Soul Fire

by Legacy, Aprille

  When the river had faded into a dull roar, I reignited my magelight in my palm. Slowly, carefully, Echo and I padded back towards it and I hoped desperately that no one had been caught by the raging water.

  I sent my magelight high over the area, risking getting caught, but I needed to see properly. The light it shed fell across the scene like moonlight, and I could see what we’d done.

  The dam had broken completely, and water was still surging forwards, flowing towards Riverdoor. Dena and Theresa were huddled near the bank, trying to peer over the other side.

  “Can you see anyone?” I asked as I drew closer, dreading the answer.

  “Petre was on the other bank for a little while, then he shouted something to us but we couldn’t hear,” Theresa answered, her voice strained with worry. “He and Ispin have disappeared into the trees.”

  “What about Yasmin and Rain?” I asked, but Dena shook her head.

  The noise the dam had made had been unbelievable, like a roar of thunder. I could only hope that any Orthandrellians that had heard had assumed it was just that; thunder. The storms had been increasing in number and ferocity as the seasons changed.

  I could see no way across, but we’d passed a bridge on the way to the dam. I mentioned it to Theresa and Dena, who agreed to head in that direction. Hopefully the boys had thought the same and we’re on their way to it as we spoke.

  We hitched the horses together and began to ride in that direction. As we rode beside the newly re-birthed river, I noticed I was searching its banks for two bodies.

  Stop it! I chided myself angrily. They’ll be fine.

  I hadn’t seen where they were when the dam had burst. I could only hope that they’d been on the other side with Petre and Ispin. But then why would Dena and Theresa say they’d only seen the two boys on the opposite bank of the river? I shoved the thought away uneasily.

  We were nearing the bridge. I eyed the horizon with concern; it was beginning to lighten as dawn approached. We needed to be back over the border and safe in our beds at the manor before anyone saw us.

  I could see the bridge. But before we got any closer, my eye was caught by something in the water.

  I was off of Echo and sprinting towards the river before I had time to think. I knew what I’d seen; Yasmin’s long honey blonde hair bobbing along next to one of the logs from the dam.

  I hit the water and was immediately taken aback by how fast it was flowing. I fought it angrily, striding out as far as I could. As I felt the soft muddy bottom of the river give way, I pushed off, gaining a little bit extra momentum as I began to strike out towards Yasmin.

  I fought the water straining around me. I fixed my sights on her, determined to reach her.

  I wilnot let you go!

  As I slowly drew closer, the frigid water beginning to numb my body, I saw that she was close to

  unconsciousness; her arm draped loosely over the log was the only thing keeping her above the surface.

  “Hang on!” I shouted to her and managing to swallow a lot of river water. “Don’t let go, Yasmin!”

  Her eyes flickered and she began to slip closer to the surface. I growled and forced my aching limbs to go faster, using the current of the water to close in on her. Her arm slipped from the log and she sank out as sight just as I reached her.

  I heaved a breath and dived to the spot where she’d disappeared. I opened my eyes, but it was useless; I couldn’t see anything at all.

  Suddenly, something brushed my outstretched hand. It felt like fine tendrils, and I realised her hair was flowing around my hand as she sank.

  I grabbed a handful of it and not very gracefully pulled her up to me as my breath began to run out. We were both being buffeted by waterlogged logs that had sunk, as well as the current. I wrapped my arms around her torso and kicked my legs furiously. I felt heavy, trapped by the water, and I quickly kicked off my boots, remembering what my old swim teacher had said.

  I strained, beating my legs as fast as I could. I had no idea how close I was to the surface, but the pressure in my lungs was beginning to build and I knew that soon I’d reflexively inhale, consigning us both to the muddy depths of the river we’d freed.

  It almost came as a surprise when my head burst through the surface of the raging river. It was beginning to calm now, slowing down as it reached the wider section that Petre had mentioned. I quickly pulled Yasmin’s head up to my shoulder so that she could breathe.

