03] ES) Firestorm

by Shannon Mayer

  I lifted my hands as I sputtered. “No, you’re kidding me right? I don’t need a familiar.”

  But as I said it, I knew I was wrong. A familiar was the one soul I could depend on, the one soul that would have my back no matter what. But . . . “Peta, you must be mistaken, you’re meant for a Salamander. Not . . . me.”

  She draped herself across my shoulders and the warmth of her body eased the ache in my injured shoulder. Her tail tickled down the front of my neck as it twitched. “I didn’t ask for this. If you have a complaint, get in line to take it up with the mother goddess.”

  I turned to see Brand staring at us with wide eyes. “I’d get in line. That cat has lost more of her charges than any familiar in the Pit. Seriously, that cat is bad luck.”

  Peta gave a barely felt shiver and I lifted a hand to her, putting one palm against the silken fur along her back. A simple choice lay in front of me. If Peta truly was my familiar, I didn’t want to have the kind of relationship she’d had with Loam, her previous charge. I wanted to have her on my side, a friend and confidant.

  I lowered my hand. “She saved me twice already, Brand. If the mother goddess feels I am deserving of her then I am grateful.”

  The twitching of her tail eased and she let out a soft breath against my neck but said nothing more. I took a step, feeling the change in my balance with her along for the ride. Three steps and I had it, walking as normally as if I’d always had a cat riding on my shoulders.

  Brand arched an eyebrow and then shrugged. “It’s your life, but I’ll tell you now that my wife won’t be happy to have her in the house.”

  My jaw tightened but I kept my mouth shut. I would need help to get Ash out alive and that meant for the moment I needed to keep Brand happy. As an Ender, he would have access to weapons and understood the layout of the Pit. My mind worked all the possible details, but the whole of it came to a simple piece. I had to find the armbands used for Traveling, steal them, and then break into the dungeon to get Ash. From there, we would get to the Traveling room.

  A walk in the park on a sunny morning couldn’t be easier. And maybe if I told myself that enough, I’d believe it.

  Brand led the way to a bridge that arched high over the lava, but even with that distance the heat was intense and my skin tightened as the moisture was quickly sucked out of me. I hurried across, passing Brand and not caring that he grinned at me. “Too much?”

  A quick nod was all I gave him. Suddenly going back to the Deep for a swim in the Caribbean waters wasn’t looking too bad. If you discounted the sharks, Kracken, crocodiles, and tsunamis. On the far side of the bridge stood a large statue carved out of an opalescent white stone I didn’t recognize. The creature, a sinuous dragon, reached at least three times my height. I put a hand to it. “What is this?”

  Brand stopped a few feet ahead of me. “A symbol of our world.”

  “No, I meant the stone.”

  “Don’t know, no one does. The statue has been there as long as Salamanders have existed in this mountain.”

  He walked on.

  “Guess that means this conversation is done,” I mumbled. Peta snorted.

  We passed several homes and all activity slowly stopped. The women stood and stared at me, not bothering to hide the distrust, and in several cases, outright hate in their strange orange eyes.

  “Be wary, Dirt Girl. You killed four men and these women know it,” Peta said.

  I tried to swallow past the guilt rising in me. “Were they married?”

  “One of them was,” Brand said, “He had a child on the way.”

  Absolute sorrow washed through me and I stopped where I was, struggling to breathe. Those deaths had been necessary to save my family, but knowing I’d stolen a father from his unborn child? That was not who I was, I would never willingly hurt someone like that.

  And yet I had done it without a thought. Without a care of who else I might affect as my spear thrust forward. “Mother goddess.” I leaned forward, putting my hands onto my thighs as the truth settled on me like a weight. I should be the one in the dungeon, awaiting my execution.

  Peta butted her head against my ear, gaining my attention. “You do what you must to survive. We all do, Dirt Girl. That you feel their loss . . . that is good. When you stop feeling the pain of your actions . . .that is when you must be afraid. When you no longer care if you kill, then we have a problem.”

  Slowly I straightened. “Take me to her.”

