Pale Peak Burning

by Paula Harrison

  One for sorrow

  Two for joy

  Three for a girl

  Four for a boy

  Five for silver

  Six for gold

  Seven for a secret that’s never to be told

  The magpie flew off in a flash of black-and-white wings.

  There was a knock at the door and Laney opened it to find Tyler standing there. She flushed. “What do you want? I don’t want to talk to you.”

  “You left this at our house last night.” He handed over Laney’s coat.

  “Oh! Thanks.” Laney started to shut the door but Tyler put his hand on it.

  “Want to go for a walk?” He jerked his head at the hills.

  “Why? I thought you didn’t want a cousin like me – someone with parents from different tribes.”

  Tyler shifted his feet. “Look, don’t make me do the whole apology thing. I was an idiot, OK? The rest of the Blazes can stuff it. We’re cousins – family – my blood is your blood.”

  Laney thought this sounded a bit gross. “Aren’t you afraid of what your tribe will say if they see us together?”

  “My aunt and uncle have gone to talk to the Blaze Elder so everyone will know about you soon anyway,” Tyler said, in a way that Laney didn’t find very reassuring. “If you come for a walk I’ll show you how to control a flame. You know you’re not lighting it properly, right? Don’t you want to know how to do it? It’s the most basic thing every Blaze kid learns when they first get their powers.”

  Laney smiled. She realised her anger had vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Maybe a quick temper was a Blaze quality, but Tyler certainly seemed to bring it out in her! She shrugged her coat on. “I definitely want to learn some Blaze spells. I feel like there’s lots I don’t know.”

  Tyler turned right and led them away from the village. This was the side of the valley Laney hadn’t explored yet – the side with the deep chasm cut into the hillside. Tyler gave her a sideways look. “So what happened when you fought the Shadow? I didn’t hear all the things you told my dad last night. Was it scary fighting him? Did you use your lightning?”

  “I’ve never used a lightning spell. You can’t use them till you’re eighteen.”

  “Yeah, well. That’s supposed to be the rule here too but we use them all the time.”

  It was Laney’s turn to shoot a sideways look. She couldn’t believe he’d used lightning spells. He couldn’t be any older than her. Maybe he was exaggerating. “I can’t remember much about the fight. A lot of it’s a blur.” Suddenly she remembered the smell of Shadow’s cloak burning. She didn’t think there was a way to explain what it had been like. Just thinking of it made her feel sick.

  Tyler didn’t press her. Opening a gate, he took them along a path which led up the hillside. Clumps of heather dotted the grass. “Those Elders of yours have left the village. I saw them go this morning.”

  Laney was glad they were gone. She didn’t want to run into Frogley, the Mist Elder. “They’re not my Elders.”

  “You know what I mean. My dad said they mostly talked ancient history – what happened the day the Myricals were lost. Stuff about the Great Shadow of Old.”

  “I think that’s when the Myricals were first hidden.” Laney tried to remember the details that she’d learned from Gwen. “They were taken away in secret so that the Great Shadow didn’t get hold of them. Each one would have given him the essence of a tribe’s power. Once he got them all he’d have become invincible!”

  “And now there’s a new Shadow that wants to do the same,” Tyler said grimly. “Well, he won’t get our Blaze Myrical, the Sparkstone. Not unless he wants to fight all of us!”

  “What’s the Sparkstone like?” Laney asked curiously. “I’ve seen pictures and it looks quite small and grey.”

  “I’ve never seen the Sparkstone because it was lost the same as the other Myricals,” Tyler told her. “But my dad’s talked about it. He said although it looks like a rough stone you can tell there’s a huge amount of power inside – almost like it has a heart made of fire.”

  They were close to the top now and Little Shackle had shrunk behind them. Huge square boulders were stacked on the hilltop, as if giants had been playing Lego. The wind was blasting from all directions and a bird of prey wheeled overhead. Tyler glanced around before walking down to a hollow just below the brow of the hill. Laney followed him. The wind wasn’t so fierce here and little purple flowers grew among the rocks.

