30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

A ya launched into the sky with all the grace of a fledgling bird, desperate to fly. In the smothering heat, smoke stung her eyes. Tears welled, nearly blurring the forest below from view. She quickly wiped them away and looked below. There was Tobias, white fur luminous in the firelight.

Ready?

There was a beat of hesitation as he looked up to her. I don't like fire.

I won't let it touch you.

She tried to call Sabra but there was no reply. Something was smothering the bond, a force bearing down, rendering the link between them silent. Panic rose from her gut, clawing at her throat with a thousand little talons. From each of those invisible wounds, tiny whispers gnawed at her mind, conjuring terrible scenarios. She shoved them down and turned her gaze upon the inferno. Several fires raged across Purgatory. Dark smoke billowed high, turning the afternoon sky to night. The stench of it choked every breath, singeing her throat. She coughed and spluttered, battling the heat slamming against her.

From the tear in the sky, fire rained down in a hellish display.

This had to be Arcan's doing. His flames she'd never forget.

She felt it in her bones. Knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was annihilation. Her own anger answered in a quiet promise, silent against the roaring inferno but there all the same.

Aya, where do we go?

The Dusk Quarter—follow me!

Aya shot forward, trying desperately to steady herself against the smothering heat beating down on her. Every breath burned her lungs, the pain splintering out across her chest. She kept looking below as Tobias dashed through the trees.

Flames roared up the trees, devouring them in pillars of fire. She tried to keep Tobias away but with every new direction, another blocked the way. The straight path became a twisting snake through the chaos. She squinted through the growing haze, heart pounding as she tried to keep him safe.

She just had to get him to the Dusk Quarter, or if they couldn't make it there, the Inner District.

A blast suddenly slammed down in front of her. Aya screamed as she banked sharply. Heat singed her face as she scrambled to steady up.

Tobias?!

I'm okay—where to?

This way!

A path was rapidly closing ahead. Fire fronts raged on either side, racing to close the gap.

Fucking move it, Tobias!

He exploded from the tree line, faster than she'd ever seen him move. A streak of white fur against the dark, paws barely touching the ground. The fires surged in, devouring the trees so fast Aya's heart bloomed with utter terror.

I've seen broken animals move faster than you, she sneered.

A thundering howl split the night. The answer a defiant roar.

Like hell I will.

Aya raced overhead with him, feeling the heat lick at her skin, her wings. It burned every breath until darkness nudged her vision. If they didn't find a break soon, they were both going to die.

Tobias vanished into the woods.

The inferno raged closer. The gusting winds forced her down, the pressure and heat pressed hard against her. Every beat of her wings sapped her strength. She couldn't stay any higher. The treetop brushed her fingers. Darkness webbed her vision, determined to drag her under. A snarling curse burned her lips. Not to herself but to the gods she hoped somehow heard her thoughts, felt her rage, and knew she was coming for them. One way or another.

Aya scanned ahead, hunting for the path.

Cut east and follow me, I can see the way.

The distant sloping hills of the Dusk Quarter beckoned. They were so fucking close. So damn close she swore she sensed Elaine, felt her magic calling her. She latched onto that feeling.

More fire fell, slamming into the earth.

A wolfish howl cried out.

She scanned the woods. Where was he?

Tobias?

The silence was deafening.

Her heart froze in her chest.

No, no, no!

Appear dammit!

She slowed, circling over the trees, hunting for any glimpse of him. Screaming down the bond, she tried for an answer, demanding it. Yelling that Alexios would murder her himself and she would hunt him in the afterlife when that happened.

A flash of white burst from the tree line, cutting down alongside a dried-up brook. Aya shot down, soaring just above him. His fur was burned down his side, and there was a limp to his stride. He was slowing.

We're so close, keep going, she snarled. Don't you die on me now, or I promise I will haunt your fucking afterlife.

A snarling string of curses was her answer. A good sign. There was fight in him, in them both. This forest would not be their tomb. Neither of them was going to join the dead she glimpsed among the burning trees, watching her with dark, haunting eyes.

Come to us, join us, they whispered.

She threw out a hand, darkness roaring from her palm. The ghosts blinked away.

Not fucking likely, she thought.

