Outside Emma crouched next to Mark who had collapsed on the ground. His back was seriously burned and his shirt was just a rag. Emma glanced back at the cabin that was going up in flames.
“Jason and Tyler are still in there!” Emma exclaimed. “We have to help them.”
Mark coughed and drew in a raspy breath. “Jason will get them out.” He grunted.
“But the cabin is going to collapse any moment!” Emma argued. “Why haven’t they escaped yet?”
Mark pushed himself to his knees with a wince but when he looked back at the cabin a look of alarm crossed his face. He straightened up, any concern for his pain gone.
“Oh no.” He whispered. “JASON, DON’T!” He roared.
“Mark, what’s going on?” Emma demanded.
Mark dove on top of her as the cabin exploded into flame. Emma felt the wind get knocked out of her as the wave of heat hit them like a brick wall. The clearing lit up, everything illuminated by the giant bonfire the cabin had become.
“Jason!” Emma screamed. She struggled against Mark, trying to get free but he kept her pinned beneath him.
“No!” Mark shouted in her face. He gripped her face between his large hands, forcing her eyes to look into his. “Emma stop! Jason is gone, that’s not him in there!”
The flames eased back after the initial burst but Emma could still feel the heat, even thirty feet away. Mark pushed himself up and pulled Emma to her feet.
“We have to leave, now!” Mark ordered, dragging her to the edge of the clearing.
“No!” Emma yelled at him, digging in her heels. “I’m not leaving without Jason!”
Mark whirled around to yell at her and Emma slapped him. His momentary shock loosened his grip just enough for Emma to pull herself free. She sprinted towards what was left of the cabin.
“Jason!” She screamed.
“Emma!” Mark yelled after her. “Don’t! He’s dangerous!”
Emma stumbled to a stop ten feet away from the cabin. The heat from the flames was intense but that wasn’t what had stopped her. Through the remains of the window she saw the shape of a man moving through the flames.
“Jason!” Emma called out.
The figure paused, then walked towards the window. Emma gasped when they got closer. What she thought had been a man was a creature made entirely of fire. Everything it touched burst into flames. And the creature liked it. She could feel its enjoyment from where she stood. The figure beckoned her towards it, an evil smile spreading across its face. Emma felt a tear slide down her cheek, evaporating before it reached her chin.
“Jason?” Emma said.
The figure nodded its head.
Emma took a step closer and the creature smiled in delight.
“Emma!” Mark yelled. “Don’t get any closer! It wants to kill you!”
The figure roared in anger and shot a ball of fire at Mark. Mark dove out of the way, grunting in pain as the ball of fire was extinguished in the dirt.
“Mark!” Emma yelled. Mark pushed himself to his feet with a wince and stumbled forward but without Emma’s shield to dull the heat he couldn’t get closer than twenty feet.
“Emma, come back here! He can’t be helped!” Mark yelled, shielding his face with a thick arm.
“I’m not leaving him!” She yelled back. Emma turned back to the figure standing in the window. “Jason, I know you are still in there.” She said to the creature. “You can control yourself, I know you can.”
The creature shook its head in denial. Emma took another step towards the cabin and after hesitating the creature stepped closer to the window as well. She was only five feet away from the creature now, close enough to see it’s eyes that glowed like two pieces of coal in a fire.
“Jason.” Emma said softly, wincing when something crashed inside the cabin and the flames flared up again. “We need you. Come back.”
The creature looked confused. It’s head swayed back and forth as if it were battling two different urges. As Emma stared at the creature she briefly saw it’s eyes flicker and become ice blue before turning back to burning coal.
Emma slowly stretched her hand out toward the creature like she would to a skittish animal. “It’s okay.” She crooned softly. “Just take my hand.” Emma felt the tension of the moment, knew that she was risking being dragged into the cabin with the others, but she couldn’t give up on Jason. Just when Emma thought there was no hope the creature reached it’s hand out and touched it’s fingers to hers.
Emma gasped as sensations and emotions crashed through her. Anger, so much anger, and darkness. She was drowning in it, overwhelmed by the burning within her. A burning that needed to be free, that needed everything else to burn too. The flames called to the anger, magnified it, drew it out, so strong she couldn’t resist it, couldn’t break free.
Then she saw the darkness, deep within the anger she saw the shadow that had been planted within the flames. Emma was buffeted by the anger and the flames but she struggled towards the shadow that she knew was the source of all the chaos. In her mind she reached towards that seed of darkness, her hand glowing with a light entirely different from the flames. With a touch the darkness disappeared, every hint of it gone from the flames. Emma felt a brief moment of satisfaction before exhaustion hit her like a train and everything went black.
The first thing Emma saw when she opened her eyes were the stars above the clearing. Pain pounded through her head like she had just had a spike driven into her brain. With a groan she brought a hand to her head. “What happened?”
