by Sarah Noffke
“What is it, sir?” she asked, realizing he was having trouble constructing sentences.
“She may not want to come back here, but she has to,” he finished.
“She has to,” Sophia argued. “She won’t survive.”
Hiker hung his head. “When she remembers…she may not care.”
“Sir, what is she going to learn?”
He put his back to her. “I can’t say. She might not want me to. She may not want anyone to know this. Just ensure she returns no matter what.”
“Okay,” Sophia said, drawing out the word as Mama Jamba shifted on the sofa, appearing deep in sleep.
“The Burning House is supposedly very dangerous,” he continued after glancing at the sleeping woman. “I don’t know what dangers you’ll face, but it’s important that you protect Ainsley. She’s not used to intense situations.”
“Protect me from what?” Ainsley asked, suddenly at Sophia’s shoulder, appearing out of the middle of nowhere.
“Hey, Ains,” Sophia said, startled.
“Hay is for horses and goats and Vikings,” she replied. “The Castle informed me that you needed me, S. Beaufont.”
“Yeah, I have the memory elixir,” she supplied.
Ainsley smiled, holding out her hand. “Give it. And thanks. I’ll take that and be on my merry way.”
“Not so fast.” Hiker swung around to face them. “This will only give you your memories back. You still have to be cured, which will take more time.”
“Still, that’s progress,” Ainsley fired at the leader of the Dragon Elite. “I can’t wait to learn who I used to be and why I loathe you so much, H. I know there’s got to be a few hundred reasons I can add to my already huge list.”
“Ainsley…” Hiker began but trailed away defeated.
“Ains,” Sophia cut in. “I have to take you to a special place to give you the memory elixir.”
“Like a restaurant or a bar?” Ainsley asked. “I haven’t been out in ages. Should I put on something fancy?” She held out her brown burlap dress and frowned at it.
“No, I think you’re fine,” Sophia replied. “This is special in that it’s potentially dangerous.”
“It’s definitely dangerous,” Hiker corrected.
“Oh, so you’re giving my memories and then taking me out?” Ainsley asked, her tone cutting.
“I’m sending you with Sophia,” he countered.
“Another woman you want taken out so you can have your boys’ club,” Ainsley argued.
He shook his head. “You know you’ll be safe with Sophia. She won’t let anything happen to you.”
Ainsley gave Sophia a fond expression. “Actually, I do know that. Because unlike you, she’s a real friend. Thanks, S. Beaufont, for helping me to get my memory back and working so hard to cure me. It’s funny what someone can do if they care enough.”
Hiker sighed, the subtle insults from the housekeeper obviously getting to him. “Ainsley, I didn’t know there was a way to help you. If I did…the world was a very different place after your accident, and up until recently, we’ve been trapped at the Gullington.”
Ainsley laughed shrilly. “It’s funny you say that because you could all actually leave here and just chose not to. I, on the other hand, get lightheaded and forget who I am if I’m gone from the Gullington for too long.”
“Well, that will soon change,” Hiker said, not sounding happy. “And then you can do whatever you want.”
“I can’t wait,” Ainsley told him smugly, holding out her arm to Sophia. “Shall we, S. Beaufont? I’m eager to remember who I was.”
Sophia threaded her arm through her friend’s. She was worried about where they were going, but not more than how Ainsley’s memories would change everything. “Yeah, I’m ready,” she said, forgetting the fact she hadn’t slept.
When the pair turned for the door, Mama Jamba spoke, her voice clear and concise like she hadn’t just been sleeping. “Fight fire with fire, sweet dears.”
Sophia swung around her eyes wide. “What? What was that? Did you say to fight fire with fire?”
But when she studied Mother Nature, she was fast asleep again, snoring loudly.
Hiker shook his head and gave her a cautious look. “Be safe, Sophia. I’ll see you in an hour.”
She nodded and escorted the housekeeper out of the Castle.
Chapter Forty-One
“Where are we?” Ainsley asked after they stepped through the portal outside the Gullington.
“Texas,” Sophia answered.
“Why?” Ainsley questioned, looking around at the flat land and pine trees.
“Because that’s where the place is located that we need to go to for your memories. I have to warn you it’s considered dangerous,” Sophia explained. “Apparently, it’s a building that’s always on fire, no matter what. And we have to enter it.”
The elf laughed. “I’ve been in the Castle for centuries. I think I can handle a building that’s mysteriously on fire all the time.”
“Okay, but I’m not sure I made this clear,” Sophia began, pulling them in the right direction, knowing each second counted. “We have to enter this burning building.”
Ainsley wasn’t deterred. “Remember when Quiet almost died and the Castle was falling apart and full of ongoing fires? It takes more than a burning building to scare me.”
“Well, that’s good,” Sophia said with a deep breath. “But Quiet did say something he wanted me to relate for when you get your memories back.”
Ainsley stopped in her tracks, all lightness disappearing from her face. “Did you say that Quiet said something? As in, you could understand it?”
Sophia nodded. “It’s only happened a couple of times, but yes.”
“What did he say?” Ainsley urged, suddenly desperate for the information.
