Warring of Fire

by Holly Hook

  "I think I'm ready to go," Sven said with a smile.

  "What's going on at your house?" I asked.

  Sven winced when I mentioned his house. He no longer equated the Manager's House with home, then. The thought pained him. "The Slayers are staying up at night because that's when an attack is most likely, if it will happen," he said. "Since most of the workers are at the Water Company during the day, Father says an attack won't happen then, so that's when they're letting their guard down and sleeping. Even trained Slayers need their rest. Maybe it would be best if we waited until after sunrise."

  I thought of Dirk down in the caves along with his parents. He would have followed soon after, leaving Steve down in the caves with Sofia. "Do you know what they're planning?"

  "I haven't been at the house in a while," Sven said. "The last time I went, it was with Sofia to pick up our fighting gear. It was right after we saw that man, Steve, order that food at McDonald's. We knew he had to be ordering it for a dragon. We had time to go back to our house and get our gear as the restaurant was filling his order. Then we followed him."

  "You move fast. And the other Slayers didn't notice?"

  "They had already taken seats and didn't hear Steve placing his order. Father had me and Sofia order all their food so we could take it to them. We were standing behind Steve."

  "Typical."

  "Father will get upset with me about running out," Sven said. "But Sofia was desperate. She saw her chance. I couldn't let her go into the caves alone. I thought she would kill your friend." Sven turned away and looked at the lounge clock. "I didn't think she would kill you. With my memory gone, I didn't think you were one of them."

  "It's over now," I said, stomach turning. But it wasn't. Would Sofia still want to kill me if she had the chance? "And we shouldn't wait until morning. The Slayers are salivating at the thought of all that treasure."

  "I know they are." Sven paced. "I don't know if I can get you inside. And if I do, I don't know the combination to get into Father's office. Do we need to get the treasure back to end this war? I still don't want you to do this."

  "If it's what's making the Society powerful and able to pull strings, yes," I said. "We have to hit them where it hurts without...without killing. They're not just after the dragons. The Society also after everyone else. They're ruthless businesspeople. Look at what they're doing to the water bills in town. I know you need to alleviate your guilt. This is how. Don't worry about me."

  Sven frowned and looked at the floor. "Felicia, you're right."

  "Does your house have generators?" I asked.

  "There might be one in storage," Sven said.

  "Then a power failure would shut down the lasers, right?"

  He lifted his face until our gazes locked with each other. "Are you thinking a storm would help?"

  "I think I can summon one." Closing my eyes, I felt for the magic within. And it responded, rising from somewhere deep—maybe the Earth itself—and flowing through my limbs. Deep within my chest, it gathered, offering to let me change forms again if I gave it permission to happen. A sense of control swept over me. I could do this. Right before maturing, it was as if I had my ear pressed up to the door of a wild party. Now that door had opened, and I'd stepped inside. "Yes. I can summon one. It happened by accident before, but I'm sure I can control one now."

  "Dirk might help," Sven said. "He can amplify you, right? He said something about how the two of you can work together."

  "Dirk's jealous." So he'd spoken to Sven while in the caves.

  "I know that he is. But we might need him to make the storm bad enough."

  "What do you want? A tornado to take out the power lines? Some straight line winds?" We hardly got weather like that around here. "That might hurt people." I knew I could summon another storm—I could feel it—but I wasn't sure if I could keep it from causing harm. "Once I get a storm started, I don't know if I can hold it back."

  "We need to cut the power. Father hasn't had time to set up the generators yet. But he will. And a storm isn't an obvious attack. Father says they have wiped all the most powerful dragons out. He doesn't expect to meet one."

  I had to trust Sven. This was a better plan than letting Adler figure out how to deal with the Slayers and getting herself or a bunch of people killed. She was out there and I bet she wasn't sitting around, waiting for something to happen. But Sven was right this was the way to go, no matter how terrified I was of myself and the things I could do.

  "It's not a foolproof plan," I said. "And yes, I think we need Dirk." The poor guy was even more freaked out about all of this than I was. "He might help. I bet he's back at his house."

