It took them just two days to push the fire plains back to their original borders, moving their camp as they went. Everyone was hot, sweaty, and dirty, but in good spirits.
They received word that the blizzard had receded into the mountains in Iskalt, and Myrkurians and Iskaltians were working together to drive the snows from the Northwestern Vatlands back into the mountains. For the Myrkurians, it seemed to be the willing act of assisting their Iskaltian neighbors with the task that fulfilled their requirement. King Hector led a team of ogres carrying magic wielders into the mountains to places they couldn’t have reached otherwise, and the Slyph took to the skies to survey the progress.
They were going to defeat the vatlands and the ancient magic that caused them in the first place. The magic was exhausting, but they worked during the short windows of dusk and dawn, leaving them the better parts of the day and night to rest.
Keir emerged from his tent, pulling the fresh tunic away from his body. Even as the sun began to set, it was hot, and the charred ground burned through the soles of his boots.
The shimmering wall of heat danced across the clearing of the blackened ground. He’d grown used to the temperatures but already reached for his wineskin filled with cool water. Tierney showed him how to protect his water supply so it wouldn’t boil and evaporate while he worked.
Kneeling on the hot ground, he waited for the sting of it to leave him, using a bit of magic from his totem to protect his skin from blistering.
“I wonder what Lenya will be like when the fire plains are gone.” Tierney approached him, knowing he was always the first to arrive at the border, and among the last to leave.
Keir stared at the horizon, trying to see what it might become in time. “I think it will be a lot like Eldur in Vondur, and a little more like Iskalt in Grima.”
“Sounds like the best of both worlds.” She sank to the ground beside him. “You ready?”
“Almost.” He pulled on the magic of his second totem. He’d had a hard time accepting the second one when the first one went dark. He still felt like it was a reckless use of so much magic, and probably would always feel that way. Logically, he knew he could easily find another one from the supply they brought with them or even one of the rough natural fire opals littering the ground back at their original campsite. But Keir would always fear for the future of his people. They needed to be responsible with their magic so they never again faced a world where fae fought over a few scraps of power because their ancestors were greedy.
“Let’s do this.” It was a bit early to get started, but Tierney had both sun and moon magic, and Keir liked to call on his magic when no one was looking. He still struggled to harness such enormous power and liked to have a firm grasp of it before the others arrived. It wasn’t vanity on his part so much as extreme performance anxiety. These people understood their magic in a way Keir didn’t.
Tierney leaned forward, and together they pressed their hands against the scorched ground. Little by little, as they had pushed the borders back, the scarred and broken ground began to heal. New grass and thorny shrubs were already peeking through the ground behind them. In a few short months from now, Keir wondered if any of them would be able to tell the fire plains ever existed.
He closed his eyes as both sides of Tierney’s magic enveloped him. If he were honest with himself, this was the true reason he liked to begin early. When it was just the two of them, Tierney’s magic filled him. He was in awe of her power.
He took a ragged breath as her power joined his. There was something intimate about the way they worked together this way. But if he thought a single pure fire opal held more magic than he’d ever sensed in one vessel, it was nothing on Tierney herself.
“It’s okay.” Tierney shifted away from him.
“What do you mean?”
“Lots of people get nervous around my magic.” She shrugged, staring at her hands pressed against the ground. “But I promise there is nothing to fear from me. We’re in this together, Keir.”
She thought he was afraid of her? It struck him then, not only just how powerful Tierney O’Shea was but also how lonely it must have been for her.
Keir smiled. “Your magic is fierce, but I can’t imagine you any other way.” He bumped her shoulder. “I could never fear you. I trust you too much for that.”
Tierney’s smile rivaled the sunset, and Keir wanted to be the one to make her smile like that every single day.
“Let’s take back the fire plains.”
“You doubled down on your bet with Toby and Logan, didn’t you?”
“They’re determined to put me on wake-up Tia duty. I’m starting to think they have ulterior motives.”
“Those two are always up to something.”
As the others began to arrive and cast their magic against the fire plains, they moved forward until they were slowly walking toward their first major obstacle. A lava pool.
Up until now, they’d only recovered flat barren plains. The wall of heat moved in a straight line with them, from the Sea of Iskalt to Radur Bay to the south. Once they hit the lava pools and the active volcano, they were going to have to be more careful.
Lochlan and Toby strolled together behind the magic wielders, the king stepping in for anyone who grew tired and needed a break.
“Steady everyone, we’re approaching the lava pool.” Lochlan and Toby helped each fae position themselves far enough away from the small pool so they could easily continue on.
“Be careful, everyone,” Keir called, eyeing the spotters he’d suggested Lochlan appoint. “I’ve seen these pools spew lava like geysers.”
“Remember to test your footing,” Lochlan called out. They weren’t certain how steady the ground would be around the pools.
“Remember to breathe too, Tia.” Keir put himself between her and the bubbling pool of angry lava.
He took a step forward, and his foot started to sink into the sand. He wasn’t the only one who took several quick steps back. He waited for the spotters to tell him where to move before he proceeded.
Within a few moments, they uncovered more than half of the pool, giving it a wide berth on both sides.
“Something’s happening,” Tierney shouted. “The magic is wavering!”
“Hold steady, everyone.” Lochlan joined his daughter, adding his magic to the mix.
Everyone held their breath as the lava pool bubbled and the wall of heat pushed against them.
“Be ready to run to me if this fails.” Lochlan moved to join Finn and Brea to create a heat shield that would protect them if their magic failed.
“I think it’s collapsing, Dad.” Tierney pushed forward, letting both sides of her magic guide the others.
With a rush of blistering hot wind, the wall bulged and collapsed. Tierney ducked, and Keir covered her with his body as they all ran for Lochlan and the heat shield.
