28. Amber

The Yeti thrashes,trying to put out Morgan's flames with its icy breath.

But Damien's wind keeps the fire burning strong, wrapping the Yeti in a searing cocoon of heat. The snow beneath the monster's feet melts rapidly, turning to steam, and the fire expands so much that it's consuming the surrounding trees.

Including the tree holding Blaze's dagger.

Even so, the Yeti remains standing. It's like the flames are hurting it, but not penetrating its skin enough to burn.

"Amber, pull back your magic," Damien says, and I'm so startled by the command that I do.

His expression is intense as he continues directing his air in a perfectly controlled way to keep Morgan's flames burning hotter than ever. He's focusing so hard, and it's getting so hot from the fire that beads of sweat are forming along his brow.

"Blaze, now!" he shouts over the roaring flames.

Of course.

Since Blaze is a witch, he's fireproof. And while he won't be affected by the bonfire trapping the Yeti, he would be affected by my sunlight.

With my magic no longer in his path, he hurries forward, into the fire.

I hold my breath, staring at the space where he disappeared.

This is a huge fire, burning hotter than ever thanks to Damien's air magic. What if it overpowers Blaze? What if he ran straight into his own death, and the dagger he so confidently created ends up killing him instead of saving him?

The Yeti continues to thrash inside the inferno.

I can barely see through the heat waves, my heart racing as I wait for Blaze to reappear.

Morgan's keeping the fire burning strong, even though the man she's in a situationship with is somewhere inside there.

Come on, Blaze, I think, hating that there's nothing I can do other than wait.

Just when I'm about to lose hope, he emerges from the wall of flames, his face set with fierce determination. The enspelled dagger glints in his hand. He's covered in soot, but otherwise, he seems unharmed.

"Everyone, pull back!" he shouts, his voice cutting through the chaos.

Morgan and Damien cease their attacks.

The Yeti stumbles forward, flames burning its fur, its massive jaws opening in a guttural roar.

With a swift, precise motion, Blaze hurls his dagger at the beast.

It slices through the air, spinning end over end, plunging into the Yeti's open mouth.

The Yeti's roar is cut short, its mouth open, its eyes widening as its body convulses in an attempt to expel the weapon. Its wails are so chilling that they buzz through my bones.

Then, with a final, pained groan, the monster collapses.

The ground shakes with the impact. Snow and burned tree branches fly all around. The air is thick with the smell of burnt fur and scorched earth, the snow around us hissing as it turns to steam.

I remain on guard, in case the Yeti somehow pushes itself back up.

The monster remains still, its skin bubbling and blistering.

Eventually, everything quiets around us.

"Is it dead?" Morgan asks, her voice barely above a whisper as the Yeti's fur burns away in patches, revealing raw, red flesh underneath.

Blaze's eyes are fixed on the Yeti, the glee inside them nearly as chilling as the monster's final wails. "Yes," he says. "It's dead."

The Yeti's skin sizzles and pops, and none of us move as we watch. It melts away in thick streams, pooling on the ground, mixing with the snow to create a dark, sludgy mess.

The stench of burning hair and cooked meat makes my stomach churn.

But I don't look away. Not even as its muscles disintegrate, until only bones remain.

It's a gruesome sight. A once terrifying creature reduced to a skeletal frame.

Blaze, seemingly unaffected, saunters up to the remains and retrieves his dagger from the pile of bones, wiping it clean on the snow. "Well, that was something," he says, holding up the dagger to inspect it.

Morgan looks around at the scorched clearing, her eyes lingering on the still-smoking trees. "Let's get out of here before something else decides to show up," she says.

"Wait." Damien holds out a hand, signaling her to stop. "We're just as likely to get attacked standing here as we are anywhere else. And before going anywhere, we need to talk about that dagger."

"What about the dagger?" Blaze asks, instantly on edge.

"About the fact that the Yeti was inches away from getting his hands on it and being able to use an invincible blade against us."

Blaze's eyes narrow, defensive. "And I got it back before he could."

The tension between them is so intense that I'm not even sure an invincible dagger could cut through it.

"This time," Damien says. "But what about next time? A weapon that powerful shouldn't exist. It's asking for trouble. For the unworthy to be stronger than they have a right to be."

Blaze's grip on the dagger tightens. "Who are you calling unworthy?" he asks.

A glance at Morgan shows she's just as on edge about where this is going as I am. But Damien can hold his own, so I stand back, letting him continue with what he wants to say to Blaze.

I'm also keeping my magic close to the surface, even though after using so much of it for the crystal trial and the Yeti attack, I'm feeling pretty cooked.

Although, not as cooked as that Yeti.

"I'm not calling you unworthy," Damien says to Blaze. "I'm just saying that a weapon able to defeat anything, despite the skill of its wielder, is dangerous. Not just to you, but to all of us."

"So, I won't throw it at trees for fun, in case a snow monster attacks us before I can retrieve it," Blaze says, sounding bored. "Got it."

"That's not what I'm saying," Damien replies.

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying you should use your quill to reverse the spell. There's no chance of an invincible dagger getting into the wrong hands if it doesn't exist at all."

"Absolutely not." Blaze steps forward, his gaze lethal. "The Crimson Quill is mine. I can use it however I want, whenever I want, and on whatever I want. Plus, I can't reverse a spell. It's not possible. And trust me—I've tried."

There's darkness in his tone at that last part—a warning to not ask for details about the spell he tried to reverse.

Damien steps closer, his determination unwavering. "If the spell can't be reversed, then the dagger should be destroyed," he says.

"Absolutely not." Blaze lifts his dagger protectively, staring Damien down over the gleaming blade. "I created this dagger with magic inherited from my ancestors. Anyone who tries taking it from me will regret it, just like our friend over there."

He glances at the Yeti's scorched remains to prove his point.

Morgan moves forward, her hands raised in a way that makes it clear she wants him to calm down. "No one's trying to take it from you," she says, a distinct edge to her voice. "Damien's just concerned about the potential danger it poses."

"Concerned? More like paranoid," Blaze snaps.

"Did the Yeti not almost reach your dagger?" Damien asks, not affected by Blaze's words in the slightest.

"He wouldn't have even been able to hold it," Blaze says. "His hands were too big."

"That wasn't my question," Damien replies. "Did the Yeti reach for your dagger and almost succeed, or not?"

Silence crackles between them.

"Fine," Blaze eventually says. "I'll be more aware of the dagger's whereabouts in the future. But I'm not destroying it. End of discussion."

"For now," Damien says. "Simply because we're wasting time standing here, getting nowhere. We need to keep moving."

I look between the two of them, unsure who I agree with. On one hand, Blaze's dagger is extremely useful—when wielded by those on our side. But if it got into the hands of the Yeti, or the Abbot, or the shadow souls… it could be disastrous.

In the meantime, Blaze and Damien seem to have reached a standstill.

Which means it's time for us to start our climb up the mountain.