From the Embers (The Born in Flames Trilogy)

by Candace Knoebel

  Lexi let out a long sigh, blowing the hair out of her face. She fell back into a chair, her eyelids opening and closing lazily. “Everything is as it should be. It was always meant to be this way—just us.”

  “The offspring of the devil and his hybrid rival,” Zane teased, finishing up the last detail on the figurine. He tucked the knife back under his robe and tossed the figurine to Fenn.

  “Thanks, bro,” Fenn said with a small bit shame in his voice. Something passed between them when they looked at each other, like they were settling the feud with a piece of wood. I peered over Fenn’s shoulder at the piece, curious to see how it turned out. I half expected to see horns or something, but instead was impressed with how closely it resembled Fenn. He was in battle armor and clutching a sword in his hands.

  I violently jumped when Alister shouted, “I’ve got it!” from across the Biblium.

  “Got what?” I asked, my hand over my heart.

  “I asked him for the spell to do the unbinding,” Lexi explained from over her shoulder as she headed over to Alister.

  “Oh, I figured you knew it,” I said with a shrug.

  Alister handed her a large book, and she laid it down on a table, flipping to the right page. She tore it out and folded it up, tucking it into her robe. “Iliana kept it here until we were ready. That’s why we ported back here.”

  “Oh,” I said through a yawn.

  “We should get some rest now,” Fenn advised as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He nestled his nose into my neck, inhaling deeply. My eyes shut as I leaned my head against him.

  “Sleep sounds really good right now,” I admitted, unable to open my eyes.

  We followed Alister out of the Biblium and up to the tiny huts that offered shelter and a warm bed. We promised ourselves only a few hours of sleep…just enough to replenish our energy and our minds.

  After snuggling into Fenn, my mind easily drifted away into deep sleep.

  Chapter 22

  The Inferno

  THUNDERSTORMS RAGED OUTSIDE THE HALL. As I gazed through the arched windows, I pulled my hair into a ponytail, quickly tucking the fallen strands behind my ears. The once starry sky was black and devoid of all life by the hands of Zordon. It seemed he had left his mark everywhere. White flashes cracked through the air with every breath I took, jolting my heart to hammer against my chest.

  It felt as if the very presence of light itself was sucked dry. Just like the Shadows. Just like Zordon’s soul.

  I snapped my fingers to ignite a flame and touched it to my shoulder, letting it spread along my scales and down my body. The fiery orange flames flickered against the crumbling stone walls, filling my soul with warmth and pushing away the darkness.

  “Do you know where we’re going?” I asked Lexi as a shiver ran down my spine. It felt like someone was watching me. Like someone was directly behind me. I spun around and found nothing but pitch black. I was ready to get this over with.

  She conjured an orb of light in the palm of her hand. “It’s hard to tell. I can’t see anything,” she said, squinting ahead. “Stay inside my light.”

  Fenn gripped my shoulders. I took a deep breath to calm my fears. As Lexi’s light touched the walls around us, I gasped. Destruction surrounded us. This was where the fight between Zordon and the Celestians had taken place the night he became a Fate.

  Zane’s eyes roamed the walls, in search of something. “I thought it would be full of life and light.”

  Lexi’s head snapped around. “It was before our dearest father decided to destroy it. Now all the Celestians are missing.”

  “We should keep moving,” I said quietly. I turned away from the door where The Fates had once conversed and walked past the small white room where I had found Lexi.

  “I know where we are,” Lexi said, rushing up to me. The orbed light in her hands pushed the darkness away, offering a small bit of hope that we would successfully find the room where Fenn and I could become one.

  She reached into her robe and pulled out the paper she had taken from the Biblium. The paper was transparent from the strength of her light. It was nearly impossible to read.

  “Here, let me hold it,” I offered, taking it from her and holding it up so she could study it. Her face paled. “What?” I asked.

  “We, umm, we have to go to the Inferno.” Her voice was weighted with dread.

  I exchanged looks with Fenn.

  “Are you sure? That sounds dangerous,” Fenn asked nervously.

  She looked down her nose at him, brows deliberately raised. “That’s because it is dangerous, Fenn. Every demon, every bad thought, it’s all down there, in the Inferno, rotting and angry. It’s hell. It’s where you go when you aren’t granted passage into the Hall of Knowledge. Not even the Celestians go there.”

  “But I thought Iliana said we needed to go to the place where Zordon was created,” I interjected. As soon as I said it, I realized that it was a fitting place for him to be created.

  “Aurora,” Lexi said, placing her hand on my forearm, “that is where he was created. The Inferno is just another level of the Hall. The level for the damned.”

  My fingers tightened around the paper. “His brothers wouldn’t suspect him there,” I said distantly. It made sense. Zane had been right. Zordon’s entire existence was formed off of lies. In a way, I felt sorry for him. He never stood a chance at being good. Not with Saeth for a father.

  “There’s no way we are going down there,” Zane said firmly. His face was a shade lighter than normal.

  “What choice do we have?” Lexi prompted.

  I took in a deep breath. “None.” Three heads turned in my direction. “Do you know how to get there?”

