The snow collapsed, and both of them fell several feet, tumbling and bouncing into the darkness.
Then it was all darkness and cold. Blaze had managed to hold onto the pauldron on the princess’s armor. She felt around in the snow. The princess was still there, but they were trapped in a small hollow underneath the snow.
Don’t panic. Keep a cool head. The princess was still breathing—barely.
They were deep enough, and it was dark enough, Blaze was pretty sure they had fallen into some sort of tunnel.
She took a deep breath. Her best hope was that it was connected to the main tunnel they’d just come from.
She lit a small fireball in her hand—just enough to cast an orange glow through the ice. They were in a hollow just barely wide enough for Blaze to stretch her arms out. She pressed her hand against the ice at her feet and pushed her inner heat outward. The ice melted into a pool. She pressed harder until it vaporized into steam, and the ice began to creak.
There was no time for this. Blaze wound up her arms and threw two successive fireballs into the ice, then three more in rapid succession. The ice broke, and they both fell again with a lurch.
This time, they landed in a pack of snow. Blaze let loose again, this time with a stream of flame, carving out a path beneath her. It was exhausting work. And all the more frustrating since she didn’t know exactly where they were going—she was just making the best guess she could. She didn’t know how much fire she had left.
The snow broke, and they fell once more onto something hard and flat. Blaze pulled herself close to Princess Sapphire’s limp body, then lit a fireball so she could look around.
She was sitting on a wooden plane that looked something like a roof. The Everlight Express. They had found their way back to the train—or what was left of it.
The belt-driven gears whirred steadily on either side of the tracks. They must not be that far from the platform. Blaze shot a weak fireball ahead into the darkness.
She was wrong. Beyond the edge of the carriage was a gaping, black pit—they were all the way to the gap. The tracks ended abruptly at the edge of a deep crevice in the rock, an underground seam twenty yards across. The half-finished footings for a bridge protruded from the cliff face below her.
Blaze fed heat into the fireball in her hand so she could see even further into the darkness. Luckily, the front of the train had struck the opposite side of the gap and backed up, suspending the carriages dangerously between the two cliff faces. She stood on one of the last few cars still resting on the track. If the car hadn’t been tangled in a wreckage of twisted metal, they too would likely have plunged into the gap.
Blaze opened the second-to-last car and struggled to haul Princess Sapphire over the edge of the roof into the carriage. She shut the door and waited in silence, her panting breath the only sound in the darkness.
She huddled, her knees pulled up to her chin, shivering in the cold. How close was Cernonos? She didn’t think he would have been able to follow her down here. Their escape had been covered up in the chaos. At least she hoped so.
But what about the Crook-Eye Orcs and the dwarf soldiers? Their little army was frozen solid in ice. How long could they survive? Dwarves were said to be like fish—they could thaw after a freeze. But what about the orcs?
She looked to Princess Sapphire’s empty scabbard. She must have lost her other sword in the battle above. Blaze had tapped into it once, for a moment. If only she had that now.
Silent tears fell down her cheeks, then froze to her skin. They had failed. And they’d almost lost Princess Sapphire in the process. Cernonos and the dark jotnar were just too powerful. And now Foruk’s Falls would fall.
The insides of the carriage walls were frozen over with a thin layer of frost. What had once been a cozy carriage now felt like a tomb. If she didn’t find warmth, she would freeze to death. If she lit a fire, she might give away their hiding place.
One peril for another.
Finally, when she could barely feel her fingers, and the shivering had become uncontrollable, Blaze lit the small coal stove with her spark.
She nursed the coals until they were a tiny nugget of orange heat. She pressed her hands close, drawing heat from the coals, then shaping it carefully into flames. A few degrees of warmth and a tiny, precious glow seeped into the coach. Blaze shut the iron grate on the stove.
She dragged the princess closer to the heat. Motion caught Blaze’s eye. The plate armor on Princess Sapphire’s chest rose and fell. Then it rose and fell again, in a slow, regular movement.
Thank the Goddess—she was alive.
Suddenly, the stove flared and the grate blasted open. Heat rushed into Blaze as bright orange flames leapt outward into the carriage, filling the room.
Startled, Blaze scrambled backward. The flames danced and flickered until their center drew back into a single column and formed the outline of a woman in a cloak. It held out its hands, then crackled as it spoke.
“Blaze of Midway,” it said, heat and light rushing from the woman’s form, “It is time to return to the Order of Ember.”
Chapter 18: Fire Vision
It was the Archmage herself. Her voice crackled like wood in a campfire. There was a familiar flicker of color behind her—the red rock of the Dragonback Peaks.