  Brand shook his head. “No. She is crazed with her loss.”

  Anger kissed at my heels and I used it to tap into my element. Pulling on the earth was easy here, deep in the mountain. The rock around me rumbled, and the women approaching backed away. I lifted a hand and touched one of Peta’s front paws. “Peta. Do you know where she is?”

  “Brand is right. Now is not the time. Later perhaps.”

  I let out a slow breath, thinking about the little I knew of familiars. My training was sparse, but I did recall my father pointing out that his two familiars were to act as guides when he needed them. A voice of reason. Which explained why he’d sent them away when Cassava was in charge.

  A second breath escaped me. “All right, Peta.”

  She startled on her perch. “You’re listening to me?”

  I shrugged, immediately regretting the movement. With a pained grimace, I stood next to Brand. “That is part of your job, isn’t it? To advise me?”

  “Yes, but . . . rarely does anyone abide by their familiars. It’s why so few of us are connected to elementals now. Even the queen discounts Jag.” Her teeth clicked shut on the last word like she’d said more than she’d planned. Jag, that must have been the panther at the queen’s side.

  We were quiet as Brand led the rest of the way to his home. On the exterior, it looked like all the other homes, bare, sparsely carved, set deep into the wall, and a scraggly garden with only a few shoots of green. But when we stepped through the doorway, the room was alight with a fire burning in the large hearth directly across from us (which I hoped was for cooking and not additional warmth) and light coming from the ceiling. I stared up at the light, trying to understand how it was possible.

  “Light tubes, they bounce the sunlight down to us, and it’s how we grow our fruits and vegetables, as meager as they are,” a soft, whispery voice said. I lowered my eyes from the tube to see a woman who matched the tones of her words. Her body was narrow and looked more like that of a Sylph’s with her almost frail bone structure. Most Salamanders were solid of build, not unlike my family. But she was almost petite. Of course, her bright red hair a shade that resembled a tulip marked her for her bloodline. That and her pale yellow eyes. Not gold like Ash’s, but a true yellow, like a cat’s.

  She held out her hand, palm up. “My name is Smoke.”

  “Put your hand over hers, palm down,” Peta whispered in my ear.

  I did as told, my palm brushing against Smoke’s. “I’m Lark.”

  Brand grunted. “She knows who you are.”

  Smoke pulled her hand back. “Are you hungry? I imagine after your journey you might be.” Her eyes flicked to Peta, but she said nothing.

  “Thank you, yes.” The whole conversation felt false, like we said things only to cover the empty space, to keep the silence from creeping in. But why?

  A pounding of feet on rock spun me around and my hands went to my waist for a spear not there. Three boys ran into the eating area from deeper within the home. Each of them had Smoke’s bright red hair, but they were built like their father and they all had his eyes. They stopped as a unit, staring at me.

  “Wow, she’s really pretty,” the smallest of the three boys said, and I liked him immediately. Peta snorted softly.

  “Typical male.”

  Brand dropped a hand on the largest of the three boys who almost matched him in size despite the fact he was obviously not fully grown, his arms and legs gangly. “These are our boys. Stryker, Cano, and Tinder. They were supposed to be out of the house for the
day, but it looks as though they heard their mother say something about food.”

  The smallest boy who’d said I was pretty, Tinder, looked up at his father. “We just wanted to see her. We’ve never met a Terraling. And why has she got one of our cats with her?”

  Peta yawned wide enough that her tiny jaws cracked. “Because no one else could look after her.”

  The boys nodded as if what Peta said made perfect sense, and then they scooted outside, their mother shouting after them. “Stryker don’t let Tinder near the flows or the Pit! No swimming today!”

  Brand glanced at his wife. “Why can’t they go to the Pit?”

  Her brow furrowed. “I just do not want them going. I have a bad feeling about the Pit right now.”

  Brand nodded, obviously trusting his wife’s intuition. I looked at Peta but she wouldn’t meet my gaze.

  “Listen to your mother. No swimming!” Brand said.

