Fire Mage (Firecaller Series Book 1)

by Trudi Jaye

  Jena looked around at the campsite. It was as good as any of the camps they had made over the last few nights. Mostly flat, a few bushes hugging the rocks, and even a scattering of dead wood. From the inside the cave, an underground stream could be heard gushing against the rocks. Hopefully, Eldrin was filling up a water bag with fresh water right this moment.

  Off to one side, Nate was collecting wood for Argus. Jena wandered over to help him, still absently trying to understand what was going on.

  “Help! Argus! Someone! Help!” Eldrin’s panicked yell came from the cave.

  Jena froze, her first instinct to run to Eldrin’s aid warring with an instinct that something wasn’t right.

  Bree and Nate stood waiting as well, watching for Argus’s reaction. But Argus went running straight toward the entrance. “Come on. I’ll need you all to save him,” he yelled before bending down and disappearing through the entrance.

  Jena hesitated only a moment longer before running to catch up. She had to stoop to enter, but went determinedly into the darkness beyond, and down the short passage.

  The moment she entered the cave proper, the light changed. A bluish hue filled the natural cavern and created strange flickering shadows over the rocks. Jena stopped right behind Argus, who stood with his hands on his hips, staring in front of him.

  Peering past him, Jena froze and her heart skipped a beat. Eldrin was being held in the transparent grasp of a water demon, his sword slashing through the creature’s flowing water body as if through nothing. The blue glow of the demon illuminated the small space and the stream from which it was flowing. The creature was sucking on Eldrin’s neck, visibly draining his life force.

  Nate and Bree stormed into the cave behind them. Their gasps echoed around the dark cave as they came to grips with the scene before them.

  “Does anyone know how to fight one of these?” asked Nate, his face a ghostly blue in the strange light of the cave.

  Jena desperately tried to find the answer in the Book of Spells, but Argus answered first. “It won’t kill him. This is a trick. He’s the demon’s toy.”

  As soon as Argus spoke, Eldrin’s thrashing stopped, and he gazed blankly around the room. His eyes glowed blue, reflecting the water demon’s light. Argus was right; Eldrin was somehow connected to the demon.

  “Help me...” This time Eldrin’s voice was weak, unlike the sturdy call of a moment ago.

  “How do you know he’s the demon’s toy?” asked Nate. “What if this is real?” He was watching Eldrin with fierce attention.

  Jena shook her head, but again, Argus answered.

  “Eldrin hasn’t been acting like the man I know.” His voice was harsh. “It was obvious he was under a spell of some kind.”

  Argus had just been biding his time until he found the creature responsible.

  Who was Eldrin to Argus that he would put their whole journey in jeopardy to save him? That he could disobey the master he’d been following so religiously?

  Narrowing her eyes, Jena considered Argus’s face for a moment, but his face was as stern and blank as it had ever been. Sighing, she focused her attention on the demon. The creature gushed out of the underground river that flowed across the back of the cave, standing taller than any of them.

  It stopped sucking on Eldrin’s neck; flowing tentacles of water surrounded his body, caressing him.

  “It’s changing,” said Bree. “It understands what we’re saying.” The back of the cave filled with rushing water, moving to its own mesmerizing pattern.

  “Of course. It’s been listening to us since Eldrin joined our group,” replied Argus impatiently.

  “We have to do something,” Bree said. “It doesn’t matter if he’s under its spell. We have to help him.”

  Jena hesitated, thinking it through, turning pages in her head. “It needs a source of water. If we can take away its source of water, we might be able to do something.”

  The water flowing around the cave started moving faster, rushing up and out of the normal flow of the stream, creating winding watery paths along the walls and through the very air in the darkened space. It seemed the water demon was daring them to cut off its water supply.

  “We can’t cut off an underground stream,” said Nate. “What else have you got in that head of yours?”

  “I don’t know. I’m thinking.” Jena’s voice echoed around the room, and she put one hand to her cheek, trying to speed up her thoughts. “Eldrin himself could be another way to get to the water demon,” she said slowly.

  There was a whoosh of water, and then Eldrin was no longer being held upside down. He had been placed behind a rushing wall of water. The demon now looked like crashing waves at a beach, all white foam and angry water.

  “We’re not going to get a chance there. What else?” asked Nate.

  Jena held her breath, flicking away from the water demon pages, and trying to think where else to go for help. “There’s a spell for calming waters in a storm. It might work,” she said slowly, almost thinking aloud.

  Argus looked from Jena to Nate, who shrugged.

  “It can’t hurt,” said Nate.

  Argus’s face was still impassive. He knew Jena had been the one to do the spell when they’d been fighting off the Riders, but he hadn’t actually seen her cast a spell. Nate had seen the one spell in action, but it had all happened so fast, she hadn’t had time to think about it. She had been careful not to cast anything else in front of either of them since.

  Stepping to one side, Argus gestured to Jena to move forward.

  She took a couple of cautious steps. Shaking out her hands, she raised them up to focus her energy, gathering it from the earth around them. Starting the spell in her head, she focused on the water in front of her. As she repeated the words in her head, she moved forward again, a couple of bigger steps, then leaned down and dipped her fingers into the icy cold stream.

