Embracing the Flames

by Candace Knoebel

  He hesitated for a split-second before he nodded in agreement. “This way,” he directed as he shouldered past Zane into the forest.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Zane said as he turned to follow his brother.

  I grabbed his arm. “I have this, remember?” I pulled the chain holding the vial from around my neck. The Harpy’s blood coated the glass a dark crimson.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” he shot back. “We are the sons of Zordon. We have immortal blood in us. That only works on mortals.” He looked regretful at this bit of information and then with a sigh, turned back towards Zhax.

  “I want to believe in Zhax, but I do agree with Zane. We must remain cautious. Just please don’t take another one of my children from me,” Gwen said morosely as she followed behind Zane.

  I winced. Fenn threw his arm over my shoulder and pulled me forward, squeezing me tightly. “Don’t listen to her, okay? She means well. You need to do what you believe is right. I trust you.”

  “Thanks,” I said, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

  Zhax took us behind the glistening, violet-blue Temple. He had just enough of the Wisp’s essence left over to disperse between us. We all took turns drinking before the guards could detect us. It glowed neon yellow and tasted as awful as earwax.

  “A total of six guards patrol the outskirts of the Temple,” Zhax said, detailing his plan. “They split off in pairs. We will wait for the next pair to go by and then run towards the Temple in a straight line. Do not speak and try to remain as quiet as possible. The essence will only last a short while so it is essential that we get in and get out. My father is using the same essence so we will be able to see him. If you see him, hit him with the immobilizing spell immediately. Aurora,” he looked at me, “you will be in charge of opening the portal to take us back to a safe haven. Do you have one?”

  “The Biblium. Alister has something that erases port trails. It will keep us safe,” I mentioned confidently.

  “Okay then. Everyone here knows where that is so if something happens, and we get split, plan on meeting back there. This will be our only chance with the Priests in a deep meditative trance. When the moon’s light reaches the Pool, that’s when they can harness the most power. We must keep Zordon from taking a drop. For every drop taken, a Priest dies. Obviously this will disrupt their meditation, and we will all be dead.”

  I was stuck on one thing. How did Zhax know where the Biblium was? I was about to ask when Fenn whispered, “Be quiet now. The guards are coming!”

  We all stopped moving, crouched behind the bushes, waiting for their footsteps to disappear.

  As soon as they were gone, we took off in a sprint with Zhax in the lead and Zane right behind him. Up close, I felt like an ant compared to the size of the Temple, the stone seeming to rise up from the depths of the earth.

  Fenn reached back and took my hand as we approached the entrance. A Priest stood guard on either side of the doorway, staves resting across their chests.

  “Ready?” mouthed Zhax from the front of the line.

  The essence was working because the guards didn’t even flinch as we snuck through the open door and into the Temple, careful to keep our footsteps silent. The essence was good for sight but not for sound.

  Inside the drafty Temple, deep stony purple walls of amethyst glistened as we tiptoed by. I wondered if the Priests had chiseled out each room and hallway inside this colossal crystal.

  Rooms to the left and right along the hall had tables with restraints hanging from them. What would they need restraints for in a Temple?

  Zhax motioned with his hands to move towards a wrought iron spiral staircase up ahead and to be quiet.

  A faint humming sound emanated from up the stairs, vibrating through my core. The Priests were chanting. Zhax approached the staircase and slowly peered up to make sure it was clear.

  We took the stairs two at a time, winding up and around, flight after flight. I counted twenty-one stories before Zhax finally stopped us at what appeared to be the top. He slowly inched forward, stealthily checking around the corner. Then, he waved us to the other side of the room up against the amethyst wall.

  The room was barren and open with springy bamboo flooring. Jagged amethyst reached up into a point above us, enclosing the top floor.

  But the Pool was not at all what I had imagined. It was an upside down tree that hung from the very tip-top center of the amethyst. The leaves were made of light, and tiny, shimmering sparkles cascaded down from it into a small still pond built into the ground.