  There was a chorus of groans from the three boys, and then silence. Brand let out a slow breath. “Sit down, Lark.”

  I sat, though I perched on the edge of the chair. “I’m not leaving without him, Brand. You can either help me find a way to free him, or I will find it on my own.”

  Brand looked from his wife to me. “Three days isn’t enough time in the world to come up with a defense for an Ender who has admitted to a crime, and you must do that while looking as though you are helping Smoke. That is your only cover while you are here.”

  Drawing in a deep breath, I reluctantly nodded. “I know, but I think I have someone who can help, someone who knows the ins and outs of the Pit.”

  The only question was, would Cactus be willing to help me again? Or would he, once more, find his allegiance with this side of his bloodline?

  Brand looked to his wife. “I know about your friend. Cactus barely escaped punishment for the help he gave you the last time you were here. But even if he won’t help you, I will. Ash spoke highly of you, of your sense of justice. We need your help, Terraling. Our queen does not see the danger around her and we are all bound to her, unable to make her see.”

  “You think I would help her? When she threatens to kill my friend? Without even a trial?” The question popped out of me before I could stop it.

  A snort escaped the Ender as he leaned back in his chair. “For justice, I think you will. If Ash is right about you that is. He told me about you and Queen Finley, how you saved her from the usurper in the Deep. Would you truly leave someone you could help behind?”

  If Ash was right about me. The words echoed in my brain. I wasn’t sure I was willing to help, not after the Deep. And Finley was a little girl, no matter how much power she had within her, she’d needed someone to help her. Fiametta was a full-grown bitch.

  But Brand wouldn’t help me rescue Ash if I said no to his request.

  “All right, I will help,” I said, the lie hard on my tongue. Peta tightened her claws into me and I couldn’t look at her, afraid she would see the dishonesty.

  She laid her head down on my shoulder. “Dirt Girl, you are going to get us both killed.”

  CHAPTER 4

  rand drummed his fingers on the table. “I promised Ash I would remove you from the Pit the second I could. So when you see him, you will have to explain we weren’t able to get out right away.”

  “You want me to lie to him,” I said, leaning back in my seat and crossing my arms. Peta snorted and I fought not to cringe. Only moments before I’d lied to Brand and now I was calling him out for the same thing.

  Smoke pushed a platter of food in front of me. “Eat, then we can discuss this once you have a full belly.”

  With a grunt, Brand dug into the food and I followed his lead, trusting that Peta would say something if I broke some sort of taboo.

  The food was nothing short of amazing. Sticky rice covered in a thick, spicy sauce alongside chunks of mango and pork was spooned onto my plate. Within two bites, sweat broke out on my brow, but it was good, the warmth filling me. I ate three plates’ worth before pushing it away and reaching for a pewter cup of what I thought was water. I had two gulps before my tongue registered milk, with ice cubes clinking in it to add to the chill.

  “It will soothe the fire in your mouth.” Smoke smiled, her lips curling up at the edges only a little.

  “Thank you.” I took another gulp and held the cup up to Peta, tipping it so she could reach the milk. She paused and stared at me a moment before she stuck her head in and lapped it up. Brand stopped eating, his mouth hanging open and his fork halfway to his mouth.

  I looked from him to Smoke. “What?”

  She dropped her eyes, that small smile ghosting across her lips.

  “Nothing.” He shook his head several times and went back to eating. What the hell had I done now?

  Smoke let out a soft breath. “Sharing food with your familiar means you have accepted her as your own. It is surprising, that is all. How long has it been, Peta, since your charge actually accepted you?”

  Peta pulled her head out, milk clinging to her whiskers in tiny white droplets. “That is enough for me, Dirt Girl.” She didn’t answer Smoke’s question. Though I was curious about Peta’s past charges, it wasn’t high on my priority list.

  I tipped the cup and drank the last of the milk, my argument ready. “Brand, if you are truly Ash’s friend, you know he didn’t kill those Enders. You know he doesn’t deserve to die for a perceived mistake that happened years ago. It wasn’t his fault my mother and brother were killed on his watch. That was all Cassava’s doing. He’s a good man and this is wrong on all levels.”