  "We should visit yours," Sven said. "To make sure your parents are doing fine. I'll go with you."

  "We might not have time." Now that I knew my parents were back, I did and didn't want to see them. Adler might be there, erasing their memories. But Dirk might also be at my house if he'd followed his parents out of the caves. That was iffy though. Dirk was still angry with them, but his only other option would have been to stay in the caves and think about what he was.

  I opted to go to my house. We might meet the Machers there. Since I had no phone with me anymore thanks to Adler, we had no choice but to talk to others the old-fashioned way.

  * * * * *

  Walking to my house in the dark was a surreal experience. I could see bats overhead, giving off a faint red glow. The vegetation appeared gray, but brighter than before, which gave me the ability to walk outside with confidence. Before, the nights outside of downtown were pitch black with only the stars overhead. Now they were alive.

  I led Sven until I could see the sign for our farm. We turned down the driveway and found the lights on inside my house.

  "I need to make sure Adler isn't here," I said. "Stay back and hide in the trees. But hide far back. If I can see in the dark, so can she."

  Sven did, and I checked the driveway to make sure her SUV was missing. It was. The Machers hadn't told her they'd brought my parents back home. Then I peeked into the kitchen windows. Inside, everything had a faint red tint. Blues and purples didn't stand out as much as they used to. The white walls had a slight greenish tint. The range of light I could see had shifted.

  A shadow moved inside the living room.

  And Dad stepped into the kitchen, opening the fridge. He got out a package of veggie bacon. Lines had formed around his eyes. Then Mr. Macher followed him in and looked at the veggie bacon, face falling.

  Still no Adler.

  From the looks the two men gave each other, no memory erasing had happened.

  Getting Sven from the trees, I led him to the house. But with the lights on inside, I didn't have to guide him. I wouldn't tell my parents about the Slayers. They already knew about my maturing, right? The Machers might have told them already.

  I opened the door which they'd left unlocked. I heard Dirk and Mrs. Macher talking in low voices but I couldn't make out the words. My hearing hadn't changed. It was just as dull as it always had been. The increased smell and heat vision were enough.

  "Who's there?" Dad asked.

  "Me," I said.

  Dad paused and then filled the doorway of the kitchen as Sven and I stood there. The look on Dad's face told all. He remembered everything that happened, and the Machers had already told my parents what had happened. He screwed up his face, and I wondered if he would yell at me for being out in the middle of the night. Then emotion took over, and he turned away, opening the fridge again and shuffling through it. Dad didn't know how to process this yet.

  "Hey," I said. "It's fine. And it's time to lift all the curfews you've put on me."

  "I don't want to talk about this," Dad said. He sounded tired. "Your mother and I need time to think about this."

  "That's okay," I said. My parents felt as if they had lost me when they hadn't. They'd spent their lives raising a girl they wanted to stay a girl. Now they had this—something they didn't know and maybe something they feared
. "This is Sven. I met him at school."

  Dad said nothing and continued to shuffle through the fridge. Mr. Macher lifted one eyebrow at me and Sven. The silence was deafening.

  "Where's Dirk?" I asked just to break the silence. Mom and Dad needed time. I hoped.

  Mr. Macher raised his thumb and pointed to the living room. Sven followed me and I found Dirk on the couch, now dressed in one of Dad's shorts and T-shirts. His mother sat in the armchair opposite him and my mother drank a mug of steaming tea in silence. She glanced at me, not registering at first. I hoped this was shock or Mr. Macher's doing. Maybe coming out of a magical sleep did this to people.

  "Hey," I said, waving to her. "Glad to have you back."

  "And you," Mom said, sipping her tea again. She had bags under her eyes. She'd been asleep for days and it was showing. But she looked away from me and towards the wall. I hated it.

  "It's me," I said. "I'm still Felicia." Was I?

  Sven appeared at my side. "Well, it looks like we've all had a long week," he said, accent strong. "Why don't you go to bed?"

  "Who are you?" Mom asked, eyeing him. Sven had her attention. I'd brought a guy home on top of maturing. It was too much, but I was glad he was here. Sven was the only rock I had to steady me during all this.

