The fire is loud, rivaling even the panic pounding in my ears. The flames are closing in, the smoke making it hard to see. My eyes burn as much as my lungs, and my people are coughing into their own face coverings, their skin getting stained by the fumes.
CRACK!
My head whips up to the left, just as a giant pine snaps at its base, succumbing to the chomp of the flames. Within seconds, it starts to fall, its trajectory heading right for us.
“Move!”
Everyone breaks away, running from the tree, running for their lives. A woman trips and falls, and my heart falls with her, but another man lashes out for her hand and pulls her toward him a split second before the tree lands.
It barely misses her.
The fallen pine is covered in fire, splitting our group down the middle. Right before my eyes, the top of it carries the flame to the untouched part of the forest and spreads with horrifying speed.
Now, we have flames on both sides of us, closing in. Surrounding us.
The length of the fallen tree stretches far on either side, and it’s nearly too high for me to see over. Yet I catch a glimpse of the panicked faces of everyone else on the other side. They look left and right, the flames stopping them from being able to go around.
Another crack in the forest spurs me into action, and magic collects in my hands, shards of ice gathering.
I will it toward the trunk, and ice shoots out, covering it like a drape. The flames extinguish as ice melds over the bark, and my magic forms an arch. The group on the other side hurries over it, steps slipping on the slick path. Two men on my side help them all, gripping hands as everyone climbs over.
As soon as our entire group is together again, I urge them on. “Hurry!”
This time, we run as fast as possible, even where the snow is so thick it threatens to bowl us over. Smoke clogs my nose, shards of ice stick to my hands, and cold sweat dots my skin.
What if I made the wrong choice? What if we’re all going to die in this fire?
Being a queen in a castle wasnothingcompared to leading my people through this forest. How trivial it all seems now. How wasted. I should have been here all along.
Instead, I was stuck.
Stuck in the sequestering rooms of the castle. Stuck with my nose in the air. Stuckup, when I should have beenstandingup—for them.
This is what it means, I think to myself as I urge them on.This is what a queen should really be. A protector. A caregiver. A matriarch.
I have to keep them going.
Dari falls, tripping over a snow pile, and Neira goes sprawling. Dari tries to stand and pick up her daughter again, but she grimaces as soon as she puts weight on her ankle. I rush over and gather the small girl from the ground. She clings to me, trembling all over, her fear taking hold of her quaking muscles.
Two men help Dari, bracing her upright, and she shoots me a grateful look before they start hauling her forward, while Neira buries her face against my neck. She’s so very small, so very scared.
And the fault is my own.
My hollow stomach rebels, nausea swimming at the back of my tongue. My body is exhausted, energy waned, but behind us, beside us, all around, the fire rages. While in my arms, an innocent little girl cries against my throat.
I can’t fail her. I can’t fail them.
“There it is!”
My eyes fly up at the man’s call, and relief sweeps through me like a rush of cool water.Rooftops. I can see rooftops through the pines.
We’re almost to the city.
I hurry ahead, a burst of speed spurred along by hope.
We can make it.
Once I’m at the front of the group, I hand over the little girl to one of the men, but Dari takes her. The line of trees finally ends, and just down the slope is Highbell. My hope leaps even higher when I see that some of these outskirt buildings aren’t charred through or burnt completely down.