“I’m here, Archmage,” Blaze said. Her heart pounded within her. What could this mean? Had they called to give her help? To chastise her?
“We have watched from afar,” said the Archmage. Her face came into view, a mix of shadow and flame. “And we are pleased,” she said. The figures of the council formed in the flame behind her.
Blaze felt her heart leap within her. Pleased. The Archmage had actually said that to her. A rush of emotion flooded her. She hadn’t realized how badly she’d wanted someone from the Order to say that.
The Archmage’s arm swirled in the air, until something long and slender formed within the flames: the outline of a staff. The Archmage’s flaming form extended its arm until the fire staff hovered a mere foot from Blaze’s face. The flame pulled back. In its place was a very real, wooden Ember Mage staff.
“We see that you have harnessed the power you had failed to control. We hoped for this,” said the Archmage. “Take the staff. It is yours. By it, we restore you to the Order of Ember and grant you full rights as an Ember Mage.”
Blaze caught her breath. This . . . this was everything she had not dared to hope for. She reached for the staff.
Then a thought struck her, and her fingers paused in the air. “But . . . why now?” she stammered.
The Archmage looked to Princess Sapphire’s prone form on the floor. “You have the princess. Escape this war with her, and you will complete your mission. Some of us never doubted you,” she said.
At that, Blaze burned a little. “Some of you?” she asked.
The Archmage’s eyes darted back to the council behind her. She hissed in a whisper. “Some of us feared your power. Some of us feared it might even eclipse their own and threaten the very council seats on which they sat.”
“Others saw your potential,” she said, holding Blaze’s gaze. So she was part of the latter group.
Blaze swallowed. Now they saw. Now they believed.
“Blaze of Midway, you have always had the ever-burning flame inside you. That we have known from the beginning. Reckless, yes. Hot-tempered, undoubtedly, even for an Ember Mage. But we see you have learned to harness your anger.”
Blaze took hold of the staff. It was warm to the touch. She gripped it with both hands, and heat flowed from it into her, and then back into the staff, generating a growing cycle of fire. Oh how badly she’d wanted this. She’d almost forgotten how good it felt.
“You must return the princess to Crystalia Castle,” said the Archmage. “In doing so, you will bring honor to our Order.”
The flame from the stove pulsed white, then curled into a glowing sphere of light. It was another portal, just like the one back in Crystalia Castle.
“Return the princess and join us, this time with a place in our council,” said the Archmage.
Blaze’s throat grew dry. It was so simple now. Step through the portal. Save Princess Sapphire. Complete the mission King Jasper had given her.
Rejoin the Ember Mages.
She lowered the staff in her hands. Then why did she hesitate? This was her purpose. But hadn’t Dreck spoken of the tapestry that binds all things? The threads that tied them to the Goddess?
Dreck. Of all the foolish notions to pop into her head—Dreck was her friend.
She couldn’t believe she was admitting that to herself. That ridiculous Crook-Eye monk who had saved her time and again. In the hot springs. From the village of Hetsa. Who had patiently put up with her anger. Her enemy. But also, more than anything, her friend.
Princess Sapphire needed her. But so did Dreck. So did Foruk’s Falls for that matter. So did all of the Frostbyte Reach. The way of the Goddess was not saving one thread but pulling them all together. Hadn’t he taught her that?
Now she was ready to listen.
Blaze pushed the staff back into the fire. The flames engulfed it slowly, and it hovered there, locked in place.
“What?” asked the Archmage. Her brows narrowed.
“I . . . can’t,” whispered Blaze.
“You cannot what?” said the Archmage, her voice tense.
Blaze pushed the staff again, and it was sucked into the flames until it was just out of reach. It burned to ash and disappeared from her view.
“It’s not just about Princess Sapphire anymore. There are people who need me,” said Blaze. There were soldiers trapped outside. If she left now with the princess, she would never have a chance to rescue Dreck, or stop the dark jotnar. And even despite the odds, her decision felt right. “I’m sure you understand.”
The Archmage burned with fury, exploding with an angry light. Blaze stumbled backward, surprised by the show of power. “You fool!” The Archmage hissed. “They always doubted you—the girl with the scarlet eyes.” She swept her hands back to indicate the council behind her. “I did not. You were broken. I said you could return. It is time for you to channel your anger. To concentrate your power! Do not fail me! Join me! Together we can tear down my rivals! Stand at my right hand!”
The fire curled and flashed an angry red. The council members huddled behind the Archmage, whispering amongst themselves. Blaze felt anger burning within her.
