Page 198 of Wings of Ash & Flame
She stumbled through desolation. Bodies of Aurelia’s warriors littered the marble floor. The stench of death permeated the air.
It shifted again.
Her parents knelt before her, faces set with grim resolve. She felt her mother’s embrace—so fierce, so desperate. Tears splashed onto her shoulder. Her father’s steady hand pressed between her shoulder blades. Then she was being pulled away, dragged by her parents’ most trusted advisor. She strained against the grip, but could only watch their retreating backs. She couldn’t hear their words, but she saw their lips move.
Alaire screamed, the sound tearing from her throat—but no one heard. She was a ghost in this memory, helpless to do anything but watch.
Her parents rose together, hands clasped tight. Her father kissed her mother’s forehead, his eyes filled with love and heartbreak for all they had endured and all they would never live to see. Pain etched their trembling lips. Still, they held on to each other, steady in their resolve.
Then, in a final act of defiance, white fire erupted across the realm.
A phoenix’s final cry shredded the silence.
Alaire fell to her knees, clutching the winterflame as tears streamed down her face. She was back in the icy cavern, shaking, breath ragged. Tremors rippled through her body from the aftershocks of the vision.
Dawson rushed to her side. “Alaire, what happened?” His hands steadied her shoulders, eyes sharp with concern.
Her wide, haunted gaze lifted to his. “I remembered what happened on Starfall. I saw them…”
He pulled her against his chest, shielding her from the flame’s flicker. “We’ll make sure their sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
She swiped at her tears, resolve hardening. “We will,” she vowed. Somehow. Someway.
“We need to get back to Kaia and Caius,” Dawson said, urgency edging his tone.
“Right. They’ll be waiting.” She shoved down the storm of emotions still tearing through her. “But what should I do with this?” The blue flame flickered in her palm.
“Bring it to me,” Soflara said. “I should be able to contain it.”
“Okay.” Alaire held it out.
“Place it on my back,just above the braid.” Solflara bent low, feathers forming a small, protective nest of fire. Alaire carefully set the winterflame inside. It pulsed in rhythm with her phoenix’s flames, the two coexisting as though they belonged together.
The ground rumbled beneath them, a growl rising from deep within the mountain. Alaire glanced at Dawson. His eyes narrowed, head cocked, listening to the shifting sounds.
“We need to move faster,” he said, voice taut.
They quickened their pace, boots sliding across the slick floor as the vast antechamber seemed to close in. A thunderous roar drowned out their footsteps. Vibrations shook icicles loose from the walls.
Solflara spewed a spiral of flame, dissolving those that would’ve struck them. The rest shattered on the stone in glittering shards. Dawson used a burst of wind to sweep the debris aside, then seized Alaire’s hand, pulling her toward the far end of the chamber.
She spotted an alcove ahead, but it wouldn’t fit all of them.
A triumphant cry rose behind her. Wings unfurled, and Solflara slowly rose off the ground with each mighty beat.
“The spell that kept us grounded must have broken when you and Dawson seized the winterflame.”
“Correction—I seized it.”
“Potato,potato.”
“Wrong saying.Tomato,to-mah-to.”
“I’ll be happy to leave you frozen here,if you prefer.”
Alaire’s lips twitched despite herself. “Not a chance.”
“Thought so.Get on.”
