Pale Peak Burning

by Paula Harrison

  Delaney’s shoulders sagged. “For a long time, I was very angry and I did some bad things – things I’m not proud of.” His face darkened. “They goaded me and when I lashed out, an innocent Blaze girl got hurt. I’ve never been able to make it right since then,” he continued. “The older Blazes don’t like me because they remember what happened. The kids just follow what their parents say and so it goes on. I have high walls and a locked gate but that’s little defence from people that can fly.” He frowned at the fire. “Sometimes they all leave me alone for a while but it always starts up again.”

  “I’m sure my uncle and aunt don’t believe you should be treated badly. They told my cousin off for being mean about mixed-tribe people.”

  “You mean Connor and Sarah Embers? They’ve always been polite to me. But don’t look for kindness from the others.”

  Laney bit her lip. “But maybe if we explain … if we make everyone see that we’re not so strange, then they’ll start to understand.”

  There were shouts from outside followed by a heavy thunk against the shuttered window. Delaney muttered something under his breath before going to the window and unbolting the shutters. “Come over here. I’ll show you how much they’ll understand.”

  A round missile flew inside and rolled across the floor. In the darkness, winged figures swooped over Delaney’s garden.

  “Its cabbages this time,” said Delaney grimly. “They’re probably selling them off cheap at the grocers. You’ll never make them understand – they don’t want to understand. The only reason I stay is because my parents are buried in the churchyard and I’ve never lived anywhere else. Little Shackle is my home.”

  Laney swallowed. Her hands burned but she clenched them tight. “I should go. My stepmum will probably be back from the hospital by now.”

  “It was nice to meet you, Laney.” Delaney reached out to close the shutter but a missile shot through the open window, hitting him in the chest. The cabbage fell to the ground and a girl flew past the window, the light catching on her red hair.

  “Tainted!” shouted Briana, but the rest of her words died when she saw Laney.

  Then Delaney slammed the shutter closed and bolted it.

  By the time Laney got outside the sky was empty. Her blood pounded as she flew over the high wall, landed in the street and switched back to human form. There was no sign of Briana but Laney knew she would be telling everyone what she’d seen. It wouldn’t take long before everyone knew that she had been here talking to a man that many of the Blazes hated. They’d probably be furious.

  She had to get to her uncle’s house. He would know what to do.

  She ran past Embers’ Repairs and round the corner. There was a whisper in the air as she sprinted up her uncle’s front path. She stumbled and fell, and her knee smacked into the concrete. It should have been agony but she hardly felt it. Kneeling on the path, she was looking up at the red front door again with memories flooding through her.

  She’d been looking at the round door knocker high above her head. Tendrils of creeper had dangled over the stone wall. Her father had been by her side and he’d been holding something – a small brown thing that looked like a purse. He’d given the little purse to her uncle.

  Laney’s pulse fluttered like a trapped bird. Her uncle had told her he’d last seen her on the night her mum died. Why had they travelled all the way to Little Shackle at a time like that?

  The door wrenched open and her aunt pulled her up. “Laney, thank the flame you’ve come.” She ushered Laney inside and closed the door.

  A fire was burning in the living-room grate. Mr Embers and Tyler got up as Laney came in.

  Laney spoke quickly. “I went to Chips Delaney’s house and Briana saw me there. I’m really sorry. I know most of the Blaze tribe don’t like him.”

  “You went to Chips’ house?!” Tyler exploded. “You idiot!”

  “Enough, Tyler!” Mrs Embers took Laney’s arm. “We were trying to give you time – with your dad in hospital and everything. I wish we’d sorted this out days ago.”

  “There’s no point in wishing.” Mr Embers rubbed his beard. “Laney, we’ve had a message from the Blaze Elder. You’ve been summoned to see him – right now.”

  The fire in the grate leapt upwards and Laney’s heart thumped faster. Would the Blaze Elder be angry with her? “All right. Just tell me where I need to go.”

  Mr Embers picked up his coat. “We’re coming with you.”

  Rain was falling and the Embers pulled their hoods up. Laney noticed there were more people than usual out walking in the darkness. They were in small groups and had their heads down. The shops on the main street were dark except for the bakery, where warm orange light seeped out from the edges of the blind.