Sophia cleared her throat, trying to remember the words verbatim. “He said, ‘Tell her I did what I had to, to keep her alive. There was no way to save him.’”
The shapeshifter's reaction was similar to Sophia’s, full of confusion. “Save him? But I thought I did save Hiker? Does he mean someone else? One of the other Dragon Elite that was in battle that day? Thad was later hurt, too, and his dragon. Is that what he means?”
Sophia offered a sympathetic shrug. “I’m sorry, Ains. I don’t know. Maybe it will make sense once you have your memories.” She grabbed her friend’s hand, encouraging her forward. “Come on. We have to be quick. The building should just be down this hill, next to a pond.”
Ainsley laughed. “A burning building next to a water source. Of course, because that makes for fun irony.”
Sophia nodded. “I agree.”
She could see the slope of the hill now. The building would be at the bottom. As they drew closer, she saw the smoke and smelled the fire and felt the intensity of the heat.
When she laid her eyes on the Burning House, she wasn’t prepared for what she saw. Ainsley, who was being flippant about the whole thing, tensed as well, her face going white.
“We have to enter that?”
Sophia gulped, the blood draining from her face as well. “I’m afraid so.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Sophia wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but this wasn’t it. The Burning House wasn’t just a building that was casually on fire with the rooftop neatly covered in small flames. Instead, it was a large house that easily had a dozen rooms and was raging with a five-alarm fire.
“When you said we have to enter the Burning House, did you mean like, just pop in over the threshold?” Ainsley asked.
Just to be sure, Sophia checked the instructions Bep had included with the location. “It says that we have to go to the center of the Burning House.”
Ainsley’s green eyes grew large. “Of course we do. So I die, but my consolation present is that I get my memories back. Is that right?”
“I think…” Sophia said, studying the strange structure that had flames licking up several yards into th
e air. “There has to be a trick to this place.”
“Like one of the pranks Evan plays on Quiet?” Ainsley asked.
Sophia shook her head. “No, I think it’s got to be more mind over matter. Like a mind game.”
“Well, it’s going to win, I fear,” Ainsley said, visibly shaking at the prospect of entering. The place should have fallen down based on how consumed it was by flames, and there was no disputing the fire was hot. From up on the hill, several dozen yards away, Sophia could feel the heat-seeking to singe off her eyebrows.
“You know how people walk on hot coals?” Sophia offered.
“You mean crazy guru types?” Ainsley asked. “Sure, I’ve seen them on nature programs when curled up in your bed watching Netflix.”
Sophia cut her eyes to her friend. “Good to know. Anyway, yes, similar to that. I wonder if that’s what we have to do to get through this.”
“What did Mama Jamba say when she was pretending to sleep?”
Sophia laughed. “I think she was actually asleep, but just woke up suddenly to offer us some last-minute advice. She said we have to fight fire with fire.”
“So go ahead then and blast the house with some fire magic,” Ainsley encouraged.
“No,” Sophia said, shaking her head. “I don’t think that’s it. Maybe it’s for when we get into the Burning House. From what the potions expert said, this fire can’t be put out. It’s been burning for like, forever.”
Sophia didn’t want to relate the part about how many had entered the building and not returned. She knew this was dangerous. But Mama Jamba wouldn’t have sent her there with advice if there wasn’t a way to return safely. And Hiker and Bep had okayed this mission knowing the dangers. There had to be a way to survive. Sophia just had to figure it out.
“Ains,” she began, her tone full of confidence she didn’t yet feel. “We need to be fast. Are you ready to enter the Burning House?” She held out a hand for her friend.
“Yes, but let me just change into something that’s a bit more comfortable,” Ainsley said, wrinkling her nose, as though thinking of a different, more suitable outfit.
Sophia couldn’t argue that something else would be better than the burlap dress but didn’t really think they had time for wardrobe changes.
Ainsley’s eyes lit up as she nodded with confidence. “Yes, something that makes me nimble, less of a target for the fire, and cute.” She squeezed her eyes shut and disappeared. Or at least it appeared at first she did.
Under closer inspection, Sophia realized that Ainsley had shrunk, shapeshifting into the form of a field mouse. She grinned down at her friend. “Good thinking. But you’ll have to change when it’s time to take the potion. Until then, let’s make haste and get into the Burning House and out as quickly as possible.”
The little mouse took off, taking the lead, making Sophia run to catch up with her.
Chapter Forty-Three
The blast of heat was real when Sophia entered the Burning House. At first, she thought the fire might be a really convincing illusion, but there was no mistaking that it was real flame. It was perplexing that the flames didn’t destroy the structure. The fire just kept burning, like a gas flame on a fake log.
Sophia nearly lost track of Ainsley as she ran into the house. It was smart of her to take such a small figure that could be close to the ground, but Sophia couldn’t move as fast in her current form, and she was the one carrying the antidote.
She pulled the scarf she’d thought to bring from her pocket and wrapped it around her nose and mouth, making her look like a bandit. The fire burned her eyes, but at least she could breathe.
Squinting from the brightness of the fire, Sophia tried to locate the field mouse. She spied the creature up ahead, waiting for her by a fire filled wall.
