by Jade Kerrion
His shoulders tensed into a defensive hunch. Confusion forced his gaze from Ashe to Ereshkigal and back again. Zamir’s eyes, uncannily identical to her own, locked on hers—the swirling blend of sapphire and emerald hues, dusted with gold. His gaze flicked down to the pendant around her neck. The single polished black scale.
His scale.
Zamir slowly straightened, his muscles relaxing. His lips shaped an inaudible sound. It might have been “Mama…”
Ereshkigal curled her hands into fists. “Finish her!”
Zamir jerked as if electrified. His head flung back. Hesitation blinked out of Zamir’s eyes. His upper lip tugged back, baring his teeth in a snarl. His hands curled into fists, and he drove them into the ground like a sledgehammer.
Ashe threw up a shield of air even though she knew it would not be enough to save her.
What she had not counted on was the wall of rock that shot up in front of her shield. The wind pressed against it, reinforcing Varun’s rock wall as it shuddered from the roiling shockwaves of Zamir’s power.
Alone, her shield would have shattered. Alone, Varun’s defenses might have crumbled.
Together, they held.
Ashe and Varun’s eyes met across the room. Hers blue-green, flecked with gold. His black, flecked with silver. They were, perhaps, for the first time, equals, but they had always been allies. He had always had her back.
Varun gritted his teeth. He drew in a deep, shuddering breath, and his elemental powers shoved out. A ridge of rock surged out of the ground, like a dinosaur unfolding its spikes, and threw Zamir off his feet.
Her son was off-balance. She could finish it; sweep a powerful gust in Zamir’s direction; slam him against the deadly spikes protruding from the cave wall.
Kill him.
End it.
The wind tingled at Ashe’s fingertips, awaiting only the push of her will.
Would she…?
Chapter 32
The pendant warmed against her skin. Ashe could still recall the shape and weight of Zamir’s infant body cradled in her arms, snuggling against her for warmth. Her mind replayed his heart wrenching cry when she had swum away from him. “Mama!”
That same word that passed through Zamir’s lips mere moments earlier. “Mama…”
Ashe’s heart wrenched. The wind swept around her, unreleased. Zamir tumbled to the ground, narrowly avoiding the deadly spikes on the wall.
She sensed Varun’s gaze on her—questioning, challenging. Zamir was Ereshkigal’s creature now. Why couldn’t she kill him?
Ashe’s chin lifted. Certainty anchored her. Because Zamir is not Ereshkigal’s creature, but my son.
Once I risked everything for him. It has not changed.
The mound of mud suddenly heaved. Molten rock, glowing red and sizzling against the cool air, trickled down the side of the heap, melting away the brown ooze. Ondine rose from a crouch. Her red eyes glowed, and two orbs of flame formed in her open palms.
“Not looking good,” Varun murmured. He and Ashe stood back-to-back, their gazes shuttling between Ondine and Zamir as their enemies encircled them. Varun grasped Ashe’s hand and backed away slowly. She shot him a narrow-eyed glance. What was he doing? Why was he tightening the noose around them, drawing Ondine and Zamir closer?
Ashe glanced over her shoulder. Ereshkigal hovered behind them—glowing, untouchable. Her ethereal features, too perfectly symmetrical to be anything but divine, were serene.
They were too close to the goddess. Ondine and Zamir were not the only threats. Didn’t Varun fear what Ereshkigal could do?
Varun met Ashe’s eyes, then his gaze darted toward Ereshkigal. A muscle twitched in his smooth cheek. It tightened into a devilish grin.
Ashe frowned. No damn way. He had to be kidding.
Zamir roared and slammed his fists down on the ground. Ondine hurled flame. Shockwaves and fire raced toward Ashe and Varun.
As seamlessly as if they had planned it all, Ashe grabbed Varun’s waist. The winds swooped around them both, carrying them high into the air.
The shockwaves rolled beneath them. The flames swooshed beneath them.
Both slammed point blank into Ereshkigal. Red tongues of fire enveloped her golden glow.
The ground heaved in a gut-wrenching lurch. The walls of the cave wobbled like loose teeth. Red, molten rock started leaking out of the pit.