Keir waited for the fire plains to burn them to ash where they stood, but it never came.
“Look,” Toby cried. “I think you did it! The fire plains are gone.”
Keir stood up, releasing Tierney from his grip. Together, they all stared at the ruins before them. Lava pools were already cooling. The ground still trembled, but only smoke and steam billowed up into the sky from settling volcanoes. It was a valley. And it was clear as far as they could see.
“Have we reached Lenya?” Logan stood to his full height, craning his neck to see through the dissipating smoke.
“Not yet.” Keir wished he could get a clear picture of what lay ahead of them. “I think there’s another lava pool at the end of the valley.” He shielded his eyes from the blazing sunset. “But I think we just took down a giant portion of the plains in one fell swoop.”
Cheers went up as they continued forward. Crossing the now open valley took most of the little time they had left before dusk turned to night. They arrived at another lava pool with hardly an hour left to work before the Eldurians had to stop.
“How much farther do you think?” Tierney approached the fiery line of the new border. The land itself was burning here, but they just might make another big push tonight.
This time, when they pressed against the larger lava pool, they were prepared for the push back. It seemed the fire plains would not give up their hold without a fight.
“Press on, boys.” Logan took a step forward, urging his Eldurian comrades to follow.
Keir wanted to caution him not to stray too close to the lava pool, but his words caught in his throat as the ground beneath him began to shake and the rancid hot winds broke free to crash over them once again. Everyone stopped to watch in awe as another huge section of the fire plains failed, collapsing farther this time.
Smoke belched from the lava pool, and a loud sound like cannon fire accompanied the tremors.
“Fall back! To me, to me!” Lochlan cried as billowing black smoke rushed across the field.
Tierney stumbled toward Keir, and he grabbed her hand, pulling her toward her father. “Logan,” she shouted, coughing on the churning smoke.
“It’s going to erupt, Tia. We have to move.” Keir’s feet sank into sand so hot it melted right through his boots to scorch his feet.
Flaming stones rained down like pieces of the sky falling from the heavens, and heat shields went up all around them.
“Logan!” Toby screamed, running toward the lava pool.
“No!” Tierney stopped him, wrapping her arms around him. “Help me, Keir!”
Keir grabbed onto Toby, refusing to let him go as Tierney flung a heat shield over them.
Logan stood just a few paces away, swaying on his feet. A streak of blood and soot ran down his face. Toby screamed, struggling against them as Logan stumbled to his knees.
“He’s gone, Toby.” Tierney clutched his head to her shoulder. “Don’t look. Don’t look.” She shielded his eyes, her tears streaming down her face.
Logan slid forward, a hand stretched out toward Toby as he fell face-first into the charred sand. A molten red stone glowed against the back of his head where it had struck him and caved in his skull. Keir held onto Tierney and Toby as they all slid to the ground, their sobs breaking his own heart for the gentle young man he’d hardly known.
“Toby,” Tierney whispered. “Shhh, Toby. I’m so sorry.” She rocked him gently. “I’m so sorry.”
“We need to move, Tia.” Keir set his own heat shield in place, just in case hers slipped. Lava rocks still rained down around them, and any one of them could face the same end Logan just experienced.
“We have to get him.” Toby pushed to his feet. “I have to bring his body back to camp. He is the heir of Eldur. I will not let him burn up out there. We will take him back to his people.”
“We’ll go together.” Keir stood, helping Tierney up. Together, the three of them walked across the burning ground, safe for the moment under the protection of their combined magic.
Toby gathered Logan into his arms, struggling under his weight, but he refused help. Tierney and Keir walked silently beside the heartbroken prince of Iskalt.
“Logan!” A woman’s blood-curdling scream met them as they left the burning lands behind.
“Aunt Alona, I’m so sorry!” Tierney stepped toward the Queen of Eldur, her husband just managing to hold her up. Princess Darra knelt on the ground at her mother’s feet, sobbing her brother’s name.
Death was a part of Keir’s life. But this grief? This raw, overwhelming grief was not something he’d ever witnessed before. In Vondur, the endless years of war had hardened them. Death was expected. Some even embraced it.
But this? This was something he couldn’t watch. Their grief was so painful and personal. Keir shouldn’t be here to witness it.
Toby laid Logan on the ground at his parents’ feet. Tears streaked the soot covering his face. This was heartbreak in its rawest moments.
“Stay with Alona and Finn,” Tierney whispered. “Stay and mourn your loss.” She pressed a kiss to Toby’s forehead.
“No. We need to keep moving.” Toby stood, a wild look in his eye. “He will not die in vain.”
“We’ve lost the daylight, brother.” Tierney wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Stay with Darra. She will need you.”
“Darra,” Finn whispered, sinking to his knees beside his daughter. “You must leave and return to the palace, sweetheart.”
“No. I’m staying here with Toby and Logan.”
“You are the only heir now.” Alona’s hands shook. “This place is too dangerous.”
“Griffin!” Tierney shouted as her uncle came running from the fire plains. She grabbed his arm and pulled him in, whispering in his ear. “Take Darra and Toby to the farmhouse with Alona and Finn. They need a quiet place to mourn. I’ll see to Logan’s body.”
“They won’t go.” Griffin gave her a heavy look. “You know what you’re asking, right?”
Tierney nodded. “They can blame me for it later.”
Griffin nodded, and in a flash of violet light, the grieving family vanished through a portal to the human world. Keir would never get used to seeing that.
“Can you help me with him?” Tierney sniffed back her tears. “We need to get his body to camp and send him with an escort home to the Radur City palace.”
Keir lifted Logan into his arms, following Tierney to camp as she called out orders to fall back from the unstable border. They would be at it again at dawn. Hopefully, they would reach Lenya soon. Or whatever was left of it.