23. Blaze

Alfie didn't come and see me for two days. I was so used to seeing him every day, often twice a day, that the sudden separation from him sent me flickering back into my flame form. I felt untethered in a way I hadn't before.

I'd never had a family and I'd always had to rely on myself. It had been hard, yes, and I'd been afraid more often than not.

Yet I'd done it. I'd been sure I could survive.

I had survived. I'd stayed strong. I'd found this safe territory.

So why did I suddenly feel as though I were more alone than before? I missed Alfie. He'd wormed his way into my heart in a way I hadn't expected. He'd grown more and more beautiful over the months I'd known him, and – I realised with a start – somewhere along the way, I'd stopped thinking about escaping from here. I'd stopped planning how I'd flee if I were seen. I'd stopped feeling afraid.

Now, looking back, I couldn't even pinpoint the moment when I'd started to trust Alfie to protect me. Somehow, at some time, I'd just handed over the responsibility of keeping me safe to his young hands.

Weirdly, I didn't regret it. I trusted him completely.

That didn't stop me missing him, though.

I burned all day and crept out at dusk, hoping I'd see Alfie sprinting across the open lawn towards the woods. I didn't see him at all.

Night fell and it became colder, the moon was weak and half-hidden by clouds. I missed Alfie so badly that my wick ached. I hadn't even known that it could.

I needed to see Alfie, and I needed it enough that I actually risked walking towards the castle, even though I knew I couldn't get in without Lord Somerville knowing. His barbed wire spells were still wrapped tightly around the place, covering the doors and windows.

I was only half-way there when I sensed something to my right. My instinct had me crouched down on the damp grass in an instant, peering through the gloom at the shadow which was moving in the distance.

Whatever it was, it was heading back towards the castle. I stayed down, hoping I couldn't be seen. I must have laid like that for ten minutes before the figure vanished from sight and I risked standing up again.

My wick ached to see Alfie but I finally remembered my fear and I crept away from the castle. I circled round to where I'd seen the figure coming from. I hadn't been able to make them out in the dark but the way they'd been moving had been… odd. They'd sort of skuttled. It was creepy.

Tentatively, I moved across the lawn and towards the boundary.

I had to walk further from the woods than I had in a long time. I realised I'd stayed close to them, close to where Alfie told me it was safe. Now, though, I crept further and further from the protection of the trees, constantly looking around me to make sure I was safe.

When I reached the borders, I was relieved. They looked strong. In fact, they'd been recently strengthened by Glimmer and the mysterious man he'd been working with. I had learned the feel of the Guardian's magic and these protections had that feel to them, but also something… more.

Whoever the man was, his magic twined naturally with the Guardian's. The protections were strong and the territory was defended.

I actually turned away to head back to the woods and my hut, but I paused.

Something had flickered in the corner of my eye.

Slowly, I crept towards it, trying to identify what had caught my attention.

I was practically on the ground, crawling along the line of the boundary, searching for something to justify my curiosity, when I saw it. A spell.

It was swamp-green and, although it was small, it was very securely fastened. I reached out with my magic to try and identify what it was and reeled backwards at the first touch. I felt as though slime were dripping all over me and my instinct was to flicker to my flame form and burn that slime away.

I burned, even though it was dark and I might be within sight of the castle. I burned the slimy feeling away and then burned some more, just in case.

When I was sure it was gone, I reached out again and, this time, the slimy spell couldn't stick to me. My fire magic burned it. I kept my flame form, kept directing my fire magic at it, and watched the swamp-green spell slowly wither and shrink until it was nothing.

Then I looked at where it had been. It was right on the border. Right on the line between the territory and the outside world. Nobody from the outside would have been able to put a spell there, only someone on the inside.

The space where the spell had been was blackened by my fire and smoke curled gently up from it. I hoped I hadn't done any damage to the protection spells.

As I thought that, I realised what had happened.

That creature I'd followed here had put their spell down right where it could damage the protections. That can't be coincidence.

My instinct was to rush to Alfie and tell him, to get him to safety and make his Guardian scour the borders for any weaknesses. But I couldn't protect Alfie and his clan didn't have a Guardian any longer.

It was up to me.

It took me all night to crawl along the borders, searching for more swampy spells that glowed green and sickly in the light of my flames. I found three more and burned them away, scorching the earth beneath them and leaving a tiny hole in the protections each time.

Every one of the three spells I found was bigger than the last and growing over time. It meant that burning it away left a bigger and bigger hole in the protections.

That was the best option, though. Because it was clear that the slime spells were there to do just that: weaken the protections.

I burned them away, stopping them from getting bigger, but I couldn't repair the boundary.

I worked all night and even as the dawn was breaking over the horizon, I kept searching until I was sure there were no more destructive spells left to grow and grow, breaking the protections and leaving my Alfie vulnerable to attack.

The sun was up when I finally got back to my hut and I was exhausted but I couldn't sleep. Because whoever had put those spells down was inside the territory already. They were inside the castle with Alfie.

I'd maybe kept him safe from someone on the outside by stopping them being able to break the protections that kept intruders out. I couldn't do anything to protect him from someone who'd been invited in.