  The Priests were kneeling in a circle around the pond, heads bowed in prayer, chanting furiously. Over one hundred shiny bald heads reflected the color of their temple.

  Zhax pulled us down to a crouch and began to whisper. “He hasn’t infiltrated yet so we will wait here. When we see him, it is extremely important that we immobilize him before he has a chance to pluck a leaf. If even one leaf falls, we will all be discovered.”

  “Won’t they hear us?” I whispered back.

  “No, not while they’re in prayer. They are in a dream-like state right now,” Zhax replied, his gaze moving from face to face.

  A chilling breeze picked up, carrying an unfamiliar scent with it. I sniffed the air. It smelled like a mixture of earthy incense and electricity.

  “It’s sage. That’s what the Priests burn,” Zhax answered.

  Zane leaned over my shoulder. “How do you know so much, brother?” he whispered presumptuously.

  Zhax stared at him for a moment too long. The kind of stare that suggests you’ve been caught and are quickly trying to think of an answer. As fast as it had appeared, it had disappeared. “I overheard father talking about it before he left,” he answered calmly. “This was a part of his plan.”

  Zane silently chuckled as he shook his head in disdain. Then he looked at me, his eyes confirming that we had made a mistake in trusting him.

  I shrugged back at him. At least we had made it this far. Seconds turned into minutes as we waited in silence for Zordon to appear. The Priests continued chanting, oblivious to the five of us crouching near the back of the room.

  Doubt settled in. What if this was a trap?

  “What were the restraints for?” I asked Gwen who was couched in between Zane and me.

  Her eyes fixed on me for a moment, as if she were contemplating whether she should answer me or not. While she decided, I waited patiently, locking my gaze with hers.

  “Dissection,” she finally said callously. “They experiment inside this Temple. It’s a part of their tainted use of power from The Fates. No one has ever seen what they do exactly, but it is known that the experiments are heinous and unspeakable. You would be wise to not put too much thought into this place. Pretend it never existed.” She rubbed at her arms.

  I remembered what Astral had said. “Though they are wise in the ways of healing and harnessing energy, they are not to be viewed as a kindly race. They are the exact opposite.”

  “Point taken,” I replied as I shivered, my eyes scanning Priests who peacefully sat praying. Suddenly, I felt a sick feeling wash over me. At first I thought I was reacting to Gwen’s story, but then I realized it was a familiar feeling. Zordon was here. He was close.

  I sat up, alert, alarming the rest of the group to scan the area. My scales began to ride along my arms as soon as I felt his poisonous presence. Zhax’s hand stopped me from shifting. “If you shift, you will wear off the essence,” he whispered sharply.

  I looked at Zane, furrowing my brows at him.

  He nodded, reaffirming Zhax’s warning.

  I rolled my eyes and let my scales recede, but the damage had already been done. My body began to flicker in and out of visibility. We suddenly realized that all except Zhax was still bound together by Gwen’s spell bec
ause they all began to flicker as well.

  Panic rose up. “We have to hurry,” Fenn instructed as he moved to crouch in front of me.

  “Over there!” Gwen whispered as she stood. Everything happened so fast I barely had time to digest it. Zordon was suddenly at the tree, a leaf in his hand, when his eyes shot in our general direction. His smirk wavered slightly at the sight of Eve. He went to take a murderous step forward, but the Priests began foggily shaking their heads. One of them fell over, dead. Zordon's smirk resumed as he spun and disappeared in a whirl of smoke.

  I ran towards him before he disappeared, the immobilizing spell leaving my mouth a second too late. Instead of Zordon, it hit a Priest that stood where Zordon had been. He fell over, unmoving, as all of the other Priests turned in my direction, hatred and anger burning through their glowing eyes over their fallen brother.

  “Oh damn,” I mumbled under my breath. I felt hands wrap around me from behind.