  “OK, here’s the first thing you have to know,” he began. “The flame doesn’t come from your hand – not really. It comes from inside you.” He held up his hand and a flame burst into life, tall and straight and golden.

  “What? I don’t get it.” Laney pushed back her hair as the wind tried to whip it across her face.

  “It’s not your hand making it happen,” he said impatiently. “You have to feel it – in your stomach. Once you understand that, you’ll be able to control it a lot better. Now you try.”

  Laney held her breath. Opening her hand she tried to believe that something inside her would light the flame. “Er, this isn’t really working.”

  “That’s because you’re so tense. Try to chill!”

  He’s so annoying, Laney thought crossly, and a flame sprung up in the palm of her hand without her even trying.

  Tyler gave a lopsided smile. “Huh – finally! You know, the other tribes say that Blaze magic is the most dangerous faerie power – more random than the magic of the other tribes? But I reckon they’re just jealous that we have more heart and soul. Who wants to make things grow or make it rain when you can do this?” And he moved his hand in a circle until he was standing inside a ring of fire. Then he dropped his arm and stood there, grinning, with flames hanging around him in mid-air.

  “Show-off!” Laney said, but she couldn’t help admiring his skill.

  More heart and soul.

  Was that how her mum had felt about being a Blaze too? She remembered the first time she had made fire – how good it had felt – like a piece of her had been missing till that moment. As she thought about it she lost concentration for a second and a fireball burst out of her right hand and shot into the air.

  “Hey – calm down!” Tyler looked alarmed. “You’ll set the hillside on fire.”

  “Sorry!” Laney closed her hand and the flame went out.

  “Bit crazy, aren’t you? First you can’t make a flame and then you’re shooting fireballs everywhere.”

  Laney rolled her eyes. “So tell me how to control it if you’re so clever.”

  “Just don’t let the fire take over.” Frowning, Tyler leapt out of the hollow and looked down the hillside before turning back to her. “Don’t do anything weird, OK? The others are coming.”

  “What others?” Laney climbed out of the hollow.

  “Other Blaze tribe kids.”

  Laney’s heart quickened. “So what!? You told me you didn’t care about what they said.”

  “I don’t!” He was pacing over the hilltop. “But don’t do that fireball thing in front of them.”

  Laney raised her eyebrows.

  The kids were calling to him. There were three of them. A girl with red hair and two boys who looked like brothers, both tall and skinny.

  “Wotcha doing, Tyler?” said the red-headed girl, with a glance at Laney that made it obvious her question meant: Who’s she?

  “Just hanging out.” Tyler dug his hands into his jeans pocket. “This is my cousin Laney. She’s from the south.”

  The older boy stared. “Is she a—”

  “Blaze. Yeah, of course.” Tyler waved a hand at the girl. “Laney, this is Briana, and this is Zac and Callum.”

  “Hi.” Laney tried to smile but the others were staring and she just felt awkward.

  “So what are you guys up to?” said Tyler. “Going over to Beggar’s Chasm?”

  “Course we are!” Zac grinned at Laney. “You should come with us. Anyone visiting Little Shackle has to do Beggar�
��s Chasm at least once.”

  Tyler started walking on with Briana and Callum. Laney followed behind with Zac. “So what do you do there?”

  “Oh, picnics, ice cream, that kind of thing!”

  Laney could tell he was joking. The Blaze kids sped up and the hill narrowed into a ridge of rock with a sheer drop on either side. The others ran along the jagged rocky edge but it took all Laney’s concentration to keep her balance and by the time she reached a wider stretch of hillside she felt pretty shaky.

  Tyler and the others were laughing and joking together. They’d stopped on a flat expanse of stone that broke off at a cliff edge. Laney realised this must be the deep chasm that she’d seen from the village. As she got closer, she saw just how deep it was. The narrow valley was littered with boulders and a tiny stream ran along the middle. Threads of mist drifted through the air below.

  Faint voices came with the mist – a high-pitched singing that made Laney’s skin prickle. There must be a faerie ring somewhere down there. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She could never hear those voices without wondering what it was like on the other side. Rings were the doorways to the Otherworld where faerie souls went after death. Immense power surged through the vortex and no one had ever survived falling into one.

