Page 33 of Storm In The Sky

Winter was terrified. It would be easy for one of them to get hurt in the fire, but they couldn’t avoid it. They needed to protect the castle and the people who lived there.

“All right,” Jarvis said. “We need to stop this.”

“It won’t be easy,” Dallin said as he pointed toward a specific spot.

Winter squinted and cocked his head. Why was the fire purple?

Only parts of it were. The rest was red, like any other fire. All of it was burning quickly, and even though Winter had no experience with fire, he could tell that eventually the flames would reach the castle if they didn’t do anything.

Keylon swore. “That’s magical fire,” he said. “It has to be Carlyle. What if he’s waiting for us in the forest?”

“We’re going to have to take that risk,” Jarvis said. He looked around. “Since this is a magical fire, we need to find the object that started it. Knowing Carlyle, it’s going to be something unassuming, which means it’ll be hard to locate.”

It might as well be impossible in such a big forest, but if this was what needed to happen, Winter would do his best.

“Mages, stick with your dragons. Dragons, I suggest you shift when you get close to the fire. Your dragon form will protect you. Samuel, Dallin, choose a dragon to stay close to, and don’t put yourself into stupid situations.”

Dallin stepped closer to Marlow, who smiled at him. Winter expected Samuel to move toward him, but instead, he went straight to Meyer. Winter blinked, wondering what was happening there. Maybe Samuel felt sorry about the way Tyne had treated Meyer. Maybe he wanted to make Meyer feel better. Whatever he had in mind, Winter grinned when he saw Tyne glare at him as if he wanted to kill him.

Maybe he did care about Meyer, after all.

“Be careful,” Jarvis continued. “If this is Carlyle, he might still be around. If he is, he won’t hesitate to attack anyone he sees, and I don’t want any of you to get hurt. He’s trying to lure us to the forest since he can’t enter the castle, and I don’t want him to succeed.”

Winter looked at the people gathered around him. He wanted to protect them, even though the thought of what Carlyle could do was petrifying.

But Winter was here to stay and to protect Keylon, and that was what he’d do.

* * * *

“We’re going to have to separate,” Jarvis said.

They’d been trying to control the fire for the past ten minutes, but it felt like they weren’t making any progress. It was fairly easy for the mages to extinguish the natural fire, but the purple flames would continue burning everything down until they reached the object from which they’d originated.

That was the genius of this kind of spell. It created flames that burned down everything in their path, but those flames also created natural fires. It could spread quickly and easily, which was what was happening.

“We have to find the object at the origin of this,” Tyne yelled over the roar of the fire. “We need to split up.”

Keylon noticed Tyne started walking away, so he quickly rushed over to grab him. “Wait!” he yelled, getting everyone’s attention. “Before you go into the fire, I want to cast protective spells over all of you. They won’t work miracles, but they’ll keep you safe until you can get to the lake, if need be.”

“You can’t cast those spells on so many mages and dragons,” Tyne said as he tried pulling his arm away.

Keylon tightened his hold on him. “It wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order, and you’re going to take the spell whether you like it or not.”

For a moment, Tyne looked amused. The situation was dire, though, and he quickly nodded and allowed Keylon to cast the spell on him. Keylon wished Tyne would stick around until he was done with Meyer and Samuel, too, but Tyne almost ranaway once he was finished. Meyer went after him, while Samuel moved toward Keylon. “Can I be the next one?” he asked as he looked back in the direction Tyne and Meyer had disappeared in.

Keylon obliged him. Samuel nodded in thanks as he rushed away, and Keylon turned to the others.

“Don’t do the dragons,” Marlow said as he pushed Jarvis forward. “If it becomes too much for us, we’ll shift and protect ourselves that way.”

As dragons, they were immune to fire. It would be best if they could all shift now, but it would be harder for them to find a small object hidden away in that form. Keylon wished he could put protective spells on everyone, but it would take too much magic and energy out of him, and he needed it.

They all did.

He did what he could and watched as the mages and dragons disappeared into the forest. Once he and Winter were alone, he turned to him. Winter was beside him right away, gently trying to guide him toward the castle, but Keylon shook his head. “I’m fine. I made sure not to use too much magic. They’ll be protected, but I can still fight the fire.”

Winter turned toward the forest. “I don’t like this.”

Keylon doubted any of them did. He could already see parts of the fire vanishing, a sure sign that one of his brothers had extinguished it. The purple flames weren’t going anywhere, though, not until the mages found the object from which they’d been born.

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