  Chapter 25

  The Separation

  THE PRIESTS SHOUTED AS THEY sprinted towards me. I spun to fight off whoever was behind me, but it was Fenn, pulling me backwards as Zhax and Zane landed in front of me, their hands glowing and ready to fight. Zhax essence had worn off too.

  “Track his portal!” Zhax shouted. He pulled out a dagger and began fighting the Priests who threw streams of electromagnetic energy towards him. The energy hit his dagger and rebounded, sending the Priests flying backwards and out of the Temple’s open cracks.

  “This way,” said Gwen, pulling on Fenn’s hand. She quickly said a spell and threw it to where Zordon had just ported. A portal opened, and she yelled at us to run for it.

  I glanced back at Zane and Zhax, deflecting as much of the Priests’ energy as I could, while backing up towards Gwen.

  “Just go!” Zane shouted behind him. Fenn tugged my arm and pulled me towards the open portal. He jumped through, and I started to follow, but a hand caught my foot and pulled me down. My face slammed onto the edge of the stone pond, my tooth tearing through my top lip. Blood instantly pooled into my mouth.

  “Aurora!” Gwen shouted as she shot off, “Pellum Descendum,” and ran to my side. The guilty Priest flew backwards into another mob of angry Priests.

  She offered me a hand, but another Priest came up behind her. I drop-kicked him and then hit him with Pulsecto — the electrifying spell.

  “Go,” she shouted at me while throwing spells without any particular aim. “We’ll be right behind you. Wait two minutes and if we don’t show, seal off the portal,” she instructed.

  “No!” I shouted back as I quickly shifted and leapt into the air. I was not about to leave them to those god-awful restraints.

  “But Fenn!” she shouted. I wavered for a moment, and remembered what Astral had told me so long ago. Nothing could come in between.

  “You go after him…please!” I begged as I shot a flame at a Priest who was about to stab Zane in the back. She glared at me while shooting a spell at a Priest who was about to hit her, and then she leapt through the portal.

  I turned back to Zhax and Zane and shouted, “Come on, the portal is closing!” Priests were falling left and right as they swarmed around the three of us. I let a huge flame build within me and then released it on a group that was cornering Zhax, but I wasn’t quick enough to see the two who had Zane cornered next to him.

  I let out another flame, hoping I wasn’t too late. The Priests brought their daggers down in unison, and I looked away, not wanting to watch Zane die again. When I looked back, one Priest lay dead and Zhax was on his knees, clutching his bleeding side. He had taken the blow for Zane. The other Priest fell beside him as Zane extended his hand to help Zhax up. I flew over to them and caught Zane’s hand, lifting both him and Zhax into the air, flying all three of us to the portal.

  I threw them through and then flew into it, trying to ignore the sting of the Priests’ energy as it connected with my back. Zane caught me on the other side.

  Alister appeared behind us, instantly spraying the portal, sealing it from anyone else who might try to cross it. “How are we…?” I began.

  “Zordon must have sealed off his portal before we could make it through,” Zane answered as his healing energy surrounded me.

  “Fenn?” I choked out, my skin still stinging. It felt as if a thousand tiny needles were continuously stabbing me. “Is he here?”

  Zane paused his healing. His face fell, remorse softening his angled features. “He’s out there somewhere with Gwen and Zordon,” he admitted sullenly. My lip quivered as the heat built behind my eyes. I inhaled slowly, refusing to have a mental breakdown. I bit my bottom lip and watched Alister as he continued to spray around the room. He seemed a bit nuttier from the last time I was here.

  “Be careful, young Progeny,” Alister advised. “Must go now.” He turned from us and left, never explaining why I was to be careful.

  “It’s not your fault,” Zane told me, patting my hand. I looked up at him, lifelessly. “You saved us.” He was trying to convince me. “If you hadn’t stayed behind, I don’t think we would have made it out of there.”

  I turned from his sincere eyes. I ached at the thought of Fenn with Zordon. “We have to go after them,” I murmured, trying my best to hide the tears that were on the verge of spilling.