  Laney suddenly realised Zac was talking to her.

  “When you live in a place with nothing to do, you have to make your own entertainment.” He grinned as he backed away from the edge. Then he leaned forwards, preparing to run.

  It took Laney a few seconds to realise what he was doing. Her heart beat double fast as he sprinted towards the chasm. Launching off the cliff, he sailed through the air – arms wheeling. Then his heels slammed down on the rock on the other side, sending a volley of stones tumbling into the chasm. He got his balance and turned to laugh at the others, the wind ruffling his hair.

  Laney’s stomach lurched. The chasm was really wide and if he’d fallen, the faerie ring was down there waiting to suck him in.

  “OK, my turn.” Tyler backed up to give himself room to take a run-up.

  “Is this what you do up here?” Laney demanded. “Don’t be stupid – you’ll kill yourself!”

  Tyler spread his arms. “I’ve done it before and I’m still here, aren’t I? The trick is not to think about falling.” He raced to the edge and jumped. Sailing over the drop, he flung his arms out and started to come down fast. Laney knew he wasn’t going to make it. The world slowed down and in that frozen second, she wondered why she cared so much about Tyler.

  Maybe he was right. Her blood was his blood.

  She jerked forwards. “Tyler!” But he’d already disappeared into the chasm. Why weren’t the others doing something? “You should’ve stopped him!”

  Briana looked at her scornfully. “We didn’t need to – look!”

  Tyler flew straight past her, transformed with his dark-red wings. “Don’t panic, cuz! It’s easy.” He rocketed across the chasm and landed next to Zac on the other side, still laughing.

  Laney glared. He was such an idiot. “Changing in mid-air’s really hard to do,” she yelled. “If you’d done it any slower you’d have crashed.”

  “Don’t be such a baby,” Briana said, and she leapt over the chasm, landing neatly on the other side.

  Callum went next. He seemed to find it easy with his long legs. Then Laney was left by herself, staring across the chasm at the others.

  “Go on – you can do it,” Briana called. “You just have to be ready to switch form in mid-air if you need to.”

  “Don’t bother, Laney. We’ll come back over,” shouted Tyler and then he said something under his breath to the others. Laney could guess what he was saying. He didn’t think she could make it across.

  Blood thumped in her ears. Her hands grew hot and she closed them tightly. Without stopping to think, she backed up, ran at the cliff and jumped.

  The ground vanished beneath her.

  She was used to being in mid-air but not in human form. She felt so heavy with no wings to lift her up.

  Falling … falling…

  Air rushed past and the singing of the faerie ring reached up to encircle her. Tyler’s face above grew smaller and smaller. He was yelling something but she couldn’t really hear him.

  Wings! she thought. I need my wings.

  Switching just in time, her wings opened wide and caught the wind. She hovered shakily and when she landed on the grass at the bottom her panic faded. It was really beautiful down here. Rocky cliffs rose on both sides and a stream poured along the valley bottom. At one end, a dark cave opened into the cliffs, its mouth strewn with boulders. The faerie ring was further along the chasm. She could hear the ghostly singing near a waterfall that cascaded down the cliff face.

  In a swirl of wings, Tyler and the others landed beside her. “You should’ve just waited for us,” Tyler snapped, switching to human form.

  Laney changed back too and folded her arms. “What’s the problem? You brought me here and you jumped first. I just did the same as you.”

  “Yeah, Tyler.” Briana looked amused. “She might be a southern girl but she can still fly.”

  Tyler grunted and went to join Zac and Callum, who were climbing over the boulders beside the cliff.

  “Boys, huh?” Briana snapped her fingers to conjure a flame and aimed it at a nearby boulder, making a pattern in soot before scuffing it off with her shoe. “So … your wings are cool. I’ve never seen any with two colours before.” She eyed Laney curiously. “It’s weird that you haven’t come to visit before, seeing as you’re Tyler’s cousin. Are your mum and dad here too?”