  Mr Embers knocked on the door. The place was crowded with people and Laney guessed they must all be Blazes. They had a similar look – sharp eyes and quick movements. Laney flushed as she followed her uncle, knowing they must be looking at her. They passed the shop counter and entered a second room where heat wrapped around them like a blanket. Everyone shifted backwards, leaving Laney standing alone in the centre. At last she could see the source of the heat – an enormous baker’s oven with fire crackling inside it.

  A grey-haired bear of a man stood by the oven, resting his hand on the arch of red bricks at the top. “Come here, Elaine Rivers. Let me see you,” he said in a gravelly voice.

  “That’s our Elder, Alfred Hillburn,” her aunt whispered to Laney.

  The Blaze Elder held out a wrinkled hand for her to shake and studied her with sharp eyes. “Welcome, daughter of Cordelia Embers.”

  Laney smiled, trying not to show her nerves.

  “What power do you have, child?” the Elder asked.

  Laney cleared her throat. “Um, Blaze.”

  “Then light a flame.”

  Laney carefully produced a flame in one hand. It was hard to keep it burning steadily with everyone watching, but she managed to keep it tall and straight for a few seconds before letting it go out.

  A whisper ran around the place. The room grew hotter until Laney felt as if her hair was scorching and the air burned her throat as she breathed. Just as she felt she couldn’t bear it any more, Alfred Hillburn began to speak. “Many years ago, our Blaze daughter, Cordelia Embers, married a man from the Mist tribe. Unhappily she did not live to see her own daughter grow. Cordelia left this place in a time of fear and never returned. This girl possesses our fire magic and her uncle and aunt have claimed her as family.”

  Laney glanced at her uncle, who stood nodding, his arms folded. Her eyes filled with tears. She was so happy that he and her aunt were standing beside her and showing she was part of their family.

  “Laney Rivers,” continued Hillburn. “Do you wish to join the Blaze tribe?”

  Laney’s heart jumped. “Yes, I do.”

  “But, sir!” called a voice from the back. “Just look at her – she’s no Blaze.” Other people murmured in agreement.

  “That’s enough!” The Elder lifted his hand and little snakes of fire writhed around his fingers. “We will give her this chance. If she can pass the first-level tests on the night of the Kindling along with the other young Learners, then she may enter the tribe.”

  “Thank you, Alfred,” said Laney’s aunt.

  The Blaze Elder nodded. “Now, listen closely. You’ve all heard the rumours. There’s been trouble in the south and a new Shadow has arisen. So this is no time for us to quarrel among ourselves. We must unite and stand together. That’s how we stay strong as Blazes.” He put his palms together and a spark leapt from them. Every other Blaze did the same. The sparks flew up and joined together like bees in a swarm until they exploded into one ball of flame that leapt into the huge oven and disappeared up the chimney. Laney heard something in the flames. There was a deep thrumming as if the fire had a heartbeat.

  There was silence after the fire vanished. Then gradually the Blazes left the bakery. Some of them smiled a
t Laney and her mood lifted. Not even Briana’s scowling face at the back of the room could change the fact that the Elder had said she could join the tribe. Maybe Chips Delaney was wrong about the Blazes.

  “Ignore Briana,” Tyler said into her ear. “Once you pass the test at the Kindling they’ll forget they ever had doubts about you. You’d better let me help with your training though. Your skills are rubbish.”

  Laney grinned. “OK, that’d be great. When do we start?”

  Tyler smiled back. “Tomorrow. Trust me – you have loads to learn.”

  “All right, you’re on.” Laney went to Alfred Hillburn, who was talking to her uncle. The room was nearly empty now and the heat from the oven had faded. “Thank you for giving me the chance to become a proper Blaze, sir.” She hesitated. “I talked to Chips Delaney, I mean, Mr Delaney, because he’s like me and I just wondered—”

  Alfred Hillburn held up a wrinkled hand to stop her speaking. “Christopher chose his path many years ago when he attacked other members of his own tribe.” He studied her from beneath lowered eyebrows. “I’m not saying that what was done to him was right – I wasn’t the Elder then and the methods used were exceptionally cruel. But he can never come back from what he did. Our tribe may be quick to act but we also never forget.”

