I wish I could reverse this, undo every decision that led to this point. But I don’t know if that would have been any better. Without Erif’s warning I might have attacked this volcano like it was an average eruption. My head spins. That’s what Jatin and I were doing, weren’t we? Yet the bloodstained sky, the exact same color of my Touch, demands attention, howls my failures.
I may have blessed you, but you are the one who created firelight.
Yes, I created it. Me! It responds to me. And that’s what it has been doing. I’ve fanned my firelight with more of my magic and it fueled Mount Gandhak, it responded.
But how do you stop a fire? You deprive it of its energy.Myenergy.
That’s it!I need to take it back. That’s the only way to get rid of it. And I have done that once before. It’s insane to attempt something like that again and on this scale, but it’s the only way I see out of this.
I take a few deep breaths. If I’m going to do this, I need to do it right. First, I cast a bubble shield around Jatin. Thinking better of it, I bend down and latch one of Mr. Mittal’s masks for high elevation and cast a circulation spell. In case…in case I don’t make it, Jatin will still have the chance of breathing through theash.
Then I stand, desperately trying to clear my head. What had I said in Basu’s shop? I search for the words. It had all come on impulse, in anger. Panic.
“Dadti Erif,”I try, motioning my arms toward the top of Mount Gandhak and then gesturing toward myself. The spell feels wrong on my lips, but it’s close.
“Pratidadti Erif. Yatana Agnierif.”
And on it goes, with nothing happening, me experimenting with each syllable and hoping the right ones will come. Beneath me the hard ice has turned to brown slush, the snow mixing with the dirt. The heat of the earth soaks my body. Sweat drips off me as if I’m melting.
Meters away, lava rolls down the mountain and through our trenches. As it meets Jatin’s ice it sizzles and steams and then the ground is gone, eaten up by my fire. Jatin and I will be surrounded soon, floating on a slushy iceberg amid a sea of flame.
I dig my feet into the muddy snow and move with my casting, the dance of the royal ceremony flowing through me.This is my magic, my magic! And it’s going to listen to me now, not anyone else. I won’t let it be used like this.
“Yatana Agni Tviserif!”
That’s it. That’s what I was missing, the direction. I don’t just need to remove the firelight. I need it toreturnto me. I reach out my arms and snap them to my body continuously, pushing and pulling in each new direction I can.
“Yatana Agni Tviserif!”I roar, jerking with the intensity.
Then it happens. A small blur of red light shines in the distance, and hope blooms inside of me. I chant, calling and gesturing.
The light spins closer, closer and closer, untilwham!It connects. The red light hits my wrist, sending me reeling sideways. I trip backward and choke on the words of the spell. The spot on my wrist, right on the first mark of my Touch, glows red and then swims up my arm until it fades. I clench my fist. Blood, that hurt, but it worked….It worked!
I look over at Jatin. “Just hold on a little longer; I have a plan.”
“YATANA AGNI TVISERIF!”
Three streams of firelight blaze toward me. I welcome them with a smile until they join my arm. They sting and force me to retreat, but I don’t pause in casting. I don’t think about the implications of what I’m about to do.I must do this.
As I continue to cast the spell, I expel my magic and my energy, but as each of my spells returns to me I gain back the magic I once used. I’m like a weighted scale, seesawing between weakness and strength.
Before long, hundreds of red streams of fire zip toward me and ram into my body, punching, kicking, each one knocking me down and building me up at the same time. Impossibly, they get even more violent. And I fall.
With each passing spell cast, my firelights feel less like light and smoke and more like physical arrows piercing my body. One hits me in the shin and my knee buckles. I stumble to right myself. Two jab me in the shoulder and I spin. I have to stand up again. Three punch me in the gut and I crumble. I have to keep going.
Soon I’m not only righting myself but I’m also clawing to get back up, to reaffirm my position and cast again.“Yatana Agni Tviserif.”
One giant mass of firelight slams into me and I’m hurtled through the air. I’m a doll to this power now. I can’t even control the landing. My right leg slips off the slush and twists at the wrong angle. Needles, thousands of needles, stab my knee. I grip the slush as I scream into the ground. Each of my muscles shakes uncontrollably in turmoil. I…I can’t get up.
For some reason, Naupure’s words from long ago surge through me.Strength is more than standing.He obviously didn’t mean it in this way and yet—I don’t need to stand to save the world. I just need to cast.
“Yatana Erif Agni Erif Tvis Erif!”I cry, embedding Erif into each word.
Like I thought, even without the movements or me standing, the firelight keeps coming as I cast into the dirt. There must be thousands.
Pop!The shield around Jatin shatters. I’ve come to the breaking point. With my body beyond even sitting up, my magic can only center on this one spell, with no room for anything else. I face Jatin but can’t see anything behind the veil of red consuming my vision. It’s like I’m with Erif, surrounded by the color of blood and destruction.
“Jatin!” I scream.