  A low grumbling breath escaped the Ender across from me. “Those things are true, but I am tied to this family which is why I need you to help me, I cannot go against Fiametta’s wishes any more than you can go against your king’s.”

  “That’s ridiculous, you aren’t a slave,” I snapped. “You’re just using that for an excuse not to do what’s right.”

  Brand leaned forward, one eyebrow raised high enough that it nearly touched his hairline. “Have you not gone through your trial with the mother goddess? You must have if you are an Ender.”

  I frowned. “Of course I have. What has that to do with this?”

  He placed his broad hands on the table. “Then you swore to uphold your family in all things, swore your life to them, and to obey your king no matter what he would ask of you.”

  Well, worm shit and green sticks, what did I say to that? I had sworn nothing of the kind. The mother goddess had helped me past the block Cassava placed on my abilities, and sent me back.

  I must have been silent too long.

  Peta’s claws dug into me. “Dirt Girl.”

  I cleared my throat and slowly shook my head. “No. The mother goddess didn’t have me swear to anyone.”

  Brand looked at his wife who stared at me. “Then you,” she said softly, “are in a very unique position. You are not tied by those bonds all other Enders are. Brand cannot help you, which is exactly why he needs you. But I can. I am no Ender and have no unbreakable bonds.”

  Brand grunted as if she’d kicked him in the balls. “Smoke, we’ve discussed this already. I don’t want you getting tangled in this. Fiametta is ready to blow, and I don’t want her seeing you as an enemy.”

  Smoke cleared the plates. “Our queen is always on edge. It is her nature. She is like a mountain perpetually threatening to burst its seams.”

  I stood, pushing my chair back, questions swirling, one in particular. “Why would you two help me? I’ve killed four of your Enders.” There, I said it out loud.

  “Have you? Where are the bodies, Terraling?” Smoke’s eyes bore into mine and I saw the keen mind behind the quiet movements and frail bones. “If there are no bodies, how is it proof you killed them?”

  In a strange way, she was right. There was no evidence if there were no bodies. But I thought there was more to what she was saying. “What happened to the bodies? Or are you saying they didn’t die?” No death would mea
n no punishment. I would just have to find them.

  “I was there, one of Smit’s helpers. Those four Enders are dead, Lark.”

  There went that idea.

  She continued. “But their bodies were put immediately into the Pit. Without burial.”

  “Like something was being hidden,” Peta said. A shiver slipped up and down my spine and I wriggled my shoulders trying to dissipate the feeling. Those were my thoughts exactly. The only reason to throw bodies into the Pit immediately would be to hide something. Like how they died.

  Which made no sense if I was the one who’d caused the deaths, wouldn’t they want the evidence preserved?

  Smoke wiped her hands on her pants. “Come, let us walk together, we can discuss what must be done first.”

  Brand stood slowly. “You two be careful. And take the laundry with you or what little cover you have for taking her out will be blown.”

  That was right, I was supposed to be a helper while I was in the Pit. Smoke pointed to a woven basket heaped with clothes. “Lark, take the basket. I will take the rocks.”

  I scooped up the basket and Peta leapt into it, perched on top like a tiny feline queen. Smoke gathered four smooth, flat rocks shaped perfectly to fit into the hand, used for beating the clothes clean.

  She went to her husband and kissed him lightly on his lips. He reached out to her and touched her face, his hands so gentle for their size. I felt as though I was seeing something intimate, and not meant for my eyes as they whispered their goodbyes. “Be careful, my sweet firebrand,” he said softly.

  We left the home and started across the cavern in silence. Around us, the hum of activity continued as people’s lives carried on in the daily grind. But they were happy. I had to give them that. Very different from the atmosphere I’d experienced in the Deep where the Undines had been terrified to even speak, never mind laugh and sing.

  The woven basket pressed into my hip, shaping itself to my curve. Peta bobbed along with my steps, her eyes flicking around the cavern. She lifted her head, stretching her neck, her eyes wide.