  As the river began to slow even more, I struck out a one arm stroke towards the river bank. I could hear

  thundering hoof beats as the others searched for us. I could only hope that Rain was with them; I hadn’t seen her at all during the course of my mission to get to Yasmin before she slipped off the log.

  My feet scrabbled against the bottom of the river, sinking into the icy mud. I heaved myself upright, water gushing from my clothes. I half carried, half dragged Yasmin up the slope, laying her on the grass just as Dena and Theresa arrived.

  “Sky!” Dena was running towards me. “Is she-“

  “I don’t know,” I wheezed. “She was conscious just before I reached her.”

  I sat back on my haunches as Dena worked on her. She’d rolled Yasmin into the recovery position, checking her airways.

  “She’s breathing,” she announced and I thought my heart would burst from relief. Dena moved some of her wet hair aside, and in the pale magelight Theresa was casting, we could all see the nasty lump on the side of her head. “I’m guessing she was hit when the dam burst. She probably clung to consciousness as long as she could.”

  I began shivering violently, not just from the cold that was beginning to bleed into my bones, but from the thought of Yasmin losing consciousness before I’d spotted her, or if I hadn’t noticed her in the water at all.

  Petre and Ispin barrelled out of the darkness, having run as fast as they could when they heard the hoof beats. I was relieved to see that Rain was with them, damp and shivering, but alive.

  Petre fell with a cry to Yasmin’s side. I think he thought for a moment that his soul mate was dead. Dena reassured him quietly, but that didn’t stop him from checking her vitals himself.

  “We need to get her back to the manor house,” Dena said to us all. “She needs warmth.”

  We all did. Rain and I were both frozen to the bone, having been the only ones to experience the icy water. The other four, though cool, weren’t feeling the ice crawl into the marrow of their bones and set up camp. My teeth chattered, breaking the silence that had fallen between all of us.

  We all managed to climb back onto our horses. As we rode, I showed Dena and Rain the charm to dry clothes and we set about drying ourselves, with Dena working the charm over Yasmin, who was slumped in front of her.

  The ride back was dismally slow. After the eager ride there, anticipation flowing in our veins, we plodded back towards Riverdoor with heavy hearts. The sun was just beginning to rise as we turned into the estate. For once, when we reached the stables, we turned the reins of our horses over to the stable hands who were up and about. We were just too exhausted to look after them properly.

  I rolled into my bed gratefully, the soft blankets enveloping me like a cloud. Petre had pulled a mattress into Yasmin’s room to keep an eye on her. Dena had told us that she should wake up in a few hours, though someone would need to be with her at all times to make sure she didn’t have concussion. I would take my turn come daybreak if she still wasn’t awake, but for now I certainly did not begrudge Petre the gruelling task of waking up every half an hour to check on her.

  It felt like I’d only just fallen asleep when the servant who brought me my pre-breakfast (I liked to have two breakfasts) knocked on my door. I was so tired that it felt like trying to drag open my eyelids from drying concrete. She began to approach me with my rolls and tea, and then stopped when she saw the mud still caked on my face and the river water tangling my hair.

  “I shouldn’t ask, should I?” she said.

  I
shook my head once and fell back asleep.

  When I woke again, the sun was high in the sky. For a second I was confused; why did I feel guilty? Then I remembered that I was supposed to have relieved Petre so that he could sleep.

  I burst into Yasmin’s room, still blinking away the heavy sleep. I was surprised to see her sitting on the edge of her bed, slowly brushing her hair free of river muck.

  “Good afternoon,” she said breezily as she saw me in the doorway. “Dena tells me I’d be dead without you.”

  What did one say to that? Uh, yeah you would?

  I settled for giving a noncommittal shrug, combined with a jerk of my head that could have been a nod or a shake of my head.

  “Oh, Sky,” Yasmin sighed. “One of these days you’re going to have to start owning up to the fact that you are a hero.”

  “I’m not,” I protested immediately.

  “You are,” she countered, laying the hairbrush down on the table next to her. “Dena says that when you saw me in the water, you took off after me without even hesitating. We both could’ve died last night.”