  "Felicia's boyfriend," he said, stuttering. "We met at school."

  Then the Mom I knew came back. She looked at me for the audacity of dating and promised a talk later about how I should bring guys home first before even going out on the first one. But I was ready for that. I hoped the expression I gave her communicated it.

  "And he's going to stay my boyfriend," I said.

  They wouldn't let the chains fall away without a fight. Even maturing hadn't made them relinquish control. Heat filled me and I turned away and stormed to my room. My parents would not keep me a prisoner. They couldn't anymore. That was part of their grief and they would live with it. I hated that this hurt them but it was time for them to let go.

  "Felicia," Sven said, following. "Are you okay?"

  "I will be," I promised, opening the door to my room. I waited for Mom to follow, dragging Dad along with her, but she didn't. Mrs. Macher must be stopping her. Mom and Dad couldn't fight back against them. They were still somewhat prisoners.

  "Your parents just have a lot to think about."

  "I knew they wouldn't like this." I wasn't sure I did, either. Mom was still trying to lay on the control in a last ditch effort to make things feel normal.

  "But you know they're safe."

  "That's what matters." Once Sven had entered my room, I flopped down on the bed. I was hungry again, despite eating two sandwiches. The events of the past twenty-four hours had sapped a lot of energy.

  "We need to talk to Dirk," Sven said. "The Slayers are all at the Manager's House at night, but night might be the time to cause a storm. We might take advantage of the confusion it would cause."

  Sven didn't even call the Manager's House home anymore. He was right. But Dirk knocked on the door before I could get him. I let him in.

  "Awkward," he said, eyeing Sven for a second. "It's nothing but awkward out there. Our parents are out there and I'm ready to climb out the window."

  "You haven't met mine," Sven said.

  "From what I heard, I don't want to," Dirk said. He kept a distance between him and Sven. The tension there would never die. I hoped that Sven and Dirk could become friends, but that was a long shot.

  "We need your help," I said to Dirk.

  He hesitated. Then he said, "Sure. What?"

  "Well, you can amplify my powers," I said. "We need a storm. A big one that will cut off power to the Water Company. Are you up for that? And it'll give the Olive Plantation a big story to report."

  Dirk stared at me. "Why do you need to do that?"

  "Because there's an office we need to get into," I said. "And according to Sven, his father hasn't installed a generator yet."

  "It's in storage," Sven said. "Father could get it out, but it would take time."

  I told him the full plan. Dirk already knew about my ability to call rain and wind. He didn't yet know about the office that Sven couldn't access that might have information on where the Wiglaf Society is keeping its stolen treasure.

  "Wait," Dirk said. "Why do we need to bother with this? Isn't there enough treasure under Olivia? We have plenty. I got we're just supposed to protect it."

  "We have to hit the Society where it hurts," Sven said. "And that's in the wallet. Isn't that the saying?"

  "Or pocketbook," I tell him. I was already full of magic. How strong would I be if we got a lot more treasure back? The thought was scary, but so was withering away.

  I feared what I could do, but I feared having to spend my life huddling around our treasure pile even more. The Society were our jailers and our executioners.

  "Why do you care?" Dirk asked Sven. "I'm not trying to be rude, man, but what's your motivation?"

  "You haven't lived with my father."

  Dirk eyed the window. "Fair enough. This sounds a lot less scary than our parents. My parents keep talking about us. How far of a jump is it down from this window?"

  Chapter Four

  Mom and Dad would have hated this. It turned out that jumping out of the window wasn't hard. I crouched with grace as I landed. Dirk did the same when he might have splattered before. And Sven, being athletic, landed beside me and took a little time to recover.

  The lights remained on inside the house. The Machers were keeping my parents occupied. They wouldn't notice us gone for a while. At least, that was my hope.

  "Still sneaking around," I said as the three of us walked through the rows of olive trees. At least I trusted the Machers with them. "Just like old times."

  Dirk smiled at me. "I'm glad to feel somewhat normal again. How about you?"

  "Same." I drew closer to Sven and took his hand. It was dark out here and he needed my help.