Mark and Jason’s faces appeared above hers. “Emma? Are you okay?” They both asked, speaking over each other.
“I think so.” Emma said, squinting up at them. “My head hurts too much to think.”
“Don’t try to move yet, give your body time to adjust.” Mark cautioned her.
Emma nodded carefully. Then she looked at Jason curiously.
“What happened to your clothes?”
Jason grinned ruefully and tugged Mark’s jacket a little more snugly around his hips. “They burned off in the fire.”
Emma nodded as she digested that piece of information. “Okay.” She said simply. Emma looked at Mark. “Can we go home now?”
Mark chuckled. “Yes, we can go home.”
Emma didn’t speak the entire drive home as Mark drove her car, Jason wrapped in a blanket in the back seat. Mark drove to Jason’s house first. He didn’t trust leaving Emma alone quite yet. Once inside Mark settled her on the couch and gave her a glass of water. Emma took a small sip and then set it aside before stretching out on the couch.
“Emma.” Mark said softly. “Are you okay?”
Emma shook her head. “No Mark, I’m not okay.” She said quietly. “People died tonight, I saw them die. So no, I am not okay.”
Mark reached out to stroke her hair, struggling to think of something to say.
“Mark.” Jason called from the kitchen.
Mark froze, his fingers nearly grazing Emma’s hair. With a sigh he pulled his hand back and got up to walk into the kitchen.
“What?” He murmured, glancing back into the room where Emma sat staring at the wall.
Jason’s face was grim. “Loraine is gone.”
Mark’s gaze snapped back to Jason’s, then he hurried over to the stairway to the basement.
“What do you mean, she’s gone?” He snapped.
“I mean she is no longer here.” Jason replied. “She must have escaped when we went up to the mountains.”
“How?” Mark asked. “Her hands were securely tied, she can’t use her powers without her hands.”
Mark burst into the basement, looking around frantically. The chair Loraine had been sitting in was empty, the handcuffs they had used to hold her were open and draped over the back of the chair.
“I don’t know.” Jason said. “Maybe she had help, or maybe she’s stronger than we thought.”
“She tricked us.” Mark mutt
ered, staring at the empty chair.
“Do you think this whole thing was a set up?” Jason asked.
Mark turned and looked at him, his face sad. “All of this was for nothing.”
Jason shook his head. “Not for nothing.” He said. “Tyler told you something before we were captured. What was it?”
Mark rubbed his face with a hand. “He said that Emma needed to be protected, that she is a Forgeron.”
Jason froze, his eyes wide in shock. “Impossible.” He whispered.
Mark didn’t say anything. He looked back at Emma’s silhouette in the dark living room where she still hadn’t moved.
“Do you know what this means?” A hint of fear tinted Jason’s voice as he stared at Emma, too. “Do you know how many people will be after her if anyone finds out?”
“Then we don’t let anyone find out.” Mark replied.
“Do you think she knows?” Jason asked, looking at Mark.
Mark frowned. “We can’t ask her tonight, she’s in too much shock.” He said. “I’m going to take her home with me, she can stay at my place tonight. She can’t go home in this condition. When you’ve recovered go get the dirt bikes from the mountain.”
“Why don’t you just let her stay here?” Jason asked. “It may be better not to move her right now.”
Mark shook his head. “Loraine knows how to get here now, I don’t want to risk her coming back for Emma.”
Jason glared at him but Mark’s expression was unyielding. “Alright,” Jason said grudgingly, “You’re probably right. Keep her safe tonight.”
Mark nodded once and went back upstairs to get Emma.
~~~~~~
Early morning light illuminated the smoke curling up from the charred wreckage of the cabin. Loraine gingerly stepped through the blackened remains of the doorway and looked around. Ash swirled around her feet and up into the air, making her cough. Everything in the cabin was blackened and charred, ravaged by the fire. She nudged a black lump with her foot and it disintegrated into a pile of ash.
“How did this happen?” She muttered to herself.
She moved farther into the room, checking every charred lump she came across until she reached the back of the room where the stairs were. Turning her back to the stairs she surveyed the room again.
“Eight remains.” She muttered to herself. “But there were nine people trapped in here. Where did the last one go?”
That was when she heard the scratching sound of something moving behind her. Slowly she turned, staring down into the darkness the steps led into. Harsh, labored breathing echoed off the walls as whatever it was began dragging itself up the steps. As the thing came into sight Loraine stumbled back, a gasp wrenching from her lips. Eyes wide she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, fighting the urge to be sick.
From between melted and deformed lips the creature hissed,
“Emma Savage…willll…die.”
Sample Chapter of Book Two- Tempest
The Forgeron Legacy Page 27