They raced along the brook. Aya lifted up, powering over the top, as Tobias sprinted beneath. They moved as one, darting between the fires springing up everywhere she looked. Smoke thickened, blurring out the distant horizon, hiding the Dusk Quarter. She forced herself higher, squinting through the haze. She was close. She sensed it in her bones, in her blackened fucking soul.

A roaring wind thrust from behind her. The haze thinned for a second.

There!

The last stretch of forest between them and the Dusk Quarter. Safety.

Below her, Tobias was slowing. His stride was a struggling limp.

He faltered, hit the ground before she could move.

Aya plunged down after him and scooping his wolf onto her shoulders. Not for the first time was she grateful she was stronger than most.

Then she was off running. Sweat poured down her back, saturating every inch, soaking her clothes. It did nothing as the fire burned ever closer, searing her skin. The blisters formed along her arms first. Her jaw clenched, refusing to make a sound. She wasn't going to waste any energy.

Keep moving, she shouted to herself, powering forward with every scrap of energy she had left. Even as her legs burned, her muscles screaming. Begging for her to stop. Every breath was fire on her lungs, offering no relief as she dug deep, stretching out her stride.

The forest seemed endless. The flames raced closer until she was surrounded. All the heat bore down on her. She plunged down into the well of her power, calling on the shadows to her skin. It wouldn't stop her from burning but it might shield her. Just enough to buy her a little time.

She darted awkwardly through the trees as they fell, buckling under the flames devouring them. A clearing opened ahead, and just beyond it, the mouth of the cave. A crowd gathered…and a lone figure burst out from it, screaming her name.

"Aya!"

At the sound of Elaine's voice, a burst of energy exploded through her limbs.

A tree fell and crashed right in front of her. The ground shuddered, and suddenly Aya was falling. She hit the ground with a cry. Tobias howled as he landed atop her. Tears streamed down her face as she forced herself up, legs shaking, chest heaving. She hauled him back over her shoulder, one arm scooped beneath him, and forced herself forward.

Her legs quivered, threatening to give out. Aya forced her stride out until she was running once more, and she jumped. With a powering thrust of her wings, she leaped clear of the tree and landed hard. Stumbling forward, she took off again.

Elaine sprinted for her.

Aya's legs buckled at the last second and this time, she struck the ground. Tobias landed clear of her. Chaos descended as people rushed in around her. Someone scooped up Tobias, a male. Alexios, maybe? She didn't know, couldn't be sure as someone helped her sit up.

Nora's face appeared before her.

"Aya?"

She was saying something else, her lips moving but the sound was muffled. Aya's gaze drifted beyond her.

Through the crowd she spied Elaine, standing alone, facing the burning forest.

Aya struggled to her feet and stumbled after her. Yet the second she reached her side and saw the fire reflected in her eyes, she knew exactly what her witch was about to do. What she had done in the witch temple when fire nearly killed them before.

"This isn't the same," she said hoarsely, her throat scraped raw from the flames. "Don't—"

Elaine wasn't listening to her. It was as though she were somewhere else entirely, a vast ocean stretching between them. Aya was screaming out across the void, but her pleas were lost among the roar of the fire, of their world burning around them.

"This is Arcan's work," Elaine said, her voice like soft thunder.

Aya watched in horror as she took a step toward the fire. She grabbed Elaine's wrist, stopping her, and finally, her witch looked at her, blinking several times, as if to bring her back into focus.

"I can do this."

She wanted to scream that Elaine didn't have to. Let the forest burn. It would regrow. The words died on her lips as the fire continued to fall from the sky, lighting more fires with every second that passed. She had no idea how Elaine was planning to stop it, if it was even possible. How was a witch meant to defy the very god who granted her his powers?

"What if he takes them from you when you're out there?" she demanded, not caring that the others watched on and heard every terrified note in her voice.

Elaine smiled in a strangely detached way. "They can't get to me. Not yet." She was already turning, moving as if something was drawing her into the flames and she wasn't alone.

Aya went to follow. She would not abandon her witch.

Elaine glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "You told me you trusted me. So, trust me. I can do this."

She didn't know whether it was the words, or the way Elaine spoke, or even the look in her eyes. The understanding, the trust, the love she had for the witch before her.

"Come back to me."

Elaine nodded, then walked into the fire.