by Ben Alderson
“We return to the search at dawn,” Kazmir announced. “Take the rest of the day to rest, train, eat. Whatever it is that your bodies desire. Penna will consult with the stars and find a more trustworthy lead.”
Penna shot a look to Kazmir but would not dare speak against her. Even if her comment was an open offense against him.
That was it for the debrief.
I rolled my eyes when she announced we would still look for this mysterious plant.
Hadrian was not well. That much was clear from his thinning body and colorless skin. But what it was that caused his demise was still as unknown as the plant we searched. I needed to see him.
As I followed our group from the council hall, lost in the thought of Hadrian’s frail face, a high scream caused horror to flood through my body. Every fiber of my being was sent into a hurricane of panic, and I ran. Stepping beyond the hall, I looked up.
Billowing clouds of smoke and flames licked across the top of the council hall. The black smoke seeped into the sky, mixed with fire so blue I thought it was water.
A bolder of horror sank in my chest.
The council hall seemed to shudder for a moment.
The hungry blaze crawled up every panel of wood, burning from the origin. Hadrian’s room.
ALL SENSE OF control slipped away like sand through my hand.
Without more than a thought, I connected to my air and pulled it towards my body. Thrusting my hands towards the paneled floor, the force propelled me into the sky. I heard the shouts beneath me, but the closer I got to the fire, the quieter they became.
Drowned out by the vicious roaring, I felt every part of my surroundings as the wind kept me aloft. I flew straight into the heat, straight for Hadrian.
The blue fire reached out of what had been Hadrian’s window like angry, grasping hands. I wouldn’t have been able to enter through it, so I changed my direction with a twist of my hand and thrust myself through the window of a room beneath Hadrian’s where the flames had yet to reach.
Glass burst around me as my body slammed into the pane, and I lost my grasp on my magick. I fell to the ground of the smoke-filled room, rolling over broken shards. I felt them nick at my arms and face.
I pushed the pain into a deep prison within me. I had no time to dwell on the blood that warmed my cheeks.
Standing, I ran for the open door and stopped amid an ocean of smoke in the corridor.
My chest racked as I coughed, trying everything to block the thick smoke from infiltrating my body. Panicked, I blindly reached out for the pure air beyond the building, latched onto it and brought it forward. Pushing my hands out in front of me, I sent the torrent towards the corridor and watched it clear the smoke.
I ran down tunnel I’d created, holding my air firm to give me time to pass through. I need to get to him.
I didn’t stop running until I rounded a corner and caught the blue glow in the distance. I shot towards it, but the entire stairwell ahead was alight in flame.
I recoiled, my face burning from the fast-growing heat.
My scream grew in frustration, and I slashed a hand at the fire, sending a whip of air towards it. The second my magick touched the unnatural blue flames, they exploded in life and raged. I was thrown backwards, pain vibrating up my back.
“Hadrian,” I wheezed, looking around me for another way up. “Hadrian!”
Nothing. All I could hear was the crackling of wood and the hissing of hot glass.
In a blink of my eye, the fire had crawled from the stairwell and spread towards me. I scrambled backwards and watched it overtake everything in sight.
My heart sped up as a sound echoed all around me. A loud groaning, as if the building itself screamed in agony. The entire floor shifted, and my stomach flipped from the massive jolt.
“Get up!” Nesta hovered over me. She put her arms beneath mine and hoisted me to standing. “This building is going to crumble. We have to get out.”
She tried to pull me back. With a final pull, I yanked myself from her grasp.
“I have to find Hadrian,” I screamed over the roars. "I won't leave him."
She shook her head, which shone with sweat. “He’s—.”
A scream slipped out of her mouth and we both were sent crashing into the wall. The building had moved again. I was running out of time.
In her daze, I pushed myself from the wall and moved. To my left, a door was hanging open. I left her in the corridor and stumbled through it, closing myself in. I just hoped she got out.
Hadrian.
Just his name captured my attention again.