  "The night vision is a perk," Dirk said.

  "How's magic?" Sven asked. "What does that feel like?"

  We discussed the matter on the way to the Water Company. Walking through town was easy at night and the only problem we had was avoiding a patrol car that would have stopped us for being out this late. I told Sven what the magic felt like and how it felt as if it were coming from deep within the Earth. It was stronger around the treasure, but when I focused, I could still feel it there, ready for whatever commands I had. When I turned my memory to maturing, the tingling and heat gathered in my chest, inviting me to use it to shift again. It was almost tempting. But that was a terrible idea right now. The key to this mission was to be covert.

  Water Road was ominous and empty. But even from the edge of downtown, I could detect faint red light from the Water Company itself—a few third shift workers must be there and the machinery was giving off heat—and another, fainter glow from the Manager's House. The Slayers were home.

  "How close should we get?" Dirk asked.

  "Not too close."

  "Where are the power lines?" Sven asked. "I've barely been inside the Water Company. I've tried to avoid my father."

  I thought. Climbing the ladder out of the river gorge was the most I'd done. "We have to walk around and see," I said. "Just calling a storm won't do us any good if we don't cut off the power."

  If it wasn't for my newfound ability to see a little in the dark, we never could have circled around the Water Company, through the weeds and over a metal bridge that allowed us to cross the river below. There was no regular light out here. We had circled to the back of the Water Company—a land of tall weeds, old sheds, power boxes, and tall power lines that fed into the facility. I stopped near a metal box that hummed and surveyed the tall lines that towered overhead. They were the big kind—the ones with triangular bases and held up by metal horns.

  Knocking one down might cut power to the entire town.

  But the alternative meant killing Slayers. That was something I didn't want to do unless I had to even i
f the monster within wanted that. It had wanted Jens's death, and I hadn't even been mature yet.

  "What do you see?" Sven asked. "I can tell that there's something tall here, but—"

  "It's power lines," I said. "I've lived in Olivia all my life but have never been back here."

  "Me, neither," Dirk said. "I see them, too. It would have to be a bad storm to bring them down."

  I gulped. "Then a bad storm it has to be."

  "As soon as the power's out," Sven said, "I'll get you into the Manager's House. Dirk, stay out here as backup in case things get bad inside."

  "What if there are passwords your father uses to get into the computers?" I ask.

  Sven gulped. "There could be. And without power, the computers would be useless. It's my hope he uses a laptop we can steal and crack later. Or that there are paper files or passwords written somewhere."

  "The hard drive might have to come out if it's a desktop," Dirk said. "Nerd to the rescue."

  "Great idea," I said. "Dirk, you're coming in with us."

  Dirk smiled. Taking a nervous breath, I faced the huge power lines that fed the Water Company. They'd have to fall away from us. There was no guarantee I wouldn't hurt someone, but at least most people in town were asleep.

  "How do I, um, amplify?" Dirk asked. "Do we have to be touching like we were before?"

  The tension level ratcheted up. "Steve told Dirk to hold onto my arm to help me mature," I said to Sven, telling the truth. "That's the magic he has."

  Sven nodded. "That's okay."

  "Will this even work without shifting first?" Dirk asked, changing the subject. Smart guy.

  "I think so," I said. "Maybe not quickly, but we'll try."

  Sven nodded, giving me another OK to go ahead. He was ready. Dirk hesitated before stepping up and taking my hand. In front of Sven. This wasn't awkward at all.

  A surge of magic flowed through my limbs as if Dirk had lit a fire soaked in gasoline. The magic rose through my legs and up into my body, gathering around my heart and threatening to explode. I let out a breath and tensed. My body wanted to change shape, but I couldn't let that happen now. Not here. After two more breaths, the feeling passed, and I focused on the sky above. My awareness seemed to expand as it touched the upper atmosphere, and though I stood on the ground, for a moment I felt as if I were flying. With every blink, the stars winked around me and I could detect layers of air curving around the earth. The sun shone somewhere behind the planet. The atmosphere was cold. Most of the energy had leaked out during the night. There wasn't much to work with.