14 FI

FI LANDED ON her feet in the lantern room. She shook her head to clear it, the smell of smoke heavy in her nostrils. Beside her, and scattered along the stairs below, the greenwitches were collapsed, keening gut-wrenching cries of anguish. Fi blinked, confused, and twisted to look out the bank of windows behind her.

Fire. The wildlands were on fire. The ground all around the tower was black, littered with charred tree stumps. To her left was all that remained of the green. To her right, scorched soil led to a flickering wall of orange and black columns of smoke rising into the sky. The boundary between the ground held by the soldiers and the resistance was fire.

“Up!” Fi doubled over, coughing. “Get up!”

She hooked her arms under Ness’s armpits and pulled. Ness gritted her teeth and hauled herself to her feet. Together, they charged down the stairs, half-blinded by the smoke stinging their eyes.

The air cleared a little when they reached the ground floor and Fi swayed on her feet, drawing breath deep into her lungs. She closed her eyes, searching for the green. It sputtered, then flared to life against her eyelids. What should have been a tangle of green pulsing through the entire world was a spotty map of all that was left. Drips of flame seared the veins of trees that had stood for centuries, and ripped through fragile blossoms.

Fi gasped. It felt like someone had reached into her chest and squeezed. Hard. A headache stabbed the insides of her skull, and her skin singed and burned. She clung to the stair rail, struggling to stay on her feet. How long had it been like this? Were they too late?

Val braced herself against the workroom window. “Start with the roots.” She gasped between words, pain written over her face. “The trees would want us to use their last bits of life, if it might save the rest.”

The greenwitches nodded. They staggered toward the door leading out of the tower, leaning on one another for strength. They threw it open, expecting to fight their way out of the fort the soldiers had erected when Somni first invaded. But it was gone. The fort had stood for a hundred years, blocking access to the portal. Now holes had been hacked into the exterior wall of pikes and the gate was missing completely. Black rectangles in the dirt were the only sign that the barracks, jail, and mess hall had ever even been there. A thrill shivered through Fi. The resistance had done this. They were finally fighting back!

The greenwitches split in half. Val gathered one group around her and they charged directly toward the fire. Ness dragged Fi to catch up with the second group retreating into the wildlands. As Fi ran, the smell of smoke ebbed and her headache receded. The trees reached out to cover her like a cool cloth across her brow.

Suddenly voices filled her head and the ground beneath her began to ripple. She glanced over her shoulder. The tremor was coming from Val and the other greenwitches advancing on the fire. Their pleas were like something out of a dream, nipping at the edges of her mind.

Long-buried roots tore out of the soil, shaking dirt into the sky and snaking through the air like whips. The roots began to beat at the ground, stamping the flames into sparks. More churned above the surface, turning over the soil and smothering the sparks where they smoldered.

“Fi! Don’t waste the cover they’re giving us.” Ness pointed to the top of the barren hill on the other side of the fort. “Look.”

A line of red-robed priests marked the greenwitches’ advance. Soldiers filed in behind them, weapons at the ready. Fi skidded to a stop. There were only six greenwitches—what could they do against so many soldiers? Ness yanked Fi’s collar, dragging her toward the trees, the air cooling as the canopy covered them. “Leave it. They know what they’re doing.”

Fi slipped in the thick undergrowth, falling hard to the ground. “We waited too long. We should have been here all this time. I have to help them!”

“Fionna,” Ness pleaded, “Eb wasn’t the only one who gave his life to get you here. Are you going to throw away that gift now? To do what—to sacrifice yourself?”

Fi struggled against Ness’s grip and the greenwitch abruptly released her. Ness dropped onto her knees, spreading her fingers wide and thrusting them into the soil.

“How do you know about Eb?” Fi’s voice trembled. She scrambled to her feet.

“I told you we were in communication with the resistance. When they learned of our plans for you, they warned me how stubborn you can be.”

“They?” Fi backed slowly away, then turned to run in the opposite direction.

Ness grimaced. “I didn’t want to have to do this.”

Before Fi had taken three steps, a cloying odor rose above the smoke and ash. It seeped into her lungs, slowing her mind. Fi stumbled. Her legs buckled, her arms suddenly heavy as tree trunks, and she crumpled to the ground.