Varun yanked in a sharp breath. “I think we’re looking at the start of another explosion.”
“Make it stop!” Ashe hissed.
“I don’t know how.”
“Duggae said earth elementals could control volcanos.”
“I have ten minutes of experience as an earth elemental, and it’s all based on watching Avatar cartoons. There was nothing in there about controlling volcanos.”
Cracks surged outward from the shattered seal, cutting jagged lines across the ground. The crevices expanded along the walls and through the roof of the cave. Stone dust and small rocks rained down. Larger chunks followed as the cave crumbled like old clay.
Ashe cursed. “We have to get out of here.” The wind swept them toward the open passageway. Another breeze carried a wildly fluttering Jinn into Ashe’s arms. Safe within the tunnel, Ashe stepped out of the wind and turned. Her eyes met Zamir’s across the room.
He was her son.
And she loved him.
Nothing could change that.
Ashe’s lips shaped the beginnings of a plea. Come with me—
“Watch out!” Varun flung up his arm in front of Ashe to shield her from Ondine’s incoming fireball. His earth powers surged out, altering the trajectory of the massive rocks cascading from the roof of the cave. They smashed into the fireball, scattering its flame, and then kept rolling, their momentum unstoppable.
Ondine screamed, “No!” She pressed her arms out, as if to deny the inevitable. But the rocks were too many and too heavy. The tumble of granite and volcanic rock obscured all sight of her, and when the dust settled, there was no sign of any movement beneath the rock pile.
Varun cursed. “Damn it. Ondine!” He darted out of the safety of the tunnel and ran toward the rocks. They rolled away at his touch as he tried to dig Ondine out.
The ruddy glow of the smoke-filled cloud above the pit softened to a golden haze.
Ereshkigal.
The Great Arbiter was still alive—
A sharp cracking sound yanked Ashe’s attention up. The cave roof split in a jagged line down the middle, and more rocks tumbled down, far more than she knew even Varun could deflect. Both Zamir and Varun—on opposite sides of the cavern—looked up at their death, rushing toward them.
Ashe, in the tunnel, safely out of the way, knew she could only save one.
Jinn fluttered at her shoulder, frantic, his wings beating against her hair.
Ashe’s will unfurled. The wind screamed into the collapsing cavern. It yanked Varun out of the initial cascade of rocks. The air moved so quickly that it flipped most of the small rocks out of the way, but the big rocks were falling too, and no amount of spinning wind would keep them from smashing into Varun.
Ashe’s breath caught in her throat. She had made her choice.
She had to see it through. She had to end it.
Forgive me.
Her heart shattered as she flung all her strength into the wind.
Earth and air collided. The ground heaved, and a large boulder broke off the roof of the cave.
Large enough to crush Ereshkigal and seal the pit.
Large enough to engulf the entire cave.
Zamir flung his arms over his head as the massive boulder plunged toward him.
It was Ashe’s last glimpse of her son.
The wind carrying Varun hurled him into the passageway and into Ashe’s arms seconds before the boulder smashed onto the ground, blocking the exit. Varun picked himself up and stared in disbelief at the sealed entrance. “But…”
He did not need to complete his sentence.
&n
bsp; But Ondine…
But Zamir…
Silence and pain encompassed them.
Then rock cracked, the soft sound a prelude to the weight of the heavy boulder pressing against the mouth of the tunnel. Varun’s eyes widened. “Move! Get out.” He shoved Ashe ahead of him. Jinn fluttered in front, leading the way. All around them, the tunnel was shattering, its strength failing beneath the pressure of the earth’s convulsions. Ashe threw a thick layer of air over all of them. It would not hold up the collapsing tunnel, but it kept the constant fall of dust from obscuring their vision.
The cracks raced along the wall, faster than they could run.
Varun cursed loudly. “Go, go!”
A loud snapping sound behind then caused them both to stop and spin around. The tunnel wall shattered, spraying stone fragments. A massive rock started rolling toward them. “Run!” Varun flung up a wall of granite. The rolling sound softened to a low grind—momentarily stymied by the granite wall—then a cracking retort ripped through the air as the rock broke through Varun’s wall.