  “I think so, but it won’t be easy,” Lexi said. Her voice was steady and low, giving me the confidence I needed.

  “Where exactly is it located?” Fenn asked. His arms were crossed over his chest, his stance wide.

  “In the in-between,” she said. “There are only two that I know of who have been in the Inferno and survived. Astral and Gabe.”

  “Gabe?” I asked, flinching back in surprise.

  Her eyes set on mine, softening a little. “He was taken there the night you and Fenn were ported to the other realm. Astral was the one who had saved him from that place.”

  Guilt washed over me.

  There was a loud rumbling from somewhere down the hall behind us. “We have to move,” I whispered, my heart accelerating. I let the past and all its regrets drift away from me, knowing the only thing I could do to make it right was to end Zordon’s reign of terror.

  Lexi looked worried when she held her arms out, waiting for us to grab on to her. “Hang on tight,” she said regretfully.

  I felt myself fading as we moved through time. It wasn’t like porting…more like drifting.

  We surfaced in a land of fog. There was nothing for the eye to see, nothing to note. Except for a feeling—an extreme heat unlike any I had felt before.

  “It hurts,” I said, rubbing my skin in irritation. It felt like what I would imagine a sunburn would feel like. Like my skin was raw and under the constant glare of the sun.

  “Your immunity to heat doesn’t apply here,” Lexi quickly explained. “In the Inferno, there is nothing you are immune to. It was made for you to suffer—to feel your strengths slipping from you.”

  “But I’m not hot,” Fenn said certainly. He looked up at me, his eyebrows squished together. “I just feel heavy…weak.”

  “I feel like I want to cry,” Zane added. He looked like the thought itself left a bad taste in his mouth.

  “Let me get my violin,” Lexi said, lips pursed. “Listen, the longer we linger, the harder it is to leave.” Her hand was on her neck, rubbing incessantly back and forth. I didn�
��t want to think about what her suffering was. It left nails clawing at the back of my throat and heat pushing through my eyes.

  Fenn’s hand slid across my back. “Let’s go then,” he said. He pushed his feet forward as if they weighed a ton.

  “Do you know where to go next?” I asked. Lexi whirled around, searching for the right direction. She pulled the map back up to her face, squinting as hard as she could, and then sighed.

  “Just go straight,” she said.

  “You don’t sound so sure,” Zane said. I had to do a double take because I thought I saw his lip tremble, but when he caught me looking, he quickly looked away.

  “Because I’m not,” she snapped. “All I know is that the Inferno is made out of a series of trials—levels that you have to pass. If you make it to the end, you are granted a chance in the Hall.”

  “That doesn’t sound so bad. How far do we have to go?” I asked. It took every ounce of determination in me not to rub my skin. The pain was becoming unbearable.

  Lexi shrugged and pulled the paper back out of her robe. She grabbed my flaming arm, bringing it as close to the paper as possible. A gasp left her mouth.

  “What?” I asked, my muscles tensing.

  She took her time folding the paper back up, her face a little more white than normal. She inhaled deeply and then finally looked me in the eyes. “To the end. That is where he was created.”

  My breath caught in the back of my throat.

  “That’s convenient,” Zane said sarcastically.

  I brushed aside his comment. “What’s the end?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. Astral and Gabe wouldn’t talk about it. No one does.”

  I didn’t want to imagine what could be so horrible that no one was willing to talk about it.

  “It will be fine. We just have to keep moving and stop talking,” Fenn said, walking away from us. His body grew less visible with every step as the fog seemed to swallow him whole.

  “Fenn, stop!” I shouted, sending every scary vibe I could towards him. “We can’t see you!”

  He reappeared, slowly retracing his steps.

  A huge sigh of relief whooshed out of me. “We can’t separate,” I said, grabbing on to him for added measure.

  We pushed through the endless fog. Since there was nothing in front of me to see, my eyes wandered to the ground. I watched my feet pad through the fog, creating smoky swirls with every step. The outer layer of my shifted form felt like it was melting off. Like my scales were forming into molten drops gliding down my body.

  It was excruciating. Everything in me screamed to turn back, but with Fenn by my side, I pushed forward, knowing I had to be strong if we were going to make it.

  I had to.

  Minutes felt like torturous hours, and just when an end never seemed in sight, Lexi disappeared. The fog opened up and dropped her into a vast darkness below. We froze as her screams stopped our hearts in their tracks.

  “Lexi!” Zane and Fenn shouted, both dropping to their stomachs, reaching over the invisible edges of the fog hole.

  Before I had a chance to think, another hole opened up, sending the three of us plummeting after her. My wings stretched open as my talons caught both Fenn and Zane by their collars. As hard as I tried to flap, I barely slowed the descent. Something pulled us down, refusing to let me fly. The harder I fought against the force, the more intense the burning sensation felt along my skin. I screamed out in pain, nearly losing my grip on them.

  “Don’t fight it,” Zane said. There was no time to wonder why he sounded so sad. No time to turn back.

  The ground met us full force, knocking the wind from my chest. I rolled to my side, gasping for air and clutching my chest. Fenn and Zane were on their feet, already healed. I grimaced at Fenn when he offered me a hand.