Most people don’t willingly walk into a burning building unless they have to, like the love of their life is stranded, or they are saving something of importance. Sophia found it ironic she was choosing to walk into the Burning House even though the reason wasn’t life or death. If it were her, then she’d want her memories back and to remember who she was and why. She’d want her past back. Ainsley deserved that.
Sophia had reasoned she could have sent Ainsley into the Burning House on her own with the memory elixir. However, the housekeeper wasn’t used to battles and dangers, having been locked up in the Gullington for the better part of several centuries. No, Ainsley needed her. Not just to navigate through the building, encountering whatever else might be in there besides raging flames. But also to be there for her when she remembered who she was. The worry on Hiker’s face and Quiet’s strange remark made Sophia think that whatever Ainsley learned was going to have far-reaching effects.
Hunching down low, Sophia entered the Burning House. Embers flew down from the rafters above, singeing her head. She pulled up her hood, instantly covered in sweat after only seconds in the building.
The path through the Burning House was as one might have expected, obstructed at every turn. Sophia paused, trying to figure out how to proceed. It was much easier for Ainsley in her form as a small field mouse. For Sophia, she was going to have to jump over burning furniture or dare to slide between flames that were licking up into the air. She decided to take a mixed approach, taking off running and jumping over an overturned chair that was covered in flames. The fire looked like water the way it ran over the piece of furniture.
Her lungs instantly ached from the effort, but she didn’t let that slow her down. When she came to a narrow hallway, the only way through was straight, but passing by the walls would be difficult since there was little room in between not occupied by fire.
Sophia sucked in a breath, wishing she could be smaller. She remembered seeing instances of firefighters passing through flames to get out of burning buildings. Like them, if she moved fast enough, maybe the flames wouldn’t hurt her…or not as much.
With her head down and a prayer locked away in her heart, Sophia charged forward and felt a blinding pain as she passed through the fire. To her relief, she did come out on the other side. But what she faced made her realize she hadn’t passed the worst of it—not by even a little bit.
Chapter Forty-Four
Ainsley was waiting for Sophia when she passed through the hallway of flames. The field mouse might have been an excellent form for traveling through tight places, but only wings would help her to get through the next part. However, that wasn’t something Sophia wanted to risk with all the embers flying down from overhead.
“Don’t shift!” Sophia had to yell to be heard over the crackling of the burning building. “One injury in bird form and you’ll be toast.”
She dared to laugh at her own joke and realized the smoke must be going to her head. Kneeling, Sophia picked up the little field mouse, finding it strange she was carrying her friend who in real life was taller than her. She stuck the mouse onto her shoulder, and Ainsley responded with a squeak that Sophia took to mean, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Sophia said, turning her attention to the next obstacle. Not only were the walls in this part of the house doused in flames like everywhere else, but the floor was covered in burning red coals. They stretched for roughly twenty feet—not a distance Sophia could easily leap. It would have been impossible for Ainsley in field mouse form to try and traverse the distance.
The only way through was straight ahead, and it reminded Sophia of people seeking enlightenment walking on burning coals. She’d heard the experience was supposed to teach mind over matter. Maybe it was possible to convince oneself the coals weren’t hot when they were the only thing on fire. It was much more difficult for Sophia with a house burning all around them.
She mopped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm.
“The key has to be to keep moving,” she said to herself.
Ainsley squeaked on her shoulder, and this time it sounded reassuring.
Sophia nodded, pretending she heard words of encouragement fro
m the shapeshifter.
“I can do this,” Sophia declared, looking down at her boots and wondering how long until they melted right off her feet. If she was fast enough, they’d hardly touch the coals long enough for there to be any danger. That’s what she wanted to believe anyway.
It seemed like a weird time to remember something from one of her physics’ textbooks, but maybe the timing was perfect. Sophia remembered that on an atomic level, two things never actually ever touch. There’s always a buffer between things because they are made of atoms and the electrons repel. Using that idea, Sophia tried to convince herself her feet were never going to touch the burning coals.
“Angels above,” Sophia said, daring to suck in a small breath. “Watch over me.”
She started forward, not at a run as she had before when she’d cleared the furniture, but at an even pace, conscious of keeping her steps light and her mind focused.
Sophia refused to look down at her path and focused on where the floor was no longer covered in red coals. She saw herself there and felt the firm floor under her boots and celebrated in her heart having passed through the obstacle.
When Sophia’s shoe came down on the first patch of coals, she didn’t register any difference. She kept moving at an even pace. After a few steps, she realized the uneven terrain made it harder to keep her balance.
Immediately Sophia banished the negative thoughts from her head. She replaced it with the thought: “I can do this.”
Her feet were moving faster as she progressed. The field mouse on her shoulder was frozen. Sophia pictured Ainsley holding her breath in fear. That was probably a good idea since the smoke was so intense as she neared the middle of the Burning House, it made it hard to keep her eyes open.
Still, Sophia didn’t blink as she walked across the hot coals. Her breath, like her steps, remained steady. When she stepped off the bed of coals, she nearly crumbled to the ground from the crash of adrenaline that hit her. That’s when she realized the soles of her boots had melted through, and her feet were burned. It hadn’t registered until the very moment she’d successfully completed the task.