  “No!” she heard Nate yell behind her.

  For a moment, she felt nothing. Then a sense of serenity, a simple and easy happiness flowed through her entire body. She smiled, and for once didn’t mind the stiffness she felt from her burns. In fact, she could barely feel them anymore; a watery coolness had taken over her whole body. Looking down she realized she was in the air, floating above the stream with water flowing over her skin like a silken blanket. Instead of being cold or threatening, it was pleasant and comforting, rich and luxurious.

  She didn’t want it to end.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  “How do we get her out of there?” said Bree. She didn’t take her eyes off her sister. “Nate, you have to get her away from the demon.”

  Jena was floating behind the glowing liquid protection of the water demon’s body. She was smiling dreamily out at them, not a care in the world.

  It was one of the oldest rules of controlling demons and being controlled by them. Don’t touch the substance they’re made of until you have them in your power. For fire demons it wasn’t much of a problem, no one was usually that keen to put their hand in fire. But for water demons, it was how they found their prey.

  Nate thought through his options. What other rules applied to both water and fire? This water demon appeared to be wild, capturing people and using them to gain enough power to stay out of the Edges. Not all demons could do it. The fire demons he called usually didn’t bother with this world, unless called to his side. It was why they tended to be so annoyed at being forced through.

  This demon liked spending time with the living. How could that help them?

  A chill went down his back, and the hairs lifted on the back of his neck. “Son, the answer is right in front of you, yet again. While it’s here, in this state, it can be controlled.” The mage ghost was beside him, his arms crossed, and a stern expression on his face. He nodded toward Jena. “I leave for a while, and you let her get into trouble.” He shook his head. “You’re really going to have to figure this out much faster if you’re going to battle Lothar. Both of you.”
/>   “How do I control a water demon? My power is over fire,” Nate said.

  “When they’re in our world, a water demon can be controlled by a fire demon. It’s a hierarchy. Fire sits at the top, and other demons must obey.” The ghost made motions with his hands, indicating that Nate should hurry up and get on with it.

  Nate closed his eyes, trying to calm the pounding in his head, and drilled down into the fire yet again. He felt the power blazing inside, and for a moment trembled against the onslaught. Then he stiffened and moved down into the core.

  He pulled a demon from the Edges and into the air above them with an ease that shocked him. It was a glowing ball of flame, beautiful in the small interior space.

  It changed the color of the cave from blue to a reddish purple, casting strange shadows around the craggy walls.

  Nate let out his breath slowly.

  “Yes, master?” The demon focused on Nate for a moment and then seemed to notice its surroundings. “Where have you brought me?”

  “We need your help, demon.”

  The demon’s light dimmed a moment and then came back strong. “You need help with the water demon and its toys?”

  “Yes. How do we set Eldrin and Jena free?”

  “You must take the water demon as your slave. I assume you’ll be happy to have a water demon at your beck and call, master?” Behind them, the wall of water rushed and gurgled, spitting water and foam at Nate and the fire demon.

  Nate stepped back, making sure he was out of range of the water. “What do we have to do?” He glanced from the agitated water demon to the fire demon.

  “I need a supporting chant, and the help of the Big One to pull the toys away from the water.” The fire demon fizzed and sparked as it spoke, zigzagging around in front of Nate.

  “And what will you be doing, demon?”

  “What I must. Just start the chant, master.”

  Nate turned to Bree. “I’ll lead it, but I need you to join me when you pick up the words.”

  Her face solemn, Bree nodded.

  In front of them, Argus was watching the water demon as it dripped and flowed, holding Eldrin and Jena behind its wall of water. The fire demon moved to hover just before the point where the water demon rose up out of the stream.

  “Why doesn’t it leave?” asked Argus.

  Nate paused, then leaned in, keeping his voice low. “I don’t think it believes it will lose against the fire demon. It’s unusual for them to fight and I don’t think a fire demon would normally exert its dominance over a water demon.”

  Nate started the slow chant, saying the words over and over again. Soon Bree joined in, and the room seemed to echo with the power of the words. The sound ran around the room, leaping from rock to crevice, finding no place to finish quietly. In front of them, the fire demon began to glow brighter, its sparks flashing bright and strong. It expanded, glowing larger and brighter in the small space of the cave.

  Argus stood ready in front of the water demon, waiting for the moment when his help would be needed.

  The demon’s watery limbs began flowing in complex circles, faster and faster, until the water was just a dull blur of color. Jena and Eldrin disappeared behind an almost solid wall, only a faint shadow visible in the background.

  “Brother water, hold thyself still. You are called to serve the fire realm. My master demands your skills as his own.”

  The sound of water rushing over jagged rocks filled the cave as the water demon struggled against the fire demon. It dripped and splashed and rained and poured, spitting and hissing in anger at the request it realized—too late—that it couldn’t refuse.

  “So brother fire, you have betrayed us?” The demon’s voice was like rain falling on rotting leaves.

  “I am not in charge of my own destiny, demon. We are both caught up in a greater fire. I command you to the will of my master. You must touch him to complete the bonding.”

  “Why should I touch him? He is less than nothing to me. I am water. You are fire. Why do we meddle in the affairs of men?”