  “Oh.” Laney bit her lip She remembered the look of hunger in Delaney’s eyes when he’d seen her flame. How could people stay angry about things that had happened so long ago?

  Her aunt drew her to the door. “Thank goodness that went well,” she whispered. “And now you’re properly part of this family and everyone knows it.”

  Laney’s eyes stung again. “Thank you.”

  “You don’t need to thank us,” her uncle said gruffly. “When your father flew back with you that night and told me what had happened to Cordelia, I thought I’d lost her completely. But now I see I was wrong.”

  Laney bit her lip. This was more than she’d hoped for – the chance to be a real Blaze like her mum.

  Every day of half-term, Laney and Tyler climbed the hills to practise Blaze skills where no one could see them except sheep. Among the rough boulders, Laney learned to control her powers until she could light a flame and put it out again without even thinking about it.

  On the Saturday before they went back to school, Tyler was sprawled over a rock near the top of Groaning Tor watching Laney light flames in both hands at once. It was early and the sun had barely risen over Beggar’s Chasm on the opposite side of the valley. Laney was in a cheerful mood. Simon had stayed the night at the cottage and slept on the sofa. Kim was happy after the doctors had told her that Mr Rivers was making “good progress” – whatever that meant.

  Laney had told Kim that she was meeting up with a friend that morning. She knew she’d have to introduce Tyler to her stepmum soon and explain that she’d found her uncle, aunt and cousin living here in Little Shackle. She just needed to find the right moment to do it.

  “She can’t have been a very normal kind of Blaze,” Tyler said suddenly.

  “What do you mean – who can’t have been a normal Blaze?” Laney shooed a magpie off a nearby boulder. The bird flew to the next patch of rocks and perched there, its head tilted to one side. Laney noticed how still the bird was. She felt like it was watching her with those beady black eyes.

  “Hey, stop daydreaming!” Tyler said, grinning. “I was talking about your mum. A Blaze marrying a Mist is pretty strange. It’s not like fire and water really go together.”

  Laney didn’t answer this but privately she’d been wondering about her mum too. All she remembered was her mother’s dark eyes, short brown hair and kind smile. Sometimes she didn’t know if she recalled those things because she’d looked at her mum’s photo so many times. Maybe it wasn’t a real memory at all.

  Before going to sleep the night before, she’d got out The Wind in the Willows, the book that had belonged to her mum. She’d leafed through the pages of the story looking at the finely drawn pictures of Toad, Ratty and Mole in a boat on the river. The river seemed to be in a lot of the drawings. She guessed most Blaze children wouldn’t love endless pictures of water. Where had her mum even got the book from?

  “Shall I teach you something new?” Tyler got up. “Let’s try the other side of the hill. The wind’s picking up and we need a bit more shelter.”

  Laney followed him to the top of Groaning Tor where the wind battered them even harder. Jutting rocks cast sharp shadows across the hillside and Little Shackle looked like a tiny model village below.

  As they clambered over the summit, Laney glanced at the crevice in the white rock. “Why is this place called Groaning Tor? I’ve wanted to ask someone for ages.” She leaned closer to the hole and felt heat on her face.

  “Sometimes the hill sort of rumbles,” Tyler told her. “The story goes that there’s a fire giant hidden under the ground and he’s making the groaning noises.”

  Laney remembered the sparks she’d seen coming out of the peak a week ago. “It’s not true, is it?”

  Tyler rolled his eyes. “Well, duh! Of course it’s not! Now, can we make a start?” He sprang down to a flat expanse of rock below the peak. “Come over here. If you drop your fireballs on rock there won’t be patches of burned grass everywhere.”

  “Fireballs! I definitely want to learn how to do that.” Laney’s eyes gleamed.

  Tyler showed her how to take a flame and mould it into a ball before throwing it across the hillside. It took a lot of practice because when pressed too hard the flame would go out but when moulded too lightly the ball would fizzle away in mid-air. After a while Laney began to get the hang of it. She made a perfect golden fireball and the wind whipped it sideways straight into Tyler.