  “Brother,” Zhax said weakly from behind us. I had almost forgotten about his wound. Zane went over to him, streaming his energy into his wound, helping his already rapid healing. “Thanks,” he said as the wound sealed shut.

  “No…thank you,” Zane said, “you saved my life.” He sounded confused and a little rueful.

  “You’re my brother,” Zhax replied as if there should never have been a doubt in our minds. “I told you I came here to help.” He leaned forward, testing out his healed wound. He didn’t even wince. I wished I could heal so quickly.

  “What next?” Zane asked dismally.

  I moved to speak, but Zhax sat forward and said, “If I may.” I nodded for him to proceed. “The next ingredient is blood of the dragon, correct?” Zane and I both nodded. “You obviously have an in there,” he said with raised eyebrows.

  “Yes, but right now I don’t think it’s best for us to go back to the dragons’ cave. They will surely prevent us from leaving again.”

  “If we don’t go back, we won’t be able to stop Zordon from hurting one of your own,” Zhax pointed out. I felt stuck.

  “We have to do something, Aurora,” Zane eased.

  I cleared my throat. “I was going to say, let’s start with connecting to my Oraculus. It will at least take us to Zordon, and then we could find Fenn and Gwen. If he’s near the Chasm, well then we killed two birds with one stone.”

  Zane looked down, smirking.

  “You have your Oraculus?” Zhax asked, his eyes consumed with hunger. Zane looked up at me, his smirk a mere memory.

  I felt the anger stir deep within. Zane who was now studying Zhax.

  “Do you have a plan for when we get to wherever your Oraculus takes us?” Zhax asked excitedly.

  “Not particularly,” I said.

  “Well I do,” he replied, his eyes still wide.

  “Shocking,” Zane muttered under his breath.

  “Okay, what is it?” I asked.

  “I don’t think Zordon will waste any time before going after the next ingredient.”

  “Yeah, but he also hadn’t planned on Fenn and Gwen tailing him. Who knows what happened when they ported through?”

  He shifted. “You’re right. Maybe I should go back first and pretend to be on his side. That way I could find out what's going on. You could let me use your Oraculus.”

  “Whoa,” Zane and I said at the same time. I continued. “No one touches it besides me, got it? And I don’t feel too comfortable with you sneaking off to
meet up with your father. Especially now that you know where we hide and what we’re up to. How will we know that you aren’t betraying us?” I asked fiercely. Flames had already ignited on the tips of my fingers, ready for him to turn on us.

  He threw his hands up in innocence. “I guess taking a blow for your brother isn’t enough to prove yourself,” he said sarcastically as he scooted away from us. “I’m just trying to help. At some point you are going to have to either trust me or kill me, and no offense,” he said as he looked me over, “but it doesn’t seem like you are the killing type.”

  “Well, then I guess you don’t know me,” I threatened, stepping towards him and showing off the flames on my fingertips. He knocked over a small wooden table in the room, stumbling to keep steady.

  “This is how it’s going to go,” I said icily. “We are all going to connect and see where we end up. If, on the other side, we need you to go in and play up Zordon, then you will. But I will be watching. If that is not necessary, even better. Got it?” My fists balled at my sides, now consumed in flames.

  Zane appeared by my side. “That’s as good as it’s going to get,” he confirmed, his own hands pulsing with red energy. He got right up into Zhax’s face. “I won’t hesitate to kill you, brother,” he said on a low breath. “Blow or no blow.”

  Zhax squirmed out from underneath Zane’s glare. “You two need to lighten up,” he said through a nervous chuckle.

  “We will lighten up when this is over. Now join hands,” Zane commanded.

  Moments later, we found ourselves in a dry, desolate sand dune cooled by the moon’s light. A drastic change from the biting cool of fall.

  “This isn’t where I thought we’d be. He must be going after the last ingredient before the dragon’s blood,” Zhax evaluated as he trudged forward through the sand.