I searched the room for another way out. Besides the window and the door, I was left with one option.
Looking at the ceiling, I could see smoke dancing through the thin slats.
The fire had spread in the room above, but it didn’t matter.
I closed my eyes and begged the Goddess for help. The urgency in my power built around me, the air throbbing with stress. Even with my eyes closed, I heard the glass of the window rattle as my wind danced around it.
I didn’t stop reaching for the air until every slip of it in the small room belonged to me.
With a large push, it expanded. Using my arms to direct the pressure, a ball of spinning wind shot above me and smashed its way through the ceiling.
Wood exploded above, raining down around me. Something heavy smashed into my shoulder, urging me to create a shield. I quickly connected to my magick again, spinning a shield of air around my body. I heard the dull thud of wood as it hit my barrier. Yet nothing passed.
Nesta pounded on the door, but the noise of the fire was too loud to hear what she said.
With a large push, I jumped, using the air to propel me to the next floor. I passed through the ripped flooring and landed beyond the hole I’d created.
The room was barren of life. Two beds where on opposite ends of the walls, both dressed in white linen and cream blankets. A thin layer of smoke swirled on the ceiling, but that was it. My heart skipped a beat when I noticed the lack of fire.
I moved to the door and placed my hand on the brass handle. Electrifying agony erupted through my arm. I pulled my hand back and held it to my chest, bubbles of raised blisters now covering my entire palm.
“Volcras!” I hissed, holding my burned hand to my chest. Just moving my fingers an inch caused stabbing pain to race through me.
The tugging in my gut had intensified, telling me Hadrian was close.
Pushed with urgency, I kicked at the door. It took four hard kicks for it to open. The moment it swung wide, all I could see was blue.
The fire had clung to the walls floor, but I couldn’t stop. I needed to get through.
I took a step but stumbled as the floor jolted beneath me. Like a symphony, the foundations creaked and the floor beyond the room crumbled, falling into the mouth of flames.
I threw myself backwards. The back of my head smashed into the wall, conjuring stars to dance behind my eyes. I raised a hand to the back of my head, feeling warmth, and my fingers came back sticky.
Something cold splashed the side my face, and I screamed in panic.
“Give me your hand,” someone grunted, hands grasping my arms.
Opening my eyes, I was greeted by Emaline.
“Why is it I am here saving your sorry ass again?” Her face was speckled with soot. She pulled herself through the window, her white-feathered wings tight to her back.
"Hadrian..." I spluttered, rubbing the lump on my head as the room jolted again.
"He is safe. Now, hold on." Emaline didn’t wait for me to follow. She stood and pulled me up. Just as I remembered from the battle on the ship, Emaline had strength like I had never felt before. With ease, she pulled me into her arms and turned for the window.
“Hadrian… safe…” I managed through coughs. My lungs felt as if they would explode, smoke invading my blood and mind.
My stomach lurched as she threw us beyond the window. Wind screamed past my
ears as we fell. All I saw was smoke and fire.
Suddenly, my body was yanked backwards as Emaline opened her wings and stopped our free fall.
I strained my neck to look back just in time to watch the building shudder a final time. A blaring crack sounded around us, and the building, with the surrounding tree, tumbled into the riverway. I watched with tear-blurred eyes as the council hall plunged from view.
Emaline landed on the walkway, and I tumbled out of her grasp.
There was a final loud crack and cries erupted around the town from those standing around watching the Council Hall break beneath the fire and fall from view. The bomb of it crashing into the ground far below was horrific.
Destruction hung all around us.
Where the council hall had stood proud was now a void space. The heart of the city was no more.
I crawled to the edge of the walkway, now broken in shards, and stopped before a sharp drop into the riverway below. I could see the council hall in ruins across the riverway where it lay. Small vessels were crushed beneath its weight and planks of wood floated calmly with the gentle tide of the river. Smoke filled the air, and the burned tang of ash coated my mouth.