  “Whoa, steady!” Tyler laughed, batting it away with one hand. “I guess now you can make them we’d better practise throwing them.” He made a fireball of his own and threw it at her like it was a tennis ball.

  She caught it and squeezed it hard to put it out. It still amazed her that the fire never hurt. “So what else do I need to know for the Kindling?”

  “You still need to learn frost flames and circles of fire and how to melt stuff.” He ticked each thing off on his hand. “I forget what else. I’ll ask my dad. We’ve got till the first of May so no need to panic.”

  “I’ve never heard of frost flames. How do you make them?”

  “Let’s do that next time. There’s no point doing too much work.” Tyler moulded three fireballs and started trying to juggle with them. He dropped one on his trainer and had to stamp it out quickly. It left a black scorch mark on the toe.

  Laney watched, a little annoyed that he’d stopped teaching her. “I thought my skills were rubbish and I had loads of work to do.”

  “We can do more next time.”

  Laney gave up. Obviously Tyler had the attention span of a small fly. He made another fireball and spun it on the top of his finger. Laney noticed something on the inside of his wrist. “You’ve got a burn mark like mine.” She showed him the red circle on her middle finger that still prickled sometimes. “I got mine the first time I touched a flame. Nothing’s ever burned me since then.”

  “It’s your dawn mark, right? You got it when you Awakened?” He saw Laney’s puzzled look. “All Blazes have them. We Awaken as Blazes when our power is ready but we have to touch fire to start it all off. I guess that’s not such a big thing for a Mist or a Greytail – people are touching water and animals all the time. But a Blaze must touch fire because that’s our thing.” His brow creased. “I guess you haven’t had anyone to tell you this stuff.”

  “Um, not really.” Laney’s brain was working furiously. Suddenly all her dad’s efforts to keep matches and candles out of the house made more sense. He must have been afraid she’d Awaken as a Blaze.

  “Uh-oh.” Tyler stopped twirling his fireball.

  Briana was climbing the hillside, her red hair swirling in the wind.

  “What’s she doing here?” Laney stuck h
er hands in her pockets. There was no way she was practising Blaze magic in front of Briana.

  “Tyler!” Briana called. “You’ve got to come back – quickly!”

  “What’s going on?” Tyler sprang over the rocks to meet her.

  “There was a Shadow faerie,” Briana said breathlessly. “He was at Cowton Lane near the crossroads. Your mum’s car was there and she was hurt so they carried her to the cave in Beggar’s Chasm. She’s there now. They think she’s been struck by Shadow lightning.”

  Tyler’s eyes turned wild. “No! The Shadow’s down south – not here! It can’t be here.”

  Briana grabbed his arm. “Don’t lose it, OK!” And ignoring Laney, she pulled him down the hill.

  Laney felt sick. So the Shadow was back and her aunt was hurt. It was the same thing that had happened to her dad all over again. Forcing her legs to move, she ran down the slope after Tyler. By the time she reached the first house in the village, he and Briana were already out of sight. She took the road past her cottage to get to Beggar’s Chasm.

  As she ran, a familiar blue van came down the street. Simon stopped and lowered the window. “Bye, Laney. I’m going back to Skellmore – I’ve got another broken pipe to fix this afternoon. No rest for the—” He broke off, frowning. “Has something happened? Look at your hands!”

  Laney glanced down. Her palms were glowing red hot. There was no way to hide it. “It’s a long story … but I’m not a Mist any more – I never was, really. Please don’t tell anyone from back home.”

  Simon’s eyes went round. “Flippin’ heck, Laney! I guess it makes sense because of all the problems you had using Mist magic. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. But listen! The Shadow’s here and he’s hurt someone. You have to tell Gwen and ask her to come and help us. We need someone powerful enough to stand up to the Shadow.”

  Simon’s eyebrows rose further and his foot slipped on the pedals, making the car jerk forwards. He pulled the handbrake and wiped his forehead. “That’s very bad news. Yes I’ll go and speak to her as soon as I get back. Some of the Elders might be travelling here already. I heard that they wanted to discuss searching for the Myricals with the other tribes.”