With the perimeter secured, the only path left was straight into the inferno. I let my shadows circle me like a barrier, protecting my body from any flying embers. My eyes burned, watering with each blink, and with every step I took, it grew increasingly more difficult to breathe. I didn’t have a death wish, and I would’ve turned around and attempted a different route if I hadn’t heard a pained grunt coming from the nearby corridor.
“Kaz! Kaelias!” I shouted over and over, rushing around the corner.
A muffled groan helped direct me to the source, where I finally found him. Kaz. Half pinned to the wall by a fallen wooden support, smiling like a damned idiot, as if he wasn’t moments from burning alive.
“There’s my girl,” he groaned. “Not my best look, is it?”
As soon as I got him out of this fire, I was going to kill him. “Shut up!” I bit back, tears stinging my already irritated eyes. “You’re not dying here, so shut up, you blasted fool, and use that strength to help me lift this beam.”
He chuckled.
Slowly. Slowly, I was going to kill him.
Together, we heaved the beam off his legs, a barely manageable task with the helpful assistance of my magic. I helped him to his feet, though he seemed to be unable to stand on his own. His weight pressed heavily against my shoulders, making it difficult to pivot. I’d never be able to drag him out of the castle by myself, but I had to. Failure was not an option.
“You can leave me,” Kaz whispered, his gaze fixated on the flames ahead of us.
Another large beam fell in a crash of fire like some sort of sick joke, marking the end of the most unacceptable sentence I’d ever heard uttered.
“Please, leave me. I don’t want you to die,” he begged. I’d never heard him so serious. His voice always held a humored lilt. This was different. This scared me.
“That’s not happening,” I replied adamantly. “I should still have enough magic left to get us out. Hold on tight.”
This time, I imagined a spot slightly further back from the entrance of the Consortium. A safe distance away—somewhere I could leave Kaz while I continued my search for Kaelias. The pull dragged me in again, and it felt like my body was collapsing in on itself. I’d never used so much power in such a short span of time. It was tearing me apart. But it didn’t matter, so long as we made it.
One more spell. Please, one more spell.
I gasped, sucking in sweet, fresh air as our bodies collapsed against the hard stone. Without the smoke, I could see exactly how damaged Kaz’s legs were—twisted and ravaged with cuts and burns. If I didn’t move him somewhere safer, he would be stuck at the mercy of the growing flames with no way out.
As if reading my thoughts, he shook his head. “This is good enough. You need to find Kaelias. I can take care of myself from here. The last I saw him, he was helping some of the Mages out of the training room.” He paused. “Did you find Rin?”
“Jyuri has her.”
He gave a tight nod of relief. “Good. Go.”
The front doors to the Consortium stood wide open. The training hall was a short distance to the left, right before the dorms. I could be in and out within a matter of minutes if I was lucky. And I needed luck, because apart from the area Jyuri hadturned into a frozen ice storm, the castle was still burning at a rapid pace.
I passed a couple of injured Mages on my way, shouting at them to leave through the front and seek the Grand Arch Magus for help. The closer I grew to the training room, the hotter the flames, and the thicker the smoke. What little I could manage with my shadows was meaningless in the grand scheme of themes, so I picked up my pace. Alandris needed to gather the Mages quickly, or the Consortium stood no chance.
What remained of the doors to the training room were flung open, muffled voices coming from inside. I spotted a head of partially braided dark brown hair, pointed ears decorated in brass cuffs sticking out. Kaelias was helping a Mage with an injured ankle hobble over to the exit. His eye widened at the sight of me, but his shock was short-lived. He immediately jerked his head in the direction of another Mage behind him who still needed assistance.
I rushed over to the Mage, a young Elven female with smears of ash staining her dark skin, and helped her to her feet. She’d suffered some minor burns on her legs but seemed otherwise fine. It was panic, fear, which had her unable to move.
“Is there anyone else inside?”
She shook her head, a delayed and jerky motion.
“I’m going to help you to the front, okay?”
This time, she nodded a bit more confidently.
Propping her arm over my shoulders, I guided her through the path I’d taken to find them. The fire had been snuffed out in some places, and I sighed in relief. Alandris must have found the Mages he needed. Perhaps the worst was over, though we couldn’t assess the full extent of the damage until we completely extinguished the fire.
Once outside, I helped the Mage to the ground next to Kaz, who I noted—despite my warnings—had failed to move anyfarther from the front of the Consortium. She curled her knees to her chest and mouthed a tearful thank you. Kaelias did the same with the Mage he’d been assisting.
“Where is Lorian? Makatza?” he signed.
“On the ship, en route. Alandris and I returned through other means—magic,” I spoke aloud, then turned to Kaz. “Have either of you seen Alandris?”