“We have only a few moments,” said the Archmage. The spell was burning through the coal quickly. “A fire vision cannot last.”
“No!” Blaze snapped, her eyebrows sparking with fury. The force of her rage seemed to push on the Archmage, who shrunk at Blaze’s wrath. “This is what you worry about? Power? Control? Outsmarting your allies? No! There is more to save here than just the princess. The entire realm is at risk. We have to stop Cernonos. He has my friend.”
“Madness!” cried the mages of the council, their disembodied voices filling the carriage.
That was the way of the Goddess, helping each other. Never giving up. Even if it meant risking the Prophecy. It wasn’t about building anger and hatred for the enemy, much less anger and hatred for each other. Hadn’t Princess Sapphire let the Crook-Eye Orcs go? And they had turned.
The flames flickered before her. The spell was beginning to unravel.
“End this madness, Blaze. Embrace your ambition. Step through the portal!” cried the Archmage.
Blaze forced her balled fists to open. “I don’t know what I am,” she said. “But I’m not just an Ember Mage. There’s something else. I felt it hours ago—and it wasn’t rage. It wasn’t anger, but the spark was there.”
“Don’t do this!” The Archmage’s voice spoke as if strained by the load of the spell. “Stay where you are. Rejoin the Order. Save the prin—”
Blaze kicked the grate shut and plunged the carriage into darkness.
She stood for a moment, alone in the blackness, devoid of feeling. Her rage was gone. She was empty, but that was good. It gave room for something new. She would need time to process all this.
“Ungh.” Princess Sapphire moaned on the floor at Blaze’s feet.
“Princess!” cried Blaze. She bent down to help.
Princess Sapphire waved her away.
“When did you wake up?” asked Blaze.
Princess Sapphire shook her head. “I’m not sure I have yet.”
“Need some ice for your head? We’ve got plenty,” said Blaze.
“Not funny.”
The two burst into laughter.
“What . . . what happened?” groaned Princess Sapphire.
“Cernonos tossed us. I hit the snow. You hit a stone pillar.”
“So that’s why I feel like a smith has been using my head for an anvil. Did we . . . win?”
Blaze shook her head. “The dark jotnar . . . there was no way to stop it.”
Princess Sapphire cursed. “We have to find a way.”
“First we have to find a way out of here. It’s a long walk back to Foruk’s Falls.”
“And the rest of our army?”
Blaze pointed upward. “Still up at the spawning point, frozen in solid ice.”
“We have to find a way to free them,” said Princess Sapphire.
There was a horrific clang of metal. It echoed down the tunnel and into the gap. It rang again, twice, then three ti
mes. Each time it sounded like a hammer hitting a gong.
Then a bearded head stuck itself into the window upside-down. “Hullo. Free who?” said the head. It was Tort, hanging upside down from the carriage’s roof.
Blaze was so glad to see him, she almost hugged him. “But how did you get down here?”
“Used the stairs,” said Tort. He made his fingers walk down the palm of his left hand, as if it were just that easy. “Well, after we broke free of the ice and then melted the orcs, that is. That little explosion made the ice brittle enough to break.”
Princess Sapphire sat up. “What happened to Cernonos’s army?”
Bort’s head appeared in the window on the other side of the carriage. “They left in a real hurry,” said Bort. “Probably headed straight to Foruk’s Falls now that they’re recharged. They didn’t even take the time to finish us off. Took the dark jotnar with ‘em too.”
At least they were safe. Blaze let out a sigh.
“That means Cernonos and his men will capture the evacuated city and celebrate their victory tonight,” said Princess Sapphire. She stood up carefully, testing her weight on her limbs. “We need a new plan.”
The metal gong sounded again in their ears.
“What is all that racket?” asked Princess Sapphire.
“Oh, that!” said Tort, grinning so wide his beard parted, “That’s the sound of our new ticket out of here. Don’t worry, we have got an incredibly great idea.”
Chapter 19: The Core of Crystalia
Blaze lay atop the carriage, holding on for dear life as it sped down the track, the wind whistling in her hair. She really hoped the tunnel didn’t have any unexpected stalactites waiting to decapitate her. She needed her head. She ventured a question. “Did anybody think about brakes?”
A couple of the dwarves had figured out how to decouple the last carriage from the rest of the train and detach the gears that meshed with the autowinders on the sides of the track. What was left was a free-wheeling, jam-packed, out of control train carriage speeding down the sloped tunnel toward Foruk’s Falls.
Why did that worry Blaze?
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