  “We have no choice. The great fire has begun.” The fire demon buzzed brighter for a moment. “Come, master, meet another who is under your power.”

  Nate walked forward, slow and steady, stopping next to the fire demon.

  “Water cousin, meet the Fire Mage.” The fire demon buzzed brighter. “Fire Mage, reach out and make final the connection with your water servant.”

  Thinking that this was exactly how Jena had been trapped, Nate reached out, his arm trembling, and put his hand into the flow of water. It hit and splashed around his fingers, spitting water over his arm; a small amount pooled in his palm. A hiss sounded deep inside the water, and drops sprayed in all directions.

  “Live by my commands and you will not be harmed.” Nate didn’t know where the words came from; it felt as if he were possessed. He shivered. “How may I serve you, Fire Mage?” The water demon’s voice was soft and smooth.

  “Release your prisoners, demon.”

  There was a gushing sound and Eldrin came flying out through the wall of water. He landed heavily in a heap on the rocky floor, his head knocking on the hard surface. His eyes were closed, and his face was an ashen grey.

  Argus hoisted him over his shoulder, his muscles bulging as he struggled with the weight of the unconscious warrior, and carried Eldrin out of the cave.

  Bree and Nate waited, watching Jena where she was still being held in the demon’s watery grasp.

  “Let the woman go, demon.”

  “But, master—”

  “Let her go. Now. And do it gently.” Nate’s voice was as hard as the rocks he was standing on.

  Slowly, with obvious reluctance, the water demon pulled Jena to the front of the stream and then dropped her carefully onto the rock that Eldrin had just vacated.

  Bree raced forward, touching her sister’s pale face. Jena opened her eyes and gazed blearily around her. Nate crouched down on the other side, grabbing Jena’s hand. He allowed some of his heat to flow into her body through the touch, and color appeared in her face almost straight away.

  “I’ll look after her, Bree. Go and see if you can help Eldrin. I think he might need your help more than Jena.”

  Bree gave him a fierce glare. “She’s more to me than Eldrin. I’m staying here.”

  Nate put his hand on Bree’s arm. “Don’t worry, I can help her. But Eldrin doesn’t have anyone helping him.”

  “If she needs anything, you call me immediately.” Bree was stern.

  Nate nodded. “I’ll bring her out as soon as she can walk.”

  Bree stood and left the cave, just as Jena opened her eyes again.

  “You okay?” asked Nate.

  She blinked, then shook her head slowly. “It felt really good, Nate. It felt so good to be in there.” Jena started to cry, her face blotching up, white patches appearing on her burns.

  Tears streamed down her cheeks, and Nate gathered her up into his arms. “It’s okay. That’s part of the spell, Jena. It feels good, but you would have died in there.”

  “I know, I know. But I can’t help wanting to go back.” She sobbed even harder on his arm.

  Nate narrowed his eyes at the water demon when it started moving toward them, flowing water around Jena suggestively.

  “I would look after her, master. She is very powerful. I would let no one hurt her.”

  “Get away,” said Nate. “You can’t have her back.” He looked down into Jena’s face. “You’re not going back. It’s not real.”

  Sighing, Jena sat up, and Nate moved back to let her.

  “You’re right, I guess.” She looked up to where the fire demon still buzzed in the air above them. “You called another fire demon?”

  “Yes.” Nate glanced back at the stream where the water demon was splashing and bubbling, entertaining itself now that it had lost its toys. Jena followed his gaze.

  “Water travel,” she said suddenly, snapping her fingers. “Some water demons have
access to underground streams and rivers. Can it take us by water to Remus?”

  Nate turned his head to look at the demon, his eyebrows raised.

  “Yes, master,” it said. “I can take you by boat, along an underground river to the other side of the Ember Volcanoes. The mage they call Remus lives not far from there.”

  “Will it be faster than travel by horse?”

  “Yes, master.”

  “Then that’s what we’ll do. Demon, wait for us here.”

  “And what of me, Fire Mage? Do you require me as well?” The fire demon hovered in the air near Nate’s face.

  “Will I need you? You seem to know more about me than I do, demon.” The back of Nate’s neck itched, and he rubbed a hand through his hair.

  The fire demon cackled, sparks flying and spitting around its glowing body. “You are the Fire Mage, and I must do your bidding.”

  “So tell me true, should I make you stay?” Nate watched the creature, wondering at his ability to keep something so frighteningly beautiful by his side.

  “You can call me at any time. When you need me, I will come.” It disappeared without fuss.

  Nate took a deep breath and looked back over at Jena. She was gazing at the place the fire demon had just evacuated. She turned her head and smiled at him. “You know, Thornal could summon demons. But he could never convince them to do what he wanted. It was a great source of annoyance for him.”

  She slowly stood up, went over to Nate, and placed a hand on his arm. “Come on, let’s go get some food. We have a long journey ahead of us. We need to be prepared.”

  He followed her lead, turning only once to look back at the water demon still flowing round the back of the cave.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  Jena walked over to where Argus was starting a fire, Nate following close behind her. Her body was lethargic and heavy. She struggled to concentrate on what was happening around her.