The members of the council stood around, their faces ashen with shock. Nesta was there, breathless and soot-stained covering her face. Seeing her released a weight from my shoulders. She made it out.
I recognized Nyah’s face and a group of Alorian elves who I’m sure I’d seen before.
But no Hadrian.
“You didn’t save him!” I screamed, my fingers cutting into the broken plank.
“His Highness is safe, and under guard,” Kazmir quickly said before she doubled over with yacking coughs.
I turned to her, eyes wide. “But…”
“Emaline was with him, Zac. She saw it firsthand. Why did you go in? Do you know how serious that was! You risked your life for nothing.” Nyah kneeled beside me, tears cutting marks down her dirtied face.
“Who did it? Who tried to kill him?!” I screamed my question, multiple possibilities passing through my mind.
“Hadrian Vulmar is a danger to himself and now our people.”
I looked at Penna. If my eyes could kill, he’d be dead where he stood. “He didn’t do this. The fire, it wasn’t normal. It wasn’t his.”
I recalled the blue flames and could still see traces of them behind my eyes.
“Heartfire.” Cristilia stepped through the growing crowd, her hands clasped in sorrow before her.
“It is not possible. Do not speak such blasphemous words amongst us.” Kazmir said. "I expected more from my council members."
Mutterings of distaste spread around her. Heads turned, and fingers pointed as if she’d gone against the very Goddess.
Nyah helped me to stand.
“Heartfire?” someone asked.
“Enough! I will not have these words thrown around so carelessly.” Kazmir looked more flustered with each second.
“No, you will tell me! Tell me what this means for Hadrian—WHERE IS HADRIAN?” I said.
Nesta stepped forward and interrupted. “I shall take you to him now.”
“You will not. Hadrian has been removed from Kandilin. He is not to be seen until it is safe.” Kazmir pushed past Cristilia with her shoulder and turned her back to the barren space. “You see what he has done, after the hospitality we have shown him.”
I couldn’t stop the tears.
I reached a hand to wipe them away, and they came back black with ash.
Many elves now stood beyond their homes, watching. I heard loud cries and screams as they took in the horror and destruction in the center of the city.
“Nesta, I command you to take them to their room and ensure they do not leave. This will not go unpunished,” Kazmir said.
"I respect the council, but this has nothing to do with Zacriah." Nesta was positioned close to Emaline, whose lips were white with tension. Emaline's gaze flickered to Nesta as she spoke up.
I shook my head as Nyah tried to pull me away. “No, please, he couldn’t have done this.”
My pleading was wasted. Nesta took my other arm and helped Nyah pull me away. All I could do was watch the griffins screech as they dipped in and out of the smoke cloud like it was a game.
“WHAT ARE WE going to do?” I questioned Nyah, who sat with her head buried in her hands. Since we were escorted back to our dwelling, she hadn't moved from her seat at the end of my bed.
I busied myself with looking beyond the room, but the two guards Nesta had reluctantly left with us still stood beyond the door. It was clear Nesta was on our side, but there was only so much so could do in such a situation.
This was not the first time in Kandilin I had felt like a prisoner. I just added this to the ever-growing list of annoyance I had for Gallion leaving us here.
“Wait it out. You can't blame the council. Hadrian has just destroyed one of the oldest buildings in Eldnol,” Nyah replied. “Who knows if everyone made it out? He could have killed someone, Zac!”
“I still don’t understand how. The fire was blue. We all saw it. It was not natural. What if Hadrian is hurt and they won’t tell us?” It was hard to imagine him getting out of there unharmed.
“Do you think she did it, Emaline?” I knew the accusation was misplaced, “She’s made it clear she wants nothing to do with us, but she finds the time to visit Hadrian! It doesn't add up.”
“Emaline is not one for keeping secrets, nor is she willing to promote those who do.” Cristilia materialized before the door of our room. I gasped, surprised by her sudden appearance. “I would have gotten here sooner, but as you can understand, we have been busy calming the city after today's events."
