Page 119 of Beneath the Flames
The ground trembled so violently I could barely stand.Lava roared down the mountain, the heat a welcome relief from Eroth’s bitter climate, even if it did have me on edge.The Scorching Rivers, for the time being, were absent, and I wondered if breaking the curse had rid the world of them once and for all.
“Hurry,” Nico said for the five thousandth time, and I fought the urge to snap at him.Rhydian was silent on the sled-like bed, even paler than before.If it weren’t for the faint pulse fluttering in his neck—which I had checked at least fifty times now—I would have said he was already dead.
“What’s happening to him?”I asked Nico again, hoping this time he would actually answer me.
He let out a shuddering breath.“Mount Kharos is Rhydian’s source of magic.The Magmara died right as the curse was broken.For lack of a better way of describing it, his magic is confused now.If we don’t get him to the volcano soon, not only will he die, but also Eroth will collapse into dust.”
A shocked breath plumed in the air in front of me.“Oh.Is that all?”Irritation built inside me.“So we basically broke the curse for nothing?”
Nico huffed.“Not for nothing.Just poor timing.”
“How do you know this?”I wished Rhydian would wake up so I could askhimto explain.
“Rhydian told me this was a possibility if the curse was ever broken.”His fingers twisted as he wrung them together.“I didn’t expect it to actually happen though.”Determination set his jaw.“Come on, we need to move.”
There was no way to pull the sled up the mountain—Rhydian would have slid right off with the incline, so Nico and I were forced to each take one of his arms around our shoulders and drag him up the volcano.Though it was mostly me bearing the weight since Nico was quite a bit shorter than I was.
“What do we do once we get to the top?”I asked between laborious breaths.Sweat poured down my face from the heat of the lava, which we avoided as carefully as we could, though my bones were still frozen from the journey here.Based on the way I could no longer feel my feet, I worried that they were irreversibly frostbitten.
Nico hesitated for a second, uncertainty flooding his eyes.Then he said, “I’ll tell you when we get there.”
“What?”
“If I tell you now, you won’t continue.”
My legs stuttered to a stop, my numb foot slipping on a bit of loose rock.I struggled to remain upright, grunting against Rhydian’s weight pushing me down.
“Nico, you better tell me right now, or so help me—”
“Maren,” he cut me off.“Please, just trust me.If you want him to live, then get him to the top and do as I say.There’s no other way.”
Fear constricted my throat, and I felt the urge to cry, but I was too cold to produce any tears.
Nico hadn’t done anything to lose my trust in the weeks I’d been in Eroth.He had only helped me.I had no reason not to trust him now.Even if I hated the sound of what he’d justsaid.
What were we going to have to do once we crested the top?
The tight squeeze of anxiety constricted my stomach, making it even harder to get air into my lungs.The sulfurous smell of the lava suffocated me as I forced my feet forward, my entire body exhausted from bearing most of Rhydian’s weight, but I would not quit.
He needed me.We didn’t break the curse for nothing.
I wasn’t going to let it be for nothing.
I was going to save him.There was no other choice.
I couldn’t stand a world that didn’t have him in it.
We fought for each step forward, losing feeling in our limbs, our clothes growing damp from the sweat caused by the heat of the lava streams.Our knees barked in pain as we slipped and fell more than once, groaning in pain and exhaustion as we pushed ourselves up and continued on.
It was brutal.It was excruciating.
But I would not let Rhydian die.
I could hardly believe it when we climbed over the lip of the mountain, dragging Rhydian with us.We collapsed to the ground, panting, trying in vain to get any ounce of air in our lungs.Rhydian was so cold I was surprised there wasn’t ice coating his skin.
“Okay, we’re here.Now tell me what I’m supposed to do,” I said between panting breaths.
Nico’s eyes met mine, full of sorrow that I didn’t understand.It felt like a year passed as he stood there in silence.