  “I…” Laney hadn’t really thought about what she was going to tell everyone. Best to stick to the truth – as much of it as she could tell right now. “My dad’s ill in hospital and my stepmum’s renting a place on the edge of the village.”

  Briana’s eyebrows rose and Laney dreaded what she’d want to know next, but she seemed to get distracted. “I don’t believe it. Is he spying on us now?” She called to the others. “Hey, we’ve got company!”

  Zac jerked round and his face tightened.

  “What is it?” Laney looked past Briana and saw a man further down the valley wearing a green anorak with the hood pulled right up.

  “Hey, you!” Callum yelled, but the man didn’t turn round.

  “Who’s that?” asked Laney. “Is he from the Blaze tribe?”

  “No.” Briana’s eyes were cold. “That’s Christopher Delaney. He runs a chip shop in town so we call him Chips Delaney and basically he’s a Tainted.”

  “What?” Laney had a terrible sickening sensation – as if she could see a punch coming straight at her. What was a Tainted?

  “This is a Blaze place and he shouldn’t be here,” Callum told her.

  “He’s a Tainted,” Briana repeated. “One of his parents was a Thorn and the other was a Blaze so, when you think about it, that makes him nothing at all.”

  “One of us should go and tell him to stay away.” Zac shot a fireball at the ground and a patch of grass curled up and turned black.

  “Just leave it, Zac. He’s not worth it.” Tyler looked at Laney. The message in his eyes was – don’t say anything.

  “A Tainted?” Laney knew her voice sounded funny. “So that’s what you call it.” This was what Tyler had been talking about last night. It was the name for mixed-tribe people. Tainted.

  “He hates us,” Zac told her. “One time he came to Groaning Tor on the night of the Kindling and tried to wreck the Bale Fire.” He misread the look on Laney’s face. “You know – the Bale Fire. Don’t you have that in the south?”

  “Come on, let’s go.” Briana started walking along the ravine. “This is just getting boring.”

  Laney stared at the figure in the green anorak. Just as he got to a bend in the path he glanced back before disappearing behind the fold of the hillside.

  Tyler waited for Laney, hanging back behind the others. “Are you OK? I know it
must be weird but—”

  “So that’s what I am, then? A Tainted,” Laney hissed. “You know I’m exactly the same as that man, and your friends will know soon too. All that rubbish about how I seem different because I’m from the south… I might as well just tell them.”

  “Leave it for now,” Tyler told her. “My parents will sort things out with our Elder. Anyway you’re not like Chips Delaney.”

  “I can’t believe he’s that bad.”

  “He hates us. He lives in the huge house with big gates just down the road from the garage and he sets his dog on us if we go anywhere near the place.” Tyler marched off, leaving Laney seething. She couldn’t believe he wanted her to hide who she was. He was ashamed of her again and the way Briana had talked about that man made her stomach heave.

  The Blaze kids took the path alongside the stream and Laney followed them reluctantly. She passed the waterfall that cascaded down the cliff face. The spray drifted through the air, glittering in rainbow colours. Just beyond that was a ring of dark grass and Laney’s skin began to prickle as she drew closer. The song of the faerie ring was high and sweet and the air around it was brimming with magic.

  Laney sped up. Her shoulders tightened and she tried not to think about the things that Briana and the others had said. The singing inside the ring grew so loud it made her head whirl. Eyes stinging, she stumbled over a rock on the edge of the stream and fell on to her hands and knees.

  One voice inside the ring sang out, lifting above the noise of the others. She thought she knew that voice – that song – but where did she know it from?

  She stumbled to her feet, leaning closer to the ring. “Hello? It’s me, Laney.”

  The voice faltered. Then it echoed her name.

  Laney’s heart raced. Faeries passed to the Otherworld when they died. Maybe the voice belonged to her mum? She took a deep breath. “Mum, is that you?” There was no reply so she tried again. “Cordelia Embers?”

  The voice sang again. Laney felt it was trying to tell her something. She leaned even closer, catching the words, “water”, “fire” and “love”. A handful of water drops lifted from the surface of the stream nearby and hung glittering in the air. An air current caught them, sending them swirling in circles before they vanished into the ring.