  “But we didn’t.”

  “We didn’t, because of you.”

  It had been my idea to go to the dam at all. Didn’t she remember that? She should be blaming me, not thanking me.

  When she led me out of the room to meet the others, I followed with a heavy heart.

  ~Chapter Fifteen~

  We went down to breakfast together, meeting Lord Hugh and the others in the dining room.

  “So,” Lord Hugh began slowly. “The Orthandrellian dam burst last night. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”

  “Of course not,” I replied airily, sitting down next to Dena and beginning to tear up a roll for Sammy who was due any moment. “But does that mean the river is flowing again?”

  “Flowing fuller than it ever has before,” he replied with a raised eyebrow. “The mill began operating for the first time in months today. We’ll be able to start producing our own bread again, rather than relying on Nurmin.”

  I looked at the bread roll I was devouring with new appreciation. Who knows where it had come from? I wolfed the rest of it down – leaving half for Sammy – deciding not to wonder anymore.

  “I suppose the mud you’ve taken to dressing in didn’t come from the river either?”

  “Nope,” I replied airily, as Sammy ran to me and crawled up onto my lap just like every morning. I gave him the bread roll. “A new overnight treatment I was trying.”

  “I’m going to be a mage like you,” Sammy interrupted suddenly.

  “We hope,” Matilda said, gliding into the dining room and kissing her husband on the cheek. “Samlin is going to the magic tester today.”

  “I’ll be just like Jonathon and Sky!” he declared, completely certain. I was confused for a moment until I realised Jonathon must be Petre’s real name.

  I spent a moment wondering why the Academy renamed us. To rebirth us into the life of a mage? I rolled my eyes as Sammy stole the next roll. Knowing Iain and Netalia, it would be some wishy washy excuse like that.

  For the first time since arriving in Riverdoor, we were able to enjoy ourselves in the city. We went shopping at the market, and I bought Larni a beautiful length of red silk. I looped it around my arm, knowing that she’d love it and be terribly embarrassed.

  The townsfolk treated us like royalty, but I was glad none of them knew that we’d destroyed the dam. It was bad enough we’d rescued the youngest heir to the Lyon estate (I was again confused, until Petre let on that that was the name of his family) and repaired the bridge; I couldn’t imagine what they’d do if they knew about the dam as well.

  We ate our lunch next to the river, in the shadow of the bridge we’d repaired. It was bustling with horses and carts and their traders. I desperately wanted to see Nurmin, but I knew that we had to return to the Academy the next day.

  We dragged our feet back to the estate, but were surprised to see that the manor was a hive of activity. Servants were pinning small lamps in the trees lining the drive, whilst others were trimming and tidying up the garden. The reason for such activity became apparent when Matilda met us in the hall.

  “We thought that tonight we’d throw you a bit of a party,” she said, clasping her hands. “And also to celebrate the fact the Samlin was declared to be a mageling today.”

  Petre immediately went off in search of his little brother whilst the rest of us congratulated Matilda. I couldn’t help but think of Niko, Larni’s brother, who wanted to be a mage so much that he’d asked me to put a spell on him.

  I frowned. Why was that memory so difficult to access? Niko. Larni’s little brother. He’s going to the magic tester soon...

  Wait. Who’s Niko?

  I was shaken out of my confusing thoughts as Sammy ran at me and catapulted himself up into my arms.

  “It’s because of you,” he told me. “I’m going to be a mage because of you.”

  “Why is that, young man?” I asked.

  He stared back at me with eyes already beginning to turn the colour of storm clouds, the colour of Petre’s magic.

  “Because of the lightning,” he replied, like I was stupid not to have noticed.

  Before I could even begin to wonder what he was on about, Sammy was being chivvied out of my arms by his mother.

  “Leave the girls alone, Samlin,” she chided. “They need to go and get dressed for tonight.”

  Yasmin took that as a cue to begin to pull me up the stairs. She ignored my protests, and Rain quickly took up my other side.