Nyah jumped up from her seat, hand already on the hilt of her dagger. Had Nyah not sensed her arrival?
"I feel you deserve to hear from me before more hateful lies are spread about Prince Hadrian and what he has done. The council will want you to believe he is to blame..."
“How did you—” I said, looking to the closed door she had just passed straight through.
“I am not Alorian; I do not heed their rules.”
Nyah's hand still hovered above her weapon. “But you are on the Queen’s council. You help set the rules you choose not to follow?”
Cristilia bowed her head and raised her arms towards Nyah. "I am no threat. I am here regarding the Prince, nothing more."
"No bother. I should have realized Morthi elves are not accustomed to knocking before entering..." Nyah jibbed.
“If it pleases you, I can leave now?” Cristilia sang, unbothered by Nyah’s comment.
I stepped forward. “No. Please stay. Do you know what Emaline did to Hadrian? You said something about Heartfire. What type of Alorian magick has she used against him?”
All my worries and queries that had built up came flooding out. I needed answers, and I wanted them now.
Cristilia walked across the room and stood before me. “I must tell you that Emaline, although the catalyst for what happened, has no ties to her Heart Magick, not like Prince Hadrian. She was only following my request, which unfortunately resulted in the…”
“What do you mean? You did this?” Nyah shouted, a stormy expression covering her face.
“I did." Cristilia's ethereal face pained. "Although I feel it is only right you listen to what it is I asked of Emaline. I asked her to speak to him, to tell him the truth about his father.”
Disbelief coursed through me like liquid metal. “Why now? Why tell him when he is still so unwell?”
“Because it is the truth that sometimes heals the greatest of wounds. And enough time has been wasted pretending the Prince's illness could be cured by a plant or healers. Emaline told him to heal him. Hadrian has been bed bound for to long; we need the three Dragori back to full strength.”
The sudden weight of guilt bared down on my shoulders. Hadrian would now know that for days I’d kept the truth from him, holding him back from what he deserved to know
.
"He is going to hate me." The idea panicked me. I had felt more distant from Hadrian in the past week, but that did not deter the feelings that grew with each day that passed. Everything I had done was for him.
“Prince Hadrian will understand why you kept it from him. Once the sun sets, I shall take you to him,” Cristilia said.
“Is he hurt?” I asked, images of his reaction playing out in my head.
“Just as I thought, he has healed. The Heartfire burned away his ailments. But now we must not worry about these things instead of the repercussions of his actions. The Queen is coming.”
Nyah gasped. “But she never leaves her kingdom.”
“News of his Heartfire has intrigued her."
I shook my head. "It has been only a few hours, and the Queen is days north. How has news reached her so quickly?"
"Queen Kathine is the mother of this land. I suppose news reaches her through the whispers of the very soil she has sworn her life to protect. She arrives at dawn in a few days.”
*
THE WAIT FOR the sun to set was agonizing. Cristilia promised to return to get us, and left Nyah and me in the room with the truth of what happened blurring around us. Although we expected her, it didn’t stop us from jumping when she stepped through the door like it was no more than air.
“Follow me,” Cristilia said.
I walked to the door first with Nyah following behind me.
“Where are the guards?” I whispered to Cristilia as I stepped beyond the room.
"Your guards will not see us. Now come.”
“How?” Nyah said.
“You know little of Morthi magick. Stay close. I will create a gleam of shadow around us.”
Night had fallen upon the town. Bats danced and screeched above us, cutting before the moon, which hung proudly in the night sky. It seemed we were in a bubble of sorts. I noticed a faint ripple that surrounded the three of us as we walked, blurring whatever was beyond it. Nyah must’ve seen it too as she tripped on the back of my boots as she reached out to touch it.
“Do not touch,” Cristilia said, black shadow blurring from the palms of her hands, feeding the shield around us. “If you don’t want those beyond my shield to see a floating hand with no body, then keep your hands to yourself.”