My eyebrow shot up. “Fire elementals in the middle of a pine forest? That sounds more like hell on earth.”
The elemental laughed and shook its head. “Of course not, silly! Mr. Wolf fixed it up so we couldn’t hurt a branch. Let me show you.” The elemental flew over to one of the pine trees on the outskirts of the meadow and tapped a needle. A flame popped up where the pixie’s nail had touched, but blue light burst out of the plant and covered the fire. It was extinguished in an instant and a little puff of air fluttered up before vanishing. The elemental turned to us and grinned. “See?”
“I want a closer look,” I returned as I scurried over with Chris close at my heels. The elemental fluttered back to give us a good view of the needle. A little icicle clung to the underside, but the afternoon heat was quickly melting it. I tapped the icicle and the spear crashed to the ground in a melted puddle.
Chris looked up at our fluttery friend and asked the one question in my mind. “How?”
Kedie shrugged. “Magic, I suppose, but that’s not what’s important right now.”
“What is important right now?” I asked our host.
A dark, reddish cloud settled on its brow as it stabbed a finger at the closest cone. “Somebody stuffed a bunch of rocks into our holes, and we can’t get some of them out.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Who would do that?”
The fire pixie crossed their arms over their chest and hunched over. “It’s those stupid ice elementals! I just know it!”
I looked around at all the fire and fury. “I’m guessing they don’t live around here.”
Kedie pointed to our left and into the woods where I noticed the path resumed after traveling through the fire field. “They live over there about a mile. Mr. Wolf invited them, too, though I don’t know why.” The tiny elemental wrinkled their nose. “All they want to do is ice skate and throw snowballs. They won’t even touch a fireball.”
I watched a bubble emerge from one of the pools and pop, expelling bits of lava all over the ground. “If I had to guess, I’d say it was for fire suppression.”
Chris studied one of the closest funnels. “What are these domes used for?”
“To regulate the temperature around the area,” Kedie admitted as it wrapped its arms around itself and shivered. “It was so cold when they were all plugged that the pools almost stopped bubbling and we almost had to go talk to Mr. Wolf. Then we started prying them out and it warmed right up!”
“We might be able to help with the rest of the rocks,” Chris offered.
Kedie’s eyes widened. “You’d do that for us?”
I looked at the steam-puffing stacks and shrugged. “Why not?”
“Because they might explode on you.”
Chris and I whipped our heads to our flying friend. “What?!”
Kedie shrugged. “With the mouths being closed steam builds up inside the cone, so when the rock is taken out-”
“It releases all that pressure and blows up in our faces,” Chris finished.
Kedie nodded. “Yep, and the toughest ones are the ones that are left.”
I swept my eyes over the area. “You don’t happen to have any gloves and face masks around here, do you?” Kedie’s reply was to stare blankly at me. “Never mind.”
Chris grasped one of the needles and pulled it off. “If these branches are as protected as they appear then we might be able to use them to pry them out without hurting ourselves.”
Kedie clapped its hands together. “Brilliant! A wonderful idea! I was just going to suggest such a thing because we were talking about that earlier!”
“Then why haven’t you used the sticks?” I asked our fiery friend.
Kedie looked at the needle and clasped its hands together. “We can’t touch them for very long or our hands burn from the cold.”
“The magic probably reacts to their heat and tries to cool them down,” Chris surmised as he broke off one of the thicker branches.
A voice boomed over the bubbling basalt. “Who are these intruders?”
The largest of the elementals flew over to us surrounded by six of the spear-wielding guards. On closer inspection I realized the spears were made completely of fire, no doubt formed from their own bodies.
Kedie fluttered in front of the grand elemental and bowed its head. “These are two mortals invited by Mr. Wolf to walk the mountain.”
“We’re in a race to the manor,” Chris explained.
The ruling elemental raised a flickering eyebrow. “Strange of you to stop and enjoy the scenery.”
Kedie used one arm to gesture at us. “They said they want to help us with the stuck rocks, oh great Kilnie.”
Chris held up the stick he’d broken off. “We can use these to pry the rocks free.”
Kilnie pursed its lips but inclined its head. “Very well. Let us see what you can do.”
Chris caught my eye and jerked his head toward the trees. We waded in and snapped off a couple of branches. I plucked a few and put them in my bags as he spoke in a low voice. “I’m getting the feeling these guys aren’t telling us everything.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Like what?”
His eyes flickered over the group of fire elementals as they watched us from the edge of their tiny domain. “Like who tossed the rocks into those funnels.”
“Kedie mentioned the ice elementals,” I reminded him.
He shook his head. “Did you hear the doubt in their voice? Kedie was trying to convince itself it was true as much as us.”
I snapped off another long branch and snorted. “Are you sure you shouldn’t have been a shrink instead of an architect.”
He grinned. “The thought had crossed my mind, but the pay and scenery were better. Now then” He lifted up a bundle of thick, sturdy sticks in his hand, “let’s see if these things work.”
Chris led the way as we passed through the hoard of fire pixies and over to the first of the clogged channels. He chose two of equal length and passed me other others. Heat against the back of my neck made me look over my shoulder. The whole fire family fluttered behind me, their bright red eyes flickering between Chris and me. Talk about hot pressure.
Chris stuck the sticks in on opposite sides of the funnel and used them as chop sticks to pinch the stone between them. Steam hit his face and perspiration slid down his furrowed brow. He held on to both sticks as he wiggled them upward and marched the stone up the walls. In a few minutes a large rock popped out and Chris leapt back as a head of steam blew out after the stone. A cheer came up from the elementals at my back.
I stooped and picked up the rock where it had rolled to a stop against my foot. The stone was smooth and had coarse cracks on the surface that formed shapes like snowflakes.
Chris clasped the sticks together in one hand and grinned as the cheers rose and fell. “That’s one down.”
“Twelve more to go!” Kedie shouted.
Chris winced. I couldn’t help but laugh at his look of regret as I pocketed the stone and held up my own sticks. “Let’s see who can get the most out.”
He grinned. “Then I’m one ahead of you.”
“Not for long,” I quipped as I raced up to one of the funnels.
Chris and I poked, prodded, and pulled out the remaining rocks while the fire elementals cheered us on. Kedie even hovered over my shoulder and pumped its fist in the air. “Go, humans, go!”
In a few minutes Chris and I had a pile of small rocks, proof of our victories. He had one more than I did.
His eyes twinkled as he smiled at me. “So, what do I win?”
“Bragging rights for a whole half an hour,” I teased.
“I’d trade those minutes for another kiss.”
He’d have to wait as Kedie fluttered in front of us with a big grin on its face. “How can we ever thank you?”
I shrugged. “Well, if there’s a path through the woods that leads to Greylock Manor we’d like to know about it.”
The Grand Kilnie narrowed its eyes at us. “That’s a lot to ask. Mr. Wolf doesn’t like visitors and he told us to watch out for any sneaking around.”
“We were invited,” Chris reminded it.
Kilnie lifted its chin and looked down its nose at us. “So you say, but what proof do we have of-”
“Intruders!” someone shouted.