Page 4 of Secrets of the Eternal Flame

The boulder was enormous and it was hurtling towards the bay. Was it big enough to cause a tidal wave that would engulf the entire village? From the way people were tryingto run away from the water’s edge, they certainly thought so.

Fear swept through me so strongly that I staggered, notmyfear but the fear of those around me. It was so strong and from so many people that it battered against the shield I had in place, defeating the high walls I had erected. This was why I hated crowds: the volume of emotions could overcome my shields, no matter how well constructed they were or how tightly I held onto them.

I struggled to draw in breath as the paralysing fear of the crowd crippled me.

Unlike me, the knucker was not paralysed. Her smile gone, she turned her head towards the sound then she stretched out her great wings and took to the sky. Water sprayed over us as the beast started to fly. Although her tail barely left the water, she flicked it upwards and curled herself into a deep U-shape. At first I thought she was also fleeing but no, she washoveringthere, her wings fluttering to keep herself airborne. Horrified, I realised she was going to try and catch the rock.

I felt a whisper, a pull, then there was a shimmer of rainbow magic, a hastily erected ward made with an Eternal Flame. It wasn’t grounded and it wasn’t complete – it couldn’t save the town – but it couldslowthe rocksufficiently for the knucker not to be crushed under its weight and momentum.

When the rock met the ward, it hovered in the air for a moment then a second later the ward shattered with an audible crack, but the knucker was ready. She had risen higher and, as gravity did its thing and the boulder started to move again, she caught it in the curve of her body and arrested its fall. She didn’t try and slingshot it away but flapped her wings and slowly lowered herself to the bay, twisted and dropped it. It slid into the water, creating an immense wave that rippled across the loch.

For a moment there was disbelieving silence and then cheers erupted.

Though I was relieved, I didn’t cheer: the boulder was now sitting in the bay, one of its surfaces protruding from the water to remind us how close the village had come to disaster. All because of me.

I knew it in my soul. When I’d pushed away that heat, whatever the hell it was, it had sheared away half a fucking cliff and nearly doomed a whole village. Guilt threatened to choke me; I could have killed them all if the knucker hadn’t been there…

There were more cheers as the fae Provost took to the podium again and wiped the sweat from her brow. ‘Well, it seems like we made enough noise to cause alandslide,’ she said, her smile tight. ‘Perhaps a little less oomph on the drums next time.’ She pointed to the marching band in front of her, trying to make light of the situation, but I could see that she was completely unnerved by what had almost happened.

Keeping her smile professionally in place, she continued, ‘Thank you for the ward, Priestess.’ She bowed low to the other woman. ‘Now, ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the rest of the celebrations and don’t forget to give your gifts to the knucker – I think we can all agree that she deserves them more than ever!’

A final round of applause filled the air as I looked around frantically. The Guardian, Priestess – whatever she was – where had she gone?

As she’d worked her magic, she’d been frozen to the spot but now she was moving again. I started squeezing my way through the crowd again. ‘Priestess! Priestess Adele!’ I shouted. ‘I need to speak to you!’

Several people looked at me, some rolling their eyes, others moving aside to let me pass, but it wasn’t until I was six feet away that she heard me. ‘Please!’ I said in a voice trembling with desperation. ‘Priestess Adele! I need to talk to you.’

It felt as though time had slowed to nothing as she turned to face me. Our eyes locked on each other and thenshe frowned. ‘Iris?’ she exclaimed. Her frown deepened as she realised that I was too young to be my mother, no matter the similarities in our appearance.

I swallowed hard. ‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m not Iris, I’m her daughter, Beatrix. And I really,reallyneed your help.’

Chapter Four

Priestess Adele touched my shoulder lightly. ‘Peace, child. Just breathe.’

I realised I was panting, not only with the exertion of moving through the crowd but also with the fear that she might not help me. The exuberance of earlier had gone, leaving me shaky.

‘Head between your legs,’ she instructed. Which is why, when Fraser and the others joined me, they found me with my butt in the air.

‘Beatrix?’ he asked, panic in his voice.

‘She’s okay,’ the Priestess assured him. ‘Events must have caught up with her. She needs to take some deep breaths.’ Her soft Scottish brogue was calm and soothing; everything about her told me that she wouldn’t just walk away.

I straightened up. ‘I need your help!’

‘So you said, dear. You are the daughter of a Guardian, yet I can feel the mantle has not settled on you yet. Do you require my help or that of the Flame?’

I was damned if I knew. ‘I— Both?’

‘Both it is, then. Calm yourself as we walk. It never does to approach the Flame feeling overly fraught. I will take you to it and we will talk in its presence about what you require. That way, you won’t have to repeat yourself.’ She patted my hand then she led the way from the village towards the fells.

In Witchlight Cove, the Eternal Flame had sat comfortably in the fireplace of our home and had been almost a part of our family; this Flame obviously resided somewhere outside the village. As we walked, my heart settled and my breathing evened out. At the very least, the priestess was going to hear me out.

She led us up the fell towards the rocks at the foot of the mountain and paused at the mouth of a cave. ‘You can bring one other with you into the holy cavern,’ she said firmly.

I looked at my group: Fraser, Maddie, Nour and Ezra. As much as I knew the others wanted to see the Flame, if I could only take one person in with me it had to be Maddie. She’d guarded our Flame for a decade; of all of my friends, she deserved to be by my side now.

‘Maddie,’ I said softly. ‘Will you come with me?’

---