Ashe dashed ahead—the light of the exit was visible—but the mountain shook around them. Debris and rock rained across the opening. Ashe hurled her power ahead of her. An umbrella of air spread out over the cave mouth, sending the curtain of stones skittering down on either side.
Varun flung his arm out behind him. A ridge of granite rose from the ground but was immediately crushed beneath the rolling boulder. Their lead on death shrank to less than two feet.
Jinn flew out into the open and rose high in the sky. Ashe darted out of the tunnel and grabbed Varun’s hand as he sprinted out. They twisted away from the open mouth of the cave and pressed themselves against the side of the mountain. Their chests heaving, Ashe and Varun watched the boulder roll out of the cave and lurch off the cliff like a ponderous giant plunging to its death.
Moments later, the splash sent water several hundred feet into the air. The spray came down like a torrential rainfall, drenching them to the skin. Varun blew out his breath slowly. “That adventure looked a lot cooler and way more fun when Indiana Jones was doing it.”
Ashe darted him a sideways glance. “I’m concerned that movies are your reference point for handling crises.”
“My Ph.D. in marine biology didn’t teach me anything about summoning rocks or evading them.”
The ground rumbled beneath them. Ashe looked up as smoke darkened above the mountain. Lava leaked out of the jagged crater top and spilled down the side of the volcano, tumbling over the ground, incinerating it in an incoming tide of flame. She inhaled deeply. “Did your Ph.D. include lessons on outrunning lava?”
Chapter 33
Varun swallowed hard. His attention, like hers, traced the path of the extruding lava. “Nope, but there’s probably something about it in Jurassic Park.”
“What does the movie advise?”
“Run. Really fast.” He tugged her arm. Together, they raced toward the cliff. Varun’s heart stuttered at his first glimpse of the two hundred-foot drop, but there was no stopping. The lava was right behind them. He jumped over the cliff, Ashe with him. Far below, rocks emerged from the water like the jagged teeth of a prehistoric shark, smashing waves into dense sea foam.
The wind caught them up, slowing and directing their fall.
A huge wave rose and shaped into a water slide. Varun hit the top of the slide and slid around its slick curves. His mind was still tripping over the physics and mechanics of Ashe’s elemental powers when he hit the water feet first.
Relief enveloped him. He was safe again, not only because he was where he felt comfortable, but it was where she ruled. His head bobbed up above the surface, and moments later, Ashe emerged beside him. Jinn squawked, soaring overhead. Varun’s gaze flicked to the waterslide. It retained its unnatural shape for a moment longer before it collapsed into a wave and crashed back into the ocean.
The lava poured over the edge of the cliff and sizzled as it hit the water. Massive clouds of steam arose. “We’ve got to get out of the water,” Varun said. “We’ll be boiled alive.”
A babble of soft voices surrounded him. He looked around sharply as slender shapes darted past him and swam toward the island.
He blinked as the shapes sharpened, as if the ocean were slowly revealing its secrets.
Small-framed women swam toward Krakatoa. They chattered like schoolgirls on an expedition, their long hair sweeping across their bodies like living garments.
“Oceanids,” Ashe explained. “They’ll redirect the cooler currents to the island and minimize the damage from the lava spilling into the sea.”
Then she glanced up, as did he.
Varun blinked at the swirling colors in the air. “That’s not normal—”
“It is. Do you see them now?”
He frowned as his mind finally acknowledged what his eyes saw. “I see…faces in the wind.”
Ashe nodded. “The Daughters of Air. They’re riding the wind currents. They’ll contain the smoke from the volcano and keep it from altering too many weather patterns.”
The Daughters of Air danced around him, their smiles bright, their glances shy. They were nothing like Ashe with her narrowed eyes and fierce scowl.
“Are these newbies?” he asked.
She nodded. “Mostly. How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.” Varun shrugged.
Ashe frowned, but she refocused on the situation. “We should get out of here before the humans come around to check on things.”
Together, they swam toward their speedboat, still where they left it and miraculously intact. Varun clambered on board, then extended his hand to her to pull her up. “That crazy dash through the tunnels and the waterslide was a hell of a ride,” he murmured. “You could sell that idea to Disney for a million bucks.”