  “I think we made it,” he said, pulling me up to his chest. “You okay?” He brushed a fallen hair behind my ear and kissed my cheek as I nodded.

  “I’ll say.” Zane’s eyes flitted around our surroundings as he walked in a small circle. “Where the hell are we?”

  “Lexi?” I shouted on the edge of a raspy breath. She had to be here. She had to.

  Zane took a few steps. “What the hell?” He bent over, rubbing his shins.

  We stood in an open field full of prickly, knee-high grass. Even though they healed rapidly, it didn’t prevent the spikes from piercing their flesh.

  “I don’t think she’s here,” Zane said, itching at his legs. Little dots of blood surfaced on his skin and then vanished a moment later.

  “That’s why you shouldn’t think,” Lexi whispered loudly from somewhere nearby.

  “What are you—” Zane retorted but was cut off by her hands yanking him to the ground. “Ow!” he shouted, followed by her quickly shushing him.

  “You should get down too,” she quietly called to Fenn and me.

  We both dropped to our stomachs. I reached for Fenn’s hand when I heard him wince. My scales prevented the spikes from piercing me. “What’s going on?” I asked her.

  “We are being watched. Be quiet.”

  “By what?” I whispered even lower.

  “The Lost, Rory. They are stuck here and looking for someone to latch on to. I tried to find a way through the field and ran into this guy.” She rolled over just enough for me to look behind her. A ghoulish-looking rotted figure lay dead next to her, his hands shriveled on his chest.

  “You killed him?” I mouthed questioningly.

  She nodded and held up her hands, letting just a blip of light shine through.

  “Yay. She did it. Bake her a cake…after we figure out a way out of these cursed thorns,” Zane grumbled, picking them from his forearms and chest.

  “That’s the thing,” she said. “This is it. Go to the edge and you find yourself right back in the middle. There is nothing outside of this field.”

  Chapter 23

  The Ritual

  “HOW MANY LEVELS ARE THERE?” I asked, trying not to panic. “And don’t shrug,” I rushed out before she had the chance to.

  She rolled her eyes and then rolled onto her back, pulling the paper out of her robe. I couldn’t tell if the thorns were bothering her or not. “It doesn’t specify, but I think three,” she said, her tone falling like the deflating of a balloon.

  “We can’t just lie here,” Fenn griped. He had begun picking at the thorns as well. I turned on my elbows to help him get out what I could see.

  “Obviously,” Zane added, his voice sounding muffled. He was resting his forehead against his propped up palms, facing the ground. He looked up at me. “So let’s just get up and go. We can take out anyone…anything that gets in the way.”

  “Don’t be hasty,” Lexi shot back at him. “If you try to walk around, you’ll be attacked.”

  Despite Lexi’s warning, he jumped to his feet and started walking away from us. I gestured for Fenn to follow and jumped up. Lexi stood slowly, her lips pressed into a thin line.

  “We have to keep going, Lexi,” I said as I slowed to match her pace.

  She ignored me and stomped forward.

  The grass seemed to take on a life of its own as we padded forward, wrapping around our ankles, trying to hold us down. We hacked and slashed with our daggers, hoping another opening would appear and take us to the last level. But our hopes were short-lived.

  The Lost popped up from out of nowhere. One appeared right in front of me, snarling and reaching his grimy hands out to grab me. I punched him in the jaw and in the stomach, and then kicked him to send him flying backwards.

  Another approached Fenn from behind as he fought one off from the front. Panic jolted through my system, fueling my muscles with strength. I ran and jumped onto his back, throwing off his balance. The Lo
st thrashed and growled, trying to pitch me off, but I wrapped my arm around his neck and snapped.

  Lexi used her power to take out three more, frying their souls with her light. Zane stood up from one he had freshly put down and smiled crookedly at her. She smiled back for a split second until more showed up followed by an echoing, unfamiliar laughter.

  I scanned the area, searching for the source of the sound, but I couldn’t find anyone but the Lost. The laughter picked up, surrounding us, closing in on us. It left me feeling robbed of breath and of sense. Bodies of the Lost continued to rise, each appearing with every horrible note of laughter.

  We stopped fighting. There were too many to count. They stalked towards us, encircling us with our backs pressed to each other.

  “Keep tight together,” Zane instructed, crouched and ready with his dagger gleaming outwards.

  “This can’t be happening,” I said. The laughter continued on, blaring inside of my mind. Images of every horrible thing I had ever seen sliced through my mind. Blood spilled from my loved ones shaded my vision. I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t…

  “Stop it!” I cried out, my hands shielding my ears. Tremors rippled through my body.

  When I opened my eyes, the manic laughter had ceased and the remaining Lost had disappeared. I waited for any sign that something else would show up in their place as my pulse throbbed behind my ears.

  “I smell a Fate’s power,” Lexi said, nose lifted. She looked over at me, eyes drilling into mine. “They know we are here.”

  “If that’s true then what we should really be worried about is that Saeth knows we are here,” Zane pointed out.

  “He can’t possibly want to help his son after all that Zordon has done to them,” I grunted, tucking my dagger back into the sheath around my waist.