  “You are the belle of tonight’s ball,” Theresa told me as I was pulled backwards up the stairs by the other two. “Well, it’s not exactly a ball, but this night is for you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I retorted, not even trying to struggle against their iron grips. “It’s for all of us. We all repaired the bridge. We all destroyed the dam.”

  “Yes, but you’ve saved two lives,” Yasmin reminded me as we reached the bathroom. “So you can fuss and complain all you want, but this night is for you.”

  I couldn’t do anything but pull a face, which they all ignored as they seated me on a chair in the middle of the bathroom. Dena set about washing my hair again, patiently removing bits of river muck from it – “You could make a living out of getting your hair disgusting.” – And brushing it smooth. It had grown since we’d started our schooling at the Academy; it now reached the small of my back when I let it hang loose.

  Artfully, she twisted it on top of my head and secured it with the pin that I’d had in my hair the day I rescued Sammy. I held my breath as she pinned it, hoping she didn’t notice the missing charm; I still didn’t want her to know where it had come from, for reasons I couldn’t fathom just yet. I let my eyes flutter, and I was almost asleep as Rain began painting my face with makeup.

  I did fall asleep. I woke up to Dena telling me to put my tunic dress and tights on. I began to wake up as the others got ready. I’d just pulled on my ankle boots (my other ones were lost in the river – how was I going to explain that to Jett?) when we were summoned downstairs.

  The transformation of the manor house was stunning. Garlands of flowers hung everywhere and candles glimmered on every surface. The dining room had been transformed into a dance hall, the large table replaced by smaller ones around the edge and a band. People milled throughout the hall, and as such we were able to enter relatively unnoticed. I tucked into the food as soon as I saw it, savouring the succulent tastes. In fact, I’d just put a cherry tomato in my mouth when Lord Hugh ascended to the band’s dais to begin his speech.

  “Good evening, my friends,” he began, sweeping his arms wide. He was wearing a sweeping crimson cloak that made him seem twice as large. “I thank you for joining us on such short notice. We’ve gathered everyone here tonight to celebrate the return of my youngest son, Samlin, and the vanquishing of the evil that has stalked our lands for the past few weeks,” I winced at

&nbs
p; ‘vanquishing’, chewing the tomato furiously. “My son and his friends join us from the Stanthor Academy, where Samlin will be headed in just a few short years to commence his education,” there was polite applause which I joined in enthusiastically, still working the tomato out of my cheek. “And it is them we have to thank, not only for the safe return of my son and the slaughter of the Du’rangor, but for the repair of the bridge to Nurmin as well.” There was more applause as everyone swivelled towards us, beaming. Deeming the situation safe, I popped another cherry tomato in my mouth just as Lord Hugh said: “But I’ve been informed that the particular person I have to thank for the return of Samlin is Sky,” he gestured towards me, and everyone turned to look at me, smiling. I attempted to smile back at them.

  You do not, I thought frantically, have a cherry tomato in your mouth. You will not show people that you have a cherry tomato in your mouth. You will not bite down on the cherry tomato and make people think your tongue is bleeding.

  When everyone turned away, I almost swallowed the cherry tomato whole in my relief.

  The music started again as Lord Hugh held his hand out to his wife, clearly asking her to dance. Everyone cheered as she took his hand, blushing and supporting her stomach, and whirled out onto the dance floor.

  More people began to dance as I helped myself to more food. I watched Petre shyly offer his hand to Rain, who blushed furiously but then accepted it. I watched them dance for a little until I accepted a glass of wine from a passing waiter, and then headed up the stairs that I knew would take me to the roof.

  I leant against the parapets, sipping from the glass. The moon was a sliver in the sky, and I turned my face up to it. When Petre spoke behind me I almost dropped my glass over the edge in fright.

  “You know, I was the first mage in fifty years to be born to the House of Lyon,” he said, sauntering up next to me with his hands in his pockets. “I was spoilt beyond belief; anything I wanted, I got. When I started at the Academy this year, I thought my parents were going to burst with pride.”