She said nothing, merely stared at the smoking ruins of Anak Krakatoa.
Dread sank like an icicle into his chest. The adrenaline faded. Reality intruded for the both of them.
“Today, I chose,” Ashe murmured. “And he died.”
Varun’s stomach wrenched. He, too had chosen. Ashe over Ondine. And Ondine had died.
How could he ever explain his decision to Ondine’s father? How could he ever explain it to himself?
He ground his teeth. It wasn’t Ondine. It hadn’t been Ondine—not for years, decades. She had been possessed by a fire elemental. Neti.
And yet, he could not easily dismiss his memories of Ondine laughing, pouting, singing, dancing. Surely it had not all been Neti. Surely, something of the person he had known was Ondine, but how much of it?
Varun drew a deep, shuddering breath. Did it matter? Ondine was dead because of a choice he had made. He had redirected the avalanche of rocks away from Ashe, and they had crushed Ondine.
Varun’s gaze turned to Ashe—the person he had chosen over the woman he was supposed to love. He reached for Ashe’s hand. Her fingers were icy cold. He pressed his hands against hers, trying to warm hers up. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you choose to save me instead of your son?”
Ashe did not answer for a long moment. Neither did she look at him. “Sometimes, the right choice isn’t the one you love the most,” she murmured. Her voice broke. “Sometimes, it’s the person who matters most to the world. And today, it was you.”
Varun squeezed his eyes against the matching ache in his chest. He could hardly breathe through it. And Ashe…Surely her pain was far more intense. He fumbled for the right words. “Zamir died with a soul. At least he can now touch eternity.”
The earth trembled, tossing the waves into frothing white caps. A hollow voice vibrated the air. “Zamir is mine, as all Beltiamatu souls are mine.” The smoke wafting from the peak of Anak Krakatoa shaped into Ereshkigal’s likeness. The Arbiter held out her hand, and Zamir’s translucent body appeared at her feet, on his knees, his head bowed and his arms bound behind his back. “He will be punished for his failure to defeat you, an
d for his attempt to return to you.”
The wind screamed into a typhoon. Ashe shot to her feet, the motion rocking the speedboat. “You lied to him. You promised him a soul, but it carried the sentence of eternal servitude.”
Ereshkigal laughed. “Souls are not the gifts people think they are. You tried to tell him. He should have listened to his mother.” That last word dripped equally with disbelief as disdain.
“Release my son,” Ashe’s voice cracked. The wind tore around her, howling.
“Come for him. You know how to pass through the gates of Irkalla.”
“I haven’t the damnedest idea. I told you, I’m not who or what you think I am.”
“One day, you will tire of this ignorant facade, and it can’t be soon enough for me,” Ereshkigal said. “Come to me, if you will bargain for Zamir’s life, and our story will play out as it always has. You know how it ends.”
Ashe stared at Ereshkigal’s form as it dissipated into ash and smoke. Silence weighted the air until she broke it with, “I can still save my son.”
“Where is Irkalla? Is there another entrance to the underworld?” Varun asked. “How do you get there?”
Ashe did not take her gaze off the smoking mountaintop. “I have no idea, but someone must know. I will find its gates. I will break them down.”
The splinter of dread in Varun’s heart widened until it felt as large and painful as a stake. Ereshkigal’s mocking references to her and Ashe’s shared past did not bode well. “What Ereshkigal said about this story playing out…how does it end?”
The typhoon’s core tightened, spinning with the frenzy of a gigantic storm. The waves tossed and roared. In the midst of that unnatural storm, the speedboat remained rock still, anchored only by Ashe’s will and her command over air and water. The black scale pendant glittered in the solitary shaft of sunlight that had broken through the cloud of ash. Her blue-green eyes narrowed. “It will end the way it began. With my son back in my arms.”
Epilogue
Rocks surrounded Ondine, all of them glowing red from their contact with molten lava, but she could not feel their radiant heat. Her skin did not burn either. Instinct compelled her to place her hand on one of the rocks. It shuddered, then liquefied, melting into slag. Rock by melted rock, she burned her way through to the surface.